Before we jump into this week’s collection of articles, a quick reminder to those who wanted to hear Larry Swedroe speak in Ottawa that the talk is scheduled for Monday, June 20, 2011. I’ve already sent you an invite via e-mail. If you haven’t received it, let me know and I’ll resend it.
The TSX is now officially in correction territory and investors are naturally nervous about the stock market. I have no idea whether stocks will continue to fall or will rebound sharply but recall that in the spring of last year, the market was worried about the debt situation in Greece but it went on to stage a vigorous rally in the Fall. The point is since we don’t know what the future holds, we should try and stay the course as long as we have an sensible investment plan that we are comfortable with and we have enough savings put away to tide us over tough times.
- In a recent article in The New York Times, Richard Thaler explores the annuity puzzle — the reason why more people don’t buy annuities with a part of their retirement portfolio.
- In his recent column, Avner Mandelman urges investors to take their computer security seriously by entering hard to guess passwords and changing it frequently.
- Million Dollar Journey featured a guest post that offered a primer on money market funds. These days I find parking money in high-interest savings accounts at discount brokers to be equally convenient.
- Money Smarts Blogs says that while Group RESPs may be a very convenient way to set up a RESP, there are better alternatives.
- Canadian Personal Finance Blog offers a few tips on what not to do when attending a job fair.
- I’ve been following the Sino-Forest (TSX: TRE) saga of late. Sino-Forest is a China-based forestry company whose stock has plummetted from $19 to $3 in wake of allegations that the company is a fraud by a short seller. Blessed by the Potato, who was unfortunate enough to own the stock, explains the homework he did before purchasing the stock. The smart folks at Canadian Money Forum weigh in with their opinion on the latest Sino-Forest developments in this thread.
- Pretty much the first mistake I made as an investor was buying a venture capital fund for the tax breaks. The investments turned out to be total dogs even after accounting for the tax break. The Blunt Bean Counter reminds us of other situations where avoiding taxes results in other unpleasant side effects. Michael James picked up on the theme and offered one more example of being penny wise and pound foolish.
- The David Sokol affair may have somewhat dimmed his lustre somewhat but Warren Buffett remains an investing legend. Financial Uproar put together a list of videos in which Warren Buffett shares his wit and wisdom.
That’s it for this week. Have a great weekend everyone.
And for the Dads out there, Happy Father’s Day!
