- My Own Advisor

Weekend Reading – New sites, behaviour gaps, retirement numbers and more

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Mark | 17 Comments

Welcome to your Weekend Reading list. I hope you enjoy my favourite articles from the week that was…. New to the blogging scene but not new to personal finance and investing, Barry Choi launched a website and shared his top…

How much is enough? Life insurance edition

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Mark | 14 Comments

How much is enough? Life insurance edition How much is enough? I think this question applies not only to retirement savings but life insurance as well. I’ve read articles that say you need enough life insurance to replace ten years…

RRSP Fast Facts and Our Game Plan

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Mark | 6 Comments

Ok, I’m sure you already know the basics about the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) – so let’s play a game of True or False. RRSPs are an investment product themselves so go out and buy some RRSPs now! You…

RRSPs make great “cents” if you manage the refund

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Mark | 31 Comments

RRSPs make great “cents” if you manage the refund I’ve been a big fan of the Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) or what I’d like to rename the account as the Tax Free Retirement Account (TFRA) ever since the account…

Weekend Reading – Complete portfolios, keeping it simple and much more

Posted on February 20, 2014 by Mark | 9 Comments

Welcome to your Weekend Reading list. Here are some interesting articles I checked out this week – hope you enjoy them! Financial pro and respected author Preet Banerjee said most investors can have “a complete portfolio with four or five…

My Tax Season Considerations

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Mark | 9 Comments

In an odd way, perhaps to some readers, I enjoy doing our taxes. I enjoy the computations and permutations that come with optimizing our tax return and deciphering our convoluted tax laws. I also find it a humbling experience, messing…

Why I still drive my 14-year-old car

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Mark | 115 Comments

I bought my 2000 Mazda Protégé days after I moved to Ottawa from Toronto. My Mazda was brand new, right off the lot. I recall I paid about $16,000 for the car back then. I used my credit card to…

Weekend Reading – Vote for your top blog, fees hurt your portfolio and more

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Mark | 9 Comments

Welcome to your Weekend Reading list. I hope you enjoy these articles from the world of personal finance and investing. Before we get to those, in case you missed it, this week I shared my January 2014 Dividend Income Update…

Converting your RRSP to a RRIF? Consider this…

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Mark | 32 Comments

Converting your RRSP to a RRIF? Consider this… In a recent post on my blog I covered my bias for winding down the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) sooner than later, preferring to move assets from the RRSP to a…

January 2014 Dividend Income Update

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Mark | 13 Comments

Welcome to my first dividend income update for 2014. For those of you new to these posts on my site, every month I discuss my approach to investing using dividend paying stocks and how reinvesting the dividends paid from the…