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What can we do for you?

  • 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.

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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.

Stock Quotes

For more details on the choice and meaning of the symbols click here.
S&P;/TSX  13405.78 tooltip

Dow Jones  12302.46 tooltip

S&P500;  1325.66 tooltip

Dollar  0.984 tooltip

XIU.TO  78.68 tooltip

IVV  132.75 tooltip

EFA  71.70 tooltip

EEM  133.83 tooltip

XBB.TO  29.15 tooltip

Website : finance.yahoo.com Get Symbol Info(s)...

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 newsletters. Our first newsletter commenting on TFSA's was emailed to members March 25. MEMBERS-PLEASE NOTE: Depending on your software and internet provider, it may be necessary for you to add This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  to your list of safe contacts in your spam filters. Otherwise, you may not receive our newsletters. Our newsletters notify our members in priority of our commentaries on current events and other topics of interest. If you miss a newsletter, it will eventually be filed on the site at a later date under Information on the home page.

Simple living: Building a GIC (or CD) ladder
Any prudent, long term independent investor should devote a significant portion of his or her portfolio to investing in bonds and other debt securities; for more information, see the sections Asset Allocation and Fixed Income- general of our site. Having decided what percentage of your portfolio will be devoted to debt, you must then choose how to protect yourself against subsequent changes in interest rates. We found a recent article that reminds us that it is possible to very simply structure a debt portfolio to protect its holder against such changes.

 

Our site believes that government bonds (for Canadians, we suggest provincial bonds) purchased through a stockbroker are the preferred instrument for the do-it-yourself investor. In addition, such purchases can advantageously take the form of strip bonds within a non-taxable account (e.g. a RRSP). For more information, see the section Building a ladder. But there is an alternative, particularly for a self-investor with a modest portfolio or who for whatever reason does not want to open an account with a broker: it is to build a ladder buying guaranteed investment certificates (GIC’s; typically labeled CD’s in the USA). For information on GIC’s generally, see article doc.901 from InvestorED site www.investored.ca.

A GIC can be purchased in Canada directly from a bank or other issuer without going through a broker; see the section Deposits with banking institutions. But if interest rates subsequently rise significantly, an investor who has invested in a single, long term GIC may be regret his investment since he will have to live, until the maturity of his CD, with a return that has become unattractive in the new interest rate environment.

In a recent article doc.899, the American bloger Honest Dollar www.honestdollar.com recalls the virtues of buying CD’s using the ladder technique. Under this method, we divide our proposed investment in separate tranches with maturities spread out over time. The concept is clear: a portion of the overall investment regularly matures, and can be re-invested at the new, higher interest rates. The same technique can be used in Canada with GIC’s; for more information, see the section Building a ladder on our site.

In conclusion: if you are considering buying GICs for a period of several years, you should consider dividing your investment into separate installments or tranches spread out over time. As they say, it could be in your interest to do so. And isn’t it time to try to simplify our lives; see the site www.simpleliving.net .

Last Updated ( Friday, 21 March 2008 )
 
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Our site is not associated with, and accepts no financing, advertising or other financial assistance from:
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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?

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  • 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.