Welcome - IndependentInvestor.info

Identify the many Myths in the financial system, including the dream of “beating the market” through individual stock selection.
Identify the key factors to becoming better do-it-yourself investors AND identify those which are under your control, such as an optimum allocation of your investments across appropriate asset categories.
Accompany you each step of the way in the saving and investment process- see our User Guide.
Help self-investors to better control their costs, what Warren Buffett calls the financial system’s friction costs.
Help you better use your tax-exempt (RRSP) account.
Show you how to minimize your tax-related investment costs.
Give you access to information to help you better manage a portfolio intended to constitute an important source of retirement income.
Identify areas where the financial system does not adequately take into account the interests of independent investors.
Encourage reforms to the regulatory system.

HELP-US

Help us to help you become a better independent investor. Your comments are appreciated and welcomed on our commentaries or on any other aspect of the site- not only what you find but also how it is presented. In addition, we specifically ask for your input at various points throughout our site.

Technorati Profile

Stock Quotes

For more details on the choice and meaning of the symbols click here.

S&P/TSX

12466.50

Dow Jones

1316.33

S&P500

0.00

XIU.TO

17.88

IVV

132.25

EFA

52.49

EEM

42.36

XBB.TO

31.36

Syndicate

WELCOME to our site for the independent investor which was officially launched March 18, 2008. Become a member (it’s free) and enjoy full access to the site + receive on a preferred basis our weekly newsletters. Our site has been described as one of the few educational websites that offer the unbiased, clearly written material that busy investors need (The Globe & Mail 30 05 2008) and as a site dedicated to providing individual investors with independent, objective, free advice and information (The Gazette, Montreal 31 03 2008).We are also on Twitter under DIYInvestor .

NEW: On JANUARY 1ST WE LAUNCHED OUR NEW SITE: INFOINVESTDUJOUR.COM . The site contains an electronic calendar called All about Investing. It provides, on every day of the year, information selected from the best texts from our existing site, plus additional, never published, information. It will notify you when North American markets are closed for the day, key Canadian tax dates, anniversaries of people who historically have played important roles in the world of finance, and much more. WE ENCOURAGE ALL MEMBERS TO CONSIDER SIGNING UP TO INFOINVESTDUJOUR.COM, for only $2.19 plus applicable taxes for each period of 30 days.The revenue from the new site should allow us to continue to offer FREE membership to our existing site.

Wine2- status investment and/or personal consumption?

News accessible to all
Stocks and bonds are the bedrock of any portfolio. Any other asset is labeled a type of alternative investment. In this second in a 5 part series of commentaries on wine investing (see part 1 here ), we examine what is driving wine investing, summarize the general criteria we use to assess the attractiveness of all alternative investments, and also look at the risk features peculiar to wine, including the ambiguity of wine as an investment versus as an object of personal consumption. In subsequent commentaries in this series we will look at the various ways of spending/investing money on wine.
Read more...

The financial markets in 2011: how did your portfolio do?

News accessible to all
The beginning of a new year is the ideal time for all of us to critically review the performance and composition of our portfolio. In this commentary on the year 2011, we look at how the various financial markets behaved, and the performance that would have been produced by a portfolio created following some admittedly arbitrary criteria but which are nevertheless based on the philosophy of our site. We hope it will encourage you to look at the returns and composition of your own portfolio, and consider what changes might be appropriate.
Read more...

Retirement investing challenges-- US GAO report- Part 1

News accessible to all
Retirement raises new investing challenges: for instance, how much can I safely withdraw annually from my portfolio, and should I purchase an annuity to create my personal pension plan? Life expectancy is increasing, in itself good news but at the same time complicating these challenges. Ironically, more and more private-sector employers have, at the same time, elected to start offering defined contribution retirement plans and cease offering traditional, defined-benefit plans thereby increasing the responsibility for workers and retirees. To look at the implications, a branch of the US government, the Government accountability Office or GAO, has published a report. This is a rare opportunity for investors to read objective, unbiased information on the challenges of retirement investing, and how to minimize the so-called longevity risk i.e. the risk of outliving their assets. This is Part 1 of a 2 part review of the GAO report.
Register to read more...

The Power of Passive Investing, by Richard Ferri: a book review

News accessible to all
When we launched our site in 2008, one of the books on investing we most consulted was All About Asset Allocation, 2006 by Richard Ferri. We were therefore happy to discover that Richard had recently published a new book, The Power of Passive Investing. We wondered if he had found enough new material to warrant a new book. After reading it, we can enthusiastically respond, yes. The fact that Vanguard’s founder, John C. Bogle, accepted to write the foreword and that many others notable proponents of passive investing have praised the book, says a lot about the author and his most recent publication.
Read more...

Investing in wine- if the price goes up, it must be an investment

News accessible to all
Since the Dow Jones hit 10, 000 on March 30, 1999 traditional investing has been challenging, to say the least. Stock markets have been volatile, and overall have been disappointing. Over the same period gold and many other commodity markets have been booming. Wine has been no exception, with the media widely reporting rapid price increases. Many wine drinkers/investors ask themselves if they should add wine to their investment portfolio. In this first commentary in a 5 part series on wine investing we look at two recent published research reports on wine which have received much media attention. In subsequent commentaries we will look more closely at when is wine an investment (as opposed to a consumption tool, a hobby or a cost saving technique), and how wine stacks up using criteria to assess so-called alternative investments. Finally, in the two final commentaries we will look at each of the many different ways of spending/investing in wine, assessing their respective risks, returns and peculiarities.
Read more...

Proposed acquisition of the Toronto Stock Exchange and of CDS

News accessible to all

We have written a submission (see the english version here doc.2074E) to the Quebec securities regulator (AMF) on the proposed acquisition by Maple Group Acqusition corporation of the Toronto Stock Exchange and of the CDS clearing system. We will present the submission (for the presentation document click here doc.2076) on Thursday November 24 2011 at 3:40PM, and you can follow the presentation by clicking on this link .

Congratulations!

Your efforts have paid off. You have ended up on a site which is focused on delivering investment information, not selling you financial services or products.

Our site is not associated with, and accepts no financing, advertising or other financial assistance from:

Banks
Insurance companies
Investment dealers or
Financial advisors.

OUR MISSION

Help you become a better independent self investor.
Be a source of free, objective, independent and unbiased investment information for self-investors.
Build on our past to earn the trust of Canadian and non-Canadian do-it-yourself investors. Our founder has several years experience with a securities regulatory agency and over a quarter century of experience with two blue chip Canadian securities issuers.
For more, see Who are we?

Learn more about us

we are on Twitter under DIYInvestor
Take 15 minutes to read the Summary.
To assess the credibility of our site. It’s the best investment decision you will make today.
The information on self investing is divided into 44 sections (and counting) which are organized under eleven main headings or topics. Click on Themes at the top of this page for a short summary of the information covered under all of the topics.
For a list of the sections under any particular theme, click on the name of that theme at the top of this page.

Who should visit our site?

You are an independent investor looking for investment information focused on the needs of do-it-yourself investors.
You are a novice in investment matters, but are considering becoming more independent in your investing.
You trade in reliance on a financial advisor, but wish to better use his services, or perhaps understand the other alternative trading methods.
Perhaps you see self investing as a retirement project, or are merely curious about the world of investing.
Perhaps as a result of your professional activities (institutional investor, broker, professor or journalist), you seek access to a non-industry source of objective investment information.

We intend to regularly circulate by email newsletters to our members. To access our newsletter, click here. We are also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DIYinvestor. Our Newsletters typically contain an in-depth commentary on a timely subject. The most recent commentaries are on our home page. Older commentaries can be found in our Archives, where they can be found by scrolling through the headings or by using the Search function.