Investing

The financial services industry would have you believe that individual investors don’t want to pay upfront for investment advice – in fact, the industry claims that investors prefer to pay for financial advice through fees that are part of their mutual funds. But we all know that mutual funds in Canada cost too much and…

The stock market has hit some all-time highs recently, which makes some investors nervous. Is it time to sell? Knowing when to sell, especially in a bull market, is the hardest thing about trading. It’s not an “all or nothing” decision. Don’t change a strategy that’s working for you. Ask yourself if the stock still…

Many investors – not happy with their advisers for whatever reason – feel they can do a lot better themselves, especially when the market is booming and their friends and co-workers are bragging about their winning investment performance. DIY investing can appear to make sense for a lot of people. However, studies have shown that…

Many investors eventually come to the realization that the mutual funds sold by their bank or investment firm come with unjustifiably high fees. Making the switch to low cost index funds or ETFs sounds like the easiest, most logical choice, however there is typically one final hurdle for investors to overcome. Deferred sales charges –…

Imagine a time when everyday citizens were oppressed and deceived by a select few institutions of authority. They were told how to think, how to act, and what was best for them. But after years of suffering, new ideas began to emerge based on science, reason, and scepticism that challenged authority and helped reform society. These…

I doubt very much you’re asking your financial advisor enough questions, and are worse off because of it. I think I’ve got a handle on why – let me see if any of this rings a bell: You don’t have enough time: It’s tough to commit time to an appointment when there are so many…

“Risk taking is inherently failure prone. Otherwise it would be called sure-thing taking.” – Jim McMahon The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines risk as the possibility of loss or injury; the chance of something going wrong; an outcome that can be different than expected. People who like the thrill of skydiving or mountain climbing can take great risks…

This is a guest post by Mike, aka The Dividend Guy. He authors The Dividend Guy Blog since 2010 and manages portfolios at Dividend Stocks Rock. He is a passionate investor. For the past five years, I’ve exchanged a lot of email with many of my readers. One of the main topics of discussion is…

Many people are saying that since all stock markets went down in 2007 – 2009, international diversification doesn’t work anymore. How is it supposed to help you when everything is falling apart? Does it even work? Is it worth the trouble? I’ll show you a few examples from recent years so you can see for yourself.…

While investment firms and regulators continue debating over issues like fee disclosure, advisor conflict of interest, and a standard of care for investors, a new breed of investing services has put the industry on notice by bringing low cost investing to the masses. Last year I reviewed the new robo-advisor entrants, but since then Questrade has…