Search found 446 matches

by gobsmack
07 May 2023 06:39
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: China ETFs
Replies: 72
Views: 20514

Re: China ETFs

A friend of mine recently told me the only reason she does not like VBAL as a one-ETF portfolio solution is the fact that in contains Chinese stocks. She raised many of the arguments discussed in this thread. Politics aside perhaps one argument that could be raised is that foreigners buying Chinese stocks are only buying ownership of a shell company. In the past, it has been reported that many of these Chinese stocks are listed through shell companies in the Caribbean . Foreigners investing in these stocks are not getting a direct equity stake in the Chinese company. Probably most investors have no idea this is the case though. Could this in and out of itself be a reason not to invest in China? Does anyone know of a one-ETF portfolio soluti...
by gobsmack
15 Jan 2021 15:51
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Down Payment ready! Continue to rent as primary residence or buy home with rental space
Replies: 8
Views: 3351

Re: Down Payment ready! Continue to rent as primary residence or buy home with rental space

Have you considered moving out of Vancouver? Depending on the kind of job you do, you may find decent job opportunities in other cities with much lower real estate prices.
by gobsmack
06 Jan 2021 12:03
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: My daughter without me Portfolio
Replies: 31
Views: 3721

Re: My daughter without me Portfolio

longinvest wrote: 05 Jan 2021 20:09 Here's what I do:
  • VBAL in all accounts.
+1 as well. This is great advice. Simple and effective. It will be a lot easier for you daughter to stick with a plan if it is simple.

Don't feel too bad about your daughter getting spooked earlier this year. It gets a lot easier to go through scary moments like that after you've seen them come and go.

If I may offer a suggestion, it may not be a good idea to post so many personal details about your daughter unless they are pertinent to your question. This is a public forum and someone who may know her might run across your posts.
by gobsmack
03 Dec 2020 14:28
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152448

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

nisser wrote: 03 Dec 2020 12:23 USA hit 3100 daily deaths yesterday, a high so far. Likely the Thanksgiving gathering effect which will gas up the cases a bit going forward.
Roughly the same number of people who died in the 9/11 attacks! It is tragic to see what is taking place south of our border.
by gobsmack
02 Dec 2020 16:36
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: FOMO by not owning real estate? [Fear Of Missing Out]
Replies: 47
Views: 6712

Re: FOMO by not owning real estate? [Fear Of Missing Out]

For someone who is single and without any kids like you, the ability to easily move to a different job market should a better opportunity arise is a huge benefit of renting (IMHO). I have moved so many times over the years and it certainly served me well. During the 2008/2009 financial crisis, I also remember stories of people in places like Florida who could have found jobs in other states but were stuck because their mortgages were underwater.
by gobsmack
17 Nov 2020 15:54
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Snowbirds and COVID-19
Replies: 301
Views: 13041

Re: Snowbirds and COVID-19

What about travel insurance? Do they cover covid expenses? Heaven forbid someone gets sick in the US and spends a couple of weeks in the ICU without insurance. It would be a pretty hefty bill.
by gobsmack
05 Sep 2020 19:06
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: A Simple Retirement Using Variable Percentage Withdrawals (VPW Forward Test)
Replies: 608
Views: 130503

Re: A Simple Retirement Using Variable Percentage Withdrawals (VPW Forward Test)

I think this turn out to be one of the most interesting threads in the forum. Thanks longinvest :D
by gobsmack
01 Jul 2020 19:04
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Help with taxes - high income job opportunity
Replies: 5
Views: 928

Re: Help with taxes - high income job opportunity

If this is your main concern, you might be better off just staying the US. You can move from CA to a place like Austin, TX, which is an awesome city and much more affordable then any place in CA - plus no state income tax in TX.
by gobsmack
20 Jun 2020 06:14
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Wealth Concentration
Replies: 23
Views: 42574

Re: Wealth Concentration

Capitalisn't podcast had an interesting episode on this topic not long ago. It includes a discussion with Gene Fama about the possibility of a one-time wealth tax.

Sorry. I posted this in the wrong thread :)
by gobsmack
13 Jun 2020 19:11
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Where do you save your passwords?
Replies: 35
Views: 2595

Re: Where do you save your passwords?

I use keepass as well. Keepass will generate an ecrypted database that is safe to be stored elsewhere for backup reasons. One feature I like is that you can configure it such that it will require both a password and access to an specific file in order to open the encrypted database. This means that, even if an attacker had access to the encrypted file stored outside of your computer and somehow he managed to figure out the password, he would still be forced to break into your computer and find the chosen file. keepass allows you to store not only passwords but also notes or any other information you may want to type in. The main problem remains the same though. Somehow OP would need to be able to share this file with his spouse and securely...
by gobsmack
04 Jun 2020 05:29
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Telus (Symbol-T)
Replies: 452
Views: 78424

Re: Telus (Symbol-T)

If the stock will be held in an RRSP, could a case be made that Verizon or AT&T would be better options? Both have access to a much larger market and AT&T offers a higher dividend that as far as I understand is considered safe.
by gobsmack
01 Jun 2020 06:02
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Free money
Replies: 92
Views: 66388

Re: Free money

My biggest disappointment with the government during this period has been the assault weapons ban, which I consider to be unnecessary in Canada.

When it comes to the financial aid and how it was implemented, I would caution against giving too much value to anecdotal evidence as infuriating as they may be. We will have to wait and see how these decisions played out in the aggregate.
by gobsmack
25 May 2020 19:16
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152448

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

A few patients who have been in a ventilator have experienced this after being released from the hospital:

by gobsmack
20 May 2020 15:38
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: US Citizen/Canadian PR thinking of moving to Ontario permanently
Replies: 16
Views: 1598

Re: US Citizen/Canadian PR thinking of moving to Ontario permanently

Eclectic12 wrote: 20 May 2020 13:44 So essentially the IRS is letting you avoid paying capital gains taxes on investments bought while being a US tax resident?
I was never a US citizen and I never held a green card. I was living there on a visa.
Eclectic12 wrote: 20 May 2020 13:44 ... shouldn't your cost base have been set at FMV on the day you moved to Canada, assuming your were a Canadian non-resident while living in the US?
Correct. The FMV in CAD at the date of entry is my ACB.
by gobsmack
20 May 2020 10:05
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: US Citizen/Canadian PR thinking of moving to Ontario permanently
Replies: 16
Views: 1598

Re: US Citizen/Canadian PR thinking of moving to Ontario permanently

Assuming Fidelity is OK with you keeping the account and assuming you are happy with the way the money is invested today, there is no reason to liquidate the account and pay capital gains tax. I am not an American citizen but I lived in the US for many years. When I left the US, I decided to keep my Vanguard account there because (at least in part) liquidating the account would have forced me to pay capital gains tax. This is money that I only plan to withdraw when I retire. I continue to receive all the distributions and I declare them as foreign earned income in my Canadian taxes. Your tax situation will be different because you are a US citizen but, as a general rule of thumb, the tax treaty between the US and Canada should allow you to ...
by gobsmack
20 May 2020 07:51
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: US Citizen/Canadian PR thinking of moving to Ontario permanently
Replies: 16
Views: 1598

Re: US Citizen/Canadian PR thinking of moving to Ontario permanently

Should I withdraw the money before the move or after? Or should I keep it there for the long term? There is nothing that would force you to close the account and realise capital gains. Fidelity may however impose restrictions in your account after you become a Canadian resident. For instance, they may no longer accept purchases/trades/swap of funds in your account but they should allow future withdrawals. It is something you would have to clarify with them. Thank you in advance. Plan is to move to Toronto. I am not sure how soon you plan to move but you may want to make sure you will be able to cross the border. The border remains closed due to the pandemic. As a non-citizen, I think you are only allowed to cross in emergency cases .
by gobsmack
11 May 2020 08:31
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Canada's largest company by market cap - if you aren't a big bank are you cursed?
Replies: 13
Views: 1079

Re: Canada's largest company by market cap - if you aren't a big bank are you cursed?

The remarkable story behind how Shopify got created was covered by How I built this. I find it remarkable because it was created by a German immigrant who had a learning disability. He had performed quite poorly at school back in Germany. The guy is clearly talented though.
by gobsmack
06 May 2020 18:51
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152448

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

... how his findings show a Covid-19 fatality rate of 0.24-0.36%. This was a very small study (more info here ). In this case, they are using antibody tests in order to detect if people have already been infected. My understanding is that antibody tests for covid are still relatively a new thing and they can only be performed on sophisticated labs, which I am sure they have in Germany. But even the most sophisticated labs cannot eliminate false positives/negatives. The problem with a small sample is that it may be difficult to separate the signal from the noise caused by these false results. My understanding is that the best of such experiments was the one performed in New York. They tested around 7500 people selected at random. They have ...
by gobsmack
05 May 2020 06:01
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152448

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

Freaknomics: How Do You Reopen a Country? (Ep. 416)

For the interesting part, skip to 32:40 . It is an interesting discussion about why the US has done so poorly when it comes to testing and what needs to happen going forward.
by gobsmack
03 May 2020 16:07
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Covid-19: The challenge and the end game
Replies: 280
Views: 7590

Re: Covid-19: The challenge and the end game

How iceland is facing the outbreak:



They have already tested 10.5% of the population and they have sequenced all the samples, which allows them to figure out how the disease has spread through the population. Very interesting work.
by gobsmack
03 May 2020 12:33
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Covid-19: The challenge and the end game
Replies: 280
Views: 7590

Re: Covid-19: The challenge and the end game

Why the World Bank ex-chief is on a mission to end coronavirus transmission

When referring to contact tracing:
What surprised you about the response to COVID-19 in the United States?
No one in the field of infectious disease or public health can say they are surprised about a pandemic. But what I just couldn’t believe was that after the first cases of community transmission, in Washington state, folks were saying it’s too late for containment. What surprised me is just how quickly we gave up on the standard shoe-leather-epidemiology approach to fighting epidemics that has been in place for hundreds of years.
by gobsmack
01 May 2020 06:41
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Are you buying aggressively
Replies: 126
Views: 81403

Re: Are you buying aggressively

Paul Krugman: Crashing Economy, Rising Stocks: What’s Going On?
But I’d argue that there are deeper reasons for the current stock market-real economy disconnect: Investors are buying stocks in part because they have nowhere else to go. In fact, there’s a sense in which stocks are strong precisely because the economy as a whole is so weak.
by gobsmack
28 Apr 2020 08:46
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152448

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

hamor wrote: 28 Apr 2020 08:11 Brilliant, thanks. Why or why those in charge don't act on papers like this...?
A study shared with the White House last year warned of the possible risk and associated cost of a pandemic just like this one.
by gobsmack
28 Apr 2020 06:33
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152448

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

OnlyMyOpinion wrote: 27 Apr 2020 20:07 I see the US has now reported 56,649 covid deaths since Feb 29.
To make matters even worse, the final count will likely be revised up. The Financial Times reports: Global coronavirus death toll could be 60% higher than reported
To calculate excess deaths, the FT has compared deaths from all causes in the weeks of a location’s outbreak in March and April 2020 to the average for the same period between 2015 and 2019. 
by gobsmack
28 Apr 2020 05:26
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Are you buying aggressively
Replies: 126
Views: 81403

Re: Are you buying aggressively

deaddog wrote: 27 Apr 2020 20:22 My fear is that I lose my capital.
Presumably, you were forced to crystallise capital gains and, therefore, you will be forced to pay some tax because you switched to cash. Does that concern you?