Investing vs. Trading
In the last article we defined investing as buying an ownership stake in companies who are profitable today and whose profits are expected to rise over time. Trading is any other form of managing your money which may or may not take into account corporate profits as part of the decision-making process. Trading, which most […]
Business Adaptation Mechanism
There is a concept in biology about the ability of organisms to adapt to changes in the environment. This adaptation process increases the odds of survival for organisms under stress due to environmental changes. A similar mechanism exists in finance that allows economic organizations, otherwise known as companies, to survive and thrive in changing or […]
Asset Building Strategies
In the last article Sue had a capital shortfall of $400,000 in order to support her desired retirement lifestyle. This amount will vary for each individual and will be larger or smaller depending upon your income, age and ability to save money as a percentage of your earned income. Broadly speaking there are only two […]
Integrated Investment Management Can Save Taxes
High net worth investors are now sitting back and enjoying the summer weather, breathing a sigh of relief now that they are done with their annual tax filings. The work involved in assembling all of the relevant tax information is made more complicated by the fact they often deal with several investment firms. U.S. financial […]
The Safe Investing Dilemma
John was concerned because his 82-year old mother, Betty, was having trouble generating sufficient income to cover her cost of living with interest rates at rock bottom levels. Along with many other investors globally who have poured some $4 Trillion dollars into government bonds since the 2008 Credit Crises, she wanted to feel safe and […]
Diversification is Key
As with many retirement savers, it took two stock market crashes (2001, 2008) and a global financial crisis to convince Adam and Sonya that trying to ‘time the market’ or pick specific sectors was a costly exercise in futility. But, with the value of their RRSPs nearly halved in the 2008 crash, they also recognized […]
Volatile Economy = Investor Fatigue
Investors are becoming increasingly exhausted trying to follow the seemingly never-ending bad global economic news. Overseas markets have put a strain on Canada even though we are more stable, economically, than most other countries in the world. Crystal balls are in short supply resulting in increased skepticism and general feeling of Is this downturn ever […]
Now is the time to be especially wary
Uncertain economic times and rising rates of unemployment are creating a new breed of desperate people. Some are turning to frauds and scams as a way out of their troubles. Others are becoming more susceptible to schemes they had hoped would help but are being bilked out of their dwindling cash reserves instead. Hard times […]
Cooler heads will prevail
The newspaper headlines read: ‘Roller coaster stock markets have investors feeling queasy’ (The Globe and Mail; ‘The stock market crash: History repeating itself?’ (The Calgary Herald); ‘Uncertainty continues to pummel stock markets’ (Sudbury Star); ‘The next market boom may be a lifetime away’ (Financial Times). Interestingly enough, these headlines are from November 2002. One year […]
Great Depression 2.0?
It’s been a long and volatile quarter in the financial world. Markets are taking most investors on a wild and sometimes frightening ride, the news about corporate failures and bailouts is confusing and the economic news is almost certainly disheartening. As some in the media eagerly seek to assign blame for the current stock market […]