Archive for November 2019
Weekend Reading: Market Volatility Edition
The last quarter of 2018 was a miserable time for investors. The S&P 500 had reached an all-time high on September 21, 2018. Three months later it had fallen nearly 13 percent – erasing 18 months of gains along the way. The TSX also fell more than 13 percent. Panic ensued, with many pundits predicting…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Model Investment Portfolio Edition
My investing philosophy is pretty straightforward. Invest in a low cost, globally diversified portfolio of index funds or ETFs. Add bonds to help smooth out the volatility in your portfolio. Contribute regularly to meet your savings targets. Ignore everything else. This approach comes from the belief that investing has become largely commoditized. Index tracking ETFs…
Read MoreDon’t Make This Life Insurance Mistake
Life insurance is a must if you have a spouse or children who depend on your income to get by. But asking a life insurance agent if you need more life insurance is like asking a barber if you need a haircut. Of course the answer is going to be ‘yes’. Indeed, the life insurance…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Salary vs. Dividends Edition
One big decision I need to make as I transition from salaried employee to entrepreneur is whether to take a salary from my business or pay myself dividends. I set up a corporation for my online business back in 2012. My wife and I are 50/50 owners of the small business, and we’ve used the…
Read MoreShould Banks Have A Hand In Promoting Financial Literacy?
The financial services industry takes a keen interest in promoting financial literacy as a do-good service for Canadians. November is Financial Literacy month, and the big banks and their PR machine are busy pushing out survey after survey explaining why Canadians are struggling to save. The situation is dire, according to many economists and financial…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Checking In On My Financial Goals Edition
I publish my financial goals here every year to share my priorities with readers and to hold myself accountable to achieve them. The simple act of writing down your goals and reviewing them periodically can significantly increase your chance of success. My 2019 financial goals were fairly straightforward. Here’s a recap, along with the progress…
Read MoreCanadians Have An Income Problem, Not A Debt Problem
It’s not hard to find a report about the growing Canadian debt problem. Canadians owe $1.77 for every $1 they make. The average consumer owes $31,400 in installment and auto loans, while borrowing for credit cards and lines of credit average $18,500 per consumer. Finally, there are reports that nearly half of Canadians won’t be…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: I Quit My Job Edition
Well, that escalated quickly! Mere weeks after musing about quitting my day job to become a financially independent entrepreneur, I did just that – handing in my notice last week. I’m going to focus full-time on blogging, freelance writing, and growing my fee-only financial planning service. My wife and I did a lot of soul…
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