I think Gordon Pape Got it Wrong For the most part, I can read investment columnist Gordon Pape’s writings with composure. Every once in a while, however, he writes things that I think just aren’t so. His article, Diversifying your portfolio – how much is too...
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Emily Emily sat at her kitchen table, staring at the third credit card bill. It was maxed out, just like the other two. Overwhelmed and angry at herself, panic started to creep in. How did she end up in this situation? She used to pay off...
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After the cloudy days of preparing and filing your tax return, many Canadians look forward to the silver lining of a tax refund. Last year I wrote about The Problem with Tax Refunds, arguing that rather than a benefit, refunds represent an interest-free loan to...
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Ten percent per year! That’s a nice round number and what many investors think is a realistic annual investment return. At that rate, following the “Rule of 72,” you will double your account value in 7.2 years – without adding an extra dollar! Let’s imagine that...
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Your financial advisor isn’t dishonest; he’s just incompetent. That is the TL:DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) conclusion of a 2016 academic paper, “The Misguided Beliefs of Financial Advisors,” by Juhani T. Linnainmaa, Brian T. Melzer, and Alessandro Previtero. For many years, the common view of...
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Introduction Definition of Socially Responsible Investing Socially responsible investing, also known by other terms such as responsible, sustainable, or ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing, is a practice that uses various socially beneficial criteria to seek out securities to invest in. Importance of Socially Responsible Investing Investing has generally...
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Introduction Estate planning involves preparing for the tasks that must be undertaken in the event of your death or incapacity. While death is inevitable regardless of your preparation or lack thereof, preparation in the form of a well-considered will can make life for your survivors much...
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Is it fair to say that most people don’t like to talk about insurance? Life insurance is a euphemistic way of referring to death insurance, that is, insurance that is purchased to protect against the premature death of the person insured. Disability insurance is purchased...
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“Industry organizations are calling on the federal government to raise the age at which RRSPs must be converted to RRIFs and to reduce the annual RRIF minimum withdrawal rates.” “Industry groups call for changes to RRIF rules,” by Rudy Mezzetta, Advisor’s Edge, March 13, 2023 What is...
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Two years ago, when I last wrote about the table of returns across asset categories, I observed, “the consistently steady performance of the US stock market.” It appears that things have not changed despite the poor performance of American stocks last year. As I did in...
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