A Beginner's Guide to Investing
The Beginner's Guide to Investing is a series of simple, practical articles designed to help new investors understand the fundamentals of investing. Start with the first article and work your way th...
A Beginner's Guide to Investing (Part 13): Invest in Dividend Stocks or Growth Stocks?
Dividend income, growth potential, and why total return matters more than yield When a company generates a profit — that is, it has money left over after paying its operating expenses...
A Beginner's Guide to Investing (Part 12): Time in the Market vs. Timing the Market
Why Staying Invested Beats Trying to Time the Stock Market After people start investing in the stock market, gain some experience and see their investment portfolio grow, they sometimes become...
A Beginner's Guide to Investing (Part 11): Group RRSP and Employer RRSP Match
How Group RRSPs Work and How Employer Matching Can Boost Your Retirement Savings In Part 7, Part 8 and Part 9, we covered the basics of an RRSP, withholding taxes on RRSP withdrawals and spousal RR...
A Beginner's Guide to Investing (Part 10): Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF)
Rules, mandatory minimums, and tax-smart strategies for your RRIF. In Part 9, I mentioned that you need to wind up your RRSP by the end of the year you turn 71. The same rule applies to a Spou...
A Beginner's Guide to Investing (Part 9): RRSP Contributions and Spousal RRSPs
Spousal strategies and tax-smart withdrawals In Part 7, we explored the fundamentals of RRSPs, including how RRSP contribution room is calculated. While the contribution room you receive is based o...
A Beginner's Guide to Investing (Part 8): RRSP Withdrawals and Taxes
What Happens When You Take Money Out of Your RRSP Now that we’ve established how to set up and fund your RRSP in Part 7, it’s time to look at the other side of the equ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Investing (Part 7): Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP)
How RRSPs Work and Why They Matter In Part 6, we explored the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA), one of the most flexible and valuable investment accounts available to Canadians. In thi...
A Beginner’s Guide to Investing (Part 6): Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA)
A plain-English guide to contribution rules, tax-free growth, withdrawal superpowers, and avoiding costly penalty mistakes. Press enter or click to view image in full size In Part 5, we...
A Beginner’s Guide to Investing (Part 5): Asset Allocation
How to choose the right mix of investments for your goals, timeline and peace of mind. In Part 3, we explored common types of investments available to Canadian investors, and in ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Investing (Part 4): Understanding Risk and Return
Learn what investment risk really means and how it affects your returns In Part 3, we looked at the different types of investments available to investors. In this article, we’ll explore one o...