Weekend Reading – Commission-free ETFs, ditching expensive cities, juicy dividend income and more #moneystuff

Weekend Reading – Commission-free ETFs, ditching expensive cities, juicy dividend income and more #moneystuff

Welcome to my latest Weekend Reading edition where I share some of my favourite articles from the week that was across the personal finance and investing blogosphere.

Earlier this week, I shared this new, major financial milestone in our lives. Simply awesome we’re only another year or so away from earning $2,000 per month in tax-free (thanks TFSA!) and tax-efficient dividend income…for life. 

Here is where we ended 2019 and where we might be in the coming years:

What are your plans to earn cash from your portfolio in the coming years?

Already letting your portfolio do all the work? Let me know how that is going!

Would love to hear about it like some of these very successful retirees and financially independent folks who shared their stories with me here.

I’ll be back next week with new a post and I’m working on a future retirement case study so stay tuned.

Have a great weekend and thanks once again for your readership. Approaching 4,000 dedicated subscribers on this site with more joining every day.

All the best,

Mark

Weekend Reading

Good stuff here from Savvy New Canadians on the best brokerages for commission-free ETFs in Canada.

One of my favourites has always been Questrade. Why?

ETFs cost $0 when buying; a minimum of $4.95 when you sell (why sell?), and this applies to Canadian and U.S.-listed ETFs.

An article debated when to leave an expensive city (like Toronto)?  Personally, while on the surface you could argue this is a financial decision where you live, or work, or choose to raise a family is a very personal and emotional decision. Life is more than money. You need to decide on your own plan for happiness and balance.

DGX Capital shared how he built a 6-figure portfolio with only ETFs. Well done!

The Fioneers wrote about lifestyle by design.

Lifestyle by design is something I’m slowly working on and something I wrote about in this post: strive for financial independence and not early retirement.

Don’t forget about my TurboTax Canada Giveaway!

Don’t forget as part of my Weekend Reading you can enter to win FREE TurboTax software to help you with your tax needs.

Even if you don’t win the free software codes and you want to get started on your taxes now, don’t forget just by being a fan of this site you can take advantage of my 15% discount on TurboTax Canada software until April 30, 2020. Awesome right?

Better late than never – here is a recap of my predictions from 2019 and what actually came true:

1. Eugene Melnyk will finally partner with someone (this year) to re-build Lebreton Flats. (That was a big fat fail. What was I thinking about this egomaniac??)
2. The Tampa Bay Lightning will win The Stanley Cup. (Nope!)
3. Jon Rahm will win The Masters. (Wrong again!)
4. The TSX Composite will finish 2019 at 15,425. (TSX finished at 17,063.43 I recall.)
5. The S&P 500 will finish 2019 at 2,705. (S&P 500 finished at 3,230.78 after a 29% gain!)
6. I think gold will finish 2019 at $1,320. (Not even close! Over $1500.)
7. Oil will finish 2019 at $57.50. (Close, somewhat, just over $61.)
8. Our Canadian dollar will finish the year at $0.79. (Not bad, only a few pennies off!)
9. Assuming we can stay the course with our investments, we’ll earn > $19,000 in dividend income this calendar year in key accounts.

We did and then some!! Nailed it!

Lastly, 10. Algonquin Power will increase their dividend by 5% before the end of 2019. (Got that one, they increased their dividend by 10% in May 2019. Another increase of 5-10% is coming this year too I think.)

A nice letter from a fan of The MoneyReady App in how you can use this tool to project your retirement income, although the letter is a nice reminder there is much more to retirement and preparing for retirement, than income.

Dividend Earner is doing VERY well with his dividend income journey.

Tawcan is also progressing extremely well with his income journey.

The Money Geek suggests you best stop paying for money advice you’re not getting at all. Well put.

This is why I recommend investors consider these low-cost investing funds to build more wealth:

Here is my ETFs page – dozens on articles on this subject.

What are the best low-cost ETFs for your RRSP?

What are the best low-cost ETFs for your TFSA?

If and when your RRSP and TFSA are full, meaning completely out of contribution room, consider taxable investing this way here.

Henry Mah shared 45 stocks with 10 years of juicy dividend growth.

A nice mix of weekend reading and RBC banking news from Cut The Crap Investing.

Save, invest in low-cost products, and prosper!

Use my Deals page where I can save you money, as in hundreds of dollars with Bank of Montreal, Questrade, or you can have $50,000 managed free for a year with ModernAdvisor.

Reader question of the week (wording adapted for site):

Hey Mark,

I recently contacted you with questions with regard to the ETF portfolio I’m building, and you responded so positively, I just have to write you again! I am an avid reader, as everyone should be; that’s why after reading Andrew Hallam and John Robertson…and others I’ve centered my portfolio on the ETF concept. I know you think these are great products as well. But, I’ve also read articles by Peter Schiff, James Rickards, and a few others. You probably know these guys have strong, and dim, outlooks on the stock market. I’m left with the perception that not even the random walk down Wall Street with diversification and ETF strategies will shield me from great changes to come, soon.

Honestly if I think about it too much, sometimes I want to liquidate equities and pay down my rental properties for at least some future cashflow in the bad times to come. Thoughts?

Thanks for the question!

Ya, doom and gloom financial experts and reports are everywhere. That’s why you simply need to stay invested.

If I listened to all that doom and gloom years ago, I would have missed out on gains approaching 30% last year!!

My advice and thoughts?

1. Get invested in low-cost funds and/or dividend producing funds or both!
2. Stay invested in a risk tolerance and cash position that matches your long-term objectives.
3. Keep doing #1 and #2 for as long as you can. 

It can be that simple. 

Happy investing!

Mark