End-of-Year Financial Checklist
When I help people one-on-one with their financial planning needs, there is one financial goal that comes up more than all the rest: “I don’t want to have to worry…
These posts get back to basics. They are the foundation, the essentials – maybe all you really need to know. In other posts we dive deep into other topics, but first, we need to know how to swim.
I went undercover: the truth about “free” financial seminars
I’m not one to pick a fight, but when good people are being taken advantage of, I’m also not one to sit around and let it happen. I had an…
Mutual funds are a tax on uninformed investors
My dad got into investing when I was a teenager in the 1990's. We weren't rich, but my parents were good savers and my dad was putting those savings into…
It’s up to us to teach our kids about money: the 5 pillars of money mastery
Last week I wrote a post outlining the reasons why educating children about money in school is a failed concept. Like shoveling the driveway with a spoon in a…
Dear school: please don’t teach my kids about money
When I was a high school student, I learned all about the human body's circulatory system: the four chambers of the heart, cardiac output, arteries, veins, capillaries, blood pressure, vasoconstriction,…
Should you invest in segregated funds?
Segregated adjective set apart from each other Segregated funds noun products designed to separate investors from their money Would you like an investment that has the potential to make you…
Using BTSX to build your portfolio: a step by step guide
Dividend investing, and Beating the TSX in particular, have an excellent long term record of providing investors with returns superior to the index. With a little interest and discipline, DIY…
Do bonds belong in my portfolio?
For decades, professionals have constructed "balanced" portfolios using the 60/40 stock/bond ratio as a template. Other variations pushed a bond allocation equal to the investor's age, or other such rules…
The most important investment spreadsheet for dividend investors
What is the most important spreadsheet for dividend investors? Does it have reams of metrics from payout ratios to dividend growth rates to up-to-the-minute stock price tracking? Does it sort…
What is SPIVA?
If there is one thing every investor should know about before considering the purchase of an actively managed mutual fund, it is this: the SPIVA report. SPIVA stands for "S&P…