Ask Nanci: How much do I pay my financial advisor?

I received the following question (via Ask Nanci) from Debbie in Saskatoon: Can you help me understand how my financial advisor gets paid?  I don’t see fees on my account statements and I’m shy to ask. Thanks for your [awesome] question, Debbie!  You are certainly not the first person in Canada to look for this […]

A Few Words On DSC Funds

Anyone that has ever worked with me, knows that I am not a fan of mutual funds—especially in Canada. There are several reasons, the top three being: Active management almost never beats passively managed lower-cost index funds  The MERs (management expense ratios) on mutual funds (especially in Canada) are ridiculously high  Inflated sales commissions and/or high […]

Why Investing Is A Lot Like Weight Loss

  I have been investing for over 25 years, and I know what it takes to be a successful investor. What I had not realized was how similar the actions and beliefs relating to investing were so close to the choices and thoughts related to weight loss. Have you ever tried to lose weight? I […]

$29,207.38 In Fees …and she didn’t know. What’s In Your RRSP?

Can you imagine not being aware of paying $29,207.38 in fees? That is what happened to one of my neighbors, let’s call her Kellie.   Kellie is 51 years old and in 2009, she inherited $250,000 from a family trust.  A few months later, as the money was earning less than 1% in a high-interest savings account, […]

RRSP Or TFSA—Investing Bootcamp

One of the most common questions I receive every week is, “What is the difference between an RRSP and a TFSA and which one should I get started with?” What is the difference between an RRSP and a TFSA and which one should I get started with?  First, what does each acronym mean? An RRSP […]

Happiness Is A Market Pull-Back

Keep Your Powder Dry  In a diversified portfolio, there are three asset classes, stocks, bonds, and cash. I have covered differences between the three classes elsewhere, today I want to focus specifically on the role of cash. You may have heard, “Cash is King.” People say this because cash is liquid – you don’t have […]

Bank Fees (or, dumb things I do when it is raining)

Do You Know How Banks Make Money? Not the little, seemingly harmless ways they make money, but the basic reason, sort of like, why they exist? They lend money. But to lend money, they need money (funny how that works). This is where you come in. Here’s a story: Jenny needs a $100,000 mortgage to […]

Diversification. (or, how to kick regret to the curb)

This is the final post is a three part series.  If you missed Questions one and two, you can read them here and here.  Question Three:  Please tell me whether this statement is true or false:  Buying a single company’s stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund or ETF. [] True [] False […]

What Is A Stock? What Is A Mutual Fund?

What Is A Stock?  If you and I start a company (oooh, can it be a shoe company?!), we have to find a way to tell who is the owner of the company.  It could be half yours and half mine, but still that would have to be written down somewhere, and there would have […]

Inflation. (and you thought carpenter ants were bad?)

This post is part II of a III (that is 2 of 3) part series. If you have not read part 1, you can do so here.  OK, Question 2! Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1% per year, and the inflation rate was 2% per year. After one year, how much […]