- Macleans magazine’s Jason Kirby on the lessons investors should learn from the fall of 2008 (but probably won’t). Somewhat predictably, David Trahair is still making the case for GICs by ignoring dividend income from stocks.
- In theory investors can diversify away non-systemic risk with a portfolio consisting of a random selection of 10 to 40 stocks. In practice, however, writes Jason Zweig in The Wall Street Journal, investors are more likely to assemble non-random portfolios.
- Larry Macdonald has compiled a handy synopsis of quotes from a number of books on passive investing in a series of blog posts. You can find Part 1 here and click through to subsequent posts in the series.
- In a guest post on Where Does All My Money Go? mutual fund industry critic Ken Kivenko points out yet another downside of active funds in taxable accounts: year-end capital gains distributions.
- By all accounts, the job market out there is dismal. Thicken My Wallet offers some valuable tips for job-seekers to stand out from the competition.
- Million Dollar Journey did a case study on whether a 50-year old retiring soon should pay down the mortgage or contribute to a RRSP.
- Seniors collecting the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) are subject to high effective tax rates on RRSP withdrawals. Michael James debates what, if anything, seniors can do to minimize taxes on their retirement savings.
- Hard to believe, but 2009 is almost over. Jon Chevreau posted the top ten year-end tax planning tips from tax expert Jamie Golombek.
- Canadian Financial Stuff tries to convert his cellphone plan to pre-paid and is tripped by the weird world of Bell’s customer service.
- First, it was fixed-price natural gas contracts. Now, it is water heater contracts. Ellen Roseman warns customers about the underhanded tactics adopted by some companies to lock customers into long-term contracts with stiff exit fees.
Thank you for entering your name in the 5 years and counting… giveaway. I am overwhelmed by the number of responses and much as I would love for the odds to be much better, the marketing budget here is rather limited. Hopefully, I can do better next year.
Have a great weekend everyone.
