Determining Your Asset Allocation
Before you begin choosing your individual investments you need to consider your asset allocation. Asset allocation is your portfolio’s blend of stocks, bonds and cash. Finding the best asset mix is crucial if you want to meet your goals. Rules of thumb A typical balanced asset allocation is 40% fixed income and 60% equities. A…
Read MoreHelp! I Discovered I’m Over-Contributing To My RRSP
Less than one-quarter of Canadians contribute the maximum to their RRSP each year, but if you’re one of those keen savers you’ll want to pay close attention to your RRSP contribution limit to avoid going over. A blog reader named John realized he might be pushing his limit due to automatic monthly contributions and a…
Read MoreFinancial Assessment For Your Retirement
If you have been following this series – and doing your homework – you should now have: Done some serious thinking and reflecting on what you want your retirement to look like. Where will you live? What kinds of activities will you participate in? What’s on your “Bucket List?” When will you begin? Have a…
Read MoreThe Real Cost Of Investing
Arnold and Zelda consider themselves to be good investors. Arnold has all of his wealth in bank GICs, a choice he knows and feels comfortable with. He bemoans the low returns – under 2% – that he is currently receiving, but he’s heard too many horror stories of stock market investing. As a result, Arnold may…
Read MoreMischief Managed: How I Went From Credit Card Abuser To Rewards Card Master
I wasn’t always good with money. Back in college, I violated just about every personal finance rule you could imagine. My biggest offense was misusing credit cards. I racked up over $5,000 in credit card debt between my junior and senior year; making brilliant decisions such as bringing my credit card to the bar, taking…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: SPIVA Edition
The SPIVA Canada Scorecard looks at the performance of actively managed Canadian mutual funds versus that of their benchmarks. The results over the long-term show that the majority of active managers underperform their benchmarks. And it’s not even close. Here are the biggest losers: Canadian Dividend & Income Equity Funds – Only 6.67% of the active Canadian…
Read MoreStarting Over After Divorce: A Boomer & Echo Financial Makeover
Jackie Caine (42), a newly single mother of two pre-teen children, is struggling to cut costs and pay her bills after the collapse of her 18-year marriage. She had always managed the bills, mortgage payments and shopping previously, but did so without actually giving money much thought. Their combined income was always enough, and payments…
Read MoreHow Much Choice Is Too Much?
So, I’m standing glassy-eyed in front of a six-foot wall of toothbrushes at my local supermarket. “Can you pick up a new toothbrush for me?” my husband requested. I naively thought I’d just pick up a soft-bristle brush in a not-too-girly colour, and be on my way. Did you know there are more than a…
Read MoreMortgage Brokers Gone Bad
When it comes to buying a home or renewing a mortgage term, many financial experts recommend using a mortgage broker to help find the best mortgage rate and terms. The reason is that mortgage brokers work for you – not the bank (even though they’re paid by the lender and not the client) – and can leverage…
Read MoreDo Millennials Really Fear The Stock Market?
New research from investment management firm BlackRock suggests that Millennials are fearful of the stock market and sitting on too much cash in their accounts. It got me thinking – do Millennials fear the stock market? Or are there other factors at work? Millennials came of age during the global financial crisis and Bernie Madoff Ponzi…
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