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 An important aspect of personal finance is to plan for the downside. It’s not really something we want to focus on but it has to be done. The good thing is that it doesn’t take that much effort compared with investing or savings but it’s important to be ready. Based on where you are in life, the requirements for life insurance and estate planning will be different and it will vary between individuals and families.
Life Insurance
Young, No Family and No Mortgage
Don’t bother with life insurance just yet. The only exception would be to have just enough to cover the cost of burrial if you felt it would be a burden to your family.
Have a Mortgage
First of all, be sure to decline any mortgage insurance from the bank or financial institution. All you are paying for is to cover the remaining mortgage amount. Your payments will stay the same but your coverage will go down as you pay your mortgage.
A life insurance is much better and the price is comparable if not cheaper in some cases.
A Growing Family
With a growing family, you
Continue reading Life Insurance And Estate Planning
In part one of this series I looked at the basics of conglomerates. They offer unique pros and cons for dividend investors. I covered the benefits and downsides in last weeks post, but here is a brief rundown:
Related: International Allocation through Conglomerates
Pros of Internation Asset Allocation through Conglomerates
Cons of Internation Asset Allocation through Conglomerates
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Complexity
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Political risk
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Breakup value
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Currency risk
Now let’s look at a few international conglomerates. These companies offer international diversification and dividends payments. They all have DRIP programs available for individual investors. Just go to their company web sites for more information.
It is really important to assess your location and desired retirement currency. For most people, the retirement currency will be the same as where they live but for others, it can be a different strategy.
Continue reading International Allocation through Conglomerates – Part 2
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 Every other months, I share the Top 20 Dividend Stocks from my tracking list. It’s pre-filtered by about 150 stocks across Canada and the US. I do track many stocks by sectors and they are mostly large cap as I am mostly investing in blue chip stocks with an economic moat. The purpose of the Top 2o is to highlight the movement of many of the companies and that value buys do come into play every now and again. If you feel a stock might be missing, let me know. I am always interested in tracking good stocks.
For my last three Top 20, Apple (AAPL) has been owning the crown of best valued company in my list and yet I continue to resist buying it. My investing strategy is for the long term and with Apple, it’s really hard to assess the long term and the highly competitive mobile landscape. When I say long term, I mean 10 + years… The cash on hand is making new buyers jump in feeling good about the dividends. I know we are all waiting for the next innovation and that’s why the company
Continue reading Top 20 Dividend Stocks – May 2013
A conglomerate is a large corporation with a variety of diverse business holdings. They were very popular from the 1960s through the 1980s. They are less popular today… many argue that they are not very efficient. But they can still offer opportunity for investors.
Some conglomerates are more narrowly focused, others invest in many different industries. Some are domestic…but the big ones tend to have foreign operations. In this post we will discuss investing in conglomerates with international subsidiaries. We’ll explore how they can provide investors with international exposure outside of the United States and Canada.
There are pros and cons to investing in conglomerates. Lets look at the benefits first:
Pros
 Diversification. Reduced risk is the main benefit of investing in conglomerates. A company that operates diverse businesses might be in a stronger position. They are better able to ride out economic downturns. In theory, anyway. And as we will explore later, diverse foreign assets are one reason to invest in conglomerates.
Related: How to track your asset allocation
Foreign
Continue reading International Allocation through Conglomerates
 Since I always DRIP my dividends, I rarely pay attention to the cash portion of my accounts. I usually use it when I add new money to invest but I have not added new money in a while now and the cash portion is growing. Last month, I used the cash portion in my TFSA to buy a number of shares in Emera (EMA). Utilities are still under my diversification target. I own many of them but I just don’t have a lot of money invested in them. This year I am focusing on balancing my diversification.
Some stats for all of you interested in numbers. To date,
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Monthly Popular Posts
- Top 20 Dividend Stocks – January 2013 | posted on January 30, 2013
- 2013 Canadian Dividend Aristocrats | posted on January 6, 2013
- Top 20 Dividend Stocks – March 2013 | posted on March 24, 2013
- Dividend Income – April 2013 | posted on April 18, 2013
- How To Assess If The Smith Manoeuvre Is Good For You | posted on January 22, 2012
- Goodbye ScotiaITrade, Hello RBC Direct Investing! | posted on February 20, 2012
- Top 20 Dividend Stocks – May 2013 | posted on May 19, 2013
- TFSA Usage and Strategies | posted on May 5, 2013
- Pros and Cons of Dividend ETFs | posted on March 4, 2013
- 2012 Canadian Dividend Aristocrats | posted on January 11, 2012
- Why Dividend Investing? | posted on March 28, 2012
- How To Start Dividend Investing With Little Money | posted on June 19, 2011
- Dividend Income – May 2013 | posted on May 14, 2013
- Dividend Stock Research – The Companies That Matter To You | posted on March 26, 2013
- 2013 S&P US Dividend Aristocrats | posted on January 13, 2013
Disclaimer All content posted on this blog represents my opinion and views and should never be considered professional advice. You should do your own research and consult with a professional financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
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