They could save you a bundle Even though most of us are preoccupied with other things at this time of year, there is a handful of year-end investment and tax tips that make a lot of sense to look at now. That’s because they could save you money now and next April,...
Protect your portfolio against inflation erosion The Bank of Canada raised its interest rate to 1.75% on Oct. 24. It said that CPI inflation dropped to 2.2% in September, but that its core measures remain around 2%. For many novice investors, this may sound like a...
When your investments take control of you There’s nothing quite like the thrill of managing your own investments. That is, until things go south and you wonder whatever possessed you to buy that two-times daily bull crude oil ETF! Then there’s all that paperwork to...
Carefully selected bond funds as part of a diversified asset mix If you haven’t checked your portfolio for a while, you may have noticed that the performance of your bond mutual funds and ETFs has been lagging a bit. And you may be thinking of selling or switching....
Choosing the best financial advisory team Once you’re established in your profession or career, and you’re accumulating a sizeable nest-egg, getting financial advice from your second cousin or the bank teller just won’t do. You need to get some professional money...
Can you really “live with the risk”? In this day and age of “robo-advisors” and passive index investing, many investors seem to have forgotten the single immutable truth that equity markets are inherently risky. That’s simply because the share prices of stocks...
The lure of rising rates and market-linked returns Current 5-year GIC rates are being advertised as high as 3.50%. Given that most savings accounts offer much less than 1.00%, some investors have been wondering whether it’s time to move funds into GICs as part of...
How to compare your portfolio with an index A benchmark is a market yardstick independent of your portfolio against which your performance can be evaluated. It’s usually an index that tracks the performance of the broader market, like the S&P/TSX Composite...
Seasonal patterns can be misleading “Sell in May, go away, and don’t come back till Labour Day.” With the return of volatility earlier this year after many years of an uninterrupted bull market, many analysts are warning that the stock market is due for a...
The real cost of investing in mutual funds and ETFs The way the marketing hype has it these days, you’d think investment costs have dropped to zero. What with all the do-it-yourself platforms out there hawking their black boxes and promising, at least implicitly,...
Robyn Thompson is regularly featured in The Toronto Star’s “Money Makeover” series by Deanne Gage. This month, Money Makeover takes a look at Charlotte, a single public relations professional in her mid-forties who is planning on retiring in 20 years. She says she...
How to know if you’re the target of a fraud attempt March is fraud prevention month, and it’s a great time to remind readers that the financial sea is full of sharks, circling the naïve and unprepared, and ready to take you for every cent you’ve got. The bad guys...