I've documented in fair detail my decision to take the majority of my money off the table in the past year or so. It began last fall with my move out of the Canadian Resource Fund to a Canadian Bond Fund. This year I bailed on my long held Canadian Endeavor Fund and that money also went to the bond fund.
After the move to Carman we decided we'd like to have some of our stuff with a local finance guy so we approached a good friend who works with one of the big five and she put us in touch with the branch finance guy. We sat down with finance guy and to discuss the transfer. Sure they have a Canadian Bond Fund just like the one we were in with the competitor.
Pending the arrival of our money from the former fund company finance guy offered some reading material and suggested that we have a look at it and make a final decision when the funds arrive in a week or two. He gave us info on their Bond Fund, as well as their Conservative Fund and their Very Conservative fund. In addition he gave us a well written article out of his head office entitled "It's only a flesh wound". I commented on this article in my post of August 9.
A week or so later our money arrived and it was time to sit down and decide if we wanted to stay with bonds or get back into the markets, just a wee bit, with either the Conservative fund or the Very conservative fund. Finance guy had made a pretty good case for going along with one of these funds in favor of the Bond fund but I was not to be swayed. I sat across from finance guy, looked him in the eye and said "no, we're going to stick with the bond fund for now". I went on to explain that the new job coupled with our desire to spend as much time as possible at the lake limited the amount of time I would have over the summer to watch the markets and make changes as required. I said that we'd revisit this decision later in the year if there was any sign of stability in the markets.
That day the TSX was 13,060. Three days ago, 11,171...a decline of nearly 15% Now, the TSX bounced 609 points in the past couple of days but it's done that, or close to that, several times since that day in June.
Oh, by the way, the YTD return on the Bond fund is 5.52%. On the Very Conservative fund it's .81% and the Conservative fund is -1.37%. Yup, down 1.37%.
Unlike the title of this post, I'd like to think that my decision that day had more to do with a reasonably intelligent take on current world and market conditions than fear. Whatever. It's been a great summer to be sitting on the sidelines!
After the move to Carman we decided we'd like to have some of our stuff with a local finance guy so we approached a good friend who works with one of the big five and she put us in touch with the branch finance guy. We sat down with finance guy and to discuss the transfer. Sure they have a Canadian Bond Fund just like the one we were in with the competitor.
Pending the arrival of our money from the former fund company finance guy offered some reading material and suggested that we have a look at it and make a final decision when the funds arrive in a week or two. He gave us info on their Bond Fund, as well as their Conservative Fund and their Very Conservative fund. In addition he gave us a well written article out of his head office entitled "It's only a flesh wound". I commented on this article in my post of August 9.
A week or so later our money arrived and it was time to sit down and decide if we wanted to stay with bonds or get back into the markets, just a wee bit, with either the Conservative fund or the Very conservative fund. Finance guy had made a pretty good case for going along with one of these funds in favor of the Bond fund but I was not to be swayed. I sat across from finance guy, looked him in the eye and said "no, we're going to stick with the bond fund for now". I went on to explain that the new job coupled with our desire to spend as much time as possible at the lake limited the amount of time I would have over the summer to watch the markets and make changes as required. I said that we'd revisit this decision later in the year if there was any sign of stability in the markets.
That day the TSX was 13,060. Three days ago, 11,171...a decline of nearly 15% Now, the TSX bounced 609 points in the past couple of days but it's done that, or close to that, several times since that day in June.
Oh, by the way, the YTD return on the Bond fund is 5.52%. On the Very Conservative fund it's .81% and the Conservative fund is -1.37%. Yup, down 1.37%.
Unlike the title of this post, I'd like to think that my decision that day had more to do with a reasonably intelligent take on current world and market conditions than fear. Whatever. It's been a great summer to be sitting on the sidelines!
Have a great weekend and as always, Happy Investing!
