Posts by Robb Engen
An Investing Guide For Beginners
Young readers often ask for investing tips and wonder how to get started. My typical response is that once you have a good handle on your finances – no credit card debt, student loans fully paid (or close to it), some cash saved up for emergencies, short-term goals are funded (or on the way) –…
Read More8 Habits That Are Killing Your Retirement Dreams
A growing number of Canadians plan on working longer because they haven’t saved enough for retirement. We see it at a macro-level; Canadian households owe a record $1.69 in debt for every dollar of disposable income, meanwhile the personal savings rate in Canada stands at a paltry 3.4 percent. There are plenty of reasons why…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Fortune’s Children Edition
There’s wide evidence showing that wealthy families tend to lose their fortune by the third generation. One of the most famous examples of squandering generational wealth comes from the Vanderbilt family, which is chronicled in the book, Fortune’s Children: The Fall of House Vanderbilt. The Vanderbilt story is a classic case of the old adage,…
Read MoreMoney Bag: Smith Manoeuvre and Expected Investment Returns
Today I’m reaching into the mail bag for a new feature I’m calling the Money Bag. I’ll answer questions and address comments from readers on a wide range of money topics, myths, and perceptions about money. No question is off limits, so hit me up in the comments section or send me an email about…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Rational Reminder Edition
This week I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Rational Reminder podcast with PWL Capital’s Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore. We discussed how I built the blog, my switch from dividend investing to indexing, my thriving fee-only financial planning business, and simplicity versus optimization in your investment portfolio. Check out the Rational…
Read MoreEbates.ca vs. Great Canadian Rebates: Two Cash Back Sites Compared
Whether you’re clipping coupons, shopping at thrift stores, or lining up at Costco to save on gas, the mark of a good saver is someone who is willing to go the extra mile to save a buck or two. While some frugality traits can border on the extreme, others require less effort than you might…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Investing Podcast Edition
No, I’m not starting my own podcast. But I have started listening to a few good investing podcasts lately and I wanted to share three of them with you. I like these podcasts because they’re smart, quick-hitting, 30-minute talks about investing, personal finance, and current market trends. The first one, which you’ve likely heard of,…
Read MoreVanguard vs. Horizons: Your One-Ticket Investment Solution
For most Canadians, mutual funds are still the mainstay of their investment portfolios. However, many investors are fed up with high fees that are being charged on mutual funds that rarely match, let alone outperform, the market. Investing in lower cost exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, seems like a good alternative. The knock on ETFs is…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Toothless Investor Protection Edition
Earlier this summer the Canadian Securities Administrators disappointed investor advocates and did a disservice to Canadian investors when it announced watered-down reforms that failed to address conflicted investment advice and a best interest standard of care. Instead of much needed reform, investors got three paltry concessions from regulators: Banning the deferred sales charge option (DSC)…
Read MoreIs Every Day A Saturday In Retirement?
Is every day a Saturday in retirement? That’s what behavioural scientists Dan Ariely and Aline Holzwarth claimed in a recent study about retirement income. The premise being that when you’re no longer working 40 hours a week (or more) all of a sudden you have 40 hours a week available to spend money. Every day…
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