Not sure how to make a savings plan? Read on…
Latest News
Daylight Savings Sadness: Credit Cards and Tips to Get You to a Sunny Destination ASAP Nov 16th
Is the Canadian winter starting to get to you before it can even officially start? Are you tired of waking up in the dark and leaving work in the dark? Do you feel like you’re succumbing to the stresses and demands of the busy holiday season?
When we average less than three hours of sunshine p.... More »
Do You Need Loan Insurance? + MORE May 31st
Managing debt can be a challenge. Sometimes that challenge is driven by circumstances out of your control. Critical illness or disability can put a huge strain on your finances, making it hard to pay off a credit line or loan.
Those times of distress are what loan insurance is designed for. .... More »
Best fixed-income ETFs for Canadian investors 2026 + MORE Apr 29th
With the downturn in stock markets in 2026, many investors are grudgingly coming around to the realization that they need exposure to other asset classes in their portfolios. And the most readily available is bonds, which have the advantage, historically, of being negatively correlated to stocks. Th.... More »
Best high-interest savings accounts in Canada 2021 + MORE Jan 2nd
Regular savings accounts offer very low interest rates, so if you want to earn on your deposits (rather than simply use your account as a temporary “holding tank” for funds you’ll soon be using for purchases, or directing to longer-term saving and investing vehicles), a high-interest savings a.... More »
Negotiate rent with your landlord to reap savings + MORE Apr 3rd
When working out a better rental rate, know your local market and keep emotion out of it, Lesley-Anne Scorgie advises..... More »
BMO launches Series D mutual funds
– moneysense.ca
Waking up to the reality that self-directed investors simply want greater access to low-cost funds, BMO Investments Inc. announced that as of April 8 it is now offering a suite of 33 Series D mutual funds exclusively through its BMO InvestorLine.
Investment minimums for the funds, which are designed for those who don’t require an adviser’s services and want to make their own investment decisions, are only $500. The management expense ratio (MER) savings for some of these funds is considerable compared to BMO’s corresponding Series A offerings. For instance, the BMO U.S. Equity ETF Fund Series D has an MER of 0.85%, which is one 1.16 percentage points lower than its Series A counterpart.
BMO Investments Inc. has also reduced management fees across its series of 67 Series F mutual fund lineup, providing investors with increased access to lower cost mutual funds within fee-based accounts.
Below is a list of the new BMO Mutual Fund Series D target MERs and their BMO Mutual Fund Series A MER savings…
Investment minimums for the funds, which are designed for those who don’t require an adviser’s services and want to make their own investment decisions, are only $500. The management expense ratio (MER) savings for some of these funds is considerable compared to BMO’s corresponding Series A offerings. For instance, the BMO U.S. Equity ETF Fund Series D has an MER of 0.85%, which is one 1.16 percentage points lower than its Series A counterpart.
BMO Investments Inc. has also reduced management fees across its series of 67 Series F mutual fund lineup, providing investors with increased access to lower cost mutual funds within fee-based accounts.
Below is a list of the new BMO Mutual Fund Series D target MERs and their BMO Mutual Fund Series A MER savings…
Kids new targets of identity theft
– canoe.ca
In the duplicitous world of fraud, it could be called the “original SIN.” A parent applies for a social insurance number (SIN) for her child in order to open a Registered Retirement Savings Plan, but unless the number is protected, it can be used to create a completely new identity to apply for credit.
Is my pension like a bond?
– moneysense.ca
Q: My wife and I have been using the Couch Potato strategy for a few years now, but something has always nagged me. I am fortunate enough to have a defined benefit pension that will pay me $50,000 a year in retirement. Should I consider this the fixed income portion of my portfolio and put the rest in equities? –Brian F.
A: This a critical financial planning question for anyone with a pension, and yet it’s often framed in an unhelpful way.
A popular school of thought says you should think of a pension as a bond, presumably because both bonds and pensions pay predictable amounts of guaranteed income. The problem is, there is no way to put that idea into practice when managing a portfolio.
In this case, our reader has a pension that will pay him $50,000 a year. What would an equivalent bond holding be? Let’s assume he also has $300,000 in personal savings, and that it’s all equities. What would his overall asset allocation be? Even if he did establish a present value for the pension, how would that be helpful when it was time to rebalance the portfolio to its targets? Clearly this is the wrong way to approach the problem…
A: This a critical financial planning question for anyone with a pension, and yet it’s often framed in an unhelpful way.
A popular school of thought says you should think of a pension as a bond, presumably because both bonds and pensions pay predictable amounts of guaranteed income. The problem is, there is no way to put that idea into practice when managing a portfolio.
In this case, our reader has a pension that will pay him $50,000 a year. What would an equivalent bond holding be? Let’s assume he also has $300,000 in personal savings, and that it’s all equities. What would his overall asset allocation be? Even if he did establish a present value for the pension, how would that be helpful when it was time to rebalance the portfolio to its targets? Clearly this is the wrong way to approach the problem…
