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Today we are going to learn all about how to invest if you’re living here in Canada.
For all our non-Canadian listeners, we’re also going to cover best practices when it comes to investing so you can definitely start applying those too and get a lot out of the show.
To make this series beneficial to everyone, we’re going to start with answering beginner level questions intended for those just starting out in their investing journey. As the interview goes on, we’re going to progress into more advanced level questions.
This way if you are already investing you’ll still get a LOT out of the show by learning some best practices, and how to optimize your portfolio and save money by eliminating unnecessary fees.
To help me with this, I’m very excited to have Dr. John Robertson on the show.
John is the author of the book “The Value of Simple”, (where he shows step by step how Canadians can get started in investing.
Also for all our listeners who are already investing, John shows you how to set everything up so that you can drastically cut the fees that you might be paying on your investments. These fees can literally add up to being well over $100,000 over your lifetime (a sum that you could be investing to retire early instead).
I can definitely also vouch for John and his teachings as what he suggests is actually the way I personally invest as well, after researching this subject somewhat obsessively as my wife will attest to.
Now just to give you a bit more background on john, He is a PhD scientist, a writer, investor, and he teaches newbie investors on how they can actually start investing.
He also has an extensive background in communicating science where he’s basically honed his skills in being able to take something that can be seen as complex (such as investing) and break it down in a way that we can all understand, and actually easily implement.
He’s won multiple awards, has been blogging in the Canadian personal finance community for over 7 years with his blog called Blessed by the Potato, and he even has his own investment service where he helps investors move away from relying on commissioned sales staff to planning and investing on their own.
John has also agreed to give away a few copies of his new book to Build Wealth Canada listeners!
To be entered into the draw, all you have to do is sign up for the newsletter here.
Once you sign up, you’ll receive an automatic email from me (which will actually include a free gift as well). Just reply to that email and tell me one question that you’d like answered on a future episode.
When you do this, you’ll automatically be entered into a draw to receive John’s book for free. The question can be about investing, personal finance, real estate, earning money on the side, or anything else personal finance related that you’d like answered on a future episode.
Links and Resources Covered
John’s Book:
The Value of Simple: A Practical Guide to Taking the Complexity Out of Investing
John’s Blog: Blessed by the Potato
John will also be speaking at the Toronto Public Library. You can find out details on the session Here.
Questions Covered
Once you’ve signed up, you can check out the questions that we covered during the episode:
- Tell us your story and what prompted you to write your book.
- What are the most common mistakes you see beginner investors make when they’re just starting out?
- What about those in their 40-50s that have been investing for a while?
- In your book, you make a really strong case for investing in broad market indexes. For our listeners who are just starting off in investing, can you tell them what this means, and why this is a good way to invest?
- What is an “asset allocation” and how would you change the asset allocation for someone fresh out of school vs someone nearing retirement?
- You thoughts on investing in stocks versus bonds and on creating an all stock portfolio.
- In a low interest rate environment like we are in right now, what are your thoughts on investing in bonds? Especially considering rates are bound to go up eventually which would hurt the existing bond prices.
- How are you investing now?
- If you could go back to when you made your first investment, what advice would you give yourself.
- Over the years in your investment journey, what’s worked for you, and what hasn’t worked so well?
- Was there ever a point that you didn’t feel confident about what you’re investing in, and the investment choices you made?
- Your thoughts on investing in other indexes like small cap companies instead of just broad market? (many argue that they generate higher returns at the cost of higher volatility)
- Thoughts on dividend investing vs broad market index investing.
- What is the 4% rule and what are your thoughts on it? Do you prefer a variation of it?
If you enjoyed the episode, please take a moment to leave an honest review and rating on iTunes by clicking the “View in iTunes” button at this link.
If you have any tips, suggestions or comments, please be sure to leave a comment in the section below. I read all responses and look forward to hearing from you.
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I looking forward to hearing from you.
Kornel