Investors: Don’t do dumb stuff when it gets hard
Try not to abandon your strategy as soon as it lags the alternatives.
Given the choice between a simple solution and a complex one, which would you choose? When it comes to investing, many people seem bent on making their portfolios needlessly complicated.
My blog—canadiancouchpotato.com—includes a model portfolio with just three exchange-traded funds (ETFs): one covering Canadian stocks, another for foreign stocks and a third for bonds. This trio of funds includes more than 3,000 companies from around the world, plus hundreds of bonds of all maturities. It’s super-cheap with a fee of less than 0.20%. And during the last 10- and 20-year periods it would have returned about 6% to 7%. Yet so many investors have an unshakable urge to tinker with it.
I routinely get emails that go something like this: “I like your Couch Potato portfolio, but I would like to make some changes. What do you think about adding some gold, small-cap stocks, commodities, real estate, global bonds, sector ETFs, infrastructure and maybe some blue-chip stocks to the mix?” I’m exaggerating, but only a little. Even those who admit they have no experience are convinced their tweaks will improve the portfolio.
Read the rest of this article from MoneySense Magazine on their website.
Protect your valuables
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When it comes to protecting your home and ensuring you’ve got the right insurance coverage, there are a number of areas that are easily overlooked in high-value homes.
Unique Upgrades
Many high-end homes include unique upgrades—there is a big difference between marble tiles that you can find at the big-box retailers and custom-made marble tiles that are chosen for their colour and thickness from a quarry in Italy and flown overseas. The same goes for hardwood floors—if you have a rare or exotic hardwood that has to be imported, you will want to make sure that your insurance broker knows and includes that in your insurance policy. If you have a unique or expensive chandelier, you’ll want to let your broker know that as well, so that it is specifically included in your insurance policy.
Q2 Portfolio Commentary
‘If you’ve followed my forecasts, you’ve probably lost a lot of money’ – James Bullard, St. Louis Federal Reserve President
Last month, pro hockey’s annual selection of junior and collegiate players was held / Britons voted to either re-embrace or cast off their 43 year membership in the European Union……
So what can we take from these two episodes? First, forecasting is very difficult, regardless of the subject matter. Second, it’s human nature to crave certainty and to be drawn to those who appear to provide it, even when our rational selves know that the definitiveness on offer is rarely possible.
Click here to read more: DM-Portfolio-Commentary-Q2-16
The Clock is Ticking!
Don’t Put Off Your Decision to Buy Life Insurance
2016 is an opportune year to buy life insurance. New laws affecting the taxation of life insurance come into effect on January 1, 2017. After this date new policies will not perform as well as they do currently.
The good news is that the proceeds of life insurance policies paid at death still remain tax free. What has been affected is the amount of cash value that may accrue in a policy and the tax-free distribution of death proceeds from a life insurance policy owned in a corporation.
How will this impact your existing and future policies? Read more 
