TFSAs aren’t just for short-term savers anymore
It’s been a decade since the TFSA was born. It’s grown up quite a bit over that time.
By Bryan Borzykowski for MoneySense.ca
It was hard to know it at the time, but February 26, 2008 has become one of the most significant dates in Canadian investing history. That afternoon, Jim Flaherty, then Minister of Finance, unveiled the Conservative party’s budget and, for the first time, mentioned the Tax-Free Savings Account. On January 2, 2009, the first TFSA was opened and $5,000—the maximum contribution limit that year—was deposited by some savvy investor.
When Flaherty introduced the TFSA, he listed a variety of ways someone might use the account. An RRSP, he said, was meant for retirement savings. A TFSA, where after-tax dollars can grow tax-free, was “for everything else in your life,” like buying a first car, saving for a first home and setting aside money for a “special project” or a personal indulgence. With contribution room only increasing by $5,000 per year for the first few years, using it to save for something made a lot of sense.
Read the rest of the article at www.moneysense.ca
“If anything should happen to me….”
Don and Kate were nervously anticipating Don’s upcoming life saving surgery. Don was also concerned that, should he not survive, Kate might not know everything that needed to be done upon his death. The night before his surgery he made this list for Kate of the things she should do if he didn’t make it through the operation:
My Dearest Kate
Although I expect to make it through this surgery it has got me thinking that anything could happen to any of us at anytime and we are rarely prepared.
So, if anything should happen……………. Read more 
Cardinal Quarterly – January 2019
MARKET OUTLOOK – 2019 should be a good year for investors. In fact, we think that we may already have seen the bottom of the recent market downturn, which briefly fell below the 20% bear market definition on the S&P 500 and was not far behind in Canada. Markets have been rallying in early January based on hopes that the U.S. and China can reach an agreement to end the trade war they are in. Talks may get derailed in the near-term causing markets to fall again, but even in this case, we would expect the market to bottom in the first quarter and recover quickly from there. We would not be surprised to see markets up 20% from Dec. 31st levels by the end of 2019.
Click here to read more: Cardinal Quarterly – January 2019
DM Monthly Report – Jan 2019
BUILDING ON STRENGTH IN DM FOREIGN EQUITY – The DM Foreign Equity Portfolio essentially tracked the S&P 500 as it climbed during the first six months of 2018. When things headed south at the beginning of the fourth quarter, however, and many of the market’s most richly valued names took the brunt of the repricing, our focus on quality and fundamentals began to shine through. DM Foreign Equity opened up a significant gap against the broad market during the steep selloff and, by the time the punishing month of December was complete, it had surpassed the S&P by more than 6% for the calendar year.
Click here to read more: DM-Monthly-Report-Jan-19
