Short Takes: Fresh Take on RRSP vs. TFSA, Mortgage Pre-Payment Penalty Lawsuit, and more

The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton, gave an excerpt from his latest book with a fresh take on the RRSP vs. TFSA debate. In his engaging style he explains that the problem with RRSPs is that people blow their income tax refunds, and the problem with TFSAs is that they are too easy to raid.

Canadian Mortgage Trends reports that a class-action lawsuit has been filed against CIBC mortgages.

Retire Happy Blog asks whether you have a money mentor. I used to have money mentors but in my efforts with this blog I'm trying to develop the knowledge to be a money mentor myself. One thing I've learned is that it is mostly pointless to offer unsolicited advice. Curiously, (mildly) mocking people's poor choices is more effective at drawing them in than directly offering help.

Big Cajun Man doesn't think that a lack of complaints is a good indicator that all is well.

The Blunt Bean Counter writes about strong feelings about market movements. I think most investors who watch the market have opinions about the market's near future. I've learned over time that my opinions aren't worth anything.

Million Dollar Journey gives us a primer on closed-end funds. An important thing to know about these funds is that they can sell for more or less than the value of the equities they hold.

Comments

  1. Big Cajun ManOctober 14, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Thanks for the inclusion, enjoy the fall colours, they seem to be washing away...

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Blunt Bean CounterOctober 14, 2011 at 7:10 AM

    Michael, thx for link. My issue is when I see a world fraught with economic issues and not much upside, even if those issues are sidestepped; why would I want to be fully invested. But, as you and many note, timing is the issue and that is why I am still working for a living and not writing investment guru books.

    ReplyDelete
  3. WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo.comOctober 21, 2011 at 8:54 AM

    Super belated thanks for the mention :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Short Takes: InvestorLine’s HISAs, 24-Hour Trading, and more

I recently moved some cash into BMO InvestorLine’s high-interest savings accounts (HISAs) that are structured as mutual funds.  Their designations are BMT104, BMT109, and BMT114, and they purportedly pay 4.35% annual interest (which they can change whenever they like).  However, the way they report the monthly interest payments is so baffling that I wasn’t able to sort it out in my first 15 minutes of trying.  A further complication is the following text in the HISA description: “The Bank may pay, monthly or quarterly, compensation to your Dealer at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of the daily closing balance in the BMO HISA.”  I couldn’t find any evidence of such a charge, but I haven’t been invested for a full quarter, and I can’t yet say that such a charge isn’t buried somehow in the confusing reporting.  I have more digging to do before I can recommend these HISAs. Here are some short takes and some weekend reading: Preet Banerjee explains the dangers of Robi...
Read more

My Asset Allocation

I’ve resisted discussing my asset allocation for some time, but now is finally the time to describe it and the reasons behind it. I’m not holding it out as a model portfolio; I believe it’s suitable for me and not necessarily anyone else. With that warning, enjoy the discussion and feel free to ask questions or take some pot-shots. The main reason why I haven’t discussed my asset allocation in detail before now is that I don’t want readers to treat it like a model portfolio and follow it blindly. Everyone’s situation is different. The need for variation in asset allocation from one investor to the next usually isn’t huge, but there is no one-size-fits-all portfolio. A secondary reason for keeping my asset allocation to myself is that I can’t be sure I’ll never change it. For example, I recently made the minor change of switching from an ETF of small-cap stocks to an ETF of small-cap value stocks . I don’t have any plans to change my current allocation, but I may think differe...
Read more

Updated Currency Exchange Method at BMO InvestorLine

There is now a more recent update of the method I use for exchanging currency at BMO OnvestorLine . I recently changed the procedure I use to convert large sums between Canadian and U.S. dollars at BMO InvestorLine. The method I use saves a lot of money compared to using the InvestorLine foreign exchange system. The latest change I made eliminated an annoying interest charge that I had to ask to be reversed. Most people don’t realize how expensive it can be to exchange currency. The extra charge banks and brokerages add gets hidden in the exchange rate. To see this extra charge, start by taking a sum in Canadian dollars, say C$10,000, and finding out how many U.S. dollars you can get. Then see what this U.S. amount would get going back to Canadian dollars. Many people might guess they’d get their original C$10,000 back, but they’d be wrong. In a recent test I did at BMO InvestorLine, I’d get back C$9754, for a loss of C$246 in two currency exchanges. That’s $123 per excha...
Read more

Archive

Show more