By 2 Cents on June 12th, 2010 | Category: BJ News | Be moderate in order to taste the joys of life in abundance.
~ Epicurus
This post is just to let you know that I’ll be writing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from now on. Previously, I had been posting on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. School will be out soon, so my commitments at home will increase quite a bit.
In addition to the summertime effect, I thought posting roughly every other day would give the articles a little more time to breathe. I take quite a bit of time and care in writing them and I would like readers to have some time to digest them in full before putting another on their plates.
I’m trying to maintain quality over quantity. However, if something newsworthy happens and I want to comment on it, I may put out a brief commentary on the in-between days. At this point, [...]
Read on and enjoy … BJ Schedule Change
By 2 Cents on June 11th, 2010 | Category: Book Reviews | It is seldom luck or inheritance or advanced degrees or even intelligence that enables people to amass fortunes. Wealth is more often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and most of all, self-discipline.
~ Thomas Stanley & William Danko, The Millionaire Next Door
The Millionaire Next Door is one of the true personal finance classics. It was originally published in 1996, and the ideas behind it were based on surveys conducted in 1995. Still, the lessons of this book are just as relevant today as they were more than a decade ago.
When Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko set out to discover how people become wealthy, they began by surveying people in upscale neighbourhoods across the U.S.. They were surprised to find that many people who lived in large homes and drove expensive cars were not wealthy at all. Further, [...]
Read on and enjoy … Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door
By 2 Cents on June 10th, 2010 | Category: Investing | Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.
~ Saint Basil
Update: This post was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning – Edition #146. Thank you!
Today we’ll try to answer the last four questions posed by Kevin at Out of Your Rut in his article on where the stock market is headed. (You can read my answers to the first four questions in Part I.) Before we get started, I just want to mention that there has been quite a bit of bearish commentary lately, and it’s not just coming from yours truly, David Rosenberg, and other recently bearish analysts. If you don’t follow me on twitter @BalanceJunkie, here are just a couple of articles that caught my eye [...]
Read on and enjoy … Where Is the Stock Market Headed Next? Part II
By 2 Cents on June 8th, 2010 | Category: Investing | Weather is a great metaphor for life – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.
~ Terri Guillemets
A couple of weeks ago Kevin at Out of Your Rut asked a question that a lot of people ask themselves and others pretty regularly: Where Do YOU Think the Stock Market Is Headed? He presented both the optimist’s view and the pessimist’s, then challenged readers to answer a series of questions to arrive at their own view of where the stock market might be headed next.
I know there are some who would disagree with the idea of even raising the question. I’ve written a couple of articles about the ostrich effect and the other pitfalls of passive investing recently, so I won’t go into those issues again here. Suffice it to [...]
Read on and enjoy … Where Is the Stock Market Headed Next? Part I
By 2 Cents on June 7th, 2010 | Category: Investing | In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he’s a wonder.
~ Author Unknown
Update: This article is featured in the Carnival of Personal Finance #261 posted at Pop Economics. Thank you Pop!
Apparently the May stock market swoon spooked Canadian investors as they withdrew more than $1 billion from mutual funds in May. Investors seeking the safety of cash might normally move money from equity funds into money market funds. That’s not necessarily the case anymore, and for good reason.
If you have your money with an advisor who sells mutual funds, chances are moving your money into money market mutual funds is the fastest and easiest way to reduce your market exposure. But is it the best way? What are the alternatives?
By 2 Cents on June 4th, 2010 | Category: Investing | Genuine ignorance is . . . profitable because it is likely to be accompanied by humility, curiosity and open-mindedness; whereas the ability to repeat catch-phrases, cant terms, familiar propositions, gives the conceit of learning and coats the mind with varnish waterproof to new ideas.
~ John Dewey
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Financial Planning #145 posted at The Skilled Investor. Thanks!
Today’s Friday Food for Thought is a little different from past editions. Most of the articles I’ve highlighted so far have been those that I’ve found inspiring or otherwise agreed with. Today I’m writing about an article where I found myself completely disagreeing with almost every line.
I chose to highlight this article, not to criticize the author or those who would agree with him, but just to show that there’s another side to every opinion. [...]
Read on and enjoy … Ignorance Makes You a Better Investor & Other Money-Losing Fallacies
By 2 Cents on June 3rd, 2010 | Category: Economics | The Canadian Economy does not operate in a vacuum and we are not isolated from global events, as we saw in 2008 and early 2009.
~ David Rosenberg
Update: This article was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance #260 posted at Rainy Day Saver. Thanks!
On Tuesday the Bank of Canada became the first central bank of the G7 countries to raise interest rates. Granted, the BoC’s overnight rate now sits at .50%, up from .25% before the announcement. We’re still basically offering free money for borrowers to finance and even increase their debts.
Usually, central banks raise rates when the economy is accelerating in an attempt to control inflationary pressures. A rate hike implies that things are improving in the Canadian economy. Indeed, recent manufacturing and GDP stats support that conclusion and lend support to the frequently cited [...]
Read on and enjoy … Canada: Golden Child or Tag Along Sibling?
By 2 Cents on June 1st, 2010 | Category: 20 Cents | It’s time for the next monthly installment of 20 Cents. Is it just me or did it seem like May was only 12 days long? Here are 10 of my favourite articles from around the web for May, 2010.
I try to include a fairly well-rounded selection each month, but 10 slots is just not enough to cover all of the great writing that gets served up each month. I highlight a lot of great articles each day on Twitter. You can follow me @BalanceJunkie.
1. Political Calculations spelled out Three Signs of Economic Trouble in the Modern World. Read the article and find out how many you recognize in today’s economy.
2. Jabulani Lefall wrote about Financial Fear Factors at Wise Bread. The author laments the disappearance of the middle ground along with the middle [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents from May 2010
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