- If you collect Aeroplan points and haven’t made any transaction in the past year, you need to act now to keep your miles from expiring at the end of this month. You can collect points by filling up gas at Esso or buying specially marked Quaker or Tropicana products. (On a related note Rob Carrick compares Aeroplan with Air Miles).
- Jon Chevreau reports that regulators are considering a standard two-page disclosure form called a point-of-sale (POS) document. Unfortunately, POS (in engineering parlance, POS or piece of sh*t, is a term for a product that truly sucks) is a more appropriate term for the vast majority of mutual funds.
- Derek DeCloet writes in The Globe and Mail about his plan to start a hedge fund: he will borrow from the bankers at today’s low-interest rates and invest in the TSX Index for the usual fee of 2-and-20.
- Rob Carrick points out the TSX index is concentrated in just three sectors: Financials, Materials and Energy. If you are heavily weighted in Canadian equities, you should look abroad for getting exposure to sectors such as health care, consumer staples etc.
- Ellen Roseman writes in The Star on how Canadians can diversify their portfolios by investing abroad. Note that the Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (Ticker VEA) should be available in the fall and will offer a cheaper alternative to EFA.
- Are we saving too much for retirement? Fortune magazine talks to two economists who hold opposing views.
- Many Canadians dream of retiring much earlier than the traditional age of 65. Fortune magazine talks to five who have actually achieved the dream.
