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moneysense.ca, 26/11/09
This and That: Lessons from the Crash and more…
- Macleans magazine’s Jason Kirby on the lessons investors should learn from the fall of 2008 (but probably won’t). Somewhat predictably, David Trahair is still making the case for GICs by ignoring dividend income from stocks.
- In theory investors can diversify away non-systemic risk with a portfolio consisting of a random selection of 10 to 40 stocks. In practice, however, writes Jason Zweig in The Wall Street Journal, investors are more likely to assemble non-random portfolios.
- Larry Macdonald has compiled a handy synopsis of quotes from a number of books on passive investing in a series of blog posts. You can find Part 1 here and click through to subsequent posts in the series.
- In a guest post on Where Does All My Money Go? mutual fund industry critic Ken Kivenko points out yet another downside of active funds in taxable accounts: year-end capital gains distributions.
- By all accounts, the job market out there is dismal. Thicken My Wallet offers some valuable tips for job-seekers to stand out from the competition.
- Million Dollar Journey did a case study on whether a 50-year old retiring soon should pay down the mortgage or contribute to a RRSP.
- Seniors collecting the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) are subject to high effective tax rates on RRSP withdrawals. Michael James debates what, if anything, seniors can do to minimize taxes on their retirement savings.
- Hard to believe, but 2009 is almost over. Jon Chevreau posted the top ten year-end tax planning tips from tax expert Jamie Golombek.
- Canadian Financial Stuff tries to convert his cellphone plan to pre-paid and is tripped by the weird world of Bell’s customer service.
- First, it was fixed-price natural gas contracts. Now, it is water heater contracts. Ellen Roseman warns customers about the underhanded tactics adopted by some companies to lock customers into long-term contracts with stiff exit fees.
Thank you for entering your name in the 5 years and counting… giveaway. I am overwhelmed by the number of responses and much as I would love for the odds to be much better, the marketing budget here is rather limited. Hopefully, I can do better next year.
Have a great weekend everyone.
moneysense.ca, 26/11/09
Thanks for the mention. If you don’t count dividends and half the capital gains each year, GICs look even better compared to stocks
Another part of the Kirby article that didn’t impress me was “don’t get wedded to any particular investing style. Or if you do, don’t panic when things turn rocky.” So the advice is don’t follow a plan, but if you do have a plan, follow it. This is just gibberish.
Thanks for the mention, I will continue my Cell phone silliness saga in the new year when I see what the NEW wireless providers offer.
Hey you, congrats on your anniversary. You must be mighty proud at how in demand you are since just about everyone thinks you do a top-notch job. Hope all is well and that your recent family crisis has resolved without too much heart-ache. Be well, and another ten years to you. cheers, g
Thanks for the mention CC! It’s inspiring to see the community that you have built over the years.
Thanks for the link CC, and congratulations on such a great accomplishment. Your blog is an amazing resource for investors, advisors and mainstream media. Here’s to the next 5 years!
@Michael: Yeah, there are a few questionable “huh?” moments in that article. Here’s one more: “(If dividends are factored in, the TSX returned 5.34, a meager premium considering all the added risk.)” I’d be very happy with getting 2% more with stocks than with GICs over a 10 year period.
@Gail, @FT, @Preet: Thanks for your well wishes. Have a great weekend!
@Big Cajun: Bell’s Customer Service is a bizzaro world. One time, DSL wasn’t working. So, I called Sympatico CSR and the conversation went like this:
Customer: Hi, I am having trouble with my High-Speed Internet…
CSR: We can certainly look into that. And would you like to sign up for our faster internet service.
Customer: I’d like my problem to be sorted out.
CSR: But we are offering first 3 months at $20…
Like I said, you wonder which planet these guys inhabit.
Even though I only found this blog a couple months ago, I’ve read through selective topics from the archives as I get curious about various financial planning strategies.
I’ve greatly appreciated not only your insightful comments, but the varied responses from regular commenters and from your recommended readings which give me multiple viewpoints to consider before I make my decision of how to proceed.
Thanks, and cheers for getting another 5 years closer to financial independence.
Why on this green earth does anyone listen to Derek Foster?
CC, the link to Ellen Roseman article (item 10 on your list) doesn’t work right.
Otherwise, thanks for a great blog.
AW
Thanks for the link. Congrats again on your milestone!
Thinking of the Kirby article, I think he’s paraphrasing Foster with the “don’t have a strategy” / “stick to the strategy” contradiction. If there’s any logic to it, perhaps it means that your strategy can evolve as circumstances change so long as you’re not motivated by panic. I admit, I’m being overly generous with this interpretation.
Some really great articles here CC. Look out for next week everyone. It seems like were are setting up for some more volatility.
Nice variety. It will be interesting to see how many investors learn from the “Fall” of 2008/9. As long as investors insert emotion in the place of strategy when investing, the tail will continue to wag the investment dogs… forget about bulls and bears.