Investing

Many investors are making the decision to manage their own investments.  In fact, they can do very well with an index mutual fund or basic ETF portfolio and a consistent, systematic contribution plan. But not everyone wants to “do it themselves.”  What if indexing is not your thing? You may have accumulated a substantial balance…

I’ve revamped my RRSP strategy several times over the last few years but now the goal is crystal clear:  Use up all of my unused RRSP contribution room within two years and then contribute enough each year to max out my RRSP going forward. Contributing to a defined benefit plan at work means I receive a…

To me, the idea of becoming a landlord and owning a real estate empire sounds better in theory than practice.  I can barely look after my own home maintenance, let alone having to manage another property.  There’s also a major lack of diversification when you put all your eggs in the real estate basket –…

The key to successful investing is not the investment performance but the investor performance.  Many of us believe that our goal as investors is to search for the investment that is better than average.  But it turns out that searching for this so-called best investment leads to behavior that ends up costing us money. The…

A recent survey by Desjardins Wealth Management found that 61% of women have a conservative investor profile.  The results suggest that women take less risk than men and tend to prefer safer investment portfolios. Are women wired differently as the financial experts suggest?  Do they lack confidence and knowledge? Related: 10 ways for women to…

Canadian financial speaker and author Talbot Stevens has written a new book called, The Smart Debt Coach, which hit the shelves this week.  In it he explains a key concept that gets overlooked by most investors: when you’re saving for retirement, you should never put dry pasta in your RRSP. Related: 5 common RRSP myths…

In a recent Carrick Talks Money video series on the Globe and Mail, Rob Carrick discussed the “I’m finally ready to invest” portfolio for young adults.  He asked Canadian Couch Potato blogger Dan Bortolotti, and PWL Capital wealth manager Justin Bender to come up with a portfolio of exchange traded funds (ETFs) for the young…

In a recent Toronto Star column, I wrote that mutual fund fees in Canada are some of the highest in the world and because of these fees the vast majority of actively-managed funds lag behind the market.  I said that switching to low-cost index mutual funds or ETFs will cut your investment fees to the…

Choosing the right investments for your goals is just the beginning. You need to monitor their performance to see how you are progressing towards those goals. Many times investors look at their statements and check out the investment return. If the total has increased by say, 7 percent, from the last statement, they’re happy. On…