Search found 610 matches

Return to advanced search

Re: How $1 fee becomes $32

Another useful single-number rule comes from Malcolm Hamilton, a Canadian actuary and pension consultant. Rule of 40: Take 40. Divide by your mutual fund's MER. And presto, you've got the number of years it takes management expenses to consume one-third of your investment. Notes: 1. MER is the Canad...
by Bylo Selhi
Wed Apr 24, 2013 9:50 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: How $1 fee becomes $32
Replies: 15
Views: 2298

Re: today's Dilbert cartoon

Thought this also BH appropriate: http://www.dilbert.com/strips/2013-04-17/ Also one of the comments (click on the cartoon): Dogbert as a financial advisor said my #1 Dilbert line ever. When asked why he charges 1% of assets under management, he says... "These index funds aren't going to pick ...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Apr 18, 2013 3:26 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: today's Dilbert cartoon
Replies: 30
Views: 3952

Re: today's Dilbert cartoon

It's the central dynamic behind con games, which is what is behind the proverb "you can't cheat an honest man." If you remember the old E. F. Hutton ads, it's the same thing . E. F. Hutton is certainly not going to advertise "invest with us because we have inside information," b...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Apr 18, 2013 2:00 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: today's Dilbert cartoon
Replies: 30
Views: 3952

Re: today's Dilbert cartoon

Thought this also BH appropriate: http://www.dilbert.com/strips/2013-04-17/ Also one of the comments (click on the cartoon): Dogbert as a financial advisor said my #1 Dilbert line ever. When asked why he charges 1% of assets under management, he says... "These index funds aren't going to pick ...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Apr 18, 2013 12:09 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: today's Dilbert cartoon
Replies: 30
Views: 3952

Re: Nexus 4

I find that it's only suitable on wifi, with 3g it's pretty spotty. Also, leaving on VOIP apps all the time also tends to drain the battery faster. As a result when I'm on a good wifi network I'll make calls over VOIP, and similarly if I receive a call I think will take a while I turn on VOIP and c...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Apr 06, 2013 4:30 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Nexus 4
Replies: 31
Views: 2450

Re: Nexus 4

6. Apparently you can't call Canada on the 45/mo plan. My brother lives in Edmonton and has a Canadian cell phone/number; he I have texted regularly with no issues so far. He has also called me and there were no issues. I haven't called him yet. If your phone plan includes data then consider a VoIP...
by Bylo Selhi
Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:59 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Nexus 4
Replies: 31
Views: 2450

Re: ETFs have a Birthday

nisiprius wrote:GREAT article. So, the Canadians were first? :oops: Who knew? :D

Well, you should have known, e.g.viewtopic.php?p=1037334#p1037334 :P ;)
by Bylo Selhi
Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:49 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: ETFs have a Birthday
Replies: 6
Views: 670

Re: Pensions vs personal investing: Pensions win???

In Canada (Nortel, once the largest company) there is no protection. It varies by province, e.g. in Ontario: Pension Benefits Guarantee Fund (PBGF) provides protection, subject to specific maximums and specific exclusions, to Ontario members and beneficiaries of privately sponsored single-employer ...
by Bylo Selhi
Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:38 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Pensions vs personal investing: Pensions win???
Replies: 36
Views: 3064

Re: Frustrating US-Canada Money Problem [Cross-Border Purcha

1) Canadian wanted to buy a phone only available in the US, but was prohibited from using Canadian CC to buy it. My inference is that the Canadian has an "Amerifriend" with a US address to which they want the phone shipped. Some online sellers, especially of valuable merchandise like phon...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:43 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Frustrating US-Canada Money Problem [Cross-Border Purchases]
Replies: 22
Views: 1216

Re: Recommendations for Garage Lighting

My point is that if you want the convenience of using the same switch(es) that control the lights in your garage door opener to also control other lights in your garage, the the adapters I linked-to facilitate it.
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Nov 10, 2012 4:54 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommendations for Garage Lighting
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Recommendations for Garage Lighting

I did not read it here, but my garage door openers have each two 100 W incandescent bulbs to light the car parking areas, and I can manually turn these lights on and off. Therefore, in my 2-car garage I have a total of six 100 W light bulbs, that is 2x2 from the garage door openers and 2 on the gar...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:42 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommendations for Garage Lighting
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Vanguard FTSE Canadian High Dividend Yield Index Fund

I wish that VG would make available their Canadian equity index funds to Americans, like VCE, which is only available on the Toronto exchange. My annual cost would go from .52% (I-shares) to .09% (Vanguard). Not necessarily. You'd realize the ER difference, for sure. But then you'd run into the dif...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Nov 03, 2012 3:38 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard FTSE Canadian High Dividend Yield Index Fund
Replies: 11
Views: 1050

Re: New car awaiting delivery, possibly flooded

The reality of the situation is I want the person to think about it, to check if there's checking to be done... and make sure they're not just bluffing, blowing smoke, saying whatever they think I want to hear. But I don't want them to think that I'm trying to pull some subtle legal trick on them ,...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Nov 03, 2012 2:07 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: New car awaiting delivery, possibly flooded
Replies: 33
Views: 2283

Re: Vanguard FTSE Canadian High Dividend Yield Index Fund

I agree re currency risk, however I want more international exposure. I already hold Total International and assume (I may be incorrect) that additional international investment in Canada carries less currency risk than any other nation. It wasn't that long ago that the Canadian dollar was known de...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:48 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Vanguard FTSE Canadian High Dividend Yield Index Fund
Replies: 11
Views: 1050

Re: Recommendations for Garage Lighting

That being said I'm wondering if I should replace the shop-lites with something different. LED's seem quite expensive. How about mercury vapor or sodium vapor? Do these take time to "warm up"? Would be interested in any ideas! 1. As others have already said, make sure you have the right b...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Nov 03, 2012 1:28 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Recommendations for Garage Lighting
Replies: 20
Views: 1555

Re: Young guy wanting to start investing - unsure of where t

chaz wrote:Read the wiki on this forum, many good ideas.

Better still, read the Canadian wiki on this forum. Many good ideas for investors resident in Canada ;)
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:38 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Young guy wanting to start investing - unsure of where to st
Replies: 6
Views: 474

Re: traveling with credit card

How common are the chip and PIN credit cards in Europe these days? A coworker took a vacation in Europe recently and was strongly advised to get a "chip" card. AFAIK in Europe and Canada all new cards have chip and pin. In Canada, where C&P is relatively new most card readers also acc...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Aug 06, 2012 3:40 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: traveling with credit card
Replies: 25
Views: 1437

Re: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toront

There are several local Bogleheads groups in different parts of the U.S. Perhaps, there is also one near Toronto? If there is none, you can try to form it. There's nothing like a formal chapter system up here. Some of us do get together for a beer from time to time in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Cal...
by Bylo Selhi
Tue Jul 31, 2012 9:47 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toronto?
Replies: 15
Views: 1155

Re: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toront

And you need to take a DIY approach. That seems a bit strong, but I do agree with the general advice. Get a good discount broker (TD Greenline? ie TD Waterhouse). Then use ETFs and index funds. Been away a long time, eh? ;) TD Greenline, affectionately known as Greedline by some, changed to Waterho...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:41 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toronto?
Replies: 15
Views: 1155

Re: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toront

I was thinking of now investing within the confines of my professional corporation... but I'm starting to get out of my circle of competence given the potential legal and accounting ramifications of this. What complicates this further is that my wife is in essentially the same position. Then you ne...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Jul 30, 2012 4:36 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toronto?
Replies: 15
Views: 1155

Re: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toront

Fee-only advisors are a relative rarity in Canada due to a number of factors, including industry environment, regulatory barriers, and cultural differences. I can't recommend anyone in particular but you might want to look at John DeGoey . If he doesn't accept clients with $200k perhaps he can recom...
by Bylo Selhi
Sun Jul 29, 2012 11:41 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Recommended fee-only financial planner in or near Toronto?
Replies: 15
Views: 1155

Re: Transfer money from Canada to USA

how do you then get the money from your Canadian brokerate to a US bank? Will Canadian brokerages wire funds to US banks, and what is the fee? I imagine they can. Best to call the brokerage and ask. Also keep in mind that US-listed stocks and ETFs can be easily transferred in-kind. I don't know abo...
by Bylo Selhi
Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:38 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Transfer money from Canada to USA
Replies: 11
Views: 1045

Re: Long Distance Walking

Long distance walking is common in parts of Europe... Try this :twisted: http://www.viaalpina.com/ The Via Alpina is one of the longest and most spectacular hiking trails in all of Europe and perhaps the entire world. Alpine trekking draws millions of hikers from all over the world each year to tra...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:08 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Long Distance Walking
Replies: 31
Views: 3375

Re: Estate duty on non-US resident

Common sense tells me it is the ETF domicile that matters only? Correct. Vanguard has Canadian domiciled ETFs that invest in US equities. These are not subject to US estate tax. if I use a non-US-based brokerage and buy US-domiciled ETF (in the brokerage name), would I have to pay estate tax in tha...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Jul 07, 2012 11:09 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Estate duty on non-US resident
Replies: 28
Views: 2167

Re: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not

The top ten holdings mirror the S&P/TSX 60 . The report references the fund's tracking of "the benchmark" but I've yet to find specific mention that the benchmark is the S&P/TSX 60. Hrm. Keep in mind that the DB plan's commitment to you is to pay a pension based on the best (last?...
by Bylo Selhi
Fri May 11, 2012 10:03 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not
Replies: 15
Views: 716

Re: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not

Bylo, taking that into account he should be: - even more diversified into non CAD assets, possibly 80% - probably shouldn't hold many, if any, Canadian bonds, particularly not government bonds so 'interesting to debate theoretically' I would rather put it as 'has a direct bearing on asset allocatio...
by Bylo Selhi
Fri May 11, 2012 9:24 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not
Replies: 15
Views: 716

Re: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not

All of this is interesting to debate theoretically but keep in mind that CJOttawa has a DB pension plan. Presumably in Ottawa, that suggests a federal government DB plan that's (a) generous and (b) indexed for inflation. He's already contributing something like 10% of salary into the plan so, unless...
by Bylo Selhi
Fri May 11, 2012 8:04 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not
Replies: 15
Views: 716

Re: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not

One sticking point for me: currency hedging or not with the US and International equity funds? My vote is not. As you may know, Vanguard started operations in Canada a few months ago. They only offer ETFs, not mutual funds. Their US and International Canadian-based ETFs both hedge the CA$. I questi...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu May 10, 2012 9:45 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Currency Hedged fund vs. neutral vs. not
Replies: 15
Views: 716

Re: Sherlock - BBC series on Holmes set in 21st Century

Valuethinker wrote:
Puakinekine wrote:It has taken a very long time for it to cross the ocean.
Which is why the USN is a '2 Ocean Navy' ;-).

Apparently not very effective against North Atlantic piracy :twisted:
by Bylo Selhi
Sun May 06, 2012 4:39 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sherlock - BBC series on Holmes set in 21st Century
Replies: 55
Views: 3799

Re: Side jobs or hobbies that make you money

Oldest profession. Victoria A bit dangerous as an occupation, not to mention illegal, and the pay is not very good for men ;) Legal in... Canada,... Now a bit less dangerous and a bit less illegal in these parts: Sex-trade workers hail legalization of brothels as major victory Ontario’s top court h...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:55 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Side jobs or hobbies that make you money
Replies: 89
Views: 10747

Re: Boglehead Beer

A bit OT, but I usually grab a 6 pack of Guinness Stout to drink every St. Patty's day. The bottles in the past has been a standard 12 oz version. The 6 pack that I acquired a few weeks ago contained bottles with only 11.2oz! I felt ripped off. :beer It gets worse. A couple of years ago, when drivi...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Mar 26, 2012 4:48 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Boglehead Beer
Replies: 274
Views: 31368

Re: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop

when I received my laptop a few days ago, I am not seeing any way to hookup my dvi-d(single link) monitor plug to the new laptop. Is there anyway to make this old monitor work with my new laptop? How do most people hook up their monitors to their laptops? I know my laptop does have an hdmi port, bu...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Mar 15, 2012 12:59 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop
Replies: 69
Views: 2162

Regulators starting to tighten leash on ETFs

I'm not sure if this story has been posted here already. This articles appears in a Canadian newspaper, but it deals with the issues at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) level, so it applies to US and overseas investors too. (H/T to Peculiar_Investor at FWF.) Regulator...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:59 am
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: Regulators starting to tighten leash on ETFs
Replies: 1
Views: 317

Re: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop

My mom's computer died just after I got her a new toner cartridge for her parallel only HP laser printer. I got her a new desktop (Windows 7, no parallel port) and also picked up one of these from Amazon. It worked like a champ. Once I installed the driver for the port adapter, windows 7 automatica...
by Bylo Selhi
Wed Mar 14, 2012 3:42 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop
Replies: 69
Views: 2162

Re: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop

Hard disk/SSD: While hard disk prices have gone up a bit, note that they are still only around $0.06 per gigabyte, compared to about $0.30 per gigabyte five years ago and $1 per gigabyte on SSDs today. For the SSD the real performance benefit is not the higher transfer rate but the lower access tim...
by Bylo Selhi
Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:38 am
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop
Replies: 69
Views: 2162

Re: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop

I realise you're looking at a new desktop but I think the following is still relevant. A few months ago I upgraded two older ThinkPads, one a T60p and the other an X61s (6 and 4 years, respectively) from XP to Win7. In both cases I did fresh installs (not that I had any other option) and then reinst...
by Bylo Selhi
Tue Mar 13, 2012 2:23 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Bleg - help buying Dell desktop
Replies: 69
Views: 2162

Re: "Watson" on Wall Street - Lower Risk?

What could possibly go wrong? The category was U.S. cities, and the clue was: "Its largest airport is named for a World War II hero; its second largest, for a World War II battle." Watson's response, "What is Toronto?????" Well close, sort of ;) Tronno's largest airport is named...
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:09 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Theory, News & General
Topic: "Watson" on Wall Street - Lower Risk?
Replies: 21
Views: 1037

Re: question from a Canadian [on low cost advisor services]

The short answer is no. This is in large part because Canadian regulators make it prohibitively expensive for fee-only advisors to make a living, especially at 25bps AUM.

BTW if you're located in Canada you might want to check out http://www.financialwebring.org/forum/
by Bylo Selhi
Thu Mar 08, 2012 10:00 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: question from a Canadian [on low cost advisor services]
Replies: 1
Views: 161

Re: Friend wants me to hold $14K for him -- issues?

When crossing the border in either direction you have to declare amounts over $10,000. See Crossing the border with $10,000 or more? Note that this is merely a declaration. There is no tax or other implications. (OTOH if you fail to declare and are caught the penalties can be severe.) The reporting ...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Feb 11, 2012 2:43 pm
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: Friend wants me to hold $14K for him -- issues?
Replies: 14
Views: 1741

Re: Sherlock - BBC series on Holmes set in 21st Century

richard wrote:Moffat announced there will be a season three.

I should hope so considering how he ended season two.
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:11 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sherlock - BBC series on Holmes set in 21st Century
Replies: 55
Views: 3799

Re: New Europe credit card standards

(automated gas pumps etc, which however are rare in any case) In Switzerland? My experience is that they're relatively common. After hours, say after 10pm, they accept only CHF10/CHF20 notes or credit cards. As for buying rail/subway tickets at automated dispensers, I can't confirm because all my c...
by Bylo Selhi
Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:36 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New Europe credit card standards
Replies: 6
Views: 750

Re: Sherlock - BBC series on Holmes set in 21st Century

Tonight's episode (last of the season) was a doozy. Will he or won't he? :twisted: :lol:
by Bylo Selhi
Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:13 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Sherlock - BBC series on Holmes set in 21st Century
Replies: 55
Views: 3799

Re: Estate duty on non-US resident

FATCA probably should scare you. Nope. I'm confident that my broker (TD Waterhouse) is or will be FATCA-compliant. In any case I can simply file an IRS W8-BEN form to get the 15% withholding rate under the US/CA tax treaty. There are ways to recover/mitigate even the 15% tax when filing Canadian ta...
by Bylo Selhi
Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:03 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Estate duty on non-US resident
Replies: 28
Views: 2167

Re: Estate duty on non-US resident

After I did my some calculations. You are indeed right. Given the expected amounts I would be putting into equity investments, it is unlikely that I would exceed that threshold. I'm not trying to scare you but consider that US estate tax legislation, especially things like thresholds, can and do ch...
by Bylo Selhi
Sun Jan 15, 2012 11:17 am
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Estate duty on non-US resident
Replies: 28
Views: 2167

Re: New Europe credit card standards

This is really nothing new. EMV smartcards (with chips embedded into the card) have been in use in Europe for many years. Canada has also transitioned to them in the last couple of years. The issue is that in Europe many credit card readers on automated payment machines, e.g. that dispense gasoline ...
by Bylo Selhi
Sun Jan 15, 2012 10:27 am
 
Forum: Personal Finance (Not Investing)
Topic: New Europe credit card standards
Replies: 6
Views: 750

Re: Estate duty on non-US resident

Can the corporation be a foreign one (ie. non-US incorporated?). That's the whole idea. You want the holding company to be incorporated outside the US so that it's out of the reaches of the IRS. Also, are there any drawbacks of investing through a corporation? (for example, having to pay capital ta...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:30 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Estate duty on non-US resident
Replies: 28
Views: 2167

Re: Estate duty on non-US resident

I have checked out the link and it seems like only Canada and Australia sites are the only ones providing ETFs. Just wondering, if they appear on the Canada and Australian sites, does that mean they are domiciled there? The Canadian ETFs are domiciled in Canada, trade only on the Toronto Stock Exch...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:56 pm
 
Forum: Investing - Help with Personal Investments
Topic: Estate duty on non-US resident
Replies: 28
Views: 2167

Re: Self moving with U-haul

bogglehead wrote:I've had the brakes go out on a Uhaul truck and they're a mess to deal with.
Cava wrote:I agree...skip U-Haul and go with Penske because of much better equipment based on my previous experiences.

Y'all are not alone. See U-Haul • Safety issues and U-HaulSafetyAlert.Org
by Bylo Selhi
Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:23 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Self moving with U-haul
Replies: 33
Views: 1742

Re: Counter tops options

Save first and be happy with laminate - The Globe and Mail David Chilton knows the truth about our spending habits. He’s the author of two stunningly successful books, The Wealthy Barber and The Wealthy Barber Returns . I had lunch with him the other day. “We’re literally wired to spend,” he told m...
by Bylo Selhi
Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:11 pm
 
Forum: Personal Consumer Issues
Topic: Counter tops options
Replies: 25
Views: 2261
Next

Return to advanced search