Posts by Ed Rempel
Common Myths About Stock Market Risk
Over the years, we have found that most investors have quite exaggerated views about stock market risks, especially after 2008. While we do always advocate low risk investing here in MDJ, primarily by investing in dividend stocks, we also wanted to touch on the subject again of operating in an exaggerated environment such as the…
Read MoreAre You Too Focused on Risk Reduction Instead of Growth?
A few years ago, we held a client event that highlighted the difference between how different types of investors think. I had invited my favourite hedge fund manager and my favourite growth fund manager. It was the contrast in their thinking that I found fascinating. The hedge fund manager was the true hedge fund type…
Read MoreHow to Read and Understand Business News
Do you ever read the business news and find yourself wondering exactly what you should or shouldn’t believe? Do you find yourself thinking there is a “big picture” behind the story and you just don’t know what it is? And have you ever noticed that at almost any point in time there is an “apocalypse…
Read MoreCapital Gains Refund Mechanism – Why Mutual Fund and ETF Investors Potentially Pay Less Tax
When I see tax returns for do-it-yourself investors, I am often struck by how much tax they pay on their investments. Many high net worth investors also pay a lot of tax on their investments in “Separately Managed Accounts” (SMAs), which are marketed as being tax-efficient. With an SMA, you hire a portfolio manager directly…
Read More7 Steps to Determine Your Optimal RRSP/TFSA Contribution Strategy
In the last article, we have looked individually at each of the six key factors for determining your optimum RRSP/TFSA contribution. In this article, we will put all these pieces together to create your optimal RRSP/TFSA strategy to determine the optimal contributions for you to make this year and in future years. Putting all the…
Read MoreThe Optimal RRSP/TFSA Contribution
Now that we are in RRSP season, you may be wondering “How much should I contribute to my RRSP?” The proper way to figure this out is to identify your “optimal RRSP/TFSA contribution”. This is a key factor in every retirement plan. Most Canadians decide how much to contribute based on the extra cash they…
Read MoreWhy the Long Term Growth of the Economy is Not Relevant to Investing
An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn’t happen today. – Laurence J. Peter Our last article explained why the economy is not relevant to investing – short term. If you want to forecast the stock market this year or next year, the economy is essentially irrelevant…
Read MoreCloset Indexers vs. Stock Pickers – Truly Active Managers Outperform
This is the final installment of Ed Rempel’s series on active investing. “If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.” – Yogi Berra In the last article, we introduced the concept of “Active Share” – the degree to which the holdings in a fund differ from the index – based on a study by 2…
Read MoreTruly Active Managers Outperform The Index – Being Different is Key
The popular opinion among investors supported by many studies claims that most fund managers underperform their index, so you are better off just investing in an index fund or ETF (our list of best Canadian ETFs). However, truly “active” fund managers have significantly outperformed their indexes after all fees over the long term, based on…
Read MoreAvoid the 5-Year Fixed Mortgage Trap
Should I go short or long; fixed or variable with my mortgage? “I wish I had an answer to that, because I’m tired of answering that question.” – Yogi Berra Number 3 on our list of things on which Canadians waste the most money is 5-year fixed mortgages. They are marketed as being safe and…
Read MoreSix Common Myths about Stock Market Returns
We have found that most investors have quite exaggerated views about long term stock market returns, mainly believing they are much more erratic than they are. Here are the facts regarding some of the most common misconceptions and myths of stock market returns. 1. Stock market returns are random. Most people believe that market returns…
Read More3 Principles of Successful Investors Part 2
This is a continuation of a 2 part series on the principles of successful investors. Here’s a quick recap of the first article. 1. Faith The single most important characteristic of successful investors is faith. This includes faith in the markets, in the future, in our free enterprise system, in the ability of good companies…
Read MoreWhat’s Important About Money to You?
“It ain’t the heat; it’s the humility.”– Yogi Berra It’s not about the money. What is your real inner motivation for how you handle money – how do you spend it, and how and why do you save it? Having talked to thousands of people about their money, we have found that money is very…
Read MoreHow to Take Advantage of the Market After the Crash of 2008
“It’s never happened in the World Series history – and it hasn’t happened since.” – Yogi Berra 2008 was a difficult year, producing results not seen in recent history. In past bear markets, some sectors and significant groups of investors still made money. In 2008 only 4 of 3,438 equity mutual funds showed a profit.…
Read MoreUniversal Life Insurance Explained
So, do we NEED universal life insurance? The main life insurance need most people have is income replacement. If you have anyone that is financially dependent on you (your family) and you want to know they will be okay if you die, you probably need to have some life insurance to replace that part of…
Read MoreStock Market Beliefs – Part 2
To continue on from Part 1 of Stock Market Beliefs, Ed Rempel explains some of Ken Fishers reasonings behind the common stock market beliefs. In part 1, I listed 20 commonly believed myths that Ken Fisher disproves, and 3 commonly held beliefs where he proves the opposite is true. Here are a couple of examples…
Read MoreStock Market Beliefs – Part 1
Ed Rempel, a CFP and CMA, has been a regular guest poster on Million Dollar Journey. This time he has written about typical stock market beliefs that are proven false. This is part 1 of 2. Every once in a while, I come across a truly fascinating book. I love reading financial and investment books.…
Read MoreMyths about Leveraging into Equities – Part 2
Ed Rempel, a CFP and CMA, has been a regular guest poster on Million Dollar Journey. This article is continues from part 1 of the series “Myths about Leveraging into Equities“. 4. Leverage always increases risks What are the risks of borrowing to invest? Let’s assume the total risk is a combination of the 3…
Read MoreMyths about Leveraging into Equities – Part 1
Ed Rempel, a CFP and CMA, has been a regular guest poster on Million Dollar Journey. He has graciously written another great article for you to enjoy while I’m away on business. This Part 1 of 2. For this post, I am borrowing heavily from Talbot Stevens, whose writing about leverage was inspirational to me…
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