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This and That: Choosing an advisor, Currency Hedging and more…

June 12th, 2009 · 7 Comments

The term “high interest savings account” is an oxymoron these days, what with even the popular ones paying 1% or less. Still, the topic attracted the interest of Canadian Money Forum members who found that some accounts are still paying a decent interest rate.

  1. For those of us needing some handholding in investing, Larry Swedroe has some tips for choosing a financial advisor. He reiterates it by listing the principles to follow in selecting an advisor.
  2. I’ve always wondered why currency-hedging has such large tracking errors. Rob Carrick’s column in the Globe and Mail, provides a good explanation on why hedging is not perfect.
  3. Ellen Roseman of The Star said that the energy savings from a tankless water heater are oversold and warned consumers to do their DD on offers to replace their existing heater with a tankless one.
  4. The Dividend Guy highlighted Knight Kiplinger’s Investor Manifesto. I don’t agree with rebalancing every quarter but otherwise it is pretty good advice overall.
  5. Bernie Madoff downfall from a “Jewish T-bill” to an avatar of Hitler has been swift and rapid. Mr. Cheap discusses some of the non-sense surrounding the story.
  6. Million Dollar Journey is having morbid thoughts. He featured a guest post on the advantages and disadvantages of the prepaid funeral.
  7. Michael James beats me to the punch and reviews Inside the Mind of the Turtles. I’m currently reading the book and found the discussion on risk very valuable.
  8. Where Does All My Money Go? kicks off a series on financial advisor qualifications with the Canadian Securities Course (CSC).
  9. The consensus view seems to be that inflation will become a problem in the near future. However, some, as Larry MacDonald points out, think that deflation is a threat instead.
  10. With the employment situation being what it is, many are turning their thoughts to entrepreneurship. Thicken My Wallet has five questions that every entrepreneur needs to consider when starting a business.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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7 responses so far ↓

  • 1 ghandy // Jun 12, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    Why do you disagree with rebalancing quarterly? Transaction costs?

  • 2 Canadian Capitalist // Jun 12, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    ghandy: Yes, quarterly sounds too frequent to me. Even annually sounds too automatic. Perhaps percentages, such as rebalance if the targets are off by 5% sounds much more reasonable.

    Of course, this is theoretical for me now. I just rebalance with new contributions and reinvesting dividends and interest income.

  • 3 Michael James // Jun 12, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    Thanks for the mention. I agree that Faith has an interesting take on risk.

    The Carrick article on currency hedging confirmed my bias against using currency hedging. I prefer to accept the extra volatility and not pay the extra fees.

  • 4 Four Pillars // Jun 12, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Thanks for the link.

    I can’t imagine rebalancing more than once a year – even if you are doing it with contributions.

  • 5 MDJ // Jun 12, 2009 at 1:06 pm

    Thanks for the mention CC!

  • 6 Preet // Jun 13, 2009 at 2:26 pm

    Thanks for the mention CC – hope you are enjoying the weekend!

  • 7 Thicken My Wallet // Jun 15, 2009 at 1:10 pm

    Belated thanks for the link!

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