As you probably noticed, things look a little different around here. That’s because, I’m entering into a partnership with MoneySense magazine. I’m super excited about working together with MoneySense, the finest personal finance magazine in Canada, which as you know has long been a trusted source for advice on saving, planning, investing, retirement and real [...]
You have to pity the plight of the active investor as study after study demonstrates the merits of indexing for the average investor. But a recent column in the Globe & Mail by Dan Richards titled “Only the truly active fund managers lead the pack” provided many active investors an opportunity to taunt those in [...]
With the exit of Citizen’s Bank last year, President’s Choice Financial is now the only game in town in the free chequing account space. But perhaps not for much longer. There has long been speculation on whether ING Direct will start offering chequing accounts.
A reader recently got in touch with ING Direct and asked [...]
A recent episode of Marketplace on CBC featured cellphone customers who claimed to have Canada’s worst cellphone bills (you can watch it here). Cellphone customers had racked up thousands of dollars in charges either in air time, texting or, what appears to be fairly common, roaming charges while traveling abroad.
The typical phone horror story [...]
Our auto and home insurance renewal documents arrived in the mail the other day. The bad news is that insurance premiums are going up sharply in Ontario. Our auto and home insurance premiums went up by 22 and 14 percent respectively even though we did not have any claims in the past year. The hikes [...]
One of the measures in Budget 2010 (Pages 356 to 358) will be of special interest to Ottawa-area residents who elected to defer taxes on stock options. Some taxpayers who took advantage of tax deferral on stock options experienced financial difficulties when the value of the stock they received when exercising stock options declined in [...]
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tabled his fifth budget in Parliament today. There is plenty of print, broadcast and online coverage of the budget in the mainstream press, but if you are so inclined, you can read the entire 451-page document here. If you are only interested in the bits that directly affect your pocketbook, feel [...]
Unless the Government decides to spring a big surprise, the 2010 Federal Budget promises to be a big yawn. Here’s what we can expect in Budget 2010:
The Government says that there won’t be any tax cuts (no surprise there, considering that the deficit will run at $56 Billion this year) or any tax increases in [...]
Warren Buffett’s annual Letter to Shareholders is always worth reading even if you are not a shareholder in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B). The letters provide valuable insight into the major industries that BRK is operating in — insurance, regulated utilities, retail and services — all delivered in Mr. Buffett’s trademark folksy and witty language. Also [...]
Since my previous update the returns of the Sleepy Mini Portfolio has been, well, sleepy. The portfolio has more or less stayed at the steady level for the past three months and shows a modest 1.9% gain over book value since inception. Here’s how the portfolio components were valued as of February 28, 2010:
TDB909 – [...]
