Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Asset allocation, risk, diversification and rebalancing. Pros/cons of hiring a financial advisor. Seeking advice on your portfolio?
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Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by SkaSka »

I would classify myself as a lurker on the internet, soaking up information and reading discussions without ever really contributing to discussions myself. I'm a listener at heart so I prefer to patiently listen and read the opinion's of others rather than voicing my own; hence probably why I usually lurk.

Anyways, I wanted to emerge from the wood work and really give a heartfelt thank you to all the information, discussions, and opinions that have been offered in this forum. I've been reading on this forum as a "guest" for awhile now and I feel like it is only appropriate to express my gratitude for the wisdom that is offered here. Users like Shakespeare, Bylo, Newguy, Pickles and countless others have provided sincerely stimulating discussions and opinions that have really impacted the way I think about finances and what I have learned about finances.

Being young, 25, I'm just starting my journey in terms of financial planning and investing. How I stumbled here, I don't know exactly, but it all started awhile back when I became interested in investing and googled to find out what sort of fees mutual funds typically charge. During my research, I somehow stumbled across Bylo's website detailing the eroding effects of high MERs on actively managed mutual funds. From there, I found a link to Shakespeare's primer and after reading every last word of his primer, I found the link to this forum, where I soaked up all the threads that interested me like a sponge (I can get a little OCD when it comes to researching anything I find interesting).

Well, I'm glad I fortuitously stumbled across Bylo's website because it has been a learning tour de force ever since. I can't say I know a great deal, or even that much, about investing yet, but I feel I've learned some of the fundamentals about finance and DIY investing during my months of reading and learning.

So, from everything I have learned, I feel like I have the standard plan that is recommended to get a newbie's feet wet and begin a lifetime of investing and learning. Well, a little customized version for my fiancé and I.

We are both on the conservative side when it comes to money, my fiancé more so. We both have steady union jobs, she in the health sector and myself in the union sector so steady inflow of cash. We're both 25 and she has been able to amass a war chest of $40,000 that is sitting in a savings account. Between us and this war chest, we want high liquidity and low risk. We feel a TFSA at People's Choice at 3% or Canadian Western Bank at 2.55% (a bit more convenient) for $25,000 (2013 TFSA ceiling) and $15,000 in either a high interest savings or GICs at her local bank. For her, this is what she would feel most comfortable with her money as we may need access quickly in the next few years.

For long-term investing, we decided that a Couch Potato style portfolio through TDW TFSA would suit our interests the best. We divert $500 a month towards TD E-Series funds, with 30% CAN Index, 25% CAN Bonds, 30% US Index, and 15% INT Index. Once we have around ~$50,000 we'll switch to lower MER ETFs, but the trading costs at lower dollar amounts doesn't make sense until we have more money. This fund is for long term investing, with a window of decades.

We also are enrolled in the CSB program through our work so we have around $200 that goes to our CSB account every month, which will start next month.

Also throwing around the idea of having a very small amount of silver bullion in the portfolio, not as a buy low and sell high in the short term item, but something to just keep around for the long term.

I wanted to see what some comments, opinions, criticisms, and general advice would be for this plan?

Again, I understand it might be a bit on the conservative side, but it is what we feel comfortable with and we will definitely always be considering more "advanced" investment strategies as we learn and understand them.

Thank you for the feedback and thank you to the community here!
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Shakespeare »

Thank you for the kudos and welcome to FWF.

Your approach seems quite reasonable although there are two schools of thought for young investors (the other says that higher investment risks can be taken in youth); it comes down to personal risk tolerance.

Also, remember that priorities can change, and it may be that expensive options like a house or children may mean that savings have to be utilized: in that case, the portfolio should not be high in equities - in fact, if house purchase is envisioned within say, 5 years, it is arguable that no equities (or silver) should be held at all.

Continue to live within your means and you should do very well.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by newguy »

I didn't see any mention of RRSPs or pensions. I'm guessing your income will be high enough in retirement so you won't be eligible for GIS. That's about the only reason not to buy RRSPs. You may not have room due to workplace pensions but you didn't say.

Are the CSBs possibly going into RRSPs, if not there is tax on the interest and they're not that great in the first place.

If you listen to me then realize I make mistakes (dunno about the others), but it sounds like you research everything for yourself and that's what really counts. Congrats on a great start and welcome to FWF.

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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Welcome to FWF. You certainly seem to have a pretty good handle on things IMHO. A couple of thoughts
SkaSka wrote:We also are enrolled in the CSB program through our work so we have around $200 that goes to our CSB account every month, which will start next month.

Also throwing around the idea of having a very small amount of silver bullion in the portfolio, not as a buy low and sell high in the short term item, but something to just keep around for the long term.
I'm curious about the reason for enrollment in the CSB program. Are you using it as a forced savings method or something else. I concur with newguy's view on them, generally CSBs seem like a product whose time has passed, there are other products with similar characteristics but better returns.

You also have me curious on the thought of silver bullion, as it seems at odds with the rest of your planning. Does it really need to be part of your investment plan, and why?

I would also encourage you to continue to post and update us on your journey. I've got early 20's children that would benefit from learning from one of their peers, rather than their parents :lol:.

Lastly, a plug for our Wiki, Imagefiniki, the Canadian financial wiki, which houses much of the collective wisdom of this forum and it's contributors. If you haven't already visited, you might wander over and check it out.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Pickles »

Welcome to the forum, SkaSka. Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad to know my posts are helpful to you.

How would you like to have an extra $150 this December to make your holiday plans more fun? If you don't have an ING account, I recommend you open up one ASAP. First, find someone who has an ING account and ask them for their "orange key". Then open a savings account, mailing ING a cheque for at least $100 (minimum) and giving them the orange key referral number. Both you and the person who referred you will have a $50 bonus deposited into your accounts by ING.

Then, as soon as your account is open, get your wife to open an account too, using your orange key. Both of you will get $50 as soon as her mailed cheque is deposited. The referral bonus is double ING's normal bonus until December 31st, so act now to get $150 free cash between you. You're welcome!

ING's current interest rate is 1.35%, higher than most "high interest" savings accounts at brick and mortar banks but lower than PT and Ally. No fees and no minimum balance (except the initial $100 for a month to keep the bonus).

ING also has a special on right now, likely ending on Dec 31: a one year cashable GIC at 2% interest. That's a great rate today and I recommend you put some of your short-term savings into this GIC. To buy GICs at ING, you must have a bank account with them. Remember, if you open an account to get the bonuses, deposit enough to fund any GIC purchase you want in addition to your minimum balance of $100 in the savings account. Maintain this balance for a couple of months to ensure bonus eligibility.


I echo Peculiar_Investor and Newguy's view of Canada Savings Bonds, but I'll be blunter: they are a terrible investment for anyone with more than a few $100s to invest. If your employer is matching your contribution, fine, but otherwise not. I recommend you exit the employee plan if there are no penalties and put the $200 a month into Peoples Trust or Ally (1.8% currently, compounded daily).

I agree with you that PT has the best savings account for TFSA money. The current rate -- 3% -- is better than a 5 year GIC rate or a 10 year Bond. Why would you use Canadian Western Bank when you can get 18% more interest with PT? Don't squander it!! It's not at all inconvenient once you set up the account. You can email requests and they respond immediately. They send paper statements. They have recently opened an online banking system so it should be even easier in future.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by MALDI_ToF »

I also think CSB are not a good investment. They pay next to nothing. There are GICs that pay significantly more interest and are fully insured by the CDIC, so they should be just as safe if you were wanting an investment where the principle was 100% guaranteed. My work offers a CSB plan and after taking a look at the rates (annual compound rate of 1.14% if held for 3 years according to their website) I was put off. My savings account at Canadian Tire pays more than that (1.7%) and it protected by government backed insurance. If you are doing it for forced savings, perhaps it would be better to set up a plan to automatically put the $200 into a TFSA and/or RRSP and invest that in something that pays better interest.

The silver seems odd. I usually expect people to go with gold (not that I am suggesting that). I do agree with Peculiar_I. in that it seems to be going against the rest of your plan.

Definitely don't like CSB though. I used to have one, but then I was a toddler and my parent gave it to me and I think it paid over 6% interest. I somehow suspect those days are a thing of the past. You can easily get GICs that pay double what a CSB pays and are just as secure.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by AltaRed »

MALDI_ToF wrote:The silver seems odd. I usually expect people to go with gold (not that I am suggesting that). I do agree with Peculiar_I. in that it seems to be going against the rest of your plan.
Not to detract from the sage advice, I suspect the silver is based on some 'thought' that this decade will be silver's decade. Gold supposedly is stuck in a trading range. That said, I'd agree precious metals are not the place to be in the early stages of building a portfolio.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Bylo Selhi »

Shakespeare wrote:Thank you for the kudos and welcome to FWF.
Ditto. Thank you to SkaSka. Posts like SkaSka's are what make all the effort we [not only those listed in the OP but countless others] put into FWF, finiki, our personal sites, etc. worth while.
Your approach seems quite reasonable although there are two schools of thought for young investors (the other says that higher investment risks can be taken in youth); it comes down to personal risk tolerance.
Usually people only discover their real risk tolerance when they've been through a substantial bear market like 2008/9. I think SkaSka's taking the preferable path of starting with a more conservative approach rather than the bolder approach taken by most new investors. That way he'll be in better shape to survive the next bear. Being in his mid-20s affords him several decades to let time and compounding do their thing without the need to take excessive risks.
Continue to live within your means and you should do very well.
That IMO is the most important principle.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by MALDI_ToF »

Bylo Selhi wrote: Usually people only discover their real risk tolerance when they've been through a substantial bear market like 2008/9. I think SkaSka's taking the preferable path of starting with a more conservative approach rather than the bolder approach taken by most new investors. That way he'll be in better shape to survive the next bear. Being in his mid-20s affords him several decades to let time and compounding do their thing without the need to take excessive risks.
You can always start on the conservative side and get your feet wet. As you experience more (ie perhaps see some down markets and get a feel of what it is like to loose money on paper) you may find you want to take advantage and get more aggressive with your portfolio; conversely you might find that you can't stomach and want to get even more conservative. You have to start somewhere, but I think it is important to constantly re-evaluate your position and change accordingly. Considering you are just starting, you may think you know what you can handle, but until you actually experience it you truly don't know for sure. You don't have to pick a strategy and stick with it your entire life.
Continue to live within your means and you should do very well.
That IMO is the most important principle.
Some argue you should live slightly below your means.
Give a man a fish, and that man knows where to come for fish. Teach a man to fish, and you've just destroyed your market base.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Bylo Selhi »

MALDI_ToF wrote:
Continue to live within your means and you should do very well.
That IMO is the most important principle.
Some argue you should live slightly below your means.
within
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1. in; inside; enclosed or encased by
2. before (a period of time) has elapsed: within a week
3. not beyond the limits of; not differing by more than (a specified amount) from
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by BRIAN5000 »

I also think CSB are not a good investment. They pay next to nothing. There are GICs that pay significantly more interest and are fully insured by the CDIC, so they should be just as safe if you were wanting an investment where the principle was 100% guaranteed. My work offers a CSB plan and after taking a look at the rates (annual compound rate of 1.14% if held for 3 years according to their website) I was put off. My savings account at Canadian Tire pays more than that (1.7%) and it protected by government backed insurance. If you are doing it for forced savings, perhaps it would be better to set up a plan to automatically put the $200 into a TFSA and/or RRSP and invest that in something that pays better interest.
IIRC you make the interest on money you don't have with CSB's. If you buy a CSB on payroll deduction say a $1000 bond you make interest on the whole $1,000 immediately but on the increasing balance with HISA's. Either way it's "mice nuts" at these rates. Yes if you already have the $1000 1.7 is bigger then 1.14.

However there is a couple of advantages to the CSB's.

-IIRC you can quit the program but you have to fill out a form or something
-when you receive the bond it's a bit of a pain to go cash it in
-with some regularity, every three years or so, the CSB interest rate would be set to high making it the best rate after a month or two. (this may no longer be the case with other institutions offering similar products)
- dead simple, Pay Yourself First, never miss it, no opening accounts at other institutions

Example - I used to do payroll deduction on $5000 CSB's every year plus 6% of my pay into company stock plus for every $5 I gave the company they kicked in $2. Pretty simple, automatic, by the time the CSB's came I had usually forgotten about them and an "OH Yeah" I got another $5000 laying around was way better then I need to find some money for RRSP etc. I no longer hold CSB's but I had a whole whack of them early on.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by SkaSka »

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome. I hope to actively contribute here moving forward.

@Pickles, thanks for the info on ING, I've already found a friend who has an account and willing to make $50 :)

@Peculiar_Investor, I plan to contribute actively and I'll update as I go along so hopefully that'll be informative information for your kids

I guess in order to address the questions on Pension Plans, RRSPs, CSB, and silver I should provide a little more details about my (our) current situation.

My fiance has been with her Employer for 3 years now and seems well locked into a career path where she can move as high as she wants. She started as a coop student, got hired on right after her coop to take on a position coordinator position for a health program for a metro area. Her manager and her director like her so she is pretty set and locked into her employment. She has been able to save up the $40,000 on her own.

For myself, I thought it would be a great idea to "ride out the recession" in grad school so I went overseas to the UK to study at a "name brand" university thinking it would be a great investment for my career. Well, I found out as soon as I graduated that having a couple degrees with minimal work experience landed you in the unemployable category for being over qualified for all entry level jobs where I live as there isn't much of a scene for what I studied (most of the jobs related to my studies are in NY, Washington, London, etc and I don't want to live anywhere but where I currently live, go figure).

So I came out with student loan debt of ~$50,000 for both undergraduate and graduate studies. My parents aren't particularly well off so no financial help from them for my tuition. I could have worked part time while studying and graduated with no debt but I made the choice not to work and now I have to pay off the debt I accumulated over 6 years.

I've only been at my job for 7 months now (spent 8 months searching) and have been able to put a chunk away for paying down my loans. I put $10,000 toward my loans in September, then with the help of my parents, they took out a LOC of $40,000 at 3.5% (Student loan was 5.5% variable) and I paid off the remaining student loans and now I make payments to my parent's LOC at a $1000 a month plus interest.

So I (we) have ~$1120 going out every month for the next ~3 years paying off the student loan/LOC. Along with rent, those are our two largest expenses every month.

We don't plan on buying any property or having kids for at least 5 years so no major major expenses expected any time in the near future.

My fiance really wants high liquidity and ease of access to her war chest so that is one of the reasons we have not moved into RRSPs yet. We do both understand the benefits of contributing to RRSPs and we will probably start investing into them eventually. We also think it could be a bit more beneficial at a higher tax bracket because we are both in the ~$50,000 range at the moment.

In terms of pension plans, we both get the revered defined benefit plans through our Employers (much kudos to brucecohen who I've learned so much from reading his posts). She is vested into her plan and I have about 1.5 years to go. We're both very weary of the kinds of benefit promises that were made to the previous generation (CPP, OAS, defined benefit plans) and I wouldn't say we have an entirely negative outlook on the future for such benefits, but we don't want to have to blindly rely on things like CPP, OAS, pension plans being what they are in the future when we are ready to call it quits.

And to end on a light note, the weird fascination with silver bullion is a combination of a few things:

a) I probably have watched and read too much dystopian future movies and books (The Road, World War Z, Walking Dead, etc). But as my fiance says at me snarkly, "what the heck are you going to do with a gold bar in the event of a societal collapse, throw it at attackers in defence?"

2) Inflation protection as I was in Zimbabwe in 2008 at the height of their hyper inflation where $3 billion Zimbabwe dollars bought $1 USD. Not that I am equating Canada ever turning into Zimbabwe or its situation, but that experience had an impact on me.

3) As a currency hedge

These are probably the reasons why I entertain the thought of holding metals :)
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by SkaSka »

I completely forgot to address CSB!

Just as BRIAN5000 wrote, I just wanted it as an automatic deduction every month that I could forget about and then surprisingly find when I went to check at the end of the year.

Hmm but I'll take into consideration what others have said and maybe look to put that money elsewhere.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Bylo Selhi »

SkaSka wrote:We also are enrolled in the CSB program through our work so we have around $200 that goes to our CSB account every month, which will start next month.
To put things into perspective, at $200/month you'll have ~$2,400 at the end of a year on ~$1,200 on average at any given time throughout the year. Even at 1% higher interest rates elsewhere you're "losing" $12 a year. If CSBs are a convenient way to force yourself to save, $12 is hardly a big deal. That said, ING has an automatic monthly deduction feature too, so if you follow Pickles' advice you not only get more interest but also get the opportunity score another $150 in bonus payments.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

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SkaSka wrote:Hmm but I'll take into consideration what others have said and maybe look to put that money elsewhere.
Like the loan. That raises your return to whatever rate you're paying on that.

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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by MALDI_ToF »

newguy wrote:
SkaSka wrote:Hmm but I'll take into consideration what others have said and maybe look to put that money elsewhere.
Like the loan. That raises your return to whatever rate you're paying on that.

newguy
And no risk unlike investing in the market. Just make sure there are no penalties for paying it down early or making extra payments.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by SkaSka »

MALDI_ToF wrote:
newguy wrote:
SkaSka wrote:Hmm but I'll take into consideration what others have said and maybe look to put that money elsewhere.
Like the loan. That raises your return to whatever rate you're paying on that.

newguy
And no risk unlike investing in the market. Just make sure there are no penalties for paying it down early or making extra payments.
There is no penalty for paying above the monthly pre-payment plan for student loans through the NSLSC. There is also no penalty for lump sum payments and lump sums payments can be made any time. Even the entire amount can be paid off in one lump sum (~$40,000 for me).

Just wanted to point that out in case there are others with student loans who might find it helpful to know.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Pickles »

I didn't know you had a $40,000 loan @ 3.5%. I agree with the others who have suggested you pay this down in preference to investing in GICs/CSBs at a significantly lower rate.

You should still have a high interest savings account for emergencies but keep it modest until your loan is paid off. One way to augment your savings painlessly is to encourage other family and friends to open accounts at ING, too. In January, the referral bonus reverts to $25 each but its free money so worth going after.


It's not as thrilling to see a loan shrink as it is to see savings grow, but it's a no-brainer in your case. Every extra penny you use to pay down your loan saves you 3.5% interest. There is no good reason to divert that penny into a savings plan that pays you a lower rate of interest (that will be taxed, as well!). Take advantage of the current low rate climate to pay off as much as you can. If I were you, I'd cancel participation in the CSB plan and increase the monthly payments to your parents by $200. Paying the extra $200 per month could save you a bundle of interest if rates go up. When you get a raise, keep half of it as your reward and put the other half into yet higher monthly payments.

I'm sounding like a broken record for a reason. Paying off a loan is a serious obligation to someone else, in this case, your parents. You can't "take a small holiday" from loan payments like you can from a savings program. You want this monkey off your back, pronto. So, establish a fair but modest budget for yourself and buckle down. You'll be ready to switch from loan payments to savings deposits in about 2 1/2 years. The interest rates will likely be higher then, making it easier to grow your money.

During that time, Your fiance will be stashing away the maximum she can in her TFSA, and a little in a high interest account. This money is accessible if she needs it. She should also definitely make RRSP contributions since she has a large pot of money and can hide only half of it in a tax-free account. An RRSP enables her to grow the money most efficiently, without having the taxman take away any of her earnings. Building a GIC ladder is a good approach here. She can defer claiming her RRSP contributions until she is in a higher tax bracket if she likes. This money should be considered her long-term future money. In a real emergency, she can get at it but it's not as accessible and that's OK.

Good luck!
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

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Thanks Pickles and others on the insight into paying off the loan vs CSBs.

I talked to the accountant at work and she said I was locked into the CSB for at least a year so I'll just have to pull the CSB savings to pay down the loan quicker either at the end of the year or every month.

I do agree that paying down the loan is top priority. However, for the sake of my financial sanity, I will be putting a $100 every week into my TDW for purchasing E Series funds. I know that I could also put that weekly amount towards the loan but I also do like to see that I have money accumulating up in savings as well. I think most of the advice here would be to put this extra amount towards the loan, but would it be an ok compromise to put a majority of my income to loans and then ~$400-$500 every month towards the funds??

I also had a question abou precious metals like gold and silver. From what I've read on these forums there isn't much talk about allocating some assets into metals. Is there a reason why precious metals aren't that popular here??

I do understand that if one were to hold precious metals, it should only be a small percentage of a portfolio. What are the risks of holding metals in a portfolio? Are there any pros?
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by AltaRed »

SkaSka wrote:I also had a question abou precious metals like gold and silver. From what I've read on these forums there isn't much talk about allocating some assets into metals. Is there a reason why precious metals aren't that popular here??
This site is dedicated to financial learning and the building of knowledge to increase one's skills in financial planning, asset allocation, and diversification. You will also notice the thrust on this site is around investing, not trading, and additionally, most financial experts would suggest the actual selection of products is secondary in the success of a diversified portfolio.

Commodities (including precious metals) tend to be discussed more often on an individual product basis, for trading purposes rather than investing. Thus, they fall outside the primary focus of this site. But we do "tolerate" :wink: the discussion of individual products as evidenced by the sub-forum on stocks, bonds, etc. If you wish to discuss precious metals, that would be the place to do it.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by SkaSka »

AltaRed wrote: Commodities (including precious metals) tend to be discussed more often on an individual product basis, for trading purposes rather than investing. Thus, they fall outside the primary focus of this site. But we do "tolerate" :wink: the discussion of individual products as evidenced by the sub-forum on stocks, bonds, etc. If you wish to discuss precious metals, that would be the place to do it.
Thanks for directing me to the correct sub-forum for this specific question AltaRed, still finding my way around :)
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Norbert Schlenker »

SkaSka wrote:... precious metals ... Are there any pros?
Given
A few days ago, SkaSka wrote:... fiancée ...
I recommend 23-24k gold jewellery. In Bangkok or Jakarta.
Nothing can protect people who want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by Pickles »

SkaSka wrote:...
I do agree that paying down the loan is top priority. However, for the sake of my financial sanity, I will be putting a $100 every week into my TDW for purchasing E Series funds. I know that I could also put that weekly amount towards the loan but I also do like to see that I have money accumulating up in savings as well. I think most of the advice here would be to put this extra amount towards the loan, but would it be an ok compromise to put a majority of my income to loans and then ~$400-$500 every month towards the funds??
Well, you know my opinion but -- since you asked :D -- I'll give it again.

Pay down the loan. first. Your efunds have no guaranteed return and any return is taxable, reducing the value to you of any return earned. Indeed, the fixed income efunds are likely to fall in value as interest rates, including the rate on your sizeable loan, rise. The equity efunds? A crapshoot in the next two years. Your investment in the CSBs hasn't worked out well (though I'd contact the CSB program to get a second opinion on being "locked in"); don't put more money into ventures before ridding yourself of this loan albatross.

How would your sanity fare if you watched the value of your investments shrink while your loan costs and monthly payment required rose steadily?

To be a good investor, you have to be disciplined. If you can't come up with a better reason to divert $4,800 - $6,000 a year from dealing with existing debt than "sanity" or "but I want to", then you are not showing discipline. Rather, you are indicating you want to act like someone who's not in debt when, in fact, you are heavily in debt. Think it over, SkaSka.
I also had a question about precious metals like gold and silver. From what I've read on these forums there isn't much talk about allocating some assets into metals. Is there a reason why precious metals aren't that popular here??

I do understand that if one were to hold precious metals, it should only be a small percentage of a portfolio. What are the risks of holding metals in a portfolio? Are there any pros?
I defer to Norbert's expertise on this subject. :thumbsup:
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Re: Financial Plan for a Young Investor (and a thank you)

Post by SkaSka »

So basically what you're saying Pickles is that I can't have the cake and eat it too :cry:
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