Investing

Where should I put my RRSP?

I’ve gotten a few questions from friends and readers asking me “Where should I put my RRSP?” Since I’m a manic maxer and contribute fully to my retirement plans in January, I kinda forgot the RRSP deadline is this Friday (February 29th, 2008). But to help you out, I’ve listed some RRSP options for various [...]

By Kerry | 6 Comments

Investing

RBC Buys Phillips, Hager & North (CRIES)

I want to cry. I want to scream. Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) just bought Phillips, Hagar & North (PH&N), the company where I invest my retirement account. I moved my account to PH&N several years ago to take full advantage of PH&N’s LOW LOW LOW mutual funds fees. Keeping fees low is very important [...]

By Kerry | 6 Comments

Investing

What are Index Funds? What are Exchange Traded Funds?

I tend to get really excited when I talk about index funds and exchange traded funds (ETFs). My friends usually greet me with perplexed looks and rolling eyeballs when I squawk about the importance of avoiding loads, calculating MERs, and not blindly trusting financial advisors. All these fees are a thing of beauty for mutual [...]

By Kerry | 2 Comments

Investing, Tools

New Tool: Portfolio MER Calculator

I’m really excited to reveal my new Portfolio MER Calculator. I wanted to create a calculator to show you how those hideous management expense ratio fees (MERs) can eat up your mutual fund portfolio returns, year after year. My hope is you will save big investment bucks tomorrow by learning how your fees eat into [...]

By Kerry | 4 Comments

Investing

Are you a manic RRSP maxer?

Don’t hate me cause I’m a manic maxer. A manic maxer is a term I just invented to describe those crazy lot who max out their RRSP (or 401K) in January, at the beginning of the tax year. So, if you’re looking to contribute to your RRSP in January 2008 for tax year 2008, then [...]

By Kerry | 1 Comment

Investing

ING Direct Streetwise Funds Vs. TD Index e-Series Funds

ING Direct keeps sending me marketing material detailing their new “Streetwise Funds.” I wrote about these new funds earlier this month (ING Index Funds? Huh?) and argued that I preferred the TD e-Series Funds (index funds) based on lower fees (MERs). What I failed to realize at the time was the ING Streetwise Funds are [...]

By Kerry | 15 Comments

Investing

Don’t Panic!

The markets are down. Both the Fed and the Bank of Canada have cut rates. The media are very negative and are reporting doom and gloom stories. Am I upset? No! The markets are cyclical and will rebound. I actually view the current market down-turn as a positive and a fantastic opportunity to buy and [...]

By Kerry | 0 Comments

Investing

ING Index Funds? Huh?

OK. So I’m a pretty big fan of index funds. I’ve been investing in TD eFunds for a while now and feel quite smug about paying a management expense ratio (MER) of less than half a per cent. In the Canadian mutual fund world, under .50 per cent is pretty darn good. Anyways, I got [...]

By Kerry | 3 Comments