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Investing: Prescription for profit
On March 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a landmark bill that gives roughly 32 million uninsured Americans health-care coverage for the first time. It was a historic moment for our southern neighbours, but here in Canada keen investors were watching something other than the explosion of punditry on CNN — they were watching stock prices in the volatile American health-care sector....
Emerging economies: Border crossing
It was just over a year ago that the stock market’s recovery officially began. Between March 9 and May 7, 2009, the S&P/TSX composite index jumped more than 2,800 points, and investors were thrilled that the dark days of the recession were over. Since then, however, the picture hasn’t been as rosy. In the following 11 months, the markets have climbed only 1,800 points, leaving anxious...
Income trusts: Trust temptation
Leslie Lundquist will never forget where she was the day Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the federal government would tax income trusts. It was a Halloween afternoon in 2006, and the fund manager at Calgary’s Bissett Investment Management was sitting in a colleague’s office, having a casual, late-day chat. “Then my phone started ringing off the hook,” she says. When she heard the...
Get a 50% return, guaranteed
Imagine if your financial adviser came to you with a secure (and legal) way to get a guaranteed 50% return on your money. You’d likely say ‘yes’ pretty quickly. Well, no need to imagine any longer, because that’s exactly what you can get if you’re lucky enough to have a share ownership plan at work.
Brock McEwen, a director at Great West Life, says that with his company’s plan, for...
Tags: investing
How long should you leave your house on the market?
Ever wonder why that house on the corner of your street has been on the market for two years? So does everyone else.
Keeping a “For Sale” sign parked on your lawn for more than three months is a mistake, says Gary Bachman, a real estate agent in Winnipeg. “People start saying, ‘What’s wrong with the house?’”
In Toronto, where homes, on average, don’t sit beyond 27 days, people start...
Homes: Renovate or relocate
There comes a time in every homeowner’s life when he needs to upgrade. Starter homes aren’t meant for long-term living, and when the kids arrive, things quickly start to feel cramped.
At one time, that meant it was time to move, but that’s not the only option. More and more homeowners are opting to build additions instead. Some are even razing their homes and rebuilding from scratch. All...
Mortgages: Befriend your bank
It’s been a busy year for Dan Mass, a Calgary-based broker with Canada First Mortgage. Besides his usual workload, he’s had to deal with a number of clients who have either had their homes foreclosed or have concerns that they won’t be able to pay their mortgage bills. “We’ve seen defaults rise this year for sure,” he says.
While Canada isn’t facing U.S.-style delinquency rates—the...
Mobile phones: How to manage your money on the go
It happens to the best of us: an important bill goes missing or an investment gets ignored. Thanks to modern technology, it never has to happen again. All you need is an iPhone and two minutes to download a personal finance application from the app store. There are plenty to choose from, but we think these six are the best.
Pennies ($2.99)
Proper money management starts with a budget. But it’s...
Bryan Borzykowski is a Toronto-based web and print writer, editor and blogger working mainly for business and entertainment publications. He regularly contributes to Canadian Business magazine, writes Metro Canada's weekly Audio Files music column and shares personal finance tips on Rogers TV's Daytime Toronto. He's also written for Maclean's, MoneySense, PROFIT, Chatelaine, Hello Canada, MSN Tech, Yahoo Finance and the National Post. He was recently nominated for five National Magazine Awards, winning one in an online category.
