There are three major pillars for your retirement income in Canada. There’s Government Benefits, Personal Savings and the Employer Pension. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Old Age Security create the Government Benefits. We might consider that part of our pensionable earnings as the amounts are ‘guaranteed’ and indexed to inflation. At times we can […]
How much is in your TFSA? Plus, the Sunday Reads.
The Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) is one of the greatest gifts to Canadians. While misnamed, the TFSA is true to its name. It is tax free in every way. While the money that goes into your TFSA is after-tax money (you’ve already paid tax to create the funds), the TFSA account continues to grow […]
The blazingly simple portfolio shines in a Canadian’s TFSA.
In 2010 the Globe & Mail offered a simple Canadian stock portfolio idea. It was also called the Canadian Essentials Portfolio. The portfolio concept was courtesy of political science professor Mike Henderson who singled out the companies for the essential roles they play in the Canadian economy. He identified the companies in the year 2000 […]
The abnormal returns for the Canadian asset allocation ETFs.
I have just updated the returns for the Canadian asset allocation ETFs. The returns over the last year and three years can be described as abnormal returns. So much so that I had to double check the performance for the equity markets that fuelled this incredible run. How did they do it? Over the last […]
Creating monthly income in retirement on the Sunday Reads.
One of the best things you can do in the accumulation stage is ‘set it and forget it’. That is, put your investments on auto pilot as much as you can. Set up direct transfers from your chequing account to your RRSP, Group RRSP, and TFSA (and perhaps taxable) and then if possible automate the […]
Global portfolios are up nicely in the first half of 2025. Plus, the Sunday Reads.
The first half of 2025 is in the books, and perhaps in the history books. Against all odds global stocks have delivered over 10% in U.S. Dollars in 2025. The U.S. market (S&P 500) offered about 5.7%. Of course the economic backdrop (noise) is a U.S. President hell-bent on a global tariff war and an […]





