Investing

I stumbled on a thread from Reddit’s Canadian personal finance community where a young investor sought feedback on his investment portfolio.  He held a low cost and diversified portfolio consisting of seven ETFs inside his tax free savings account.  The allocation was broken down like this: Canadian equity (ZCN) – 25% U.S. equity (VUN) –…

I read an interesting article titled, “Do Risky Assets Belong in a TFSA?” (Canadian MoneySaver – March/April 2014).  The author compares purchasing a GIC paying a guaranteed 2% a year with a risky ETF tracking the TSX with an expected average return of 6%, but which could result in returns ranging from a gain of…

Five years ago I opened a discount brokerage account – transferring $25,000 from my HSBC mutual fund account to TD Waterhouse – to start investing in individual stocks. Here are 5 lessons learned about investing over the last five years: A rising tide lifts all boats I’ve learned to recognize the difference between skill and…

The 2008 Federal budget introduced the new investment vehicle called the “Tax Free Savings Account.”  It allows Canadians aged 18 and over to contribute the dollar limit for the year, plus any unused contribution room from previous years and any amount you withdrew the year before. Starting in 2009, contribution room accumulates every year.  The…

Many investors are making the decision to manage their own investments.  In fact, they can do very well with an index mutual fund or basic ETF portfolio and a consistent, systematic contribution plan. But not everyone wants to “do it themselves.”  What if indexing is not your thing? You may have accumulated a substantial balance…

I’ve revamped my RRSP strategy several times over the last few years but now the goal is crystal clear:  Use up all of my unused RRSP contribution room within two years and then contribute enough each year to max out my RRSP going forward. Contributing to a defined benefit plan at work means I receive a…

To me, the idea of becoming a landlord and owning a real estate empire sounds better in theory than practice.  I can barely look after my own home maintenance, let alone having to manage another property.  There’s also a major lack of diversification when you put all your eggs in the real estate basket –…

The key to successful investing is not the investment performance but the investor performance.  Many of us believe that our goal as investors is to search for the investment that is better than average.  But it turns out that searching for this so-called best investment leads to behavior that ends up costing us money. The…

A recent survey by Desjardins Wealth Management found that 61% of women have a conservative investor profile.  The results suggest that women take less risk than men and tend to prefer safer investment portfolios. Are women wired differently as the financial experts suggest?  Do they lack confidence and knowledge? Related: 10 ways for women to…