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Short Takes: Hedge Fund Red Flags, ETF Pairs for Tax-Loss Selling, and more

Here are my posts for the past two weeks:

Aren’t the Banks the Investing Experts?

Temporarily Losing Money on Stocks is Inevitable

Here are some short takes and some weekend reading:

A Wealth of Common Sense takes a look at a hedge fund claiming miraculous performance but sporting a huge number of red flags.

Canadian Portfolio Manager gives preferred ETFs for different asset classes as well as second choices that are suitable for tax-loss selling.

Big Cajun Man shows the impressive list of fees charged for a university term. He’s right when he calls this a business. Universities work hard to extract as much money as they can from students.

My Own Advisor predicts that CRM2 will lead to sticker shock for investors. This is likely true for the many mutual fund investors who think they don’t pay fees. It would be interesting to know how many investors think the fees they now see are new rather than having been hidden in the past.

Boomer and Echo feels paralyzed by huge available TFSA room. I’ve noticed in the past that available RRSP or TFSA room feels like a debt.

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Comments

  1. SSTJuly 29, 2016 at 9:43 AM

    re: Uni Costs -- it would be wonderful to eliminate government issued student loans so that education costs would collapse and be much more affordable.

    But that's not going to happen any time soon ("education" institutes will see to that), so I'll just have to keep that pinned up on my Oprah-style Dream Board. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael JamesJuly 29, 2016 at 10:52 AM

      @SST: There's no doubt that student loans have driven up university costs. But if we eliminate student loans, we'd have chaos in the short term. I have no good ideas for reducing costs other than waiting for effective online delivery of parts of higher education. This will come, but the techniques need significant improvement still. Just videos of professors talking isn't good enough.

      Delete
    2. SSTJuly 29, 2016 at 7:55 PM

      "But if we eliminate student loans, we'd have chaos in the short term."

      Banks still give out loans, don't they?

      Delete
    3. Michael JamesJuly 29, 2016 at 10:18 PM

      @SST: Yes, and they have the good sense to deny loans when the prospects of repayment are poor. Governments who back student loans greatly expand accessibility of loans allowing universities to drive up costs. Taking away government backing would deny many students their overpriced educations.

      Delete
  2. My Own AdvisorJuly 29, 2016 at 11:49 AM

    I don't see RRSP or TFSA room as debt, it's a big opportunity though.

    Thanks for the mention, enjoy the sunny weekend.

    Beer and golf for me :)
    Mark

    ReplyDelete
  3. Big Cajun Man (AW)July 29, 2016 at 12:58 PM

    Thanks for the inclusion this week, and while I understand a need for some fees, the list is a bit over the top (IMHO). Enjoy the Long Weekend with NO NAME!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Robb EngenJuly 29, 2016 at 4:09 PM

    Hi Michael, I hadn't thought of it that way (treating it as a debt) but you're right - that's a great way to look at unused contribution room. I guess I did that for my RRSP and really hammered away at the unused room until I finally maxed it out. Time to do the same for my TFSA.

    Thanks for the mention!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael JamesJuly 29, 2016 at 10:21 PM

      @Robb and @Mark: It's not so much that I think of unused room as debt as it feels like debt to me. We all have our irrationalities.

      Delete

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