Monday 31 October 2011

November 2011 Budget

Hey guys, I know I haven't really been posting lately, but that's due to the crazy workload that school decided to drop on me. I actually have a couple posts I want to do so once midterms are over you can bet I'll be putting up some stuff.  I actually have a midterm on Halloween, and one the following day. Who does that?! How am I going to go Trick-o-Treating to Halloween parties?

Anyways here's November's budget. I'm going to leave it the same as October's because I haven't tallied up everything yet but I'm sure I'm pretty close to the budget (other than one purchase I didn't expect, but I guess I should have). Also because I'm lazy I have no time. Ugh, I keep making typos (hopefully this won't happen on my tests)!


Happy Halloween!

-the Paperboy

Friday 28 October 2011

Canadian Oil Sands Position


Sigh. I made a mistake on Wednesday. I sold my position in Canadian Oil Sands (COS.TO) for an 11% return (plus one dividend distribution). That may sound like good news to some of you, but I didn't intend to sell! The company still seems like a good play to me; I actually wanted to set a stop-loss to protect the profit but I wasn't paying attention and instead I sold the stock. Goes to show you that when it comes to investing, it's best to be vigilant. Hopefully this doesn't come back to haunt me!

-the Paperboy

Monday 24 October 2011

How I Plan to Use DRIPs


Last time I talked a little bit about the pros and cons of using DRIPs in your financial plan. Now I would like to talk about how I plan to implement DRIPs to help me achieve my financial goals. Since my main concern with running a DRIP is the fact that I can't choose when to purchase more shares (it's automatically done for me), I decided that I would have some criteria that would have to be met in order for me to DRIP a stock.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

Sun Life Financial Position



On Monday Sun Life Financial (TSX: SLF), one of the largest insurance companies in the country announced their estimates for their third quarter. They expect to report a loss of $621 million dollars. For me, that's great news. I took the opportunity to increase my position after the stock tumbled 9%. I now have enough shares to generate one share with the dividends that are distributed every quarter, which sets everything up for a synthetic DRIP. This is especially attractive because Sun Life Financial offers a 2% discount with their DRIP. Now all I have to do is have a little chat with my broker and the compounding machine will be ready to go.

-the Paperboy

Monday 17 October 2011

Thinking about DRIPing


If you're new to dividend investing, there's no doubt that you'll come across DRIPs when you are doing research. Some people swear by DRIPs while others wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole. What exactly are DRIPs and how will you know if they will help you reach your financial goals? Let's take a closer look at Dividend ReInvestment Plans.

Friday 14 October 2011

My Portfolio Allocation Plan


Last time, I talked a little bit about the different places we can place our investments and the merits of each account. Today I’ll talk about what I believe is the best way I can use them to help me start building up my wealth. 

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Investing 101: Dividends



Let's talk about what to do with all that money that you've worked so hard on saving up. In this section titled Investing 101, I'll go over different terms and ideas that every investor should know.* Hopefully the information provided will help give you a general idea of how things work and build a foundation for you to go and further educate yourself. Welcome to class. Today's topic? Dividends.

Friday 7 October 2011

Portfolio Allocation Primer


We all heard it before. Diversify, diversify, and diversify!  Putting all your eggs in one financial basket is just asking for trouble. By spreading out your money to different sectors of the stock market, you decrease the total risk you take on. As important as asset allocation is, portfolio allocation is just as important and I find it to be a more interesting topic. While asset allocation is used to mitigate risk, portfolio allocation is used to maximize the tax efficiency of your investments. You may know what to buy, but do you know where to put it? 
 

Monday 3 October 2011

How To Use Credit Cards Properly


Visa, MasterCard, American Express. These little pieces are plastic are the reason why so many people are in debt. However, are they really the reason why personal debt is through the roof, or is it something larger? I've had a credit card since I was 18 (only three years ago so I'm pretty new to this) and I've always paid off every bill without any difficulty. A credit card can be a great tool if used properly but lethal to your financial health if you're unaware of the pitfalls.