Still the most effective retirement savings plan there is The Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is still the most effective retirement saving and tax deferral vehicle available to Canadians. Because it’s such a powerful savings tool, it makes sense for...
What to do when markets seem to go crazy When stock markets suddenly begin to drop alarmingly as they did at the beginning of February, many investors will contact their brokers and advisors and start selling things. Others, however, seem not to be so anxious, and...
More normal trading patterns likely to emerge Volatility returned to the stock markets, seemingly very suddenly, at the beginning of February. It was hard to avoid panicky headlines shouting about the 1,175-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Monday,...
Avoid falling into the unintended investment-risk trap Looking at your annual bottom-line performance is, of course, key. But it doesn’t tell the whole story. Conducting an annual investment review over and above the pure performance number tells you not only how...
Stock markets are setting records daily. Ignore it! “The market will fluctuate.” That old bit of market wisdom is ascribed to Gilded Age financier J.P. Morgan, and is as true today as it was a hundred years ago. The primal emotions of fear and greed are ultimately...
What’s a “covered call write” and how do managers use it? Portfolio managers increasingly use stock options to enhance income, using something called a “covered call writing” strategy. But to many investors this sounds mysterious and slightly risky. In fact, when...
Bond ETFs retreat as rates edge up You might have noticed that the shorter-term returns of the broader index-tracking bond ETFs, such as the iShares Core Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF (TSX: XBB), have been sliding recently. Is it time to switch out of passive,...
Active versus passive investment styles The “couch potato” portfolio is so named because it takes a “passive” approach to investing. It is predicated on the theory that markets are efficient, or smarter, than any single person. Studies have shown that the passive,...
The difference between passive and active ETF investing Novice investors just getting started with exchange-traded funds often ask whether they’d get more bang for their buck with a couple of “smart beta” funds added to the mix. But I generally advise thinking...
The danger of investing by headline We’re once again seeing the geopolitical situation heating up – North Korea, U.K. elections, French elections, Trump’s trade threats, and so on. Is it time to sell stocks and switch to gold and bonds? How did that strategy work...
How to avoid getting conned, scammed, bilked, and defrauded online Do-it-yourself investors may have run across investing websites that promise huge returns if you trade something called “binary options.” They make it seem like a pretty easy way to make a quick...
Five key questions to ask Horizons ETF Management, a leading Canadian provider of exchange-traded funds, recently announce that it will be cancelling the Advisor-class units (that is, units that pay a fee to advisors who recommend them) on its Canadian-listed...