Category: Announcements

Mike from the Financial Blogger has written an ebook about dividend investing. It’s a pretty good resource which explains why dividend investing is a good idea, how to select stocks and how to get started with the whole process.

I might consider a book on the same topic in the future, but I can tell you that my price will be much higher than Mike’s. For some reason unknown to me, he has chosen to GIVE this book away.

I guess he is just a nice guy. 🙂

You can download the book for free from this dividend investing page.

On with the links

I found this article about a program that download your Facebook page into Excel pretty funny. The idea is that you could be sitting in your cubicle looking like you are working hard on a spreadsheet, when in fact you are just getting your Facebook fix. 🙂

Preet wrote a great article about Home renovation rationalization: investment or self-gratification. A must read!

Canadian Capitalist says that a blanket ban on RRSP swaps is a bad idea.

Boomer & Echo asks are rewards cards costing you money? Not me.

Michael James came up with a fun mortgage solution – make them like car loans.

Million Dollar Journey covered some benefit programs for people with disabilities.

The Oblivious Investor answers the question Should you own stocks in retirement?

Time once again to update the big stock picking contest.  The great news is that I’m not in last place!

My specific pick was to short the gold ETF CGL.

What is CGL you ask? It is the Claymore Gold Bullion ETF which trades on the TSX and only invests in gold.

Check out my Canadian discount brokerage comparison to compare all the fees and services of Canadian discount brokerages.

Want to learn the mechanics of buying a stock or ETF?  Read How to buy an etf or stock using a Canadian discount brokerage.

Rank	Site	YTD Return (%)
1	Intelligent Speculator	9.4
2	Dividend Growth Investor	8.9
3	My Traders Journal	8.7
4	Million Dollar Journey	8.1
5	Where Does All My Money Go	-1.01
6	The Financial Blogger	-3.7
7	Money Smarts Blog	-5.7
8	The Wild Investor	-7.7
9	Beating The Index	-12.0

Happy Canada Day for those of you who are Canadian.

I was doing some unpacking last week and I found a bunch of unopened mail and various other documents.  I haven’t moved lately, but I still had a box or two of junk to go through from my 2nd last move (six years ago).  🙂

Anyway, I found an old birthday card from my Mom.  She always gives me $100 for a birthday present.  The card was opened, but the cheque was still in the card.  Unfortunately the banks don’t take cheques dated from 2004.  Luckily she was visiting at the time and give me $100.  No mention of any accrued interest however.

On with the links

The Oblivious Investor says that portfolio perfection is not an achievable goal.

Sustainable Personal Finance details their financial plan for the future.

Million Dollar Journey covered some key stock ratios.

Retire Happy blog says that free financial consultations are not such a great deal.

Canadian Capitalist says that covered calls are not that great.

Boomer & Echo reveals their dark side with 4 sinful stocks to own.

Michael James calculates that currency exchange costs are far more significant than trading commissions.

I’ve managed to meet my weight goal of staying under 180 pounds for the last three weeks. I’ve always been able to lose weight quite easily, but keeping it off is the hard part.

I am determined to keep going with this lighter weight!

On with the links

Financial Uproar had a great post about the fact that he’s not a dividend or anti-dividend investor. He just wants to own best stocks. Oh, and you can find out what he looks like here.

Glenn Cooke from InsureCan has a great primer on disability insurance plans. I need to look into my plan.

The New York Times talks about the annuity puzzle where people who should buy annuities – don’t.

Boomer & Echo shows how to add gold to your portfolio.

My Own Advisor took some notes from his meeting with investment guru Larry Swedroe.

Canadian Capitalist says that Burt Malkiel gives contradictory advice. Malkiel wrote “Random Walk Down Wall Street” which is one of the couch potato bibles.

Today’s Economy wrote about buying an expensive house and losing his frugality. He also had a great tip about using mulch to help with emergency landscaping. I’ve done that in the past.

I always thought of the CRA as this jolly, benevolent sort who lives near the North Pole. According to the Blunt Bean Counter, that is not the case: report all your income!

The Oblivious Investor explains why he doesn’t overweight small-cap or value stocks, even though the empirical evidence suggests it might be a good idea.

Michael James says that sticking to your investment plan is more important than having the perfect plan. Couldn’t agree more.

Tamara Baluja of the Globe & Mail says that Canadians are more in debt than Americans with a debt-to-disposable income of 147%. I’m not sure what their definition of disposable income is but 147% doesn’t sound that bad, since it includes mortgages.

Million Dollar Journey covered some major stock market indices. A very good primer.

A few more links

• Investing VS Speculating: The Difference Between Building Wealth and Gambling
• How to Pay Estimated Quarterly Taxes
• Building Our Baby Fund
• One Day Your Roth IRA Will Fund Itself
• Dave Ramsey Comments On My Post About His New House, His Debt Philosophy And Giving
• How To Go Without Cell Phones
• How To Go Without Cell Phones
• Should You Buy or Rent a Home in Your 20s?
• How to make money with your blog.

I’ve done the last of the new material for the 2nd edition of the RESP Book. Which of course means – no more posts on RESPs! Yay!!

Congrats to the Bruins for winning the Stanley Cup – I was cheering for the Canucks, but Boston definitely deserved the win.

On with the links

Sheryl Smolkin from Moneyville wrote an excellent article on avoiding summer job dangers. If you know someone who is starting their first summer job – send this to them.

Rob Carrick had an interesting piece called Financial advice business needs to grow up. Agreed – some standards are necessary.

Financial Uproar says that losing weight and losing debt is not complicated.

My friend Potato is a tortued soul these days. Between trying to finish his Ph.D. and wondering if he should get back into Sino-Forest – it’s been a long week.

Blunt Bean Counter had a good post on idiots people who pay more tax so they can save taxes.

Michael James says that if you want to save money – make sure you are applying your efforts in the right places.

The Oblivious Investor explains why small cap stocks can be good for your performance.

Blunt Bean Counter talks about the legalities of short sellers with respect to Sino-Forest.

Boomer & Echo can’t decide if he should pay off his credit card balance immediately or wait a bit.

Canadian Capitalist takes a peek at Vanguard’s Australian ETFs to see what kind of products and fees will be offered in Canada.

Million Dollar Journey has a good primer on money market instruments.

My Own Advisor makes a large financial error.

Retire Happy explains how a power of attorney works.

Busy week here on MSB with three posts. Unfortunately, they were all RESP-oriented. 🙂  That should change soon as I have only one more article to write for the 2nd edition of the book.

On with the links

Support Spy has some good tips on using group discount sites (like Groupon).

Dan Hallet notes that Vanguard will not affect the retail mutual fund market. I agree – most Canadians get their investments through commission advisors who won’t sell Vanguard. They will take assets away from iShares.

Romana King from Moneysense says that house sellers shouldn’t provide a written disclosure. I agree.

Jason Zweig has an easy way to beat the market.

Canadian Capitalist is not impressed with Vanguard’s wishy-washy take on active management. Just because a company is non-profit doesn’t mean it doesn’t want to sell more products.

Boomer & Echo compares potty training to personal finance.

Michael James defines different investing types.

Million Dollar Journey asks can people save too much money?

I thought I did well with three posts this week, but Preet outdid me with his first post in nine years: What is Vanguard going to do in Canada?

The Oblivious Investor explains that you should save for retirement before savings for your kid’s education.

Retire Happy wonders if Vanguard will start a mutual fund price war? Not a chance.

Some extra links

• Getting Diapers at a Discount – Possible?
  Save Money By Doing Simple DIY Maintenance And Repair Before You Call A Professional
• Should a Prospective Employer Be Able to Check Your Credit Score?
  Planning for Your Financial Future in Retirement
• How I Got My Free Credit Score Without Using A Credit Card

I decided to take last week off on a blogging vacation. Things have been pretty busy and it was quite nice to take some time off.

Fitness updates

I haven’t mentioned the diet or the pushups lately, so here is an update:

Weight – After dropping down to 180.0 lbs (from around 191) earlier this year after a rather unpleasant, hardcore diet, I gained a few of those pounds back. After reaching 184.5 pounds, I started dieting again, but not as intense as the last time.

I cut out evening snacks and have been watching my portion size at dinner. I’m now down to 180.5 which is great, but I’d like to keep going and get below 180.

Pushups – I’m still doing the 100 pushup challenge. I try to do the workout twice a week, but sometimes it’s only once. I’ve been stuck on the week 3, day 1 workout for a long time. That particular workout is to do five sets of pushups – 12, 17, 13, 13 and 17+ pushups. I can easily do the pushups and can finish off with 25 or 30 as long as I take a good rest between sets.

The problem is that the workout calls for a 60 second gap between sets which makes it very difficult.

Last night I attempted the workout with a 60 second gap and did the first four sets ok, but could only do 8 pushups on the final set. I’ll keep at it.

The RESP Book 2nd Edition – Still in progress, I haven’t done a lot since I took last week off, but I’m still hopeful that I can get this out for September.

On with the links

Sustainable Personal Finance had an interesting look at his financial plan.

The Oblivious Investor explains that you should set up your asset allocation as if all your investments are in one portfolio.

Joanna Slater from the Globe & Mails says the foundation continues to crumble in US housing.

Michael James says that people pay a high price for smooth cash flow. I had no idea that you could pay property taxes and insurance annually for a discount. I’ll have to look into this.

Rob Carrick notes that owning a house isn’t a good choice if you can’t afford it.

Scott Ronalds from Steadyhand has a humorous look at a terminally sick healthcare ETF.

Barrie McKenna from the Globe & Mails says a postal strike would have fewer consequences. He mentions that employees can get a maximum of 7 weeks of holiday. Wow!

Canadian Capitalist covered the BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF. His call? Leave it alone for now.

Boomer & Echo found 4 hidden costs when you sell your house.

Million Dollar Journey wrote about technical risk ratios.

Thanks for all the tulip-saving suggestions from last week.  We are in the process of buying blood meal, garlic, a gun, a coyote, a dog, several hens, lots of beer and a couple of redneck armed guards.  🙂

On with the links

The Dividend Guy is going to use dividend investing in an RESP.

Barrie McKenna from the Globe & Mail reveals the flaw in targeted tax cuts. Couldn’t agree more.

Boomer & Echo explains how to use e-post to organize your bills and shows how to kill the joy of giving – very good post.

Canadian Capitalist switched his internet from Bell to TechSavvy. I’m not sure if the savings are worthwhile.

Beyond Growth exposes yet another self-help scam.  $500 for a habits course -robbery.

Dianne Nice from the Globe & Mail is saving money by planting vegetables instead of blooms.

Eric Reguly of the Globe & Mail says that the EU should have listened to the IMF’s rescue plan.

Krystal has started to destroy her mortgage.

Rob Carrick advises to look at the fund fact sheet when buying mutual funds.

Michael James says you should run your winners over and cut some slack to your losers. Some of the time anyway. 🙂

Million Dollar Journey wrote a great guide to writing covered options.

The Globe reports that Portugal opens inquiry into rating agencies. Talk about shooting the messenger.

The Oblivious Investor had a good post on fixed lifetime annuities and how to evaluate their fees.