Earlier today, I read that Environment Canada issued a rainfall warning for parts of southern Alberta, forecasting up to 100 millimetres of rain in the next two days. Based on the images and videos I’ve seen on Twitter, many communities in southern Alberta need all the help they can get to battle the severe flooding and torrential rains. Stay safe. #abflood.
On Thursday, the TSX and Dow markets tanked after U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke indicated government stimulus packages are close to drying up. As well, the central bank’s bond purchases will likely slow later this year and should end in 2014. This means the money well is starting to run dry. This news sent our S&P/TSX composite index down almost 2.5% today and the Dow Jones industrial down 2.3%. Ben Bernanke also hinted rising interest rates are coming. I guess they have to, since somebody, eventually, has to pay for this financial mess.
Lastly, anytime Rob Carrick mentions my blog in The Globe and Mail, it’s a real honour. Check out my post here about great Canadian ETFs. Thanks Rob!
Enjoy the Weekend Reading list. Take care and I’ll be back next week.
The Brighter Life answered the question, what happens if you die in debt? The short answer: creditors are paid out before beneficiaries. That’s the law. If there aren’t enough assets to pay off creditors, creditors take a hit. Consequently, if creditors don’t get all their money then beneficiaries will never see a dime. The other dangerous thing people should know: beneficiaries could be sued if they received an inheritance before creditors are paid. The lesson: 1) don’t have debt in retirement and 2) have an up to date will. End of issues.
Speaking of death or threats of it, Barry Choi was interviewed by Preet Banerjee this week. After dumping his adviser, Barry was actually threatened by him!
I enjoyed Larry MacDonald’s straightforward take on rising interest rates: they won’t kill the mortgage market. A big reason: “About 70% of mortgages in Canada are currently fixed-rate mortgages and most of those are for five-year terms. This means rate increases will feed into the market slowly since only a portion of these mortgages come due every year.”
Dan Mac over at Dividend Growth Stock Investing has an ebook ready for your Kindle. The highlight of this book is where you can find out the 35 dividend growth stocks he is using to build his portfolio and why these companies could be great long-term investments.
Canadian Couch Potato told what was happening with our bond ETFs. Dan goes beyond the lacklustre returns and yields.
Michael over at Dividend Tactics reached out to say hello. Thanks for the kind words about my site Michael and good luck with your investing journey, stay in touch.
Another Michael recently read Thinking Fast, and Slow by Nobel Memorial Prize winner in Economics Daniel Kahneman. I’m looking forward to reading this book soon so thanks for the recommendation.
I read a post close to home this week at Million Dollar Journey: the cost of starting or maintaining your blog.
The Dividend Guy said investing in dividend stocks may be better than buying the entire market.
Avrex Money thinks the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) should go after the investor who claims to have the largest TFSA value in Canada.
Boomer wrote a wise investor is an informed investor.
Miss T. offered some suggestions to reduce stress.
Katy Basi with her guest post over at The Blunt Bean Counter discussed managing your digital assets.
Your Wealth Effect wondered if it was nuts to be in 100% bonds. My answer: yes.
Dividend Monk said McDonald’s stock is appealing right now.
Tom Drake wrote an informative post about calculating your Adjusted Cost Base (ACB) if you invest in stocks or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in non-registered accounts.
Big Cajun Man has a simple tip for wealth building.
Oh, a reminder…
Google is shutting down Google Reader on July 1st. This means you only have a few weeks to find another reader if you’re following yours truly via RSS. To ensure you never miss a blogpost, I encourage you to subscribe to my blog via email or use another FREE reader like Feedly or Netvibes. You can follow me via RSS here.
Thanks for following!
I really should do something about Google Reader. Haven’t decided on Feedly yet. What are you using?
Just a clarification on your comments about creditors being paid before beneficiaries of the estate. This does not (normally) apply to life insurance beneficiaries. If you die in debt but have a life insurance policy, creditors cannot get at the life insurance proceeds. The insurance proceeds are protected from creditors and taxes and are further sheltered by privacy laws. The beneficiary gets the money without paying creditors, taxes, and without anyone even knowing that you received the benefit.
Further light reading on the subject:https://repsourcepublic.manulife.com/wps/wcm/connect/53415e00433c05cdaae2ee319e0f5575/ins_tepg_credtprolifeins.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=53415e00433c05cdaae2ee319e0f5575
Thanks for the clarification Glenn. I didn’t mean to imply beneficiaries regardless of all assets (e.g., life insurance), always get bumped.
I don’t think I can make the tip any simpler, thanks for the mention. Have a great weekend.
Thanks for the mention, Mark! We got some pretty nasty rain and hail last night, but we’re not dealing with anything close to what’s happening around Calgary.
As for Google Reader, I’ve exported all my feeds to Spundge (www.spundge.com) and I’ve been using that product to save/bookmark and even create new posts. It’s pretty slick.
Have a great weekend!
Thanks so much for the inclusion. As far as a rain forecast goes, ours was dead on. We are getting slammed right now with rain. Coming down pretty hard. Saves me from watering the flowers I guess. I do hope the weekend is nice though. Hope you have a good weekend yourself.
Same to you Miss T. Take care!