Canadian Capitalist

With CIBC reporting earnings today, the profit parade at the big banks continued, showing once again that our banks should form the core portion of any portfolio. Here’s how they fared compared to the same period last year [FD: I own shares in TD and BNS]:

Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO) - $1.38 vs. $1.07
Royal Bank [...]

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I recently replaced our 17-year-old furnace with a new mid-efficiency furnace bought from Costco, of all places. The old furnace was a low-efficiency model (it had a pilot light) and was probably on its last legs (the salesman said the average lifespan of a gas furnace is about 20 years).
It is difficult to say if [...]

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At a time when the overall savings rate in Canada is negative, it is inspiring to read about the finances of this young couple profiled in The Globe and Mail. Granted, they have a high household income approaching $120K per year but still a combined net worth of over $500K at 33 years of age [...]

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A reader, Mr. L, sent the following information on how TD Waterhouse clients can avoid paying currency conversion fees when trading US-listed stocks in a self-directed RRSP account. Here is his detailed e-mail, posted with his permission (and slightly edited):
Since my last email to you, I have discovered that one brokerage house does allow you [...]

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I use Microsoft Money 2006 to track our household finances. There is no particular reason for choosing Money over Quicken, except that I have a friend who works for Mr. Softie and sends me a copy every few years.
Microsoft offers a free download of Money 2007, which can be used for evaluate the software for [...]

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Why do we get the urge to spend money? Why are most of us on a hedonic treadmill, endlessly upgrading stuff with “better” stuff? Is it because credit is so easily available? Are credit cards, which makes it oh-so-easy to spend money that we don’t have, to blame, as we argued sometime back?
I am convinced [...]

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Larry MacDonald, columnist for Canadian Business magazine, has kindly included the Sleepy Portfolio in an article on Canadian “lazy” portfolios. While the Sleepy Portfolio is very simple to assemble, there are some pitfalls to be aware of:

As I use the Sleepy Portfolio to benchmark the returns of my personal portfolio, its asset allocation makes sense [...]

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Canadians can vote with their wallets by avoiding mutual funds that charge outrageous fees and invest their money in lower-cost alternatives such as:

Low-cost mutual funds like those from Vancouver-based money manager Phillips, Hager & North. PH&N’s bond fund charges fees of 0.59% compared to 2.36% for the median Canadian bond fund and 1.16% for its [...]

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Jonathan Chevreau, personal finance columnist for The National Post, has highlighted a study that points out that mutual fund fees in Canada are the highest in the world. It is widely known that mutual funds domiciled in the United States are cheaper, but the fund industry has argued that there are economies of scale in [...]

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We are back from a hectic break from work (and as it turned out from blogging as well). I will start regular posting from tomorrow. It appears as if the major news story while I’ve been away has been the class action against the Bank of Montreal over currency conversions in RRSP accounts.

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