Thoughtful Personal Finance
Are dividends magic? Some investors seem to think so. I get it, dividends are easy to love. It's nice to think that you could live off dividend payments without ever needing to sell any of your stocks. But should your investment strategy focus on dividends? Dividend investing strategies generally either target companies that have high … Continue reading Is a Dividend Strategy Right for You?
Before I get to saving you money, I just want to note that Frugal Fake Economist has made Feedspot’s Top 50 Canadian Personal Finance Blogs and Websites for Canadians in 2020. Thank you Feedspot! Food is probably one of your biggest expenses. As you can see in Statistic Canada’s graphic below, the average couple spends … Continue reading How to Get Your Food Expenses Under Control
This is meant to provide a quick overview of how the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) works for most Canadians. For retirement planning purposes, please refer to the official government documentation. I’m going to focus on the CPP as it exists today. The CPP is being enhanced, but with contributions being phased in between 2019 and … Continue reading The Canada Pension Plan (CPP)
I want to start by making it clear that this post is not meant to bash robo-advisors. They are not dangerous, and moving from high-fee mutual funds to a robo-advisor would likely be a big improvement in your personal finances. Their relatively low fees, ease of use and focus on index investing have been a … Continue reading Robo-Advisors – Are You Getting Value for Your Money?
Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) are not the most exciting product. They work sort of like savings accounts in that you deposit money and earn interest, except that the funds are generally locked in for between 1 and 5 years. On their own, they will likely generate much lower long-term returns than a diversified portfolio that … Continue reading Ladder your GICs