Category: Announcements

Andrew Hallam is a Canadian teaching in Singapore who wrote a best selling book called Millionaire Teacher.   I had the pleasure of meeting up with Andrew recently in Singapore and even went running with him several times.  Andrew is a pretty good runner, but he was nice enough to slow down, so I could keep up.  🙂

He sent me a copy of his book and I have to say that he did a fantastic job putting together a great introduction to personal finance and couch potato investing.  Andrew spent a lot of time writing and then rewriting the book numerous times.  He told me that he tested out material for his book on his colleagues and after they kept coming back saying they couldn’t understand what he wrote – he kept rewriting the book until they all understood the material.

The book covers his “Nine rules of wealth you should have learned in school”, which include various lessons on spending, investor psychology, index investing and how to build a portfolio.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to look after their own investments, but doesn’t know where to start.  The book can be ordered from Amazon or purchased in any bookstore.

For a more indepth book review, check out Squawkfox’s very detailed review.

Have you read this book?  Did you like it?

Kindle Sale Ending Soon

A reminder that the half priced sale of my RESP Book – Kindle version is ending in a couple of days.

On with the links

Canadian Capitalist wrote that you shouldn’t bother with retirement planning if you are less than 40.  I agree.  There are too many assumptions you have to make to do proper retirement planning – future expenses, investment returns, inflation rates.  As I point out in the comments, this doesn’t mean that young people shouldn’t be doing financial planning.

Apparently the airlines are finally advertising the actual price of their flights.  Imagine that!

Michael James reviewed the book Moneyball.  I watched the movie coming back from Singapore and it was excellent!  I love reading anything by Michael Lewis, so you can be sure that I’ll be getting this book from the library soon.

Boomer & Echo had a great post about health and dental insurance which points out that they aren’t really insurance.  In fact they are really a form of a health savings account.

Holy Potato concludes that he doesn’t need any life insurance.  I think he’s dead wrong.

Robb Engen from Boomer & Echo wrote a good post on Cheap hotel rates:  An Insider’s tips over at Moneyville.  Rob used to work in the hotel industry, so he really is an insider.

My Own Advisor just slayed one of his financial dragons – read the article to find out which one.

Oblivious Investing explains how to clean up your investment portfolio.

Million Dollar Journey is curious about the Facebook IPO and wonders if it will be as good as an investment as Google.  Unfortunately, he doesn’t say if he’s planning to buy any himself.

I finally got around to getting an e-book version of The RESP Book created and it is now available from the Kindle store on Amazon.com.  Note that you can read a Kindle book on your computer – you don’t need an e-book reader.

I’ve decided to have a special sale for my readers only and reduced the price to $4.99.  This Sunday (or whenever I remember), I will be setting the price to the regular level of $9.99.

I realize that most Canadians don’t have Kindles, so I will be looking into making the book available in other formats so that it can be read on iPads, Kobos etc.  Amazon has made it very simple to upload a Kindle book which is why I started there.  Unfortunately, some of the other e-book sellers make it harder to list an e-book with them.

If you can spare a moment, I could use a review or two on the e-book Amazon page.

Can I read this e-book without an e-reader?

Yes!  You can download an app for whatever device you want to use – iPhone, PC, MAC etc.

Here are the instructions:

• Set up an Amazon account if you don’t have one.
• Go to the RESP book page.
• Select “Buy now with 1-Click”.
• On the next page it will say “[your name], we did not find a Kindle device or reading app registered….”.
• Select which app you want from the list of PC, iPhone, iPad, Android or BlackBerry.
• Download the app and then run it.
• At this point you should be able to buy any Kindle book.

 

 

 

Over the holidays, my wife and I went bowling with the kids (age 3 & 5).  I haven’t bowled in 25 years and all I remember is being in the gutter most of the time.

They gave us a lane with rails on it which prevent the ball from going into the gutter.  What a great invention – not only did the kids get a lot more out of the game, so did my wife and I since we are not exactly pro bowlers.

For the record – I won the game.  😉

My favourite quote of the week

“I wanted a happy culture. So I fired all the unhappy people.”
—A very successful CEO (who asked not to be named)

Reporter looking for someone to interview

A reporter for More magazine is looking for a woman over the age of 40 who had some questions or issues with doing RESP withdrawals.  If you are interested in doing a short interview – send me an email at mike at moneysmartsblog dot com and I’ll set you up.

On with the links

Financial advisors have taken their fair share of criticism lately. But it’s important to remember that some advisors care about more than just making money off you. Garry Gorr wrote a great piece about how he has improved as a financial advisor. A good read.

And now back to the bad advisor articles.  This elderly couple got taken to the cleaners by their mutual fund “advisor” Enzo DeVuono who works for Equity Associates Inc., based in Markham, Ont.  Between the crooked advisor, their moronic son and two complicit financial institutions (B2B Trust and AGF Trust), this couple never stood a chance.  I may have to do a separate article on this situation since it irritates me so much.

Mike from the Oblivious Investor says that investing your house downpayment in REITs is not crazy, but not recommended.

Holy Potato did a great job of analyzing my real estate situation when I asked him “Should I sell my house?”.  I have no intentions of selling my house, but he has come out with a number of articles which indicate that the housing market in Toronto is over-valued

Million Dollar Journey picks 4 winning stocks for 2012.

Michael James discovered what active investing and Tebow time have in common.

Boomer & Echo suggest that you shouldn’t donate if you are in debt. I don’t agree – if your debts are a problem, then no donations. Otherwise, I don’t see an issue with some donations.

Holy Potato also wrote an interesting post about active investing vs passive investing.  I agree with his concerns that the Canadian equity market is not diversified enough.

 

Worldwide economic recession is happening and it is hurting a lot of businesses because of cost-cutting. In the United States of America, there have been talks about giving out stimulus checks to help the economy.  Many people are wondering if there be a stimulus check in 2012?

Stimulus check definition

According to experts a stimulus check is defined as a check that the U.S government gives to its taxpayers so that the consumers will spend the money in order to help generate sales and income in businesses like retailers, manufacturers, real estate and the like. The amount on the check depends on the income tax return filed by taxpayers. Accordingly, those who are joint taxpayers will receive twice as much as other taxpayers will receive in their stimulus check.

Will there be a stimulus check in 2013?

Why is the government doing this?

America had been hit hard by recession in 2008 and a lot people lost their jobs and businesses closed down because of poor income.  The economy was on a downward slope so a lot of people tended to avoid spending and only buy what they needed and not what they want. Certain business sectors and even real estate crashed  And the solution is to give out stimulus checks to the taxpayers to stimulate the economy.

Why does the government see this as one of the solutions?

By giving money away money, they will have more opportunity to spend and in return, it will stimulate economic growth. This is one of the attempts to help fix recession and the increasing unemployment rate.  But a point of concern is raised if the government spends too much and increase the debt load which will also bring a negative effect on the economy.

Stimulus check look-back

In 2008, stimulus checks have been given in order to help the economy in the midst of the crisis. About 120 million households were given up to $600 per person. Then in 2009, about $250 stimulus checks were sent out to select groups. During that year, the stimulus check was given to each person receiving Social Security and SSI because of the very low inflation that year.

In 2010 and 2011, there was a proposed stimulus check of about $250 million that was intended to be given in the first quarter or 2010, but it never happened.

Who can get the stimulus check?

According to reports, in 2010 and 2011, there are selected groups that are intended to be given a stimulus check. This includes people who receive Social Security or SSI.

At the beginning of the year I entered into a stock picking contest with some other bloggers, as I do every year.

Once again I decided to short gold which didn’t work out all that well, although it was better than last year.

Here are the results:

Rank	Site	YTD Return (%)
1	Dividend Growth Investor	15.36
2	Million Dollar Journey	3.12
3	Intelligent Speculator	-4.90
4	Money Smarts Blog	-9.55
5	Where Does All My Money Go	-17.04
6	My Traders Journal	-19.00
7	The Financial Blogger	-21.73
8	The Wild Investor	-33.34
9	Beat the Index	-44.08

 

I would like to wish all you readers a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Festivus or anything else you want to celebrate in the next little while. 🙂

I’m looking forward to having a bit of time off during which we’ll be visiting family and hopefully getting the little ones out skating.

I’ll resume posting at some point in January.  Have a good one!

On with the links

Mike from the Oblivious Investor made a pretty huge change to his investment portfolio. Hopefully Vanguard will offer this kind of product in Canada some day. It’s hard to argue with the simplicity.

Morris R from Self-Publishing 2.0 makes the interesting observation that we are reading less and watching videos more.

I thought this story was neat – Amazon hires thousands of seasonal workers and they all live in RVs.

Million Dollar Journey says that cash is king. I can’t say I disagree. Another benefit of having lots of cash is that you don’t have to worry about bounced cheques or having enough money to pay a large bill.

Blunt Bean Counter had a good article about an easy way to track your spending.

Michael James argues that pay parity is not a valid negotiation argument.

Boomer & Echo how to know if your investment loan tax-deductible?

After roughly 12 years of being a home owner, we made our last mortgage payment ever which means that we are now debt free!  I don’t think our lives will change all that much as we still have some savings goals to deal with – RRSP, TFSA etc which should suck up some cash.

Regardless, it’s a great feeling.

On with the links

If you are interested in business and entrepreneurship – I wrote a review of the book “Built to Sell” by John Warrillow.  It covers how to make your business less reliant on you and easier to sell.  A similar topic to E-Myth Revisited, which I also reviewed.

I was interviewed by BrighterLife about RESPs.  Surprised?  You can read all about it at: What happens if your child doesn’t go to university?

Canadian Couch Potato in partnership with PWL Capital is giving away some free financial advice. You have to make a charitable donation, but it is for a great cause.

Jennifer Stewart is trying to cut down on excessive kid toys and is asking for RESP gifts at Xmas for her child.  I think this is a great idea, since most kids end up with way too many toys.

Facebook has admitted it made a mistake by not allowing residents of Effin, Ireland to put their hometown on their profiles. Check out the video on the article – funny song.

The Oblivious Investor came up with a good point about investment planning in Asset allocation is not a goal.

Rob Carrick has some good advice – Get your debt to zero in 2012.  Sorry Rob – already done. 😉

I’m heading to Asia in the new year and while I’m not a fan of flying – as long as I don’t have to sit near any RIM employees, I should be ok.  Bizarre story!

A lot of entrepreneurs have grand delusions dreams about owning their own business.  One man decided that working for “the man” isn’t so bad after all.

Canadian Capitalist says an easy solution to high mutual fund MERs is to invest in lower cost products.

Blunt Bean Counter had a good article about individual pension plans.

My Own Advisor figured out the top Canadian REITs.

Michael James came up with a better standard for explaining investment costs.

Million Dollar Journey talks about tax considerations for the self-employed.

Boomer & Echo explains ADRs (American Depository Receipts).

It’s getting a lot colder these days – I know because I’m still riding my bike to work and I can feel it!

As much as I like commuting on the bike, by this time of year I’m not too disappointed when I have to stop because of snow or ice.

Anyone out there into winter riding?

On with the links

Michael Lesauvage took a close look at his Canadian Tire Options MasterCard and found that the rewards rate is significantly less than 1%. Read the post to find out why – unbelievable.  I’ll be talking about this card next week.

Fabrice Taylor of the G&M explains why he likes Home Capital as an investment. This article explains why investing for dividends isn’t always a good move.

George Athanassakos of the G&M says that economically, there is a fine line between Greece and Canada. Very interesting.

Financial Uproar brought up some good points in maybe you shouldn’t be an entrepreneur. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

Phil Taylor talks about the benefits of public education vs private education, using himself as a pretty good example in should I stop retirement contributions to pay for private school?  Couldn’t agree more.

The Oblivious Investor answers what to do with a windfall.

Michael James explains why calculating investment returns can be tricky.

Boomer & Echo finishes off their excellent financial planning series with Create your final financial plan. Well worth reading the whole series.

Canadian Capitalist wonders why Ally bank isn’t more popular?  Why indeed?