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Newsletter Archive
Q1/6 Focus on ETFs
Q4/5 LW Canadian Equity
Q4/5 Saxon High Income
Q3/5 Saxon Small Cap
Q3/5 BG Income
Q2/5 Trimark Canadian
Q2/5 MB Fixed Income
Q1/5 BG Canadian Intrinsic
Q1/5 MB American Equity
Q1/5 Mawer N.C. Closure
Q4/4 Mawer Cdn Equity
Q4/4 Mawer Balanced RSP
Q3/4 Sceptre Equity Growth
Q3/4 Saxon World Growth
Q2/4 BG Small Cap
Q2/4 Mawer U.S. Equity
Q1/4 PH&N Cdn Growth
Q1/4 Leith Wheeler US Eq
Q4/3 iShares S&P500
Q4/3 BG Canadian Equity
Q3/3 North Growth US Eq
Q3/3 HSBC Mortgage
Q2/3 MB Cdn Eq Growth
Q2/3 Batterymarch US Eq
Q1/3 Saxon Stock
Q1/3 BG Balanced
Q4/2 Mawer New Canada
Q4/2 Perigee T-Plus
Q3/2 PH&N Dividend Inc
Q3/2 PH&N Bond
Q2/2 Leith Wheeler Cdn Eq
Q2/2 Perigee Diversifund
Q1/2 PH&N Cdn Equity
Q1/2 Mawer U.S. Equity
| An annuity can brighten your golden years | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 4:27 PM EST 08/19/06 | Taxes |
| "As Canadians get older, two of the biggest challenges we face are memory loss, and how to generate income. I can't help much with the first problem. But let me share an idea that might just result in more income for you in retirement. This idea is a cousin to the idea I shared in my article on July 15 that applied to those with holding companies. This idea is called a "back-to-back prescribed annuity" because it involves buying an annuity and insurance "back-to-back."" | ||
| Uncle Sam wants you ... to file | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:50 PM EST 08/14/06 | Taxes |
| "When it comes to U.S. citizens living in Canada, many have bad memories -- or simply don't want to remember -- about tax obligations south of the border. Since there are so many of you, let me remind you of some of the rules you should be aware of." | ||
| The bankruptcy boom is back | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:47 PM EST 08/14/06 | Debt |
| "A tough 2005 law initially slashed the number of filings, but the numbers are rising again because the root causes of unpaid debt were never addressed." | ||
| Clients deserve to know annual rate of return | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:42 AM EST 08/05/06 | Brokers |
| "A Toronto financial consultant is leading a campaign to have investment companies fix a ridiculous deficiency in the way they show clients how much money they're making or losing." | ||
| The time's come for full disclosure on return rates | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:40 AM EST 08/05/06 | Brokers |
| "Certainly, the vast majority of firms do not disclose to clients how much money their portfolios are making or losing each year. This is scandalous when you think about it and yet another example of how the investment world sometimes treats its clients like infants." | ||
| Seeking sanity amid a market of ETF mania | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:38 AM EST 08/05/06 | Indexing |
| "There's a slightly crazed, peak-of-the-market feeling to the gusher of new exchange-traded funds being issued these days." | ||
| Split share ownership can be a capital idea | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:36 AM EST 08/05/06 | Taxes |
| "Sharing can save you money, and particularly income taxes, if you're willing to share ownership. Let me explain." | ||
| Index funds are more subtle than you might think | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:31 AM EST 08/05/06 | Indexing |
| "Some things are meant to be simple. The world really doesn't need purple ketchup, blueberry vodka or talking toasters. But if you're an index investor - a wonderfully simple investment strategy - it might be time to add new types of index funds to your portfolio. We're not talking about funds that track Andorran utilities or large-cap binocular manufacturers. But some index funds measure the market in more subtle ways than traditional index funds do, and they're worth looking into." | ||
| Stay off the taxman's hit list | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:25 AM EST 08/05/06 | Taxes |
| "Last November, an Auditor-General report shed light on how the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) chooses tax returns for verification, which can be helpful in assessing the likelihood that your return may be selected. Here's the highlights." | ||
| Your small business has woes? Here's how to protect yourself | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:23 AM EST 08/05/06 | Taxes |
| "It's the same feeling many Canadians have experienced when investing in a small private business, only to be disappointed that the business has failed. You get your hopes up, then you realize the dream has fallen apart. From a tax perspective, what next?" | ||
| Life insurance can be a saviour if you own a holding company | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:20 AM EST 08/05/06 | Taxes |
| "The truth is, life insurance can be an effective tool. Today, I want to look at a "corporate insured annuity," which can make sense for those with holding companies." | ||
| Financial infidelity is rampant | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:59 AM EST 07/13/06 | Thrift |
| "Is it cheating if you lie about where the money went? Yep. And it's every bit as damaging to your relationship as the physical kind." | ||
| Is seg fund security worth the high cost? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:31 PM EST 07/11/06 | Funds |
| "In most cases a segregated fund will mimic a regular mutual fund. You name the asset class and it's likely there are several mutual fund companies with a corresponding segregated fund. When it comes to MERs, the difference between segregated funds and their twin non-segregated fund is often huge." | ||
| Flow-through shares produce charitable bonanza | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:00 AM EST 07/11/06 | Taxes |
| "You'll also be entitled to a donation tax credit for the $10,000 value of the shares, which will save approximately $4,600 in tax. So, you paid $10,000 for the shares, got $4,600 back in tax savings from the deduction, and $4,600 from the donation tax credit, leaving a net out-of-pocket cost of just $800. That is, a $10,000 donation to charity cost you just $800. That's what I call charitable arbitrage." | ||
| Protectednotes may leave you exposed | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:56 AM EST 07/11/06 | Funds |
| "Principal-protected notes (PPNs) have long been one of those "have your cake and eat it too" financial products that -- in my view anyway -- just didn't cut it for average investors." | ||
| Bing's secrets to a happy retirement | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:43 AM EST 07/02/06 | Retirement |
| "The truth is, those who intend to have a happy retirement must deliver the goods on the human aspects of the issue as they do on the fiduciary ones. Unfortunately this takes the kind of cogitation that you, as a reader of this magazine, are no longer set up to do very well. You've been in business so long that your mind is accustomed to a fine blend of wishful thinking and can-do attitudinizing on subjective subjects. "It's gonna be great!" you tell yourself. "Wake up at noon every day like I did when I was a teenager! Have a bagel! Play 36 holes! Couple of drinks at the 19th green! Wake up and do it again the next day! That's what I call living!" Right. Have you thought about what 25 years of that will be like?" | ||
| What price college admission? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:41 AM EST 07/02/06 | Education |
| "Even valedictorians are finding it hard to land spots at the nation's most-selective colleges, so "Ben" wasn't about to take chances. Over the past four years, the New Jersey father of two has spent about $30,000 for guidance from Michele Hernandez, a Lake Oswego, Ore. college counselor who charges up to $36,000 per student for advice on everything from what courses to take to how to spend summers." | ||
| Naming the kids' guardians is no child's play | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:34 AM EST 07/02/06 | Taxes |
| "If you're the parent or guardian of minor children, here are some thoughts to keep in mind about naming guardians for your children." | ||
| When writing your will, make sure your intentions are clear | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:50 AM EST 06/25/06 | Taxes |
| "Things can move from mere confusion to costly legal battles if you leave your heirs uncertain about your intentions when you're gone. And few things can cause greater problems than joint ownership." | ||
| The study of the decade | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:59 PM EST 06/23/06 | Brokers |
| "Over the next few years, you will be hearing a great deal about a ground-breaking new study that is just now starting to receive nationwide attention. The only notice of it that I have seen in the public media just appeared in a popular money magazine: "A new study compares the cost and performance of more than 4,000 mutual funds--some sold by brokers, some selected by people on their own--from 1996 to 2002. The people won." In other words, do-it-yourselfers outperform financial advisors." | ||
| Assessing the costs and benefits of brokers | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:58 PM EST 06/23/06 | Brokers |
| "Exploring these dimensions, we do not find that brokers deliver substantial tangible benefits. In short, while brokerage customers are directed toward funds that are harder to find and evaluate, brokerage customers pay substantially higher fees and buy funds that have lower risk-adjusted returns than directly-placed funds. Further, brokered funds exhibit no better skill at aggregate-level asset allocation than funds sold through the direct channel. This analysis implies that any benefits that exist must be found along less tangible dimensions." | ||
| Who cares about fund categories? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:28 PM EST 06/22/06 | Funds |
| "Investor advocates believe innovative fund marketeers have hijacked the fund business from the portfolio managers. The reason so many fund categories are required is that the marketing departments have created all manner of funds, many of little real value to retail investors. Whatever happened to basic bread and butter investing?" | ||
| Real estate is risky business | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:05 PM EST 06/18/06 | Real Estate |
| "Though U.S home-price gains have slowed, prices still far outstrip fundamentals, according to Yale economist Robert Shiller. Speaking Friday at a press conference in New York, Shiller, the author of "Irrational Exhuberance" and co-producer of the Case-Shiller real estate indexes, pointed to several measures he tracks.In justifying his pessimism, he pointed out that price increases have far out paced rises in construction costs, rents and income. In addition, inventory levels are up, as are interest rates and real estate holdings as a percentage of the gross national product." | ||
| Estate planning for the wise | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:03 PM EST 06/18/06 | Taxes |
| "Another challenge of aging is deciding how to deal with your children in your will. Some of your kids may disappoint you, some may have special needs, and some may have no idea how to handle money. Today, I want to talk about dealing with your children in your will." | ||
| Today's graduates face a world that is seriously tougher | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:54 PM EST 06/17/06 | Thrift |
| "Many older people believe that young people are spoiled and self-indulgent. Worse, they are blissfully unappreciative of how difficult things were in days of yore. In lots of ways, if not most, the reality is just the reverse: Many older people are unaware that today's college graduates face a world that is seriously tougher." | ||
| Even the managers won't buy these funds | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:13 PM EST 06/10/06 | Funds |
| "Always be wary of a fund whose strategy sounds more like a marketing pitch. Get exposure to stocks without any of the downside. That's the pitch of principal-protection funds, and it sounds pretty compelling. If you just hold the funds for five years you'll get your principal back, as well as possibly some price appreciation to boot. Principal-protection funds buy stocks to give you market exposure, but they also guarantee your principal by buying bonds and possibly an insurance wrapper. At the risk of causing you to feel a little weltschmerz, I have to tell you the funds don't live up to their promise." | ||
| Understand the rights of your spouse upon your death | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:06 PM EST 06/10/06 | Taxes |
| "Fact or fiction, it kind of makes you want to have some fun in your own will, doesn't it? Just be careful. Your beneficiaries may have certain rights. Today, let's talk about your spouse." | ||
| Life is less expensive for older couples | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:01 PM EST 06/07/06 | Retirement |
| "Imagine two couples. They live side by side in virtually identical houses. The Youngs have two children in their early teens. The Olds have lived there forever and are retired. Now guess the income the Olds would need to have the same standard of living as the Youngs" | ||
| Investors choose high-fee index funds | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:39 AM EST 06/04/06 | Indexing |
| "Investors appear to have a poor grasp of the fee issue, failing to minimize fees even when the benefits are presented in a clear and incontrovertible disclosure. "Most investors don't understand the importance of mutual funds' fees," Madrian notes. To zero in on the issue, the researchers asked test subjects to choose among a variety of index-style funds with identical stock holdings but different fees." | ||
| Curse of the cold hand strikes | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:40 AM EST 05/30/06 | Funds |
| "Nothing chills congenial feelings between a money manager and his investors faster than a cold streak. Years of admiration and satisfaction can fade in an amazingly short time when the manager's performance falters -- even if the reason is nothing more substantial than a temporary shift in market conditions." | ||
| Landscaping may be beheld in the deductibles | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:43 AM EST 05/30/06 | Taxes |
| "Tax deductions can be like chocolate. The more the better -- if we can get away with it. Sometimes Canadians misunderstand the rules around certain deductions. Landscaping comes to mind. Sometimes these costs are deductible, sometimes they're not." | ||
| Best off-season summer resorts | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:48 PM EST 05/21/06 | Travel |
| "Here are some getaway spots around the world where you can vacation like a millionaire without shelling out big bucks" | ||
| Donating securities isn't easy | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:19 PM EST 05/21/06 | Taxes |
| "Finally, the charity's broker needs to be well-rehearsed in how to hand-hold a donor and his or her broker through the donation process. This process will typically require the donor to provide his or her broker with a letter of direction and information related to the charity's brokerage account and the securities to be donated, in order to make the donation happen." | ||
| The spending question | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:18 PM EST 05/21/06 | Retirement |
| "What will you really shell out in retirement? Maybe not as much as financial planning calculators tell you." | ||
| Commodity wary? Try custom indexing | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:13 PM EST 05/14/06 | Indexing |
| "Just remember that with indexing, you're buying the market. Where the S&P/TSX composite index is concerned, you have an approximate 45-per-cent weighting in energy and materials, which includes metals and gold stocks. With the S&P/TSX 60 index of big blue chips, you have 41-per-cent exposure to commodities. For investors willing to sacrifice a bit of upside to limit downside, this is too much." | ||
| Unbundling Canadian ETFs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:12 PM EST 05/14/06 | Indexing |
| "Consider two options for the truly long-term index investor. The first option is to purchase an iUnit ETF and the second option is to buy the index's stocks directly. At first glance, the choice between buying a low-cost exchange-traded fund that holds many stocks or buying each of the stocks directly appears to be obvious. The exchange-traded fund is likely to be the better bargain. However, buying the stocks directly may be better for some investors because the Canadian stock market is very small and it is dominated by a few big names. As a result, one might reasonably approximate an index fund by holding only a few stocks." | ||
| Zero taxes and help a favourite charity | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:07 PM EST 05/14/06 | Taxes |
| "This week, I want to share with you one idea that will: (1) allow you to eliminate all the tax on an investment you've decided to sell, (2) make a potentially generous gift to charity, (3) keep much of the sale proceeds for yourself, and (4) prove that I am more of a math geek than I thought." | ||
| ETFs: 5 smart strategies | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:26 PM EST 05/07/06 | Indexing |
| "Exchange-traded funds can cut your investment costs, lower your tax bill and simplify your life. Just make sure you handle them with care." | ||
| Welcome to the dead zone | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:12 PM EST 05/07/06 | Real Estate |
| "Real estate survival guide: The great housing bubble has finally started to deflate, and the fall will be harder in some markets than others." | ||
| The budget's tax-saving measures | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:02 PM EST 05/07/06 | Taxes |
| "The federal budget this week was full of incentives. That is, measures to encourage certain behaviour. Some of these measures provide real opportunities if you know what to do with them. Today, I want to take a look at a few of the measures, and suggest how best to use them to save tax." | ||
| New home sales soar | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:46 AM EST 04/30/06 | Real Estate |
| "But economist Bob Brusca of FAO Economics said last month's drop in new home prices is a sign that the market for new homes isn't nearly as strong as the jump in sales would suggest. He noted that the report showed an unusual drop in prices from both February and a year earlier, which could be a sign that home builders are cutting prices to move a large supply of new homes now on the market. "New homes sales sprang back to life like a zombie in a cheap horror flick," Brusca said. "And like that zombie, housing really is dead. Don't let all that twitching fool you."" | ||
| Before you claim a deduction make sure it's legitimate | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:07 AM EST 04/30/06 | Taxes |
| "Now, the Canada Revenue Agency is not in the habit of telling folks what the government is looking for when it decides who should be audited. But it's not difficult to figure out the flags that could lead to the CRA taking a closer look at your tax return. This is a partial list of things that, based on an informal survey of tax professionals and a couple of friends at the CRA, you should be aware of." | ||
| Barclays announceschange from iUnits to iShares | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:05 AM EST 04/30/06 | Indexing |
| "Barclays Global Investors Canada Limited ("Barclays Canada") announced plans today to change the name of its Toronto Stock Exchange-listed family of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from iUnits to iShares. Leveraging the strength of the iShares product line around the world, Barclays Canada will be aligning its ETF brand identity with its global counterparts." | ||
| Stave off old-age poverty | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:26 PM EST 04/23/06 | Retirement |
| "Although few elderly Americans are officially poor, 75% live on less than $26,777 yearly. Even a tiny amount stashed in investments and savings make a difference in old age." | ||
| Active traders: On-line brokers want you | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:22 PM EST 04/23/06 | Brokers |
| "Hard-trading stock jocks are suddenly getting the VIP treatment from the big on-line brokerage firms. At least five major brokers have in the past few months introduced cut-rate commissions for active traders, a term that is commonly defined as placing at least 30 buy or sell orders per quarter. These discounts can take regular commissions of as much as $29 per trade and reduce them to as little as $9.95, which means they offer substantial savings." | ||
| These tips can help trim your tax bill | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:15 PM EST 04/23/06 | Taxes |
| "When it comes to saving tax, there's more than one way to skin a cat. Today, let me share a few last-minute tips that could still save you money as you file your 2005 return." | ||
| ETFs: The cheap, the dear and the fairly valued | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:19 PM EST 04/16/06 | Indexing |
| "Looking for bargains in a fairly valued market? Look beyond Asian and real estate stocks and toward mega-cap equities. And though energy stocks don't seem as overvalued as they were at the end of 2005, they still aren't a great deal." | ||
| Final paycheck gets ever farther away | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:12 PM EST 04/16/06 | Retirement |
| "It's getting harder to quit. By some measures, Americans are richer than ever before. Yet it is proving increasingly difficult to amass enough money to retire in comfort. What's the problem? We face a fistful of them -- including these seven." | ||
| Got a bone to pick with the taxman? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:48 AM EST 04/16/06 | Taxes |
| "Taxpayers aren't immune to making mistakes either. And the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) makes mistakes on a regular basis as well. The result? Disagreements over how much tax you really owe. Taxpayers are now starting to receive their notices of assessment for filing their 2005 tax returns. If you happen to disagree with your assessment, what are your options to ensure that your opinion has been fully considered?" | ||
| Why so many grads 'fail to launch' | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:55 AM EST 04/08/06 | Thrift |
| "Many 20-somethings find themselves moving home to live with Mom and Dad, just like the movie 'Failure to Launch.' Blame it on the inertia -- and some very real challenges." | ||
| Are you really self-employed? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:34 AM EST 04/08/06 | Taxes |
| "Each year, thousands of Canadians report self-employment income on their tax returns because of the tax deductions available. The real question is whether these people are really self-employed, or are they more akin to employees who are just trying to gain tax breaks?" | ||
| It's better to do it yourself with ETFs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:31 AM EST 04/08/06 | Indexing |
| "A persuasive case can be made that indexing as carried out with ETFs is an ideal strategy for do-it-yourself investors. By tracking the major indexes and avoiding the advice costs folded into mutual funds, it's possible to make returns that compare favourably with most mutual funds. But the appeal of indexing is diminished, if not nullified, when the cost of advice is added in." | ||
| Foreign ETF Fee-ver | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:51 PM EST 04/03/06 | Indexing |
| "EWW is not cheap; it's a stretch to call it "diversified;" and its two biggest holdings can be bought on the New York Stock Exchange. I even wonder how much it has to do with Mexico. Cemex, for example, is a wonderful cement company, but its operations are so global these days that I'm not sure I'd call it a "Mexican" company, except with respect to its history and domicile. EWW seems like an investment product desperate for an identity." | ||
| Good news for those with shareholder loans | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:02 PM EST 04/02/06 | Taxes |
| "Since those decisions last October, there have been four other court decisions on the issue of GAAR. The score? Taxpayers 3, CRA 1. The most recent case provides an interesting planning opportunity for business owners. Let me explain." | ||
| Mild-mannered Francis Chou | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:42 AM EST 04/02/06 | Funds |
| "He has only a grade 12 education and used to labor as a Bell Canada repairman. He has never worked for a big bank or a mutual fund company. He largely shuns the Courvoisier-chugging Bay Street set. But if you're searching for the best mutual fund manager in Canada, you'll find it difficult to avoid quiet, shy Francis Chou." | ||
| RBC announces massive fund overhaul | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:08 PM EST 03/31/06 | Funds |
| "The RBC O'Shaughnessy U.S. Growth Fund will be capped effective June 30, 2006, to allow the fund's management to deploy the large amount of capital gathered recently. The move affects only new investment, and pre-authorized investment plans set up before the end of June will not be affected." | ||
| Extreme savers: meet the parkers | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:53 PM EST 03/31/06 | Thrift |
| "The Parkers know all about scraping by, even though they make plenty of money. Michelle, 33, and Rob, 34, were high school sweethearts, they got married in college and managed on only $8,000 in income for the first year of their marriage. Fourteen years later the couple makes a combined $128,000 but their love, and thrifty lifestyle, has stayed with them." | ||
| At long last, a new home sale slump | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 4:42 PM EST 03/25/06 | Real Estate |
| "Sales in February drop more than expected, as median price falls and supply grows. Is the real estate bubble bursting?" | ||
| Aggressive tax plans can fall foul of the law | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 4:34 PM EST 03/25/06 | Taxes |
| "I can recall one situation where a man had been accused by the Canada Revenue Agency of tax evasion. "I know the evidence is strongly against me, but I have $250,000 to fight the case," the man said to his lawyer. The lawyer replied: "As your attorney, I assure you that you'll never go to prison with that amount of money." And he didn't. He went to prison broke. Tax evasion and some legal fees will do that to you." | ||
| Making the most of Vanguard's VIPERs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:48 PM EST 03/25/06 | Indexing |
| Given its indexing expertise, Vanguard is a natural fit for the ETF market, which is a focus of growth for the firm. To attract more interest, Vanguard has broadened its slate of VIPERs to 23, and more are certainly on the way."" | ||
| 5 mistakes investors just can't afford | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:42 PM EST 03/25/06 | Thrift |
| "Research shows that investors are generally irrational and overly impressed with their acumen. Here are 5 rules to help you head off your worst investing impulses." | ||
| Shopping abstinence a liberating experiment | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:53 AM EST 03/22/06 | Thrift |
| "Judith Levine is a freelance writer, earning about $45,000 (U.S.) a year and dividing her time between homes in New York and rural Vermont. An avowed environmentalist, she couldn't figure out why she had a four-figure credit card balance - perennially unpaid - and owned so much stuff. So, she tried an experiment: Stop shopping for a year." | ||
| You want a piece of me? Pay | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:58 PM EST 03/19/06 | Taxes |
| "Soon your tax preparer, like other businesses, may start selling your financial information to the highest bidder. Why not demand a cut?" | ||
| Let's have some discipline | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:49 PM EST 03/19/06 | Taxes |
| "The fact is, filing a tax return beats life in prison. And it's not just filing a tax return that matters. Filing on time, claiming all the deductions and credits you're entitled to, and implementing tax strategies, will leave you wealthier in the long run. But too few of us take this to heart." | ||
| PPN offerings are sorely lacking | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:46 PM EST 03/14/06 | Brokers |
| "What a sweet deal the financial industry has going in its star product of the moment, principal-protected notes (PPNs). There are estimates that as much as $7-billion are invested in PPNs, double the level of two years ago. And yet, these notes are as loosely supervised as any investing product out there. Securities regulators need to get on this, fast." | ||
| TERs tell you the exact cost of owning a fund | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:18 AM EST 03/12/06 | Funds |
| "I know, I know. MER means zzz to many of you readers. Consider this snooze factor noted as the brand new sibling of the management expense ratio, or MER, is introduced. It's called the trading expense ratio, or TER, and it finally gives us investors a way of telling exactly how much it costs to own our mutual funds." | ||
| More Americans are losing their homes | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:08 AM EST 03/12/06 | Real Estate |
| "Risky borrowing is catching up with a number of homeowners across the U.S. Foreclosures rose 45% in January compared to a year ago, and experts only expect the pace to accelerate." | ||
| Getting your adjusted cost base in order | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:55 PM EST 03/11/06 | Taxes |
| "I'd like to suggest another course: Saving tax by knowing your adjusted cost base. Okay, so it doesn't sound enthralling, but a lot of Canadians are losing out because they aren't calculating their adjusted cost base (ACB) correctly. The higher your ACB, the less tax you'll pay on the eventual sale of an asset. Before filing your 2005 tax return, make sure you've properly calculated your ACB on assets sold in 2005." | ||
| DIY investors can save BIG with discounters | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:52 PM EST 03/11/06 | Brokers |
| "Rule One if you're a do-it-yourself investor who uses mutual funds is to never pay a cent in purchase commissions." | ||
| Perils in online real estate | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:50 PM EST 03/11/06 | Real Estate |
| "Buffalo has been particularly hard hit by online flipping, as the city's persistent population decline and high foreclosure rates have created a glut of some 20,000 vacant houses. "Ninety-nine percent of these online ads have some kind of fraud or lies," said Tracy Krug, a building inspector in Buffalo. "They paint a nice rosy picture: 'on a bus line, near a nice market.' They don't tell you you're going to be across the street from a crack house."" | ||
| The best of the Internet calculators | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:35 PM EST 02/25/06 | Retirement |
| "There's a problem you should be aware of with some of those handy calculators available on the Internet to help ensure you're saving enough for retirement. They're kind of useless on the whole, especially the ones offered by companies selling financial products." | ||
| Kids: Bad investments, big returns | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:23 PM EST 02/25/06 | Thrift |
| "A potential mom does a detailed cost-benefit analysis of what having a child will mean and nearly scares herself to death." | ||
| Canadian snowbirds can build a messy tax nest | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:08 PM EST 02/25/06 | Taxes |
| "Snowbirds understand the desire to head south too. And many snowbirds spend in excess of four months each year in the United States, which can cause tax filing issues. Let me give you an overview of what to consider if you're one of these folks." | ||
| Divorce can scramble nest eggs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:10 AM EST 02/19/06 | Retirement |
| "Once the emotional wounds from a divorce start healing, newly single people begin to grapple with the other big aspect of the damage -- the financial trauma. Nothing underscores the new reality as much as RRSP season." | ||
| You're not going to live forever | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:04 AM EST 02/19/06 | Taxes |
| "Naming a beneficiary for your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) or Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) seems simple enough, doesn't it? Well, not so fast. Here are some tips and traps to consider when it comes to naming beneficiaries." | ||
| The depressing truth | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:25 PM EST 02/18/06 | Retirement |
| "Ask a wage slave what he'd like to accomplish. Chances are the response will be something like "I'd start every day at the gym and work out for two hours until I was as buff as Brad Pitt. Then I'd practice the piano for three hours. I'd become fluent in Mandarin so that I could be prepared to understand the largest transformation of our time. I'd really learn how to handle a polo pony. I'd learn to fly a helicopter. I'd finish the screenplay that I've been writing and direct a production of it in HDTV."..." | ||
| The myth of the $1 million retirement | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:33 PM EST 02/16/06 | Retirement |
| "Ignore the experts who say you'll need a vast sum to ever quit working. How much you need to retire is really entirely up to you." | ||
| The fantasy - and reality - of your own business | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:20 AM EST 02/12/06 | Thrift |
| "According to the latest figures from the Internal Revenue Service, the average sole proprietor (i.e., non-farm businesses that filed a Schedule C) reported net receipts of about $53,272 in 2003. The average net profit: About $11." | ||
| How to manage your retirement | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:06 AM EST 02/12/06 | Taxes |
| "When drawing on your investments for income in retirement, should you withdraw from your registered retirement savings plan or your non-registered investments first?" | ||
| Is marriage cost effective? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:33 PM EST 02/11/06 | Thrift |
| "Ebenezer Scrooge should have reserved his scorn for St. Valentine's Day. The typical American is going to spend about $100.89, according to the National Retail Federation. That's up from $97.27 last year. A pricey holiday getting pricier thanks to the notion -- inspired by gobs of advertising -- that you will spend your life alone and unloved if you don't pony up lavish gifts and cheap sentiment on Feb. 14." | ||
| 3 rules for a happy retirement | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:25 AM EST 02/05/06 | Retirement |
| "Research reveals it's how you manage your time and money that counts, not just how much you've got." | ||
| More nickel-and-dime fees to fly? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:29 AM EST 02/05/06 | Thrift |
| "We've become accustomed to paying a buck or two for soda or a bag of nuts, but such charges are going to get much more common. And that may not be a bad thing." | ||
| Put gold in her purse for Valentine's Day | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:01 AM EST 02/05/06 | Taxes |
| "That's it. I decided that if I'm going to buy gold, I'm going to make it tax deductible. Forget the ring. I'm getting Carolyn gold bullion bars for Valentine's Day. Tax deductible? You bet -- as long as she allows me to buy it inside her registered retirement savings plan and doesn't try to wear them." | ||
| So many RRSP choices. What to do? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:03 AM EST 01/29/06 | Indexing |
| "ETFs are beyond simple to use, but they're also a durable, sensible building block for RRSPs. Their ongoing ownership costs are a small fraction of what comparable mutual funds charge, and they deliver the returns of the indexes they track, minus fees. If you compare the returns of mutual funds to those indexes, you'll find that many underperform in the short or long term, and sometimes both." | ||
| Pay attention to your RRSPs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 4:24 PM EST 01/28/06 | Taxes |
| "if you're one of the thousands of Canadians who is separated, divorced, or thinking about it, take the opportunity to think about who you've named as beneficiary of your registered retirement savings plan. After all, it's RRSP season and your plan may be top of mind. And be mindful of the Gaudio court decision. Let me explain." | ||
| The middle class on the precipice | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:35 PM EST 01/28/06 | Economy |
| "During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work and fair play to keep itself financially secure has been transformed by economic risk and new realities. Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class to newly poor in a few months." | ||
| The antiquity of tax law | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:53 AM EST 01/22/06 | Taxes |
| "Apparently, Ottawa doesn't trust the judgment of doctors in this country very much. You see, Canadian tax law refuses to allow a medical expense tax credit in a growing number of situations, even in cases where a doctor has prescribed a medication or substance. This area of our tax law is in need an overhaul -- and quick." | ||
| Frugality: You get it from your kids | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:50 AM EST 01/22/06 | Thrift |
| "Having children can devastate your ability to save. But look at it another way: parents need less in retirement because parenting cleverly trains them to live on less." | ||
| New dividend rules could change your strategy | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:27 AM EST 01/19/06 | Taxes |
| "The dividend tax credit has been increased under the new proposals so much that the credit will not only offset the tax owing on the dividend received, but will go further and will reduce other income you have as well. For example, a taxpayer in Ontario earning $60,000 annually will pay $13,703 on that income (2005 tax rates). Add $5,000 of eligible dividends to his income, and his total tax bill drops to $13,653. Did you catch that? The marginal tax rate on those dividends is actually a negative number. Now, once your income hits a certain level ($61,940 in Ontario at 2005 tax rates), your eligible dividends will increase your taxes -- albeit at a lower rate than other income." | ||
| If it sounds too good to be true . . . | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:24 AM EST 01/19/06 | Taxes |
| "Withdrawing money from an RRSP is not the big problem -- although there are definite drawbacks to dipping into your retirement savings early. The problem is that too many Canadians have tried to get money out of their RRSPs without paying any tax at all. And many of these people have fallen prey to elaborate RRSP schemes being promoted by unscrupulous individuals who are trying to make a fast buck." | ||
| Uncle Sam cracks the whip on students | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:21 AM EST 01/19/06 | Debt |
| "The stakes on student loans just got higher: Not only have rates soared, but the debt can haunt you all the way to the grave." | ||
| Luxuries you can live without -- and should | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:56 PM EST 01/01/06 | Thrift |
| "$200 jeans? $800 sheets? Paying a premium now for image and brand cuts into our real quality of life down the road." | ||
| Barclays Canada announces four new ETFs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:24 PM EST 12/24/05 | Indexing |
| "XTR will replicate the performance of the S&P/TSX Income Trust Index. XDV will replicate the performance of the Dow Jones Canada Select Dividend Index. The fund will focus on investing in stocks with higher yields and proven dividend growth and sustainability. XRB, which is designed to proved fixed income investors with inflation protection, will replicate the performance of the Scotia Capital Real Return Bond Index." | ||
| Act like a saint but think like an investor | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:58 AM EST 12/18/05 | Taxes |
| "TD Economics released a paper in October that provides a novel way to think about charity. The idea? Think about your giving as you do your investing. And why not? It can mean more meaningful and effective giving. Here are some highlights from that paper." | ||
| You're worth $135,500 | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:09 PM EST 12/16/05 | Thrift |
| "The country's net worth reached $4.4-trillion at the end of the third quarter, valuing Canadians' net worth at $135,500 per capita, Statistics Canada reported Friday." | ||
| ETFs are performing well at a lower cost | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:17 AM EST 12/12/05 | Indexing |
| "Name a mutual fund category and I'll show you its slimmer, more athletic alter ego." | ||
| TD plans to terminate ETFs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:10 AM EST 12/12/05 | Indexing |
| "Effective December 13, 2005, subscription orders for new units of the Funds will no longer be accepted. Redemption orders for baskets of shares and for cash will be processed until termination date, on or about March 13, 2006. The outstanding units of the Funds will continue to be listed and posted for trading on the TSX. Units may be purchased or sold on the TSX in the ordinary course of business until the close of market on the termination date, either through registered brokers or participating dealers." | ||
| Your holiday present | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:20 AM EST 12/11/05 | Thrift |
| "Commercialism runs rampant this time of year and while this type of consumerism is good for the economy and makes all those malls seem like the place to be it also usually means that January and February - when the bills start arriving - can be pretty tight financially. This is made worse by the fact that some many people wait until then to do their RRSP contribution as well." | ||
| Bankruptcy law backfires on credit card issuers | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:38 PM EST 12/10/05 | Debt |
| "The industry muscled through tough changes that were supposed to make more filers repay some of what they owe. But that isn't happening." | ||
| When status has too high a price | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:15 PM EST 12/10/05 | Thrift |
| "Dr. Shaun Saunders, a researcher at the University of Newcastle in England, studied more than 1,000 people and found materialistic folks who try to keep up with the Joneses are more likely to be angry, depressed, frustrated, and anxious." | ||
| The true cost of changing careers | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:21 PM EST 12/04/05 | Debt |
| "Just getting the education your dream job requires can cost a bundle. Consider all the trade-offs before taking out your student loans." | ||
| Healthy planning | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:18 PM EST 12/04/05 | Retirement |
| "Though the standard age for retirement is 65, only 64% of people age 55 to 64 are employed. The other 36%, not yet eligible for Medicare, either have to be married to someone with employer health insurance or have to scramble to find coverage. The scrambling is occasioned by two things. One is that, even for healthy people, medical insurance is fearsomely expensive. Employers have seen their costs climb 63% over the last four years, says personnel consultant Towers Perrin, and will spend an average of $14,500 next year on insurance for a family of four. The other is that individuals trying to buy insurance on their own confront a difficult marketplace whose providers don't particularly want their business, especially if they have a preexisting medical problem." | ||
| Dividend-oriented funds make sense | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:13 PM EST 12/04/05 | Funds |
| "Not to worry. Political uncertainty shouldn't cause investors to shy away from dividend-paying stocks or Canadian dividend funds. In all likelihood, the next federal government - of whatever stripe - will confirm the promised tax cuts. Besides, dividend mutual funds are less sensitive to this type of tax change than you might think. Except for a handful that emphasize preferred shares, which generally pay higher dividends than common stock, dividends are a secondary source of returns for Canadian dividend funds." | ||
| Avoid paying someone else's taxes | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:11 PM EST 12/04/05 | Taxes |
| "Sorry to tell you, but pleading ignorance is just as ineffective with the tax collector and the courts. One particular situation comes to mind -- and it's easy to get caught in this trap." | ||
| Income trusts still the better tax deal | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:26 AM EST 11/27/05 | Taxes |
| "But theory is never perfect. In this case, there will still be a tax advantage to income trusts. Consider an an Ontario resident, in the highest marginal tax bracket in 2006." | ||
| E*Trade slashes its fees in bid to shake up market | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:28 AM EST 11/23/05 | Brokers |
| "Discount broker E*Trade Canada is to announce today that its minimum commission for trading stocks on the Internet will fall 26 per cent effective Jan. 10. The new rates are to be $19.99 for mainstream investors and $9.99 for active traders, down from E*Trade's current top fee of $26.99 and as much as $29.95 at other firms." | ||
| Walking the line between scrooge and santa | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:57 PM EST 11/23/05 | Thrift |
| "Here's how to prevent dreams of the Sugar Plum Fairy from becoming a nightmare when the credit-card bill arrives: Develop a holiday spending plan." | ||
| End the tax year right | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:41 PM EST 11/19/05 | Taxes |
| "We're quickly coming to the end of 2005. And people can get pretty creative with their spending to create last-minute deductions. (Hey, sometimes deductions seem so logical you'd swear they must be legal.)" | ||
| Norshield receiver finds little money | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:39 PM EST 11/19/05 | Funds |
| "Retail investors in the failed Norshield Group of companies, which include Norshield Asset Management and Olympus United Funds, may only get back $8.5 million of the $132 million they placed in Norshield funds, according to the second report of receiver RSM Richter." | ||
| 3 big reasons couples fight about money | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 4:41 PM EST 11/14/05 | Thrift |
| "Arguments about money are often really struggles for power. Managing these issues can smooth out the bickering." | ||
| When index funds go bad | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:33 AM EST 11/14/05 | Indexing |
| "The results indicated that, as with most active funds, investors' timing decisions were costly when it came to index funds. The dollar-weighted returns for virtually all large-cap index funds were worse than their official returns for the trailing 10-year period through the end of the third quarter 2005. As the table below shows, poor timing cost Vanguard 500 shareholders 2.7 percentage points of returns per year over the past decade." | ||
| Don't wind up divorced and destitute | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:42 PM EST 11/06/05 | Thrift |
| "The worst thing you can do is to ignore money matters while you're married. Here are 9 ways to divorce-proof yourself now." | ||
| ETFs provide access to the world of bonds | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:38 PM EST 11/06/05 | Indexing |
| "It's never easy to buy bonds in small, retail-sized amounts without getting hosed a couple of points in commission. It's not that dealers are trying to rip you off, it's just that it costs a dealer about $50 just to write a ticket; so on, say, a $5,000 bond purchase, the transaction costs alone are a point, and your broker, er, account executive, needs to get paid something, too." | ||
| Volatility, thy name is bonds | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:37 PM EST 11/06/05 | Funds |
| "Bonds are supposed to protect against the sort of stock market treachery we saw this October, but you'd never know it from what actually transpired. As stocks fell, bonds gave them a run for their money." | ||
| Test yourself | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:31 PM EST 11/06/05 | Taxes |
| "So you think you're smart when it comes to tax issues? How about taking the Mackenzie Financial Great Canadian Tax Test? This week, the mutual fund company released the results of a test given to 1,565 Canadians. Over all, Canadians get a "C" grade." | ||
| Save big on a tiny income | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:48 PM EST 10/23/05 | Thrift |
| "19 ways -- and counting -- to save when you make next to nothing." | ||
| Tax Evasion | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 4:34 PM EST 10/23/05 | Taxes |
| "My grandfather always had words of wisdom for me. He used to say: "Tim, if at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you." I think it's interesting that skydiving is a lot like tax evasion. If you do it once and you're successful, you'll want to do it again. And each time you succeed, and reap the personal benefits, you'll try it over and over. But let me tell you, when things go wrong, they can go very wrong." | ||
| Bay St.'s rich secret: churning income trust funds | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:43 AM EST 10/17/05 | Trusts |
| "Some day, investors will realize that they will get richer if they avoid turning over their trust investments every year. You don't churn your mutual funds because you don't want to pay the fees, so why would you churn your trust funds? Avoid it and you'll save the agent's fee year after year. Add it all up and you're talking real money. Churning your trust fund is even more ridiculous when you realize that the new fund you bought at the end of the year might look pretty much like the one you just sold." | ||
| Rush to file for bankruptcy | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:36 PM EST 10/16/05 | Debt |
| "For the week ending Oct. 8, bankruptcy courts reported a total of 102,863 filings, up from the previous record high of 68,387 the week before, according to data from Lundquist Consulting. Year-to-date, the number of filings has grown 19.4 percent compared with the same period in 2004. Based on preliminary data, Lundquist researchers are expecting to see more than 200,000 personal bankruptcy filings for for the week ending Oct. 15, said Jane Truch, senior manager of research and analytics at Lundquist." | ||
| Barclays muscles in to zap TD's last advantage with ETFs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:24 PM EST 10/16/05 | Indexing |
| "Barclays dominates the ETF business in Canada to the extent that TD is very close to invisible. But while Barclays has offered ETFs for investing in the blue-chip S&P/TSX 60 index, it had nothing for investors who wanted to buy into the much broader S&P/TSX composite (200 stocks versus 60). Now, Barclays is about to neutralize TD's one small advantage." | ||
| Canada Savings Bonds buyers are selling themselves short | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:21 PM EST 10/16/05 | Bonds |
| "Old habits die hard -- that's the polite explanation of why people waste their time and money buying Canada Savings Bonds." | ||
| Trailer fees: a vitamin or toxin? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:16 PM EST 10/09/05 | Funds |
| "Most investors don't understand trailer commissions and the inherent conflicts-of-interest they cause. Many don't know they exist despite the many articles that have been written on the topic. Now that you know they exist, ask your adviser to disclose them and make sure you get your money's worth." | ||
| RRSP overcontributions can boost your nest egg | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:07 PM EST 10/09/05 | Taxes |
| "When it comes to the last year for making contributions to your registered retirement savings plan, a little creativity can help you boost the final value of your portfolio. Here is one approach to take." | ||
| Is your kid a spoiled brat? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:53 PM EST 10/06/05 | Thrift |
| "Instead of an iPod nano, give your kids the tools they need to be financially independent adults." | ||
| Blogging toward financial sanity | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:07 PM EST 10/03/05 | Thrift |
| "I was skeptical about starting a blog, but then a real community emerged -- and together, we're bucking up our fiscal resolve to battle spending and debt." | ||
| Think before giving a child the title to your home | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:26 AM EST 10/02/05 | Taxes |
| "There are four key lessons to learn from this story: Parents should always talk to their kids about their estate planning. Mr. D and the others had no idea that they were on the title as owners of the property. They may have been able to do some planning to minimize the ultimate tax hit. Always get proper tax advice when doing estate planning. The lawyers involved in transferring the title to the children did not appear to understand all the tax implications. Think twice before putting a child on the title on your home. In most cases, all you'll save are probate fees, but the potential tax (and other) problems you create will far outweigh these fees." | ||
| 8 financial train wrecks you can avoid | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:33 AM EST 09/30/05 | Thrift |
| "'Just because they say 'I love you' doesn't mean they'll pay you back' -- and other tales of money misery. Watch. Learn. Take notes." | ||
| Too broke even to declare bankruptcy | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:28 AM EST 09/30/05 | Debt |
| "One of the indignities of going broke is that filing for relief is expensive and getting more so. Here are six ways to scrape up the cash." | ||
| Saxon fund keeps it simple | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:25 AM EST 09/30/05 | Funds |
| "Howson believes his value-investment style has also contributed to his success. He emphasizes the adherence to his style - the fact that he applies it consistently - and points to his outright rejection of technology stocks for Saxon Balanced fund over the past five years as an example of that discipline leading to strong results over the long term." | ||
| Changing income trust rules could crack nest eggs | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:11 PM EST 09/25/05 | Taxes |
| "Let's put this whole concern in perspective. In 2004, $300-million in tax revenue was "lost," according to the Department of Finance. Actually, not true. This claim ignores the fact that many of those dollars will be collected in the future. Income trusts typically result in a tax deferral rather than an elimination of tax. But let's not argue over such trivial details. It's also important to realize that $300-million represents just 15/100ths of 1 per cent of Canada's $195.8-billion in revenue in 2004-05. That's the equivalent of a $50,000-a-year income earner giving up $75. Heck, the income trust market has plenty of room to grow before deferred tax revenue should be a concern. A word to Mr. Goodale: Take a Valium." | ||
| Steer clear of 'flood cars' | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:35 PM EST 09/25/05 | Thrift |
| "Hurricane Katrina swamped hundreds of thousands of new and used cars. Some of them will be polished up and sold in used car lots near you. Here's how to protect yourself." | ||
| Protect your wallet in a divorce | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:30 PM EST 09/25/05 | Thrift |
| "Making plans to preserve your assets in case of a divorce may not be very romantic. But with half the population headed for divorce court after a trip down the aisle, it's not such a bad idea." | ||
| Crazy loans: Is this how the boom ends? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:07 PM EST 09/18/05 | Debt |
| "Lenders are pushing risky loans with low payments. Desperate home buyers snap them up. Worried yet?" | ||
| Your six biggest money fears | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:01 PM EST 09/18/05 | Markets |
| "We all worry about money. Problem is, we're scared of the wrong things. Find out why your biggest money worries may be misplaced -- and start building an action plan for the events that should really concern you." | ||
| Family trust can be an educational building block | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 8:56 PM EST 09/18/05 | Taxes |
| "If you're a successful business owner, you can use the profits of your business to help fund the cost of your child's primary or post-secondary education. There's more than one way to skin this cat, but the idea of a family trust can make sense." | ||
| How teens get sucked into credit-card debt | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:55 AM EST 09/11/05 | Debt |
| "Card companies are now soliciting high school students, who too easily find themselves buried in red ink." | ||
| Allegations aside, Norbourg a plain dumb investment | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:44 AM EST 09/11/05 | Funds |
| "And now for a short seminar on crummy mutual funds, courtesy of Norbourg Asset Management. You know Norbourg -- it's the Montreal money manager alleged to have embezzled $70-million in client money." | ||
| Always evolving BMO wins again | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:37 AM EST 09/11/05 | Brokers |
| "BMO InvestorLine is just such a broker and that's why it came out on top in The Globe and Mail's annual on-line brokerage rating for the fourth consecutive year. Other top brokers this year are E*Trade Canada and TD Waterhouse." | ||
| Tax treaty could help prevent a nasty bite | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:05 PM EST 09/04/05 | Taxes |
| "I once heard that the definition of a tax pro is someone who tells you about problems you didn't know you had, then fixes them in a way you don't understand. This has never been truer than in the area of U.S. estate taxes. Most Canadians aren't aware that they could be subject to U.S. estate tax." | ||
| Labour funds reel as Ont. axes tax credit | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:04 PM EST 09/04/05 | Fund |
| "The Ontario government is axing its 15-per-cent tax credit for labour-sponsored funds, dealing a severe blow to the recovering sector. Fund executives were stunned by the move, predicting that this jeopardizes the future of the LSF business in Ontario, its largest market. It's the latest setback for the asset class in Canada. In June, Winnipeg's Crocus Investment Fund became the subject of a criminal probe by the RCMP." | ||
| Turnround hope can be bad for you wealth | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:07 AM EST 08/30/05 | Funds |
| "Mutual fund managers sometimes grumble that investors are too focused on short-term returns but hanging on to a poorly performing fund for too long is a far more common problem." | ||
| Are fund investors protected? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:48 PM EST 08/27/05 | Funds |
| "Allegations that about 42 per cent of reported assets have been embezzled from two Quebec mutual fund families have sent shivers across Canada. "If such a thing could happen at one mutual fund company, what protection is there for my mutual fund investments?" many investors are wondering. Well, there's none at the moment, apart from the capital and public reputation of the owner of the fund management company itself." | ||
| Five ways to be prepared for U.S. estate tax laws | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 3:46 PM EST 08/27/05 | Taxes |
| "Today, let's talk about planning ideas for U.S. citizens and permanent residents. Next week, I'll finish off this topic with planning ideas for Canadians with U.S. situs property." | ||
| IFIC chairman Michel Fragasso steps down | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:59 PM EST 08/25/05 | Funds |
| "The chairman of the Investment Funds Institute of Canada stepped down Thursday after RCMP and other police officers swooped down on several offices in Montreal and Toronto as part of a major fraud investigation against his company, Norbourg Asset Management Inc. Michel Fragasso, a senior vice-president of Norbourg, resigned late Thursday as chairman of the national association for the mutual fund industry in the wake of the Norbourg police investigation." | ||
| The three myths of condo investing | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 7:01 PM EST 08/21/05 | Real Estate |
| "The growth in condo-investing mythology may be more worrisome than the risk of overbuilding. Here are three whoppers that need reality checks." | ||
| Three reasons you could end up paying U.S. estate taxes | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:58 PM EST 08/21/05 | Taxes |
| "You see, there are three categories of people who will be subject to the U.S. estate tax -- and you could be counted here: (1) U.S. citizens, (2) permanent residents of the United States, and (3) those who own "U.S. situs property."" | ||
| Hang on for a tidal wave of bankruptcies | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:34 AM EST 08/18/05 | Debt |
| "There's an Oct. 17 deadline looming: Changes in bankruptcy law will make erasing debts more difficult. But many who rush to file may find their troubles are worse later on." | ||
| Piggy bank -- or house of cards? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:07 PM EST 08/14/05 | Real Estate |
| "The debt-research firm collected data nationally on 2 million debt-financed purchases of owner-occupied homes from 2004 and more than 600,000 through roughly May of this year. It found that 95.1% or more of the purchase price was borrowed in 38% of all transactions so far this year. That was up from 34% of sales in all of 2004. In other words, over a third of buyers have little or no equity in their homes at the time of their purchase." | ||
| S&P/TSX index outpaces managed funds | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 6:03 PM EST 08/14/05 | Indexing |
| "Annual management expense ratios of 2.5 per cent "are a huge hurdle for any manager, no matter how skilled they are, to consistently have to overcome to deliver value-added over and above what a[n] . . . indexing strategy delivers," Mr. Silgardo said." | ||
| 7 ways to fight off bankruptcy | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:54 PM EST 08/08/05 | Debt |
| "Single women -- and particularly single moms -- have a tenuous hold on financial security and face a serious risk of bankruptcy." | ||
| Hardly in the public interest | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:06 PM EST 08/07/05 | Government |
| "mutual fund investors now have to act much more quickly if they feel they've been a victim of financial assault. For unsophisticated investors, seniors, retirees, widows, non-English-speaking immigrants and others the new Act can spell economic disaster." | ||
| When a trust, by any other name, is just a stock | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 1:02 PM EST 08/07/05 | Trusts |
| "Leslie Lundquist owes her fame in money management circles to income trusts. As the lead manager of two income funds for Calgary's Bissett Investment Management, being a doomsayer on the trust market isn't her shtick. So perhaps when she admits to getting nervous, we should pay attention. And Ms. Lundquist is skittish on the latest crop of trusts -- not because they're bad companies, but because "there's no conceivable reason why they should be trusts instead of stocks."" | ||
| The top 10 items the taxman will query on your return | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:57 PM EST 08/07/05 | Taxes |
| "Today, I want to share with you the top 10 items on tax returns that were most often questioned by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) last year. These come from an informal poll of tax specialists at my alma mater, accounting firm Deloitte, and appears in the firm's newsletter "Tax Breaks."" | ||
| It's crucial that executors understand all their obligations | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:56 PM EST 08/07/05 | Taxes |
| "The fact is, being in someone else's will doesn't always mean you're going to get an inheritance. You might, for example, be named the executor of the will and not a beneficiary, in which case you won't exactly be cashing in. In fact, the executor's job comes with a number of responsibilities." | ||
| Dying without a will can cost | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 12:55 PM EST 08/07/05 | Taxes |
| "When it comes to your estate, failing to prepare a will may save you legal fees in the short term, but could cost your family later. Dying without a valid will is called "dying intestate," and it's rife with problems." | ||
| Using debit is better than paying ABM fees | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:25 AM EST 07/22/05 | Thrift |
| "With almost every financial institution charging non-customers up to $1.50 to use its automated banking machines, the number of transactions where people used ABMs from other financial institutions fell to a 10-year low last year. Meanwhile, usage of direct payment notched yet another year of solid growth. The numbers are a confirmation of a growing recognition that the cost of using any old bank machine is one of the biggest wastes of money in financial services today, whereas debit represents one of the best values." | ||
| Confessions of a compulsive shopper | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 10:18 AM EST 07/22/05 | Thrift |
| "Maxed-out credit cards, more than $50,000 in shopping-related debt and the slow realization that she chatted more with other Gymboree-obsessed moms than she did with her own family finally convinced Rogers that she needed to kick her habit." | ||
| Leith Wheeler doesn't buy 'new era' | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 9:59 AM EST 07/22/05 | Funds |
| "The investment team doesn't buy the idea that oil has entered a "new era" in which oil prices stay at $60 (U.S.) a barrel or higher, and so applies a "very conservative" price of $34 a barrel three years from now when valuing oil and gas producers. "We believe that over time more supply will come on stream and demand will stabilize," Mr. Palfrey said." | ||
| Who killed Richard Cullen? | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 11:16 AM EST 07/21/05 | Debt |
| "I tell Lord Griffiths about Richard Cullen's suicide, and he sighs. "I had a friend," he replies. "A clergyman. I met him for dinner one night. He was suffering from cancer. He broke down over dinner and confessed to me that he had 32 credit cards. He said he was using each card to pay off the charges on the others. He told me about the shame he felt. You could just sense the emotional pressure. I'm no doctor ... " Lord Griffiths pauses, then says, "He died soon afterwards." Then he says that a friend of his recently compared the credit card industry to slavery - that the lenders are the new slave masters and the borrowers the slaves." | ||
| Advisors and clients should be on the same team | ||
| Submitted by Norm | 2:47 PM EST 07/18/05 | Brokers |
| "Aligning client and advisor interests should not be that tough a challenge. From a client's perspective, the ideal relationship is a "fiduciary" one, where the advisor makes a written commitment to act exclusively in the client's best interests." | ||
| Consider the easy way out< | ||