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LinkStuff – Exciting Week Edition

Big week around here. Mr. Cheap announced on Tuesday that he would be leaving the blog and on Wednesday I mentioned that I’ve written a book.

The book is completed, but I’m working on some of the final publishing details. The final copy was submitted to the publisher and I received a proof copy yesterday. The idea of the proof copy is to make sure the book looks ok and doesn’t have any errors. Unfortunately, there was a major problem with the cover, so there wasn’t much suspense about whether I could approve it or not.

There is always one more step.

My fave links

My Journey to Millions says that money does buy happiness. Funny post.

Invest It Wisely had a great post on Vanguard ETFs. These are a good deal for Canadians.

I really enjoyed this story, which is about the results of taking deal-making too far:Β  The Parson’s Pleasure by Roald Dahl.

I found out about this story from some commenters on a recent yard sale post. The post (which wasn’t worth linking to) asks if it is ethical to buy something at a yard sale which is underpriced.

The rest of the links

Canadian Capitalist says that investment advisors are a lot like babysitters.

Larry MacDonald explains how mortgage rates are determined.

Boomer and Echo have some advice on dividend growth investing.

The Oblivious Investor shows how even cheap hedge funds are not cheap.

The Financial Blogger tells how to get a raise on top of a raise.

Today’s Economy takes a look at the truth about health care inflation.

Preet reveals an investment banker’s portfolio.

Million Dollar Journey says his net worth is on track.

Michael James does some analysis on when to start taking CPP payments.

16 replies on “LinkStuff – Exciting Week Edition”

I can’t wait to find out what it’s about… is it a romance novel about a frugal man and the women who love him? Is it a book about how to save money by doing your own brakes? The suspense is killing me.

I loved Roald Dahl as a kid and had never heard of “The Parson’s Pleasure” before. It was a great read, thanks for posting the link!

Really? The Vanguard link is one of your favourites? Come on. It is terrible. It misses the most fundamental equation in deciding between US based ETFs and Canadian Mutual Funds / ETFs, which is the FX cost at trade time and how many compounded years it takes before the MER difference recoups that cost (x2).

Maybe you liked the typography… or the grammar.

πŸ™‚

@Squawk πŸ™‚

@Rachelle – Unfortunately, Mr. Cheap had the foresight to copyright that title so I couldn’t steal it from him.

@Echo, Michael, CC – Thanks.

@Mr. Cheap – I have to admit I’ve never heard of Dahl. I’ll have to check out some of his books for my kids when they get older.

@James – The currency exchange factor is pretty difficult to analyze. When you buy a Canadian-based foreign equity index fund or ETF then you still have to pay an exchange factor, although it’s probably smaller than what you or I would pay at a discount brokerage.

For a long term investor, the MER is a much bigger factor than the currency exchange rate difference. Of course, not all investors are long term.

I’m not suggesting it was the greatest article ever written, but I have a soft spot for ETF vs index fund posts. πŸ™‚

@James

Sorry that you found the article or my grammar “terrible”. πŸ™‚ I believe that the MER is more important when it comes to long-term returns, and just because these costs are more hidden in other types of investments does not mean that they don’t exist.

I appreciate the feedback; thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment!

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