Many Older People Need Better Financial Advice

Many older Canadians are not getting the proper financial advice, writes Peter Watson. The quality of the financial advice you get from your advisor is both understandable and concerning. Younger investors aged 18 to 34 are not happy with their financial advisor, according to a Vanguard study. Only just over one in three felt they […]

Investment Regulation Can be a Negative for Investors

In our modern-day world regulation and compliance issues seem to be everywhere. My observation of regulation is it continues to get more complex and more time-consuming. That is certainly true in the investment business. On a positive note, I agree there should be a high standard of conduct for people providing financial planning and investment […]

Will Trump Issues Cause a Stock Market Crash?

What we know from history is stock markets can be very volatile when the world is nervous, writes Peter Watson. There is potential for periods of nervousness ahead. Donald Trump, the former president, was recently found guilty on all 34 counts by 12 members of the jury. Immediately after receiving the verdict, he staged an […]

Government Debt is a Risk for Canadians

Government debt is a financial risk that affects us all, writes Peter Watson. Will the mountain of federal and provincial debt cause Canada to go into a financial tailspin? Let’s consider the facts. The recent federal budget projected a deficit of $40 billion. This will add to our debt which is already over $1 trillion. […]

Stock Markets are Shrinking

There are significantly less publicly traded shares available to individual investors, writes Peter Watson. Investors can purchase publicly traded shares of companies they wish to invest. This can be via a direct purchase or by owning a mutual fund that has acquired shares. Most portfolios have a strong allocation to stocks and therefore the declining […]

News can be confusing for investors

News can be very confusing, writes Peter Watson. We live in the modern age of 24 seven news streaming at us from our smart devices. That can cause a problem. The psychology of news or more importantly how people interpret news is based on our desire to hear the bad things of life. News that […]

The Shock of Higher Mortgage Payments Could be Just Around the Corner

Most homeowners face higher mortgage payments in the next two years, writes Peter Watson. Last year many homeowners escaped the burden of rising interest rates pushing their mortgage payments higher. That will soon change. Interest rate increases do not immediately affect all existing mortgages. For example, if you have a five-year mortgage at three per […]

Three Types of Investment Risk

The more you think about investment risk the more you realize the different ways your investment returns might be lower than expected, writes Peter Watson. The problem with risk is it comes in several different forms. The first risk is having poor investment returns. This is the one that gets all the attention. One option […]

Time is running out to improve Canada’s debt issues

Focusing entirely on the dangers of mounting household debt is a disservice to our country, writes Peter Watson. Over a few short years, housing mortgage rates have doubled, or more. This has caused a significant hardship for many homeowners. Many people might not be able to keep up with mortgage payments and are at risk […]