Weekend Reading – Giveaways, asset quilts, income, Vancouver home prices and more

Posted on March 17, 2016 by | 29 Comments

Welcome to some new Weekend Reading friends!  Earlier this week I contacted the winners of my TurboTax Canada giveaway but unfortunately only a couple of folks got back to me on time so I might need to draw a few new names.  Congratulations to readers Andrea and Jason, and thanks for reading. Stay tuned for new names and hopefully I call your name!

This post got a number of comments this week:  Asset allocation in retirement.  I also started a new giveaway on my site:  The Essential Retirement Guide.  Make sure you check out that post and enter!

I actually have more giveaways planned for my site in the coming weeks so share the love (this blog) with friends and family.

Have a great weekend,

Mark

A Wealth of Common Sense updated his favourite asset quilt.

Dividend Earner had some solid monthly income.

Boomers in Vancouver are making a killing on real estate.  Here’s a story about one couple that sold their five-bedroom home for $3 million in December, a 100-fold gain from their purchase in 1970.  Crazy.

Here’s a link to my friend Preet Banerjee on CBC’s Bottom Line Panel about the upcoming federal budget.  (Just wait to hear them after the requisite commercial.)  Some interesting predictions and takes – are we going to see an enhanced Canada Pension Plan (CPP)?  Nice race car analogy.

I liked this article about the best retirement withdrawal strategies.  Rather technical stuff but interesting.

Our Big Fat Wallet wrote about switching to cash spending.

Michael James on Money told a tale about CPP forgiveness rules.

Dividend Growth Investor shared some thoughts about slowing dividend growth.

Mr. Money Mustache had a chat with Mother Earth.  We’re trying to do our part here MMM.

Stephen Weyman updated his post on free internet TV.  Thanks to my Rogers internet package, I’ll be watching the NHL online tonight.

This blogger is well on his way to earning $25,000 per year in dividend income.  That’s impressive.

Big Cajun Man provided some commentary on Canada’s debt-to-income ratio.  We continue to kill our mortgage over here!

The Liberals are reversing the Conservatives decision to delay Old Age Security payments in the coming years.  Eligibility for OAS will be restored to age 65.

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29 Responses to "Weekend Reading – Giveaways, asset quilts, income, Vancouver home prices and more"

  1. Dividend Growth Investor · Edit

    Thanks for the mention Mark. That story about the Vancouver couple earning a 100-fold return on their home is pretty amazing. Isn’t that a sign of a bubble ( sale price going over listing price, flipping houses etc). Or perhaps I don’t get the “new economy” 😉

    DGI

    Reply
      1. SST · Edit

        Interesting to note that 2000-2015 real returns: gold 5.5%, S&P 2.5%.
        Sometimes — for 15 years — fear is a better investment than production.

        In the WoCS quilt, the equal weight portfolio returns 5% (ex-commodities, 38% more than a commodity inclusion portfolio). This is a great example of investing in drivers. Most commodities are production inputs and not investments. But gold, even though classified as a commodity, is rarely a production input — it’s driver is fear, not production; gold really sucked during the greed of the 1980-1999 bull market.
        (Full disclosure: I hold a tiny bit of gold and trade silver.)

        Just a different way of looking at things.

        Reply
        1. Mark · Edit

          Agreed. Most commodities are production inputs so with commodities, you’re basically hedging your bets on a growing (not slowing) economy. I have learned by lesson on some O&G stocks!

          Reply
  5. helen7777 · Edit

    Hi Mark: Thanks for that RBC version of the quilt. Yes, I did mean the TSX sectors. However, it’s good to see the RBC quilt as it at least shows Canada versus the other markets.

    Reply
  6. helen7777 · Edit

    Ref: A Wealth of Common Sense updated his favorite asset quilt.
    I love and collect those quilts. Does anyone know if one exists for the Canadian stock market (TSX)?
    Thanks,

    Reply
  8. RBull · Edit

    I would like to cut the cable cord due to high cost and relatively low TV usage. The trouble for me is I do not have a masters degree in computer science and have very low interest in learning this new technology with the breadth of choices and variables. We want a SIMPLE cheap alternative that gives us basic channels for news, business, maybe documentaries and access to some movies for 2 TV’s. The free internet guide was interesting and tries to take something complicated and make it understandable. Unfortunately it still assumes you have a good level of technical knowledge and interest.

    I am in process of making a homemade TV antenna for the attic where I may be able to get 2-3 channels from our rural location. If it works I guess we’ll start there and try to figure out some of this other stuff.

    It seems the technology hurdle may be the reason why there are still so many people like me still subscribing to cable.

    Reply
    1. SST · Edit

      Get more disposable income by cutting expenses.

      re: Asset quilt — 10-yr return of an equal weight portfolio: 3.8%.
      Not all diversification is equal.

      re: OBFW switching to cash — music to my ears! 😉

      Reply
      1. Mark · Edit

        Absolutely not…diversification does not mean equal – it just means spreading around some risk.

        Yes, OBFW is avoiding his credit card but likely only temporary! You still anti-credit card? I just earned a free flight using mine. Chat soon!

        Reply

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