Weekend Reading – #RRSP deadline advice, 7% return is enough, FIRE for you, more #moneystuff
Hey folks!
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.
Well, we put our house up for sale last week. It was conditionally sold in 48 hours.
Crazy. I really didn’t see that coming.
It’s all part of the move to the city that will happen in just four more months – something I wrote about here in my housing dilemma series.
There are some house conditions as part of the sale of course, so with fingers, toes and eyes crossed – hopefully everything will go well. I’m sure I’ll write about all of this at some point – so stay tuned…
Here are some posts I put up recently that you should check out:
I have a dream to live off dividends to a degree. So do other dividend investors and bloggers – here is an update about one of those investors: why living off dividends still works for me.
Have a great weekend and enjoy this other Weekend Reading material!
Mark
“RRSP Season” tips and advice including RRSP vs. TFSA
Hey fans…the March 1, 2019 deadline for contributing to an RRSP for the 2018 tax year is here!
In that spirit, here are some of my posts and other posts about this outstanding tax-deferred account.
It’s “RRSP season” – here are my top tips to build a fat RRSP nest egg.
Find out here the best tax bracket to choose between the TFSA and RRSP. I’ve always used a rule of thumb of about $50,000 per year in income – as a cutoff – whether you should max out TFSA or RRSP first. This article largely defends that.
Regardless of what experts might or might not suggest – I think I’ll keeping doing what I’ve been doing for years – I’ll max out my TFSA first every year because…
Here are some very important RRSP “dos” and “don’ts” this year – and beyond!
Stocks for FUN and PROFIT author Herman Vangenderen believes the RRSP is still an outstanding account to own and contribute to.
Mark Goodfield exploded 19 RRSP myths. I’ve always been a big fan of this bean counter.
Can you have too much money in your RRSP? Even if you have a workplace pension? I highly doubt it – here’s why.
Other Weekend Reading insights and posts!
I was sent a recent survey study that mentioned Canadians “think they are getting 7% on their investments” but because they remain quite complacent about the investment advice they are getting, and their returns, they really have no idea.
“According to the survey, only 11% of Canadian investors check the rate of return on their investments regularly (monthly) and the majority would not consider switching advisors if they believed they were getting a 7% return on investment.”
Notes – Adam Hennick, who commissioned the survey, suggests that few investment advisors actually achieve a 7% rate of return consistently, but says the number is frequently tossed around in the industry because it’s what investors want to hear. Curious readers – do you know how your portfolio is performing? How do you know?
Should retirees pay off their mortgage with investments? My buddies on my golf trips have debated this subject in the past. Expert Jason Health responses mostly with “it depends” but does argue paying down debt with non-registered assets is usually smart, if you’re going to do anything at all. That aligns with my thesis to not touch registered investments (RRSP, TFSA, RESP, etc.) and if you’re going to pay off debt, use taxable investments when in doubt.
A fellow blogger from Vancouver highlighted 13 ways to reach financial independence sooner – even if you live in an expensive city like Vancouver. When I looked at this list, there are very few drastic measures I’m ready to pursue; now in my mid-40s. My wife and I however are moving to a smaller house, a 1,200 sq. ft. condo, which should be just fine for two adults and two cats. To reach financial independence (FI) I’m not ready whatsoever to rent from family (business with any family is a big fat NO for me); live in a co-op; house hack or live with a renter; or go car-free although we are going down to one car in June this year. FIRE in my 40s, with some extreme frugality, is not right for me. What about you?
“By pivoting our portfolio into higher-yielding assets like Preferred Shares, Corporate Bonds, REITs, and Dividend Stocks, we raised our portfolio’s yield in the first few years of retirement from a paltry 2% to around 3.5%.”
I don’t mind this angle but I prefer not changing my investing approach as little as possible. Like a bar of soap, the more you play with your portfolio the less you have and more you might drop it/make a mistake.
A BIG thanks to Tom Drake for having me on his podcast recently:
Here is a review of BAM.A, a dividend growth powerhouse, on Dividend Earner.
Dale Roberts suggests these 7 ETFs are all you need for a retirement portfolio.
Save, Invest, Prosper!
Make sure you check out my Deals page for saving and investing cash back and more!
All the best.
Mark
Congrats on the sale of your home – selling a home is a nerve-wracking experience until it is done.
Regarding the expected 7% rate of return, at least their expectations are reasonable and not the 10%+ that used to be promoted. I’d say checking performance monthly is not only a waste of time but likely dangerous as it can lead investors to make reflexive changes. Once a year is fine for me and only because TD now reports it more clearly.
Man, it was stressful plus I had to travel this week. Glad it’s over.
Ha, ya, 10% is nutty. I recall The Wealthy Barber even included double-digit returns – but those days are LONG gone.
I look at the performance of my portfolio a few times per year but that’s about it. It’s really nothing I can change and therefore should stress over 🙂
Well, the BPY.UN fiasco is complete. Last week I gave up waiting for BPY to fall back a bit and temporarily bought some FIE just to catch the month end distribution and hold the cash in the short term from what was left of the BPY sale. Today I sold that, made a few hundred on the price, and re-purchased BPY at about .55 less than I sold it at. Didn’t get it all back due to using some of the sale money to balance out other holdings (mostly BEP.UN).
So now I’m finished and I’m thinking of getting a dog. I’m going to train it to bite my arm off if I scroll anywhere near the BUY/SELL buttons.
LOL. Glad it worked out. I was watching it and was pretty sure you’d make your move when it was rolling around 25.40 ish.
I doubt the dog is necessary now. Just come here first and we’ll talk you out of it. You won’t have to go out with your pooper scooper or pay for dog food either.
That was pretty funny.
Well, FWIW, never sold BPY.UN, simply run my DRIP and keep my fingers off the keyboard except for this blog. Too bad the price is now $26 CDN. I love seeing prices tank but I know I’ll want them to be sky-high in other 10-20 years 🙂
Ya, sure I technically made some money but in the long run it really wasn’t worth the angst it caused. The other plus is that I do have better balance now with BEP (2627) and BPY (4014). I’m probably still overweight on them but now there is a better balanced over all the portfolios. Now that this fiasco is over I feel pretty good about it but I was a tad bit grumpy for a couple of weeks there watching BPY climb and realizing I’d miss the ex-dividend.
First world problems – missing the ex-dividend with that many shares!!
🙂
On another stupid move I made, our 16 orphaned CSH.UN shares got a raise! One of these days I gotta phone TDDI and beg to have these things sold without the fees. I’ve read that they sometimes will forgo the commission. I’ll practice up on my grovelling.
I’ve owned orphan shares re messing up ex div date and asked my broker to blow them out without fees. They did.
G/L
Yes, they did the same for me in the past. Once you reach certain assets they are more than happy to do that now and again to keep investors happy!
Agree!
Also dripping it here in TFSA.
I’m torn on the price thing. If they went down decently I’d buy some more equity and raise income up a touch. The higher they go the nicer the balances look but the riskier things are. Well into all time highs now.
Just recalculated income generated this morning. Fair bit better than I thought so a pleasant surprise.
Congratulations on getting the conditions met and your deal sealed. Very pleased for you.
Soooooooo happy with the house. Got just over list and our closed date. Amazing. Going out to celebrate tonight with a nice-fine-dining meal and bottle of nice red.
Great. We lucked out with our last 2 house sales too, but took a bath on one other property we also owned.
ENJOY tonight
Gotta hunker down here for 2 big storms coming….GEEZ
Sigh, winter in Canada eh? The craft beer is already flowing!!!
Yep. It’s been colder than usual here. March is usually worst snow month here and we’ve already had a lot of smaller volume snows. 15cm tonight and 15-20 Monday forecast. A lot for here.
But my body let me run today so I’m happy!
Nice on the craft beer. It’s 5:00 somewhere! Washing down a cream ale here now.
Geez, great, re: run. Just back from a 4-km walk. Cold in Ottawa tonight!
Good for you.
Ran this morning too but started out bad. Snowy, icy, fell, hit head on pavement, am ok.
That cold is coming here.
Geez…very sorry to hear….I am glad you are OK. That can be scary stuff. Be safe!
@RBull. So sorry to hear you ran and fell. Please take good care of yourself. Now you are retired, ever thinking to move to somewhere warmer?
Thanks Mark and May. We’re good. My stubborn determined streak usually wins when it comes to my running program (until I get too old and creaky!), regardless of weather. I could be running on a treadmill at the gym nearby but prefer outdoors, followed by the gym for strength training afterwards.
May, lol, although it might be tempting some days moving isn’t not likely. It would be difficult and expensive to move and replace what we have elsewhere, and choices with better weather are limited and not without other compromises.
My wife also enjoys all of the seasons. This happens to be the first winter since retiring we have chosen not to travel. However I believe in the years to come we will likely spend greater amounts of time in warmer climates during the cold season here.
I read that link to the “yield shield” as well as *some* of the comments and my brain exploded. Those folks are hard core!
They are. Personally, I don’t subscribe to that stuff” “yield shield”. It makes little sense to me to change your investing strategy (a lot); as you enter retirement – why not come up with a good plan (a mix of dividends AND capital appreciation) and simply change any asset allocation (a bit) as you enter semi-retirement or retirement? That seems to be better since you avoid transaction costs, stress, sequence of returns risk, and much more. Just me. I’m boring and simple when it comes to investing though!
I had a cursory read of yield shield. I guess I actually do my own version of that.
I changed my strategy a lot a year or so before retiring re asset allocation. But now it just needs a little work making registered withdrawals, rebalancing, moving between accts etc.
Congrats on selling your house, conditionally at least. Hope it comes through. It is so stressful, I said I would never do it again. With 3 kids and a dog I was run ragged keeping it clean for showings one time. I lost so much weight people thought I was very sick.
It was a HUGE stressor for me – but all conditions passed yesterday. What a HUUUUUUGGEEEE relief. Thanks for the congrats!!!!
Congratulations again on your house sell. The contract is sealed now, right? Best luck with everything going smooth.
With extreme frugality, I think I can retire this moment. But NO, it’s not for me either.
Yes, all conditions passed (septic inspection, house inspection, water test, etc.) yesterday. A HUUUGGGEEEE relief. Now we can look ahead 🙂
Fantastic news. Guess they didn’t have to wait to sell another property, just get financing ?
When I sold my rental last year (no where near as stressful as your own home, I had enough to carry it empty for awhile) the financing had a problem last minute and had to change names of the purchaser etc, but it was all good in the end with a 7 day delay.
I am sure you are so thrilled and can now relax.
I think they are paying cash but I can’t confirm that.
I’m definitely going to party tonight 🙂