Invest or pay off the mortgage? + MORE Jan 28th

Railway moved record volumes in 2014; quarterly profit surges to $844-million

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Q: I have an outstanding mortgage of $490,000 with a 3.34% fixed interest rate for another 4 years and I do biweekly payments of $1,310.I currently invest $1,000 a month in a TFSA account that has given me an average of 8% last year, with a combined MER of 2.8%. I also have a group RRSP where I put in $690 and my employer puts in $200 a month and it has given me a return of 8% last year with the MER at 2.4%. Our household income is $150,000 a year and we have no other debt. My plan was to drop my TFSA and start paying down my mortgage faster for I do not feel that when the times come to renew my mortgage in 4 years that I can get the same rate. I have another $500 a month on top of the $1,000 from the TFSA that I could pay extra to my mortgage as well, so a total of $1,500.—Martin
A: Given where interest rates stand today, Martin, your rate seems kind of high. The banks are lending now for five years at a fixed rate of 2.89%, so your 3.34% doesn’t seem so great in comparison…

Strong greenback affects firms who do more business overseas, such as Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Sqibb and DuPont

Appealing to the middle class has long been a favoured move by politicians. In the United States, 90 per cent of Americans self-identify as middle class; in Canada, with the election forthcoming, the middle class has proven a talking point for both the government (the finance minister believes middle class includes families with annual incomes as high as $120,000) and the opposition parties (Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has made much hay in trying to champion that demographic.) Our sister publication MoneySense has put together this long explainer to sort out who precisely is middle class in Canada, including an interactive Net Worth Calculator to compare yourself to other Canadians. For more coverage like it, on financial issues and beyond, head to moneysense.ca.

The last time that MoneySense published the All-Canadian Wealth Test—our detailed examination of how your personal finances stack up against others—was back in 2009. And boy, it would be an understatement to say things weren’t going well then…

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Over the last few months I’ve received a number of emails from readers on this question:  how do I start investing in dividend paying stocks?
Today’s post will begin to provide some answers on that subject and hopefully give you some things to think about as well.
Stocks 101
Wouldn’t you love to own a company (or companies) without ever having to spend a day at the office?  It can happen and does happen for many investors.  Owning stocks can be a great wealth building tool.  Stocks can also destroy your portfolio if you are not wise about your decision(s), you are not diversified, and you let your emotions run a muck when buying or selling stocks.  A stock represents a stake on a company’s assets and earnings. As you acquire more stock, your ownership or stake in the company becomes greater.  This can be a very good thing – just Google Warren Buffett and read up on that guy.
Dividend Paying Stocks 101
You might already know from reading my site a company’s assets and earnings can be managed in many ways:

Management can decide to reinvest earnings and grow the business…