Retirement Polls And RRSP Season
When I worked in banking, January and February were known as the dreaded “RRSP Season”. It was the approximate equivalent of the retail “Christmas season” with long extended hours, lines of desperate people wanting a quick RRSP purchase, and the inevitable sales quotas. Related: How an RRSP loan turned my $12,000 contribution into $20,000 With…
Read MoreMy Advice To Switch Out Of Mutual Funds Draws Ire Of Industry Group
In a recent Toronto Star column, I wrote that mutual fund fees in Canada are some of the highest in the world and because of these fees the vast majority of actively-managed funds lag behind the market. I said that switching to low-cost index mutual funds or ETFs will cut your investment fees to the…
Read MoreWhat’s All This Retirement Planning For, Anyway?
Imagine a world of total certainty – you know when you’ll die, how many times your car will crap out on you, what the markets will do, and if your third kid will need braces. In that world. figuring out exactly how much money you’ll need to save so that you can stop working entirely…
Read MoreHow Are Your Investments Performing?
Choosing the right investments for your goals is just the beginning. You need to monitor their performance to see how you are progressing towards those goals. Many times investors look at their statements and check out the investment return. If the total has increased by say, 7 percent, from the last statement, they’re happy. On…
Read More2013 Portfolio Rate Of Return
Last year, with the help of Justin Bender from PWL Capital, I went back and calculated the rate of return from my portfolio of dividend stocks since I started buying shares in 2009. Why? Because it’s important to calculate and compare your portfolio returns to an appropriate benchmark so you can figure out whether active…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Because Weddings Edition
We launched a new business this week – a fee-only planning service – and the response so far has been fantastic. Thank you for all of your positive comments and emails, we really appreciate the support. If you’re interested in working with us, please check out our fee-only advice page where you can read more…
Read MoreHow To Get A Good Return On Your New Year’s Resolutions
Your New Year’s Resolution Resolve to renew all your old resolves, And add a few that are new. Resolve to keep them as long as you can. What more can a poor man do? – Early 20th century postcard The last day of the year is often a time for looking back to the past…
Read MoreA New Fee-Only Financial Planning Service
My mom and I have written more than 1,000 articles on personal finance and investing over the last three-and-a-half years. The articles speak, for the most part, to the general “you” but aim to make readers think about their own finances and how it can apply to them. We receive countless emails from our readers…
Read MoreA Calendar Of Saving Money
We consider ourselves to be smart shoppers – faithfully perusing store flyers, comparison shopping and checking prices online, downloading coupons and watching for deep discounts. Canadian retailers are getting on board with Black Friday sales like they have in the US, but Boxing Day is still the busiest day for bargain-hunting shoppers in Canada. Related:…
Read MoreNet Worth Update: 2013 Year-End Review
As I put the numbers together for my 2013 year-end review and net worth update I realized that I made two critical errors in my financial plan this year: my financial goals were wildly optimistic – I wanted to achieve a net worth of $360,000 – and I got lazy and failed to properly execute…
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