It's been a year

[My Dream]

Well, I have to say it was nothing like I thought it would be, but that was mainly due to my procrastination and little struggle with depression.

Financially:
One of my objectives was to transfer 60% of my portfolio out of Investors Group since we felt the fees were too high and our return was far to low. Well we never did it since we didn't know where to put it. For the first 3 quarters (ending Oct 1) we had earned .8%. Talk about disappointment, it was a fair drop from the previous quarter. Due to this wake up call and the fact that we just don't have knowledge to do our own investing we decided to go with a new Financial Advisor from TD Waterhouse which will charge us .9% per year. They will manage 85% or our portfolio and I will manage the rest in an attempt to motivate as well as educate myself into trying to figure out this whole investment world. My neighbor who retired early has given me great advice and shown me great returns.

On the personal side:
I've tried reading several books such as the 4 Pillars, Stop Working, Rich is a state of mind. The only book I had to put down was 4 pillars since I couldn't grasp it all. I will try again during the winter months but I know I'll still put it down several times.
I managed to complete 50% of my to do list, much less than I had hoped for. Didn't take a vacation with my family. Pinched pennies which reminded me of when I was first married over 22 years ago. I've put on about 20 pounds. I had the opportunity to get to know my kids better which was both good and bad, since I have an 18 year old who thinks, he knows and wants all. I've never gotten along better with my 12 year old and my wife and I have.................well let's say we still agree it was the right choice for me to retire early although we have gotten into a routine. The only worry she has now is financially which l can feel every day, although she won't tell me.

Objectives for the next year:
Complete the IG-TD Waterhouse transfer.
Increase the rate of return on our portfolio to a point where there is money left over even after accounting for the rate of inflation.
Loose 25 pounds and get in better shape.
Educate myself more on the "world of investing".
Stop the routine and take a vacation with my family as well as spend more time alone with my DW.
Tackle approximately 90% of my to do list and stop procrastinating.
Change my mindset and stop worrying about our financial situation.
Stop whining!!!!


Wish me luck everyone.

 

[Moemg]

Good Luck ,

It's also been a year for me and I have to say I also did not accomplish all the things I thought I would but I'm on a roll now !

 

[Coach]

Great post, My Dream! Thanks for letting us know how things are going. It sounds like a combination of good and bad, but your attitude sounds great. I hope the coming year is more of the good and less of the bad.

Best of luck to you! Keep in touch.

Coach

 

[laurence]

Don't be intimidated by false complexity! You can transfer all your funds to Vanguard, put it in a Target Retirement account, and be done, and be far better off. These people make their money making it seem more complex than it really is. You've worked very hard for your money, I want you to keep it!

 

[jambo101]

Invest in a bicycle and a fishing rod.

 

[My Dream]

I'm on a roll now !

Hopefully I can say that soon.

I hope the coming year is more of the good and less of the bad.
Coach

I think that will depend greatly on how well we do with our portfolio.

You can transfer all your funds to Vanguard, put it in a Target Retirement account, and be done, and be far better off.

I always thought Vanguard was for US residence, not for Canadian.?

These people make their money making it seem more complex than it really is.

We've been with 3 different advisors/planners in the last 10 years. Nobody we trust will recomend one since they are in the same position as we are. We simply don't trust FA anymore. I guess it's a matter of who do you trust the most. I'm still hesitating on transfering over to TDW, but I have to keep learning, hopefully not by my mistakes.

Invest in a bicycle and a fishing rod.

I already have those items but feel I must get my (as well as my families) life back in order before I take advantage of those luxuries.

 

[CaptSJD]

Vanguard, Vanguard Vanguard, Vanguard. You get the idea. Try visiting the Boglehead forum.

Scott

 

[My Dream]

Since I've posted last, we've had several meetings with TD Waterhouse. Once again they seem to talk circles around us so we decided to talk to another adviser, planner, well we understood her better but based on our portfolio, she recommended a Private Investment Counsel. After another meeting with them and about 100 questions, I felt a lot more informed and decided maybe we should hand over 1M of our portfolio, (our life's savings). I've also joined another forum (recomended from a member here) which deals with a lot of investment advice catered more to the Canadian Market. Well that isn't going well since one person is contradicting another and even though I'm very clear that I'm a newbie, there jargon is so frequent, that I need a listing of common acronyms just to get through every sentence.
Guys..........gals.......I'm so frustrated that I cancelled our next meeting with TD Waterhouse and really don't know what to do.

I know that nobody can tell me what route to take, but how do you decide which advice is correct. One person tells you it's this way, and the other is saying that info is incorrect and they suggest going with TDW. It's back and forth advice.

HELP!

 

[Moemg]

Since I've posted last, we've had several meetings with TD Waterhouse. Once again they seem to talk circles around us so we decided to talk to another adviser, planner, well we understood her better but based on our portfolio, she recommended a Private Investment Counsel. After another meeting with them and about 100 questions, I felt a lot more informed and decided maybe we should hand over 1M of our portfolio, (our life's savings). I've also joined another forum (recomended from a member here) which deals with a lot of investment advice catered more to the Canadian Market. Well that isn't going well since one person is contradicting another and even though I'm very clear that I'm a newbie, there jargon is so frequent, that I need a listing of common acronyms just to get through every sentence.
Guys..........gals.......I'm so frustrated that I cancelled our next meeting with TD Waterhouse and really don't know what to do.

I know that nobody can tell me what route to take, but how do you decide which advice is correct. One person tells you it's this way, and the other is saying that info is incorrect and they suggest going with TDW. It's back and forth advice.

HELP!

I think you need to get some real basic investment books .I'm talking Investing for dummies (not that you are one ) or Financial Planning for the utterly confused . This will help you learn the basics so you don't get taken by some ruthless broker .Also you can get a lot of knowledge at Vanguard's web site .

 

[My Dream]

I appreciate your suggestion Moemg, I've read books, although I haven't absorbed as much as I would have liked to. I'm not knowledgable enough at this point in my life to do my own investing. As I mentioned in my first post, we've earned less then 1% up untill the end of September with one of the largest Investment companies in Canada, IG. I was better off putting it in a GIC. They are making more money then I am. I need to find another financial institution that I can trust to look after our money untill I become more experienced in managing our money. Our experience with FA, has been very poor to say the least.

I appologise if I seem frustrated but I've lost so much over the last 10 years with 3 advisors I can't seem to find one, or even an institution that I can trust or be willing to disclose all the details.

By the way, I took a look at Vanguards web site and to be honest, I didn't even know where to start reading, that's how unknowledgable I am.