I'm Marc. An advice-only financial planner helping Canadian DIY investors fill in the gaps. Occasional blogger. Data and tax nerd. Dad. BBQ fiend. Pro hiker.
When asked about becoming a billionaire, Craig Newmark (Craigslist) told Wired magazine:
"I have a parking space, a hummingbird feeder, a small home with a view, and a shower with strong water pressure. What else am I supposed to want?"
This stuck with me all these years.
Coming this Labour Day to a web browser near you: Loonies and Sense Data HQ.
Deep data dives on Canadian ETFs such as $XEQT, $XAW, and $VEQT (and more) for DIY investors. And a new home for all the data visualizations I build.
Now, with 30% more added market data.
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No trading. No options writing. No dumb-ass covered call ETFs.
Just plain ol' buy-and-hold index ETF strategy with good risk-adjusted returns (see below).
You're over-complicating this.
About. a year ago, we shook things up with my son and his allowance.
I tried an experiment to see if it would improve his financial literacy. It did, and this is that story.
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$EQB (EQ Bank) fam. I spoke to EQB's spokesperson. They were super helpful and responsive, which is always a good sign from PR/IR.
Here's their feedback on the results and today's market response. Italics indicate direct quotes. DYODD!
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Three years ago we abandoned our plans to move to Costa Rica.
We came to Victoria, B.C. on a whim as we had nowhere else to go. After 10 days, we decided to call it home.
Now I have to deal with views like this every day.
Sometimes what you want and what you need aren't the
Want to accurately predict your CPP retirement benefit? One of my fellow Islanders, Doug Runchey, wrote a calculator to accurately do just that.
You'll need your Statement of Contributions from your Service Canada account to get started.
On August 9th, $XEQT will be 5 years old. This a major milestone for a fund. 🥳
I'll be helping those who $XEQT celebrate with a little something special on that day.
It's old research, but a 90s study by Berkerely found that women retail investors outperformed men. By ~100 beeps, which adds up over an investment lifetime.
The reason? They traded less. This is partly due to men having overconfidence bias.🤔
@ObjIFDividends
I spent a decade working in capital markets. This year is my 24th year of trading. Financially independent since my 40s. And yet I give most people the advice that global asset allocation ETFs will likely lead to the best outcome with the least effort. Make of that what you
For those who $XEQT, I wrote a quick blog post on the $XEQT Explorer app that I put together. The app is now live, although please bear in mind it's not automagically updating at market close (yet). Feedback welcomed.
Bought $CNR.TO (CN Rail) last year on the dip. Thought it was a bargain. 🚂
Total return has been ~17% so far. I'm okay with that.
You might be looking for the next $NVDA, but a lot of "boring" companies will slowly make you rich -- and keep you rich.
$FTS.TO (Fortis) became a dividend king this morning after 50 years of consecutive dividend increases. The latest clocking in at 4.4% y/y. Happy Fortis shareholder!
I wrote recently about getting medical care in Mexico. Well, apparently the axiom good/fast/cheap applies in my case.
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I was told I needed fairly major, but common, surgery in Mexico. Facing a lifetime of no more cheeseburgers, I decided to not get the surgery, fly home, and
Spurred on by a conversation this morning on Canadian 100% equities asset allocation funds with
@BoomerandEcho
, I backtested $VEQT and $XEQT. We're constrained by $XEQT's inception date of Sep '19 here.
This is $1000/month thrown into your fund of choice and all distributions
Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. markets will migrate to T+1 settlement starting on May 24th 2024. The full migration will finish up ~May 30th if all goes well.
Generally a great thing for retail investors!
More $XEQT fun. I made a dashboard that slices $XEQT by country and positions in a live geo map based on yesterday's close.
If this is of interest or helpful, I'll happily share the project. Just need to work out some issues.
$XEQT pr0n?
Cost of medical care in Mexico 🇲🇽 for me today
Consult with GI surgeon MXN$700 (~CAD$58)
GI ultrasound MXN$500 (~$40)
Chest X-ray MXN$450 (~$36)
Electrocardiogram MXN$300 (~$24)
90% in MicroStrategy ($MSTR). Both his TFSA and RRSP.
Time to realize those gains and find some better risk-adjusted returns. But he's holding on until $BTC hits USD$100K...
I'm not saying I have all the answers when it comes to teaching kids financial literacy, but I've been very pleased with the outcome here.
He also knows that dividends aren't free money, so he's likely one step ahead of some investors. 😉
Here's a little personal finance thread on earthquake insurance for Canadians.
I'm not insurance-licensed, so you should talk this through with a licensed professional and just use it as education.
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Fairly smokey around my home this morning. An out-of-control wildfire is burning ~12km from my front door. Nothing but trees between me and it.
A reminder that you can't control what happens in life. But you can plan - I'm well prepared.
In a few hours, my son will have an operation (minor). It's general anesthesia, so I'm a bit anxious.
It's at times like this I'm reminded we're all intrinsically the same. As a parent, no amount of money or "success" lessens the emotions.
Imagine buying U.S. small caps and Canadian stocks when they were down months ago. And then seeing how things have perked up for them the past few days.
We can't predict the future, of course. But that's also why buying the global market works out well too.
My son got his third call-back for trying out for his football team ⚽️last night.
So, I reminded him of this:
(1) The glass is half-full here. You haven't been told you're not in the team.
(2) You've only been training for a year. Yet Ajax-certified couches can see your talent
I explained to my dog that dividends are not free money, reinvesting them doesn't lead to "extra compounding", and how tax integration works in Canada.
He looks smarter already!
Canada 🇨🇦
We gave the world hockey. 🏒 Maple syrup. The BlackBerry. And over-priced yoga pants.
In March 1990, we also invented the ETF.
You're welcome
#FinTwit
. 🫡
$XEQT fam: you might be wondering how your investment might be fairing right now with lots of less-than-stellar news coming out about Chinese markets.
Well, China is only ~0.7% of your holdings. You have more concentration risk in Bank of Montreal.
ETF and chill. 😎
On the phone with a large bank brokerage this morning.
A dividend is MIA. Rep tells me she needs to talk to the custodial services team. They didn't answer the phone.
I suggest opening a ticket or sending them an email. She says "we don't have those facilities".
I responded by
@MarkMcGrathCFP
Honestly, not quite sure where to start with this. I understand you can't eat bricks. I understand some folks are in a tricky situation. But this almost smacks of being [extra] predatory?
I commonly hear from $QQQ bros that if you "DCA'd" into it during the lost decade you made out like a bandit.
What does that actually look like? Let's dig in.
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Between 2020 and 2021, my family sold everything we owned. Condensed our lives into 3 suitcases. We were moving to Tamarindo, Costa Rica.
But we never got on the plane.
Here's part 1 of how moving abroad impacts Canadian's personal finances.
When my son was little, we used to tell him we took the good parts of mummy and daddy, smooshed them together, and made him.
Now that he's 12, I can see there might have been some truth to this. Makes being a father so worthwhile.
Happy Father's Day to those who celebrate.
@PinkProfit
I have a decent coffee maker (Braun) and that makes a difference with my morning coffee. When I had rental properties, I always bought premium tools -- you want your tools to work when it's your business at stake!
Also for those who $XEQT...
22.8% IRR Y/Y on a total return basis.
Imagine getting that, massive global diversification, low costs, and a basket of currencies to hedge your future against. 🤷♂️
"Critics of indexing may argue that 'average' in investing equals mediocrity. But in a market where most investors underperform, indexing isn’t average at all. It’s like par in golf, and not many investors consistently beat that."
Love this so much! ⛳️
This is now a BBQ account.
Me and my neighbour finally carried this bad boy down two stories of stairs to the backyard. Do not recommend! Expect pics.
Thanks to $WMT for giving me a deal because it’s an “older model”. 👀
If I put together a quick post on some of the books that have helped get me where I am (financially and personally), would y'all find that interesting?
Note: they're not all investing/personal finance books, but they'll all make you a better investor 😉
Bank of Canada cuts rate to 4.75%
The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate to 4¾%, with the Bank Rate at 5% and the deposit rate at 4¾%. The Bank is continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization.
@wowpursuits
I retired in 2018 at the age of 45. I have never read a book on FIRE. I don't care what FIRE is or is not. I can barely even spell FIRE. I'm just trying to live my best life on my terms.☮️
It seems like wildfire season is already well underway here in BC.
Big shout out to the women and men who work hard dealing with this every year. From BC and beyond. 👊
Your behaviour will affect your investment journey and its outcome more than anything else.
Some people think it's about choosing the best investments: but if you fix your behaviour first, that will just fall into place.