Why I Have An Emergency Fund

by Mike Holman

I was reading an interesting forum thread recently about emergency funds. Some people are for them, others are not. Three years ago, I went from being a firm non-believer in emergency funds (if you have debt) to having an emergency fund myself, even though I still have debts. I’m well aware that it is not financially [...]

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New Ebook Announcement – How To Withdraw From Your RESP Account

by Mike Holman

I’m happy to announce that the long awaited (by me at least) Kindle e-book called “How To Withdraw From Your RESP Account Whether Your Child Goes To School or Not” is finally available. For the bargain basement cost of $4.99, you can learn everything you need to know about maximizing the amount of money you [...]

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LinkStuff – Camping Trip Edition

by Mike Holman

We did our big camping trip last weekend at Awenda Provincial Park which is about an hour north of Barrie, Ontario. It went very well, although Saturday was pretty rainy. Luckily our friends thought to bring a big tarp, so we had a dry place to hang out. The weekend ended up being really fun. [...]

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Vanguard Group Unveils Canadian ETF Offerings

by Mike Holman

Earlier this year Vanguard Group announced they would be setting up shop in Canada.  At that time, there was no information on what kind of products they would offer or if they would be dealing directly with the investing public or through advisors. Today, Vanguard announced they have filed the preliminary prospectus for six exchange [...]

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Scanner Price Accuracy Code – Get A Discount If Items Scanned Incorrectly

by Mike Holman

Have you ever bought something and the price at the cashier was different than the sticker or shelf price?  If so, you might be able to score a discount on that item. The Scanner Price Accuracy Code is a voluntary code of practice which seems to be pretty common in larger stores and chains. The [...]

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LinkStuff – Windy Lake Edition

by Mike Holman

I’m on holiday this week (from the day job at least) and one of our activities was a day trip to Windy Lake Provincial Park.  We had a great time – the lake is beautiful and there is a very nice beach which the kids loved. We checked out the campsite area and it appears [...]

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How To Sell An ETF Or Stock Using A Canadian Discount Brokerage

by Mike Holman

Most Canadian investors use a financial advisor or a bank and invest their money in mutual funds. When it is time to sell, they just have to call their advisor and ask them to do the sell. Selling individual stocks or ETFs (exchange traded funds) at a Canadian discount brokerage is a bit more complicated [...]

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LinkStuff – Market Volatility Edition

by Mike Holman

Pretty exciting week in the markets this week. Maybe a little bit too exciting for some. I’ve been below my 75% equity allocation for several months due to an RRSP transfer and general portfolio neglect. I find it hard to buy a big chunk of equities all at once after the market has risen so [...]

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Sunk Costs And The $900 Plane Ticket

by Mike Holman

JD from Get Rich Slowly recently talked about a decision he made to cancel a trip to England.  He had a $900 plane ticket which was non-refundable, non-transferable, non-everything.  The $900 was gone. In his post, he makes the argument that the $900 he spent on the ticket was a sunk cost since he couldn’t [...]

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