How is the economy affecting your hobbying?

[Hornet]

Try using Gas Buddy app. I am finding gas pump prices drop almost 10cents after 8pm..

Gas prices can change throughout the day. Usually cheaper later at night or early morning . Gas is also usually cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays. Some stations are always cheaper than others. If you go to cottage country, the stations on the Reservations are always cheaper too as they are exempt from certain taxes

 

[DareDevil]

Gas prices can change throughout the day. Usually cheaper later at night or early morning . Gas is also usually cheaper on Mondays and Tuesdays. Some stations are always cheaper than others. If you go to cottage country, the stations on the Reservations are always cheaper too as they are exempt from certain taxes

When I travel out to Montreal or Ottawa I always stop in Mohawk Territory for gas. Native land Always the cheapest. Showing $1.26/L...wish we could get that kind of pricing in Markham/Richmond Hill

 

[WHORExKILLER69]

Not sure which bank you use. Here are some returns from TD as a reference. Don’t look at bond index returns as bonds are all about the quarterly interest payouts. The returns are based on a change in price which is driven by a change in interest rates. .

Index	5 yr annual return	10 year annual return
US	14.57%	10.79%
Canada	12.34%	7.84%
Europe	10.23%	6.17%
International	11.54%	7.14%

Thing is that I don't got 100k. I do have a good chunk saved but not even half of that.

Should I just dump most of my liquid cash into smp500 ?

 

[Hornet]

Thing is that I don't got 100k. I do have a good chunk saved but not even half of that.

Should I just dump most of my liquid cash into smp500 ?

You first need to pick a product and know your limits. You need your tax assessment for to tell you your RRSP limit. You can contribute in TFSA once you turned 18 nased on the limits of that year Those TFSA limits have increased over the years. $7k this year and last, $6.5k the year earlier, $6k a year before that, etc. (even ine year when it was $10k).



But what are you planning to do with the money? Save it for a house? Save for retirement? If you want it for retirement then the RRSP should be your first choice and then TFSA second choice. If saving for a house, you might want a split and understand the first time homebuyer rules about withdrawing from RRSP (their is a limit). But, talk to your bank. They have to do a KYC (Know your client) form to set up the product(s) and accounts. Remember, “don’t put your eggs all in one basket”. The bank might offer an investment strategy. Start with their strategy. If not, a simple starter strategy might be (since you are likely a moderate investor if you are worried about losing money) 50% US Index, 25% Canada Index, 20% Bond Index, 5% Cash. There are also “Balance Portfolio” products (stocks, bonds, cash). They might just put you in 2 funds: 50% US index and 50% Canadian Balanced Portfolio. If you are an aggressive investor (you should be at your age) then I’d go less bonds, less Canada and then throw in some International and European and maybe bump US to 55%. But learn to walk before you run. And you need to meet with you advisor annually to reassess your strategy and goals and then change your products and holdings accordingly.

Don’t put 100% into the US (S&P500). Those are US stocks that trade in US dollars. But you are in Canada. The CAD/USD is about $0.70. Historically we should be around $0.74-0.76 range. If the currency moves back up there then that will eat away at your returns. It’s called FX risk. If the CAD was at $0.80-0.85 today then sure, as you’d make more as the curremcy went back to the $0.74-0.76 range.

Note: I’m not licensed to give you financial advice so talk to someone who is. These are just guidelines and might not be right for your risk tolerance that will be determined in the KYC processes. I’m just very knowledgeable as I’ve been doing this since I was in my 20s.

 

[Hornet]

Thing is that I don't got 100k. I do have a good chunk saved but not even half of that.

Should I just dump most of my liquid cash into smp500 ?

One more very important concept is your Emergency Fund.

You should already have 2 bank accounts: chequing and savings. You should keep little in the chequing and pay daily expenses. The savings should have more and will earn a bit of interest income. The combined amount depends on your monthly living expenses and any upcoming large expenses (new car, new appliances, etc.). You should have a minimum of 3 months of living expenses in the 2 accounts but maybe you want 6 months if you are conservative. Add to that any known upcoming large expenses. But your target is based on the concept of how many months of cash reserves you need to pay your bills incase you lose your job until you find a new one or if there is a risk of a large surprise expense (your old car falls apart and you need a replacement). This number, whatever it is ($10k, $15k, $20k, etc.) is your Emergency Fund.

To figure out your monthly cash needs write it all down in major categories and use your online bank statements and the transactions to help. This is your monthly budget. Many people have no clue how much and where they spend. But having this written out (in a spreadsheet) is a good practise as then you can figure out where to cut if you have to. Like if you are spending $500-1000 at bars and expensive restaurants then that is an easy opportunity to cut without much paid. Not so easy cutting a car cost if you have to drive to work. This is also important, as from my earlier post, where you need to find at least 10% of your income (15% is Good, 20% is great) going to your investments. If you can’t find that today, then you need to look where to cut expenses to find it tomorrow. Pay Yourself First.

What you will invest is how much cash you have above that Emergency Fund number. So, if you have $40k saved and your Emergency Fund need is $15K then you can invest $25k. Your day-to-day living needs and Emergency Fund comes first. Then you invest the excess/idle cash. If your cash in your Emergency Fund is growing above your target minth needs then invest it. Keep paying yourself first.

 

[IXOHOXI]

Rules to investing:

1. Don’t take advice from someone on the internet
2. Find a financial advisor that is a fiduciary. Will have to contact a private wealth manager. These firms can offer a range of products not found elsewhere and build a customized portfolio. Banks or some other big name companies usually only sell mutual funds, bonds a GIC’s. Private wealth management firms can offer stocks, preferred shares (instead of bonds), access to real

Your number one rule is to not take advice from someone on the internet and then you provide advice on the internet! Did anyone else catch that?

 

[Hornet]

Your number one rule is to not take advice from someone on the internet and then you provide advice on the internet! Did anyone else catch that?

Yeh I know. I meant random youtube videos and stuff from people you know little about. Before watching or reading anything I want to know their motivations of the content creator or author. If they tell you to “talk to your advisor” then their motivations are usually good as they are not trying to sell or drum up business for themselves. If they are pushing something (their financial services, or a product (Bitcoin)) then their motivations might not be so good so be wary.

So, just trying to help a young guy out by giving guidelines and some helpful rules.

Here’s Shaq on investing

 

[WHORExKILLER69]

One more very important concept is your Emergency Fund.

You should already have 2 bank accounts: chequing and savings. You should keep little in the chequing and pay daily expenses. The savings should have more and will earn a bit of interest income. The combined amount depends on your monthly living expenses and any upcoming large expenses (new car, new appliances, etc.). You should have a minimum of 3 months of living expenses in the 2 accounts but maybe you want 6 months if you are conservative. Add to that any known upcoming large expenses. But your target is based on the concept of how many months of cash reserves you need to pay your bills incase you lose your job until you find a new one or if there is a risk of a large surprise expense (your old car falls apart and you need a replacement). This number, whatever it is ($10k, $15k, $20k, etc.) is your Emergency Fund.

To figure out your monthly cash needs write it all down in major categories and use your online bank statements and the transactions to help. This is your monthly budget. Many people have no clue how much and where they spend. But having this written out (in a spreadsheet) is a good practise as then you can figure out where to cut if you have to. Like if you are spending $500-1000 at bars and expensive restaurants then that is an easy opportunity to cut without much paid. Not so easy cutting a car cost if you have to drive to work. This is also important, as from my earlier post, where you need to find at least 10% of your income (15% is Good, 20% is great) going to your investments. If you can’t find that today, then you need to look where to cut expenses to find it tomorrow. Pay Yourself First.

What you will invest is how much cash you have above that Emergency Fund number. So, if you have $40k saved and your Emergency Fund need is $15K then you can invest $25k. Your day-to-day living needs and Emergency Fund comes first. Then you invest the excess/idle cash. If your cash in your Emergency Fund is growing above your target minth needs then invest it. Keep paying yourself first.

Good shit. I'll talk to a bank advisor. Look into aggressive investments to build money.

My goals are just wanting extra money from passive income to blow on whatever I want. Maybe get more into my hobby and frequent the more expensive joints like premier or club dynasty.

Main takeaway
50% US index and 50% Canadian Balanced Portfolio, be aggressive. Is starting with 10k decent? Will I make some ok money?

 

[Hornet]

Good shit. I'll talk to a bank advisor. Look into aggressive investments to build money.

My goals are just wanting extra money from passive income to blow on whatever I want. Maybe get more into my hobby and frequent the more expensive joints like premier or club dynasty.

Main takeaway
50% US index and 50% Canadian Balanced Portfolio, be aggressive. Is starting with 10k decent? Will I make some ok money?

Actually, you just missed the boat entirely with that statement.

If you want more income, get a second job. Drive an Uber or work for Skip The Dishes

 

[WHORExKILLER69]

Actually, you just missed the boat entirely with that statement.

If you want more income, get a second job. Drive an Uber or work for Skip The Dishes

Its not like how it was back then, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I work full time and I make just enuff to get essentials and spend on entertainment. Getting another job on top would make me fuking miserable.

I want the money I work hard for to work just as hard for me. In a checkings account my money is slowly dying.

 

[Hornet]

Its not like how it was back then, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I work full time and I make just enuff to get essentials and spend on entertainment. Getting another job on top would make me fuking miserable.

I want the money I work hard for to work just as hard for me. In a checkings account my money is slowly dying.

If you are going to “blow” you money on whatever you want, you are not really investing. If you put in $10k you might earn 7-8% / year on average ($700-800), maybe more, maybe less. Investing is all about keep on investing and let that 7-8% compound. If you earned 8% but didn’t do anything with it (do no spend it in and do not add more) your $10k would be:

Start	$10,000
End of Year 1	$10,800
End of year 2	$11,664
End of year 3	$12,597.12
End of Year 4	$13,604.89
End of Year 5	$14,693.28

But if you “blow” the $800 tou earn each year then all you’d have is the original $10,000 at the end of each year. But, depending on which product you put that $10k you might have to pay taxes on that $800 and really have less to “blow”.

If you put in $10k and another $2k at the end of each year your balance would be like:

Start	$10,000
Year 1	$12,800
Year 2	$15,824
Year 3	$19.089.92
Year 4	$22,617.11
Year 5	$26,426.48

 

[Mema]

In January I made about $45k on KULR before the stock price went down. I thought maybe I would increase my spa visits since my portfolio was up at the time, but for the past two months, everything started tanking.

The only plus side of cutting drastically back on my spa visits is that I ended up saving $2k this month. I am just hoping I don't accidentally spend it on new golf clubs.... I'm aiming for a $20k emergency fund savings. Wish me luck!

 

[startbeforeIfinish]

In January I made about $45k on KULR before the stock price went down. I thought maybe I would increase my spa visits since my portfolio was up at the time, but for the past two months, everything started tanking.

The only plus side of cutting drastically back on my spa visits is that I ended up saving $2k this month. I am just hoping I don't accidentally spend it on new golf clubs.... I'm aiming for a $20k emergency fund savings. Wish me luck!

I am saving about $1000 to$1200 a month from limiting my hobby. I feel great about it and my health has allowed me to do other hobbies more. Work has not called me in from long term disabilty yet so that is less funds and I would rather not freeze the losses in my portfolio if possible. I service myself more often and can think clearer because of it, a lost artform for me. Still have my guaranteed good time with regular so that is help.

 

[Spawarrior99]

Rules to investing:

1. Don’t take advice from someone on the internet
2. Find a financial advisor that is a fiduciary. Will have to contact a private wealth manager. These firms can offer a range of products not found elsewhere and build a customized portfolio. Banks or some other big name companies usually only sell mutual funds, bonds a GIC’s. Private wealth management firms can offer stocks, preferred shares (instead of bonds), access to real estate investing, etc.
3. Build a plan based on your risk profile (conservative to very aggressive range).
4. Diversify your products holdings: RRSP contributions reduce your taxes payable. This just defers tax payment until you withdraw (retirement) at a lower tax rate, FHSA (First Home Savings Account), RESP (Registered Education Savings Plan), TFSA (Tax Free Savings Account), Non-Registered Account, physical gold and silver, real estate. A wealth manager can setup the non-registered account up as a “Corporate Account”. That means activity within it, such as dividends paid, can be reinvested and little to no taxes are paid.
5. Diversify your holdings. There are multiple diversification strategies here: 1) Product mix (common stock, Preferred stock, bonds, GIC/T-Bills, cash, ETF’s etc.); 2) Sector (Tech, Biotech, Financials, Industrials, Consumer, Energy, Real Estate, etc.); 3) Country (US, Canada, Europe, Asia Major (e.g.Japan and South Korea), Asia, Developing Countries. The US market has had the best returns so getting a good amount of your holdings there is wise. But, there is risk (FX = if the Canadian dollar strengthens your returns are smaller), until the recent declines the US stock market was overvalued and ripe for a correction (drop).
6. Most advisors will steer you away from crypto. They might allow you a small mix 1-2% of your investments. Many still view crypto as a Ponzi scheme. Guys on the web will still say you should be looking at 10-20% of you investments into Crypto. Crypto can be broken down roughly into 3 categories: 1) Bitcoin; 2) Tier 1 and Tier 2 alt-coins (Etherium, Solana, XRP, etc….). These are trying to be real and provide a useful service 3) Memecoins or Shitcoins. Dogecoin falls into this category. But, these offer no product or service and are the ones that you risk the “rug-pull”: the creators own 95% of the circulation, get attention to get people buying in a frenzie, pump the price up 10,000-100,000% the sell it all taking the money and run. Also called “the pump & dump”
7. Most important rule is invest at least 10% of what you make. 20% or more should be your target though. Example: if you make $100k, you should be investing $20k/yr. RRSP’s allow you to invest up to 18%. So, if you put $18k in the RRSP that will give you a $5-6K tax refund that next year you reinvest in the RRSP and now you only need to come up with $14-15K to hit $20K. Once you have that plan then be disciplined and stick to that plan. That means making sacrifices like smaller house, less expensive car, no big trips, avoid spending too much in restaurants and bars, don’t go crazy in clothes (buy stuff you can where for years that do not go out of style). Often those that are financially better off are the ones not showing it. Some of those with the expensive cars and clothes might be heavily in debt.
8. Be disciplined. Buy and hold in solid companies is what made Warren Buffet a billionaire. Don’t buy just because a stock is up. Don’t sell just because it dropped. Some years you’ll have great returns and some years you’ll lose. But if you hold, the in the long run, you’ll be up. For example if you analyze a mutual fund returns don’t look at 1 year returns. 5 year and 10 years are what to look at as they normalize the good years and bad years.
9. Understand taxes. If you have a non-registered account that is being managed for you there will be fees. These fees are tax deductible. Pull the statements and record those fees and claim them as a deduction. Dividends, interest (bonds), and capital gains are all taxed differently.
10. Start early and take advantage of compounding. Compounding is interest upon interest. Warren Buffet described it as a snowball rolling down a hill. The longer the hill the bigger the ball at the end. The length of the hill is from when you start until when you retire. So, starting in your 20s is best. Do that amd tou can be financially independent 5-10 years before you actual retirement date.

Note: if you are just starting out though and have a small portfolio that a private wealth manager doesn’t want to take on then buy index funds:

1. 50% US
2. 15-25% Canada
3. 10-15% Europe, Japan/South Korea
4. 10% Bonds
5. 5% Cash, GIC’s, T-Bills

Have been investing in BRK.B every month for 6 years now. Price just keeps going up and up.
From $175.38 in 2019.

When Warren speaks, people listen to the Oracle of Omaha.

Turn it into an A stock, and its like going to Greenway Spa for one of Kellys famous massages.
Invest in the quality of the stock / MPA, and watch your returns grow.