Starting Out

In my previous blog post, I talked about Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing, why investors are interested and the different ways to implement it in your portfolio. This naturally raises the next question: how rigorous is the ESG research and does it actually differentiate and reward good from bad behavior?

My first niece was born a couple of months ago and it got me thinking about her education savings. There are a number of savings options my sister can employ for my niece in the 18 years before she starts post-secondary school. I outline the various sources, and the pros and cons of each option below.

There are some serious misconceptions about active management and index investing which I’d like to walk through with you today. I’m going to hit you with two really staggering numbers about the US stock market, then explain what each of these data points imply for active and passive investors.

Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) has gained attention thanks, in part, to the bad behavior of several multinational companies and the desire for investors to align their portfolios with their personal values.

If you’re looking to fund your own or your child’s education but haven’t regularly saved for several years towards those expenses, there are a number of options for paying for expensive tuition, housing and textbook costs. In today’s post, I’ll outline the 5 ways you can pay for education costs or put away short-term savings for it.

The question on everyone’s mind is: are you able to pick funds that will beat the market in the next year or two and make a profit? Short answer? No.

In this episode of Your Money, Your Choices, Susan uses a concrete example of a new graduate paying off student and car loans to show how small differences in your debt repayment strategy can add up over time and save you interest costs and reduce the time it takes to pay off debts.

The nonsense of trying to come out ahead by picking stocks or timing the market has long been one of my recurring themes. So, if you’ve stuck with me so far, you probably already know to avoid these sorts of active pursuits.

Financial planners and advisors across Canada suggest you should save 3 to 6 months worth of expenses in an emergency fund. You’ve figured out how much you are aiming for, using some of the guidelines from my last video perhaps.

One of the most overlooked things in personal finance I see from young professionals is the emergency fund. Unfortunately, emergency funds aren’t exciting, so instead people want to focus on other things like buying a house and investing in the stock market.