Beginning in the 1970s, my father got involved in investing in real estate in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, mostly in Chilliwack, where I grew up. My wife and I owned our own home in Chilliwack from 1996 to 2003. We lived in it for all...
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You are careful with your money. You have made it a general rule to avoid debt – except for the mortgage on your home – in order to force yourself to live within your means. Well, you do use a credit card, but you have...
Read MoreNorman Rothery’s Heated-Up Version of the Couch Potato Portfolio The Original Couch Potato Portfolio The original Couch Potato Portfolio came from a 1991 article by Scott Burns, then a writer at the Dallas Morning News. He advocated for a simple two-fund portfolio using index mutual funds. One...
Read MoreEvery once in a while in my earlier career, I was approached by people who were interested in market-linked Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs). These are investment products that protect your principal but give you the opportunity to participate in the growth of the stock market....
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Finance is Scary Financial matters tend to scare a lot of people away: “Finance is all about money and numbers. I don’t have enough of the former and I don’t understand the latter.” At least that is a common impression. The financial advice industry exists in...
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Recapping the Earlier Post Earlier this month (July 2020) I compared the one-year return of the Vanguard Growth ETF Portfolio (VGRO) ending 2020-07-13 using a lump-sum investing approach versus a dollar-cost averaging approach. I invested a $60,000 inheritance in a TFSA in a single lump sum...
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An Introduction to Retirement Planning – Part 4 Planning for retirement is not just about money. I think you could reasonably argue that money is almost the last thing to be considered. It is the tool that makes your plans for retirement executable. Mind you, it...
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AN INTRODUCTION TO INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT – PART 8.3 “Wouldn’t it be nice” … no, I’m not quoting a Beach Boys song. But, wouldn’t it be nice if we could insure our investments against potential losses? The news as I write this is that the...
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An Introduction to Insurance and Risk Management – Part 8.2 In my last post, I wrote about Assuris, a body that insures you against the insolvency of a life insurance company. This post has to do with insuring against the insolvency of banks and credit unions. CANADA...
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An Introduction to Insurance and Risk Management – Part 8.1 Imagine you are 35 years old. You are married and you have two children. A few years ago, you and your spouse each bought term life insurance policies from the Flawless Life Insurance Company (aka FlawLife...
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