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

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 funds:  Canadian equity, U.S. equity, international equity (sometimes separated into developed foreign markets and emerging foreign markets) and Canadian fixed income. For the majority of investors, anything beyond that is generally too clever by half.”

Here are some investing tips from Mike Piper, author and investor who was interviewed by Vanguard recently.  His advice:  become an “oblivious investor” and “keep it simple. I can’t stress that enough.”

A Wealth of Common Sense shared his list of overused financial analogies.

Here are some retirement mistakes many couples make:  1) they procrastinate; 2) only one-half is involved; 3) they don’t plan for illnesses, job losses or disabilities and 4) they don’t consider a phased-in-retirement approach.

My friends at BrighterLife shared a report that asked Canadians, among other questions, save for retirement or kill the mortgage?  57% of respondents in this study said they are focusing on their mortgage.

24% of Canadians see their home as their retirement plan.  Not sure how that’s going to work out since these people have to live somewhere, don’t they?  I’ll keep investing in banks because of all the reverse mortgages still to come.

Dan Mac just released a book, Retire with Dividend Growth:  A Better Way.

Here are 4 things your accountant won’t tell you, an article written by an accountant.

Interesting topic on the Because Money Podcast this week:  the Home Buyer’s Plan.

Canadian Budget Binder wrote about financial independence la la land.

Dan Bortolotti had a detailed post about the true cost of foreign withholding taxes.

The Passive Income Earner wrote about his healthy February 2014 dividend income.

Turns out Canada Revenue Agency will pay you a tidy reward for snitching on tax cheats.

The Blunt Bean Counter continued his series, How Much Money do I Need to Retire? Heck if I Know or Anyone Else Does! – Part 5.  He might have some answers in Part 6 🙂

Rob Carrick in his column Carrick on Money said to watch out for these TFSA tax traps.