Posts by Robb Engen
Why Invest?
Building on my evidence based investing guide, this article further explores why we invest. When we think of investing it’s only natural to dream about discovering the next Microsoft or Amazon stock or about becoming a world-class investor like Warren Buffett. But why invest in the first place? Is it the thrill of building wealth?…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Building A Diversified Portfolio Edition
Nobel Prize winner Harry Markowitz famously said that “diversification is the only free lunch in investing.” For investors, that means diversifying their portfolio across different asset classes, different sectors, and different geographies. The goal is to reduce risk without sacrificing return. Sounds easy, right? Investing can be simple, but it isn’t always easy. Think about…
Read MoreTax Software For Your Unique Tax Situation This Year
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of TurboTax Canada. All opinions are my own. In my financial planning practice, I’ve seen the good, bad, and complicated ways that the pandemic has impacted the financial lives of Canadians. One client works in air transportation and had been sidelined collecting CERB and CRB…
Read MoreLock-In or Ride It Out: The Variable Rate Mortgage Dilemma
I’ve always been transparent about my mortgage strategy. I prefer to select a deeply discounted variable rate (prime minus 0.80% or better), but if that’s not available then I’m happy to take a 1 or 2 year fixed rate mortgage and wait for those discounted variables to return. We’ve been in our house for 11…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Can You Predict A Stock Market Crash Edition
Investors should lower their expectations for future stock returns. I’ve been saying this for a while now, but it bears repeating again now that stocks have gotten off to such a rocky start this year. Markets are largely efficient and tend to go up over the long term. But they can certainly overshoot expectations in…
Read MoreThe Next Tax Bracket Myth
Let’s bust a myth about working overtime. Some employees incorrectly believe that when earnings from overtime, a bonus, or salary increase pushes them into another tax bracket they’ll actually take home less on their paycheque than before. Some employees even refuse to work overtime because they believe they’ll pay more taxes and earn less money…
Read MoreWhy We Ditched Our Endy Mattress And Went With Novosbed
This is the story of why we ditched our Endy mattress and chose Novosbed for our remodelled bedroom. Four years ago, my wife and I wanted to replace our 12-year-old Sealy Posturepedic mattress. We heard about the bed-in-a-box trend – dozens of brands were selling foam mattresses online and shipping them directly to consumers –…
Read More10 Years Later: Vanguard’s Impact On Canadian ETF Investors
It’s hard to put into words the impact Vanguard has made on the investment industry and for individual investors. Perhaps Warren Buffett described it best when he paid tribute to the late Vanguard founder Jack Bogle in 2019: “Jack did more for American investors as a whole than any individual I’ve known.” Vanguard brought its…
Read MoreYour Retirement Readiness Checklist
A good portion of my financial planning clients are in what I’d call the retirement readiness zone, meaning they are 1-5 years away from retirement. They want a check-up on their financial situation and answers to big burning questions like, when can I retire, how much money can I spend, how long will my money…
Read MoreWhat Will It Take For You To Save More This Year?
I know it can be tough to save money. It’s even more difficult to up the ante and save more year-after-year. But saving is necessary to meet both our short-and-long term financial goals. Without any savings, you’ll live paycheque-to-paycheque (or worse) every month with no retirement plan whatsoever. Related: Retirement planning for late starters So…
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