I have been approached a couple of times to offer a second opinion on a person’s investments. I know what I do, but I wondered how “second opinion” is presented by financial institutions and their investment advisors. A quick search yielded several results, including an...
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It is a cliché that Canadians are loyal to their banks. While it is true that banks or credit unions are necessities of life, we do not need to stay loyal to one bank brand. In this blog post, I will discuss some ways in...
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Many Canadians have a reasonable degree of net worth. Millionaire households are not that unusual if you consider the value of housing, especially if you have been a homeowner for 20 years or more, which would be the case for many who are approaching retirement....
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Scenario Let’s imagine that you are 35 years old and you have just inherited $50,000. You wonder whether it makes sense to contribute to your RRSP, your TFSA, or whether you should open a non-registered account and invest the money there. You live in Ontario and your...
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The bucket strategy divides your investment assets into three categories. The Immediate or Short-Term Bucket This bucket covers a period lasting between two to five years. Money in this category is typically held in savings accounts, Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), and Short-Term Fixed-Income (Bond) Funds. Assets in...
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Interest Rates and Borrowing, Including Mortgages In the last several months, we have begun to see home sales decrease and prices drop, largely due to an increase in interest rates. If you are planning to borrow money, whether for a mortgage or other purposes, this increase...
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Debt is not a fun topic. Well, maybe it is if you like engaging in stories like those of the Four Yorkshiremen, later popularized by Monty Python, who sought to outdo each other with their personal histories of poverty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAdlkunflRs Poverty and debt are not, of course,...
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“Don’t even think about it.” That’s what I would like to say to anybody who is drawn to these funds due to their prodigious tax-saving opportunities. When I was working at a discount brokerage, there seemed to be regular inquiries about these products from people who...
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I will admit to a bit of a love-hate relationship with life insurance. On the one hand, insurance is almost always appropriate to buy at some time in your life. On the other hand, as someone with a chronic health condition, kidney disease, I couldn’t...
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In my student days, I remember an ethics professor saying something to the effect of, “That which is not prohibited is permitted.” Of course, one pithy sentence does not exactly provide the full range of nuance that was elaborated on over the semesters that I...
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