June 2013 - Million Dollar Journey

Pension plans are in dire straits in Canada. The number of workers covered by defined benefit pension plans has fallen by over 30 per cent in just the last decade. This trend doesn’t look to change anytime soon. What’s behind this steep decline? Low interest rates combined with volatile investment returns are partially to blame…

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With our house closing in on five years old, there are some home maintenance issues that are starting to crop up. Things like the HRV (air exchanger) motor giving out, window seals breaking, and a few more weeds in the grass. The most recent problem was a leaking hot water heater, so I called a…

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With my debt and savings habits under control, lately my thoughts have been more so on investing strategies. One investment strategy that I believe in, as you may know, is dividend investing. Dividend investing can mean a couple things. It could include investing for yield or dividend growth. Investing for yield is simply basing purchase…

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When it comes to picking your own stocks it can be hard to sift through all of the data and opinions in order to make sure that you’re buying stocks at the right price. For instance, if you like Canadian dividend stocks, some may choose to screen for low book values or payout ratios instead…

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Dealing with a job loss is never easy. The financially-adept deal with the change fairly well as they may be safe with an emergency fund to take them through for a few months or more. Others who prefer to live like the grasshopper rather than the ant add disconcerting questions such as “how do I…

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Many seasoned investors and traders follow the mantra “ride your winners and sell your losers fast” . This is for good reason as stocks tend to be slow to rise, but quick to fall. To mitigate the risk of stocks dropping quickly, many investors use Stop Loss orders to automatically reduce losses or protect their…

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I’ve written about credit cards many times before listing my favorite cash back credit cards to my favorite rewards or points based credit cards. Some people may consider credit cards to be “evil” but really, credit cards don’t have a bias. They are a simply tool and they are only as “useful” as the person…

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Welcome to the Million Dollar Journey May 2013 Net Worth Update. For those of you new to Million Dollar Journey, a monthly net worth update is typically posted near the end of the month (or beginning of the next) to track the progress of my journey to one million in net worth, hopefully by the…