Thoughtful Personal Finance
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
When people talk about car expenses, they focus on gas. But there's another consumable item that is just as important to your car purchasing decision: tires. Note: This is the first of a three part series on the insidious car expenses and how to reduce them. It was written by esteemed guest blogger The Prodigal … Continue reading Guest Post: Big Wheels Make You Cool but Poor
This is meant to provide you with a quick simplified overview of how the program works for most Canadians. For retirement planning purposes, please refer to the official government documentation. In addition to workplace pensions and personal retirement savings, most Canadians will receive income from two public programs in retirement: the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) … Continue reading Canada’s Old Age Security (OAS) Pension
While most Canadians seem to think that housing is the best investment you could make, the main reason to own a home is because you need a place to live. As a pure investment, housing has a lot of undesirable qualities: it's expensive to buy and sell (realtor and legal fees, taxes);its value is tied … Continue reading The Real Reason to Own a Home, Aside From Needing a Place to Live
Canadians pay some of the highest mutual fund fees in the world. Morningstar’s Global Investor Experience Study reports that the average fee for the typical mutual fund in Canada is around 2%, compared to 0.6% in the US. It’s even worse for those who get their mutual funds from a commission-based advisor like you would … Continue reading High Mutual Fund Fees are Devastating