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Why budgets work (and don’t) Some financial experts will argue budgets don’t work because you can’t possibly predict the future.  You can’t possibly set aside an accurate amount of money for various expenses that may or may not happen.  You can’t possibly know how much you might earn or spend in any given week, month…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article  Why budgets work (and don’t) is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

Aurora Cannabis will buy medical marijuana firm MedReleaf for $3.2 billion in stock, cementing the company’s status as the biggest company in the fast-growing cannabis space.

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Benefits of The 6-Pack Portfolio – Review and Giveaway Long-time fans of this site will know I love investing using a basket of dividend paying stocks for many reasons.  I mean, who doesn’t like rising income over time? In recent weeks I earned a 3.9% pay raise from Canadian Apartment REIT and I was the…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article Benefits of The 6-Pack Portfolio – Review and Giveaway is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

Tariff tensions promote economic uncertainty, which in turn inhibits business investment.

National PostSanctions on Iran could cost US, European companies billionsNational PostFILE – In this Oct. 11, 2014 file photo, an Iranian worker assembles a Peugeot 206 at the state-run Iran-Khodro automobile manufacturing plant near Tehran, Iran. From brand-new airplanes to oilfields, billions of dollars of deals stand on the line for …'There is no Plan B': What Trump's Iran sanctions could mean for global businessCBC.caOil jumps 3 per cent after US quits Iran deal, US stock drawdownThe Globe and MailAnalyst View: Oil markets weigh fallout as US quits Iran dealReutersTheChronicleHerald.ca -680 News -Reuters Canada -Globalnews.caall 11,470 news articles »

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April 2018 Dividend Income Update Welcome to my latest dividend income update. For those of you new to these posts on my site, every month I discuss our approach to investing focusing on Canadian dividend paying stocks.  We believe buying and holding a number of Canadian dividend-paying stocks in our tax-free (thanks TFSA!) and non-registered…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article April 2018 Dividend Income Update is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

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What is a Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA)?   Here is my update Some time ago (actually a long time ago…) I wrote about my LIRA (my Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA)). This post will recap this type of investment account and highlight what’s new with my investments in that account. RRSP vs. LIRA Registered Retirement Savings Plans…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article What is a Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA)?   Here is my update is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

Globalnews.caFirst lady Melania Trump launches 'Be Best' campaign for childrenGlobalnews.caU.S. First Lady Melania Trump announced a new “Be Best” campaign aimed at children's wellness. “I feel strongly that as adults, we can and should 'be best' at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life,” Trump said on …Melania Trump just held her first news conference, this first lady started the traditionStuff.co.nzWhite House Detainee Melania Trump Actually Has Great “Affinity” for the President, Insists FriendVanity FairMelania Trump launches campaign to help children stay 'healthy and balanced'The GuardianNew York Times -The Atlantic -The Australian Financial Review -International Business Timesall 408 news articles »

The countries’ divergence began in 2015, as Beijing took defensive steps against financial risk.

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2018 Financial Goals – May Update Spring has finally sprung in Ottawa! That means since my last update here, it’s time for a financial goals update. Now, as a reminder, here are our two big hairy audacious long-term financial goals: Become debt-free before we retire (that’s pretty much a MUST), and Own a $1 million…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article 2018 Financial Goals – May Update is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

Real earnings after taxes are up 3.4%, thanks to corporate and personal rate cuts.

570 NewsPrime Minister Justin Trudeau announces $110 million investment at Cambridge Toyota plant570 NewsOne of two Toyota manufacturing plants in Cambridge will join Woodstock in producing the automaker's best-selling vehicle. The province and Ottawa say they will kick in $110 million to support $1.4 billion in upgrades to Toyota's Cambridge and …and more »

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Weekend Reading – Pembina dividend increase, more dividends, the downside of FIRE and more #moneystuff Welcome to my latest Weekend Reading edition – where I share some of my favourite articles from the week that was across the personal finance and investing blogosphere. If you noticed some delays in responding to your comments this past…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article Weekend Reading – Pembina dividend increase, more dividends, the downside of FIRE and more #moneystuff is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

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Weekend Reading – Kinder Morgan, giveaways, Google finance alternatives and more #moneystuff Welcome to my latest Weekend Reading edition – where I share some of my favourite articles from the week that was across the personal finance and investing blogosphere. I shared my investment history with this dividend stud:  Johnson & Johnson. Amongst multiple hours…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article Weekend Reading – Kinder Morgan, giveaways, Google finance alternatives and more #moneystuff is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

Ahead of an auction scheduled next week for the Canadian assets of Toys “R” Us, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has put in a $300-million offer meant to serve a floor for the bidding.

MONTREAL _ The Greater Montreal Real Estate Board says home sales in the region grew five per cent year-over-year in February, as the number of active listings dropped 17 per cent.
A total of 4,081 residential sales were made last month across the city’s census metropolitan area, marking the 36th straight increase and the busiest month of February since 2012.
As was the case in 21 of the past 24 months, condominiums registered the largest increase in sales, jumping by 14 per cent.
Single-family homes and plexes posted small increases of one per cent and three per cent, respectively.
The median price of single-family homes across Greater Montreal was $310,000 last month, up six per cent year-over-year, while plexes reached $481,500, a one per cent increase.
As for condominiums, the median price grew by five per cent last month, with half of all units selling for more than $250,000.
The real estate board says acceleration in price growth is a direct result of increasingly tighter market conditions…

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Some of my favourite Canadian dividend paying stocks There are quite a few dividend payers in Canada but I believe you shouldn’t strive to own them all. Why on earth would I say that? While dividend payments are great dividend payments AND dividend increases (hopefully every year) are even better.    Thanks to another recent…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article Some of my favourite Canadian dividend paying stocks is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

VANCOUVER _ A strong economy is allowing Canadian officials to push for a better deal in negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Tuesday.
Talks on the deal are “critically important” but Canada will remain firm in getting the best possible agreement, he told the Business Council of British Columbia.
“Are there challenges? Yes. Do we need to be prepared to deal with them? Yes. We think that having our economy in the best possible position is the place from which we can do that, make decisions in a measured way, considering all the facts at hand,” he said.
The government’s latest budget included measures to expand trade around the world, particularly in Asia, and the financial plan is fiscally responsible, which means Canada can hold out for a better deal on NAFTA, Morneau added.
“We are going to continue to put forth why we don’t agree with some ideas that were put forth on the table by the United States…

New York TimesRaising Hopes, North Korea Offers to Talk About Its Nuclear ArsenalNew York TimesSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's sudden willingness to bargain with the Trump administration over scrapping its atomic arsenal surprised the world on Tuesday, setting in motion an unpredictable diplomatic dance with the United States and South Korea …Trump's insults, sanctions and a willingness to talk may have pushed North Korea to the bargaining tableLos Angeles TimesAnalysis: Is North Korea's nuke offer too good to be true?National PostKim Jong Un is suddenly talking about peace. Here's why.Washington PostWall Street Journal -CNN -NDTV -The Australian Financial Reviewall 1,324 news articles »

TORONTO _ The number of Toronto-area homes sold last month fell nearly 35 per cent and the average selling price dropped more than 12 per cent from historically high levels set last year, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported Tuesday.
There was a total of 5,175 residential transactions through the board’s MLS system last month, down 34.9 per cent compared to the 7,955 sales in February 2017.
The region’s average selling price, covering all types of residential re-sales, was down 12.4 per cent to $767,818 _ still one of the most expensive in Canada.
Detached houses _ the most expensive of the major categories tracked by TREB _ showed the biggest declines in both the number sold and sales price compared with last year.
The detached category had also been the driving force behind a spike in prices in the early months of 2017 that prompted the Liberal provincial government to introduce a package of measures last April to cool the market.
That was followed by a financial stress test for buyers, which officially came into effect on Jan…

(Excerpted from The Professional Financial Advisor IV by John De Goey)
Over the past several years, I’ve spoken to representatives at a number of advisory firms about their philosophies so I could get a sense of their values and corporate culture. My sense is that compensation models can go a long way in explaining (or at least predicting) belief systems. Companies will say their advisors can work using either transactional or buy-and-hold philosophies. Either way, there’s room. They say you can be a comprehensive planner or a simple investment specialist. Either way, there’s room for that too. The advisors can be commission-based or fee-based. Either way, they would be welcomed.
We should explore and discuss differences of opinion rationally. Over the past few generations, we’ve seen a few hotly contested societal debates on civil rights issues such as same-sex marriage, universal suffrage, and racial integration. There have also been heated debates regarding science and technology…

Crescent Point shares have dropped to near all-time lows, even after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that largely beat expectations

A return to volatility on global stock markets in early February may be the catalyst needed to warn investors about the impact of fees on returns — a feat that regulators haven’t accomplished so far.

Q. I own U.S. stocks and Canadian stocks in my RRSP and RESP accounts for my kids. I do all the investing myself. I get annual performance statements from the bank that holds my RRSP online account and it shows about $200 in withholding tax. What is this? How can I claim it when I file taxes, and how can I get it back? I heard there was a form called W8 that can help. Is this accurate?
Thanks, Malay
Hi Malay. RRSPs are exempt from U.S. withholding taxes but RESPs and TFSAs are not. This is because the U.S. does not recognize them as tax-deferred registered accounts. Therefore, foreign taxes paid withheld in an RESP or TFSA cannot be recovered.
If these withholdings were in non-registered accounts, you could reduce your taxes on the foreign income paid to Canada by filing for a foreign tax credit using Schedule 1. This ensures that you don’t pay tax on the same income in both Canada and the foreign jurisdiction. That option, however, is not available when the foreign income is within a registered account for the reasons mentioned above…

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Reader Questions – How I built my dividend portfolio Thanks good readers, I appreciate hearing from you and receiving your saving and investing questions. If you’ve been following My Own Advisor for a while you’ll know I’m a hybrid investor. I’m happy to own a few low-cost, diversified Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to grow my…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article Reader Questions – How I built my dividend portfolio is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

OTTAWA _ The Canadian economy expanded at an annual pace of 1.7 per cent in the final months of 2017 as the more rapid growth seen earlier in the year faded further away, Statistics Canada reported Friday.
The agency’s latest numbers for real gross domestic product showed the economy grew three per cent for all of 2017 _ a much-stronger pace compared with 2016 when growth was 1.4 per cent.
Growth in the fourth quarter was driven by a 2.3 per cent increase in business investment compared with the third quarter, and a 0.5 per cent quarter-over-quarter rise in household spending, the report said.
Overall, the fourth-quarter came in higher than the third quarter, which was revised down to an annualized rate of 1.5 per cent from 1.7 per cent.
Even with the slowdown, National Bank of Canada senior economist Krishen Rangasamy described the end of 2017 as a decent hand off to 2018.
“With growth like this, you can expect a sharp moderation, which is what we had in the second half of the year,” said Rangasamy, who’s predicting 2…

TORONTO _ Canada’s main stock index closed lower, but off its lows for the day, after U.S. President Donald Trump defended his promise to impose stiff tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum.
A global sell-off in stocks came back around to North America in morning trading after the president doubled down against growing backlash, saying “trade wars are good.”
The S&P/TSX composite index finished down 9.36 points to 15,384.59, led by losses in the base metals and energy sectors.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 70.92 points to 24,538.06. The S&P 500 index was up 13.58 points to 2,691.25 and the Nasdaq composite index was up 77.31 points to 7,257.87.
The Canadian dollar was trading at 77.57 cents US, down 0.24 of a U.S. cent.
The April crude contract was up 26 cents to US$61.25 per barrel and the April natural gas contract was unchanged at US$2.70 per mmBTU.
The April gold contract was up US$18.20 to US$1,323.40 an ounce and the May copper contract was unchanged to US$3…

Toronto StarTheresa May tells UK it must face 'hard facts' about BrexitToronto StarBritish prime minister says she thinks a mutually beneficial “economic partnership” with EU nations is possible. Other EU members might interpret British Prime Minister Theresa May's goal of "economic partnership" as attempting to cherry-pick benefits …Britain asks EU to show flexibility in talks on post-Brexit tradeThe Globe and MailTheresa May: 'Life is going to be different' after BrexitWashington PostA year to go before Brexit, US investment banks still bet on LondonReutersBBC News -The Guardian -Voice of America -Financial Timesall 737 news articles »

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Weekend Reading – More dividend raises, cannabis stocks and ETFs, robo advisors and more #moneystuff Welcome to my latest Weekend Reading edition – where I share some of my favourite articles from the week that was across the personal finance and investing blogosphere. These were my posts from the last week! Should you invest in…
My Own Advisor is on his way to owning a million dollar portfolio. The article Weekend Reading – More dividend raises, cannabis stocks and ETFs, robo advisors and more #moneystuff is exclusive to My Own Advisor. Make sure you visit My Own Advisor Deals to save hundreds or thousands of dollars every year. All Rights Reserved.

Saving for retirement is a must do for any person that wants to be comfortable in their golden years. There is no excuse for not starting early. Even if you are just putting away 50 bucks a month after you are in your first job out of school, that money will grow by leaps and bounds as long as you do not touch it.
You can find a way to get a 401K, a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. Just make sure that you are putting away money. That’s the only way to insure that your nest egg is going to grow. With a traditional IRA, you can let your investment grow while you postpone your tax hit. Contributions to that type of individual retirement account are able to be deducted from your income tax. You only end up paying taxes on the backend, when you take withdrawals from the account.
Also, there is no maximum income limit with a traditional IRA. No matter how much money you make you can invest in a traditional IRA. But it is best for younger people to be able to use this type of account. If you are 70 and a half or older, you cannot make contributions to a regular IRA…