Remembering back to the time TPCI included the Daily Squawk page it's hard to imagine that I haven't posted for over a year. From the first post, Investing 101, published May 8, 2009 to Okay...I'm outta here, published July 24, 2013, it was a lot of fun! I was able to enjoy my hobby of writing while applying it to another hobby, investing. My investing "career" saw me go from a total passive investor, when I blindly threw money at finance guy each RSP season, to an aggressive trader of stocks as I fought my way back after the big crash.
Along the way, I went out of mutual funds, into exchange traded funds and finally into individual stocks. I had some home runs and some misses but at the end of the day my portfolio doubled in value from the low on November 20, 2008 to March 13, 2012. Since then my stuff continued to grow at an acceptable rate with very little effort on my part as I gradually moved into low risk investments. As I said in Who Should(n't) Be In Funds?, there's a time to get the heck out and that time is as retirement approaches. Anyone planning to retire does not belong in things that can go down by 50% the day after an event half way around the world! Old guys just may not have time to get it back as I did.
I am now truly The Passive Canadian Investor as I clip coupons with my bond funds and GICs. Even though I began monthly RIF withdrawals in March of this year my portfolio value continues to climb. If this keeps up, the money will last forever...is that really possible??
Like the title says, it's been an interesting year. We began the year with our first extended stay in our new investment home. We refer to the Fountain Hills condo as an investment home because it didn't feel like we were spending money when we bought it. Rather, it was like we were shifting funds from one investment pool to another, hopefully one with some upside potential. Our timing was perfect in two ways. Firstly, we bought in late 2012, near the bottom of the Arizona real estate market. Secondly, we able to enjoy Arizona during the most brutal Manitoba winter since 1898!
Along the way, I went out of mutual funds, into exchange traded funds and finally into individual stocks. I had some home runs and some misses but at the end of the day my portfolio doubled in value from the low on November 20, 2008 to March 13, 2012. Since then my stuff continued to grow at an acceptable rate with very little effort on my part as I gradually moved into low risk investments. As I said in Who Should(n't) Be In Funds?, there's a time to get the heck out and that time is as retirement approaches. Anyone planning to retire does not belong in things that can go down by 50% the day after an event half way around the world! Old guys just may not have time to get it back as I did.
I am now truly The Passive Canadian Investor as I clip coupons with my bond funds and GICs. Even though I began monthly RIF withdrawals in March of this year my portfolio value continues to climb. If this keeps up, the money will last forever...is that really possible??
Like the title says, it's been an interesting year. We began the year with our first extended stay in our new investment home. We refer to the Fountain Hills condo as an investment home because it didn't feel like we were spending money when we bought it. Rather, it was like we were shifting funds from one investment pool to another, hopefully one with some upside potential. Our timing was perfect in two ways. Firstly, we bought in late 2012, near the bottom of the Arizona real estate market. Secondly, we able to enjoy Arizona during the most brutal Manitoba winter since 1898!
