The Sleepy Portfolio had a stellar year returning 12.9% in total returns. The biggest winners were Canadian large-cap equities (up 25.3%), Canadian mid-cap equities (up 20%), EAFE (up 11.2%), Canadian REITs (up 16%), Emerging Markets (up 33%) and US mid-cap equities (up 12%). Surprisingly, none of the major asset classes in the portfolio had [...]

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I received the following query regarding my asset allocation and thought I would make a post on the subject.
How did you arrive at this allocation? I’m thinking about making a passive portfolio of index funds, but I don’t know what asset allocation I should have, and Vanguard’s Investor Questionnaire only differentiates between stocks and bonds.
First, [...]

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As 2005 draws to a close, it is that time of the year to make resolutions (and hopefully keep them). Here are my financial resolutions for the New Year:

Fully fund our RRSP accounts. I have to admit that money has been a bit tight this year (spouse on maternity leave) and we have only contributed [...]

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According to Microsoft Money, my portfolio returned 13.5% in 2005. My target “Sleepy” portfolio composed largely of ETFs returned 12.6%.
I bought the following stocks over the course of the year:
Anheuser-Busch (BUD): Buy: $46.71. Now: $43.51.
AIG (AIG): Buy: $53.84. Now: $68.41.
Home Depot (HD): Buy: $38.26. Now: $41.09.
Bank of Nova Scotia: Buy: $42.07. Now: $46.84.
Bell Canada [...]

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I promise this would be my last post on how awful some of the columns Robert Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) pens for Yahoo! Finance are. His latest effort contains this gem:
I have been highly critical of the standard financial planning advice — “work hard, save money, get out of debt, invest for [...]

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A recent CNN/Money story says that American households waste an average of 14% of the food they buy and that they also tend to buy more pricey, packaged, ready-to-eat foods.
According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian household spends $6,910 (or 11% of total expenses) every year on food. If we assume that we waste [...]

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I received the following query by email and I thought I would expand my reply into a post:
Quick question on your asset allocation. Most of it makes sense - Bonds, US/Canadian/International Equities. But why the REIT as a major asset class?
Real estate tends to have a low correlation with other asset classes, so [...]

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New ETFs track asset classes like commodities and foreign currencies.

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Standard and Poors announced last week that 72 income trusts are being added to the TSX Composite Index at 50% of their total market capitalization. Large income trusts like Canadian Oil Sands Trust (COS.UN), Yellow Pages (YLO.UN) and Riocan REIT (REI.UN) are now members of the composite index. The index will reflect the full market [...]

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I am a big fan of books and I love to give and receive books as gifts. Here are some of my favourites:

Also, Stop Working: Here’s How You Can! is very inspirational and would make a very nice gift.

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