Short Takes: Mutual Fund Fees, Getting Out of Debt, and more

It was a short week for me because I was off playing some golf in Florida. My only post for this week was

Leasing a Car is not Like Renting It

Here are my short takes and some weekend reading.

There is a serious problem with Canada’s mutual fund industry. In a letter to the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), Steadyhand Investment Funds clearly explains this problem and how to fix it. My favourite part of the letter is a quote from a mutual fund investor who clearly does not understand how advisors get paid: “Our financial advisor is such a nice man. Every year he takes us out for a wonderful dinner. I wish we could pay him [in] some way.”

Mr. Money Mustache shows a young couple how to change their finances to climb out of debt and prepare for a family.

Canadian Couch Potato review iShares’ latest currency-unhedged ETFs.

The Blunt Bean Counter discusses some tricky tax situations related to travel expenses for rental properties, declining a tax-free rollover to a spouse, and pooling charitable donations between spouses.

Preet Banerjee offers some options for cutting down on bank fees.

Big Cajun Man discusses his experiences with boomerang children.

Comments

  1. Value IndexerApril 19, 2013 at 11:11 AM

    You know, I think all those wonderful financial advisors are missing a great business opportunity... they could start charging an annual fee to the clients they give the best service too (ie the most gifts, frequent advice on hot mutual funds to buy, etc). I guess they're just not interested in money.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael JamesApril 19, 2013 at 1:25 PM

      @Value Indexer: I think you may be onto something. Perhaps we should start a business to collect tips from investors for their volunteer advisors. We wouldn't ask for anything for ourselves (directly).

      Delete
    2. Value IndexerApril 19, 2013 at 8:42 PM

      That's brilliant. I'm sure all these selfless advisors would appreciate a free service to help them.

      Delete
  2. My Own AdvisorApril 20, 2013 at 10:59 PM

    Rough life.... :)

    Thanks for the mention Michael, hope you're having fun!

    Mark

    ReplyDelete

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