Articles

From time to time I write an article for the Canadian MoneySaver magazine, a low-cost journal of personal finance. Most of these articles are posted here (they are underlined) and can be viewed in PDF format. Other articles that I have written and those by other contributing editors may be obtained from the MoneySaver website, by subscription.

(1) Investing: An educational article on the power of Compound Interest was published in the February 2009 MoneySaver. It’s a good one to give to younger people who are starting a savings programme. The July/August 2013 issue contained an article with summer reading suggestions, all having to do with crashes in the history of finance.

The February 2012 issue contains an article on a first step in security analysis, Steps in Security Analysis: Capital Structure. An article in the May 2013 issue deals with How to Value a Company by its Earnings Power.

A brief study of how much a share price is tied to a firm’s earnings is found in the June/July 2010 MoneySaver: Relating Stock Prices to Earnings. A review of Benjamin Graham’s foundational book  Security Analysis on the 75th anniversary of its publication covers some basic principles of investing (June 2011).

An article, The ABCs of BCE’s ACB (September 2008) provides some guidance on how to calculate the adjusted cost base for tax purposes of BCE shares.

If you are going to invest on your own it’s important to have some knowledge of how to read a company’s annual report. This series of three articles provides an overview: Annual Report 1 (October 2000); Annual report 2 (November 2000); and Annual report 3 (December 2000).

The manager of one of the top global mutual fund managers, Canadian Peter Cundill, is profiled in this article, C is for Cundill (February 2006).

The danger of having an unbalanced mutual fund and not knowing it is discussed in Fund Follies (November 2006). A tax shelter that can help an adult save for a sabbatical or for education in retirement is highlighted in  RESPs for Adults (February 2008).

(2) Insurance: A couple of articles on Universal Life insurance explain their ins and outs: UL Insurance 1 (October 2001) and UL Insurance 2 (June 2003). Annuities are important to provide retirement income and for other purposes: Annuity 1 (September 2002) and Annuity 2 (February 2005). An article on new guaranteed retirement income products is Retirement Guarantees? (May 2007). A follow-up article on these products GMWBs: Upon Further Reflection was published in the July/ August 2009 issue. An article on Permanent Life Insurance as a Tax Shelter looks at using insurance for estate planning (October 2011).