Welcome to some new Weekend Reading fans – some of my favourite articles from the personal finance and investing blogopshere from the week that was.
Here were my articles and giveaways from this week:
These are the predictions I got right in 2016.
These are some top stocks to consider in 2017 – according to a few financial gurus.
This is a question you might want to ask anyone trying to give you financial advice – if you’re so smart, why aren’t you retired?
For my first (but not last) giveaway of 2017 – read my review of Victory Lap Retirement and enter to win a copy here.
Enjoy the reading material and see you here next week.
ModernAdvisor was kind to reach out to yours truly to share some financial advice to millennials, what financial advice to avoid, and what might happen in 2017. A reminder that hassle-free investing can be found here with them – at a low-cost.
Financial Uproar released the results of his 2016 stock picking contest. My selections were up about 29% for the year but I got trounced by the winner.
Preet Banerjee outlined the different types of investing risk and highlighted what they will mean to you as an investor. Another great video and the next one will be even more important.
Canadian Mortgage Trends says higher borrowing costs are no gift to homeowners. A good reminder to me to kill debt so I don’t have to worry about it.
Roadmap2Retire shared a collection of investment picks for 2017. You’ll have to read his post to find out what I selected for this year.
Susan Brunner reviewed Bank of Montreal.
Here is one of the best rent vs. buy calculators I found find. Using this tool I calculated we could be ahead (of where we are today) had we rented in Ottawa instead of buying, for renting less than <$2,200 per month. Interesting. Then again, buying over renting is a lifestyle choice, so yes it might cost more. I said as much in my Dear Renters letter on HowToSaveMoney here.
Sure Dividend prefers AT&T over Verizon.
Michael James on Money wondered what you have to show for your work – a post aimed at millennials.
Andrew Hallam touted the second edition of his Millionaire Teacher book. I want to thank Andrew for sending me a copy to read – that will be another giveaway on my site later this winter.
Last but not least, I got recruited to participate in this online Canadian Investors Conference with other personal finance and investing experts. Check it out – including how you can attend for free. In the coming weeks, I will raffle off some Premium Passes for this conference, at least a $199 value, so keep reading this site and following along.
Enjoy your weekend,
Mark
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.
Great set of links. Thanks for including my top investment picks for 2017
Have a great wknd
R2R
Enjoy and talk to you soon.
Mark
It’s a pretty rent-vs-buy calculator, but it’s built for Americans so don’t forget that you have to do non-intuitive things like set your tax rate at 0%.
Yes, you do have to change the settings for most questions – but very good I thought.
“…financial advice to millennials, what financial advice to avoid, and what might happen in 2017.”
mil·len·nial
noun
: the name given to the generation born between 1982 and 2004.
Why would a twelve year-old care about financial advice.
And why would a thirty year-old care what happens this year if they are investing for forty years into the future?
Should “millennial” financial advice be any different than that given to a twenty-something during any other era?
Save. Diversify. Timeless.
“…2016 stock picking contest. My selections were up about 29% for the year…”
Why should it matter if dividend income is your focus?
“…what you have to show for your work – a post aimed at millennials.”
People spend most of their life at work, if one’s life is to be measured exclusively in dollars, then a wise millennial (of legal working age) should set about to acquire the highest paying job possible and work that job for the longest time possible. Period; there is no other logical decision. If other metrics are included, such as satisfaction, purpose, legacy, happiness, etc., then I suppose the importance of money diminishes.
“What is Risk”
Very apropos that he uses traffic and lane changing as a metaphor. It’s been well studied that lane changing increases the risk of an accident without delivering an acceptable “reward”, e.g. changing lanes five times yet ending up at the same red light as all the cars you just passed. This is exactly what happens to traders and those who chase returns, the risk greatly increases but the reward is minimal (over long-term investors).
Risk is why it’s wise to diversify as broadly as possible. If you hold a handful of index funds and ETFs, you are basically off-loading the management of all the types of risk mentioned in the video (and more) to the companies which are held within your funds. That might be anywhere from 50 to 5,000+ companies all working in different manners to control those risks, and doing it much better than you.
The ‘Halloween Massacre’ is a prime example of market, sector, and political risk.
“Why would a twelve year-old care about financial advice.”
They shouldn’t but a 30-year-old should – no? Just like Boomers should care as well, even though there are in their decumulation phase.
Overall, I think Preet does an outstanding job on his video series. I remember talking to him a few years ago in Toronto about the idea and my feedback to him at the time was, I think if you do this – it has the potential to really take off. Kudos to him – he has a great brand as well.
Save. Diversify. Timeless.
“…2016 stock picking contest. My selections were up about 29% for the year…”
Why should it matter if dividend income is your focus?
It should matter because that’s a helluva lot better than 10% and that return includes dividends. Recall you can sell equities if you want 🙂