4 tips to avoid getting fleeced by your broker + MORE Mar 30th

Can your broker or adviser be trusted? There is no way to be 100 per cent certain, but far too many investors don’t even take a few simple steps to protect themselves. Start by asking questions. Here are four key ones, and tips for finding the answers.
__ WHO’S PAYING YOU? If a broker or adviser is pushing a specific investment, maybe it’s because they’re getting paid to do so. Many mutual funds charge one-time “sales loads” or annual “12b-1″ fees that come out of your pocket and go into theirs. Cheaper, equally good funds may be available, but they may not tell you.
Make sure to also ask about commissions, markups or hidden fees they may get for selling stocks, bonds and insurance products.
__ ARE YOU A FIDUCIARY? You’re in safer hands if the broker or adviser is held to a fiduciary standard. That requires them to put your interest ahead of their own, so they must tell you about cheaper alternatives. They also must monitor your investment…

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WASHINGTON – Two major companies in a prominent $1.4 billion Asia investment fund managed by banking giant Morgan Stanley failed to file their financial statements on time, freezing trading in their stocks. Such delays are generally considered worrisome for a company’s investors, which include U.S. pension funds and college endowments.
The companies — Tianhe Chemicals Group Ltd. and Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd — both blamed the delay on incomplete audits. Though both companies could eventually earn auditors approval, accounting experts say that such holdups are a worrying sign.
Accounting trouble at the companies would be a black eye for Morgan Stanley, which pitched investors on its ability to improve the companies’ management.
The post Unreleased financials freeze shares of Morgan Stanley-backed companies appeared first on Canadian Business.

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Tom Bradley recently responded to some questions from young homeowners about debt and it got me thinking about the mortgage paydown versus investing debate, again.  For us there will be an enormous amount of emotional well-being when we’re debt-free.  While we invest every month by contributing to our Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and maxing out our Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) throughout the year, we also work on killing our mortgage debt rather aggressively.  Here are some reasons why:

Killing our mortgage is one of the safest investments (i.e., less risky investments) we can make.
After the mortgage is done we can stop paying our bank and start paying ourselves (more) money.
Debt is somewhat draining and stressful for us – we need our jobs to fuel our existing mortgage debt.
When we own our home we won’t risk losing it should something unexpected happen (e.g., job loss).
We cannot control our investment (stock market) returns so we might as well control what we can (debt repayments)…

Apart from trading and running his family’s firm, he was outspoken in supporting rights of smaller brokerages and retail investors