Posts by Robb Engen
Why My Thinking Changed Around Dividend Investing
It’s been almost two years since I made the switch from dividend investing to a passive, two-fund ETF solution. I sold a portfolio of 24 Canadian dividend-paying stocks and REITs and bought Vanguard ETFs VCN (Canadian stocks) and VXC (U.S. and International stocks). I started buying individual stocks in 2009, just after the stock market…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Back To School Edition
Back-to-school season is doubly busy for me as our kids enter grade two and pre-school respectively while at my University day job we’re getting ready to welcome back thousands of students to campus this weekend. We all know the cost of post-secondary education has risen dramatically in the last decade and so students (and their…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Investing In Sport Edition
A decade ago Canada launched Own the Podium to prepare its amateur athletes to reach medal finishes at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. It later expanded to include a division for summer sports called Road to Excellence. The program has been incredibly successful, with Canada winning a record 14 gold medals at the Vancouver games,…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Early Retirement Backlash Edition
I consider my financial freedom 45 plan to be aggressive, yet attainable. Reaching financial independence at a relatively young age requires discipline, sacrifice, and a lot of savings mixed in with a dash of frugality. But my plan pales in comparison to certain members of the financial independence / early retirement crowd who aim to leave…
Read MoreShould University Students Get A Credit Card? Probably
As students head back to university this fall, one question is whether or not to get a credit card. They probably should. Credit cards are practical and useful and managing them is a fact of life. So the sooner young adults learn to use one responsibly and begin building a credit history, the better. There are…
Read MoreWhy I Chose A 2-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage
Our mortgage came up for renewal this month and, even though interest rates remain historically low, I knew we’d have to renew at a higher rate than our current 1.90 percent variable rate mortgage. Last week I met with an advisor at TD, where our mortgage is held, to see what options were available. I…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Shattered Sunroof Edition
Shattered. Shocked. Spitting glass. We had just dropped off our kids at their grandparents’ house for the weekend and were heading back into town to see a movie when, BOOM, the panoramic sunroof in our 2013 Hyundai Sante Fe exploded. Glass everywhere! It sounded like a gunshot. I wondered if something fell out of the…
Read MoreMy Four Biggest Investing Mistakes
I was 19 years old when I first started investing. I diligently set aside money every paycheque, starting with $50 every two weeks and eventually increasing that to $200 per month, to save for retirement inside my RRSP. Sounds like I was off to a great start, right? Wrong! Even though my intentions were in the…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Good Traffic Edition
It’s hard to believe that we’ve been writing about personal finance and investing here at Boomer & Echo for six years! Thanks to all of our subscribers and readers for following along on this journey. This week we reached an incredible milestone – 4 million page views all time! Despite all the success we’ve enjoyed with our blog,…
Read MoreHow We Juggle Competing Financial Goals
If your thirties are (or were) anything like mine, it can be a juggling act to try and balance all of your competing financial goals. We can’t afford to make the maximum contributions to each of our RRSPs, TFSAs, and the kids’ RESPs – let alone top-up our mortgage payments and still have money left…
Read More