- The biggest news this week is of course the plunge in stock markets. There was no place to hide – Canadian, US and international stocks all fell sharply. I don’t know if this is a short sharp correction or the beginnings of a bear market but it is important to remember that stocks move both up and down. In that spirit, Money.com offers tips to survive falling stock prices.
- The Vanguard Europe Pacific ETF (Ticker VEA), which tracks the MSCI EAFE Index started trading today. I’ll be replacing EFA (MER is 0.35%) with VEA (MER of 0.15%) in our personal portfolios.
- Jon Chevreau wrote a column in The Financial Post about a survey that showed that 70% of Gen Xers have a savings plan. The survey is interesting because it contradicts Statistics Canada data that only 55% of Canadians aged 25 to 34 have some sort of a pension plan. Only 43.5% have a RRSP and the median value is just $7,500.
- Rob Carrick reports on the nominal reductions in MER by various mutual fund companies. While any reduction in fees is to be welcomed, it is hard to get excited about fee cuts of 0.1% when the MER is 2.5%.
- As part of her Money 401 series, Toronto Star columnist Ellen Roseman explains the factors that affect automobile insurance premiums.
