Welcome to some fine Weekend Reading folks! In case you missed it, here are the articles I published this week:
I made these 2015 financial predictions.
Here’s my take on some items to consider when transitioning out of the workforce.
I shared this income update on our journey to retirement.
Enjoy these articles over the weekend and we’ll see you here again next week!
Here are some top Canadian personal finance bloggers to follow in 2015, thanks to RateHub.ca, one of my go-to sites for mortgage rates and credit card comparison shopping for mentioning yours truly in the list.
Thanks to Rob Carrick from The Globe and Mail for supporting my site, including highlighting this article recently.
Ben Carlson released an updated asset allocation quilt.
The Passive Income Earner shared his 2015 financial goals.
Sandi Martin shared her wish for you in 2015.
Preet Banerjee released another cool video suggesting you should question how much you made selling that house.
My friend Steve Zussino has a link to Lonely Planet’s 2015 travel ebook. It’s free.
Rob Carrick said it was another good year for this 2 minute portfolio (2 MP). “The 2MP is an ongoing experiment in quick and dirty portfolio building that requires you to do nothing more than invest equal amounts in the two largest dividend-paying stocks in each of the 10 sectors in the Canadian stock market. This strategy produced a return of 23.95 per cent this year, while the S&P/TSX composite index made 10.55 per cent.”
Michael James on Money decided to crash a stock picking contest. He’s making this a habit, like a wedding crasher!
Robb Engen posted his 2014 rate of return and finally said goodbye to individual stocks.
The guys at My University Money interviewed John Robertson, author of The Value of Simple.
A reader pointed me to 122 things you should know about investing.
Big Cajun Man reported on jobs in Canada.
Susan Brunner reviewed Royal Bank.
Avrex Money is trading options in 2015 but be careful about this strategy. He said: “There are many investors that are willing to pay an insurance premium, in the form of an option, to ensure a minimum return on their associated stock positions. I believe that option buyers are paying a higher premium to protect their underlying position, than the expected value.” In the end, it’s a zero-sum game and while you can win, you can also lose, big-time.
Mark
My name is Mark Seed - the founder, editor and owner of My Own Advisor. As my own DIY financial advisor, I'm looking to start semi-retirement soon, sooner than most. Find out how, what I did, and what you can learn to tailor your own financial independence path. Join the newsletter read by thousands each day, always FREE.
Grats on making that ratehub list and globe and mail mention. The globe is a site I visit daily and a must for Canadians. Will be visiting all the articles!
Thanks AG. I hope you enjoy the articles!
I sure hope those asset class performance quilts work in convincing people they can’t predict the next winning asset class. Otherwise, I don’t see the point of them at all. Thanks for the mention.
I think it’s more form, pretty than functional, actual or accurate use!
Some great articles, would love to be mentioned one day on list of Canadian bloggers to follow. 🙂
Really looking forward to spending the weekend at home… life on the road can get old pretty quickly.
Well, it was a pleasant surprise for me. I’ve met a few of those bloggers, they put out great content and some of them are certainly superstars in Canada, i.e., Kerry Taylor, Dan, MDJ. They deserve all the credit they get.
All the best and stay in touch.
Mark
Hi Mark, thanks for the inclusion of my ‘alternative’ investing post.
And I agree. Care and small allocations need to be taken when partaking in any risky plays, such as options.
Thanks.
Great to hear from you Andrew. Good luck with the investing in 2015!
Stay in touch.
Thanks for the mention, Mark! Surprisingly haven’t taken too much flack from the dividend camp.
Enjoy your weekend – Go Packers!
Heck ya. #GoPack
That was fast on the podcast — I’m just listening to it myself now! [Oh, that was a mistake. I have a voice for text, not radio.]
Also check out Dan Bortolotti’s post today: he brought the model portfolios in line with VoS, making them much simpler. I think that’s going to help with a lot of the questions new index investors have.
Thanks!
I will check out Dan’s post. Thanks for pointing me in that direction. Hope the book sales are rockin’.
Cheers John,
Mark
Thanks for the inclusion this week, with Target withdrawing and the SONY store as well, then Oil patch lay offs, I suspect the job picture will not be quite so rosy in a few months.
Have a great weekend!
Crazy eh? Geez. Have a good one!