12-Minute Principles (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on December 12, 2012

There's more to the 12-Minute Approach than great number 12. Some principles and premises also inspire this revolutionary method.

They are exposed here with some brief explanations:

1-Realize Your Dreams  

Having dreams is essential. Dreams give life a meaning. They give you a purpose and a sense of direction.

Planning to realize your dreams is also important. By setting goals and making plans, you’ll move closer to your dreams.

Your unconscious and intuition will guide you thru the venture even if you don’t possess all the details right now.

12-Minute and Your Career (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on November 12, 2012

The 12-Minute Approach offers you a multitude of techniques to improve your job and career.

Here are some ideas we hope will inspire you on the way to becoming real happy and efficient professionals in your respective fields.

Achieve A Little More Each Day

A quick and easy way to start improving right away is to take 12-Minute to accomplish one simple extra action each day.

Portfolio Update May 2021

 

Another quarter has gone by, so it’s time for our usual DIY Portfolio report. You can expect our next update in about 12 weeks.

You also can have a look at previous portfolio updates here:

All Portfolio Updates
Portfolio Update August 2018
Portfolio Update November 2018
Portfolio Update February 2019

Portfolio Update May 2019

Portfolio Update August 2019

Portfolio Update November 2019

Portfolio Update February 2020

Portfolio Update May 2020

Portfolio Update August 2020

Portfolio Update November 2020

Portfolio Update February 2021

Despite the ever going pandemic and some palpable tensions, both on the international and domestic fronts, looks like we can all breathe a little easier now that Mr. Uncertainty is out of the Office.

By definition, stock markets will remain uncertain, and we never know which direction they will take. But we at least can have some good reasons to be optimistic. We can’t predict where stock markets will go but after those too long dark times, we finally can hope mankind can get going again. It may still remain hard for a while, but we can have a sense we can all work together and at least try to make things better.

In recent months, like the markets, our DIY Portfolio has done quite well.

Almost nothing special to report as things are cruising along and we only did one transaction in that quarter.  

Once more, I’ll remind you that I am not an investment or tax professional of any kind. The intent of this blog is not to give specific investing advice. Before investing yourself, we suggest you do all necessary research and consult a licensed financial professional if need be.  

On Cruise Control

For a while now, our DIY Portfolio remains somewhat on cruise control. We always like to look for robust companies and especially when markets are a bull run like the actual one.

With experience, we realized that all in all, details may not always be that important as long as you have a solid broad plan.

Magical Number 12 (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on October 12, 2012

The more we look at it, the more Number 12 appears Magical!

In its original stages, our research revolved more around number 15.

But, as soon as we dug deeper, 12 evidently became the front running candidate. 

For one thing, a dozen always fits way better in a box!

More seriously, remarkable Twelve as deep roots throughout History; 
it even has some kind of mystical character associated to it.

The Number of Nature

Investing The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on September 12, 2012

Keep It Simple

You should only use financial products you understand. So, stick to the basics. Complex and complicated products often only serve those who sell them.

Same goes for stocks, only invest in solid companies you know and understand.

In this great Internet/Information era, it’s relatively simple to get data on any public company. To stay effective, we recommend you only take 12-Minute when you first analyze a potential candidate for your portfolio or watch list.

12-Minute Diet and Meal Planner (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on August 12, 2012

When it comes down to food, the 12-Minute Way can be quite useful to help you manage your diet and plan your meals. 

There’s more to it than the common dozen eggs.

Because approximately 40% of food goes to waste in America, an incredible opportunity for improvement exists in the vast food domain, an opportunity to save precious resources and money.

But also an opportunity to reduce stress and free up some of your schedule because, day after day, food preparation can sometimes be pretty hectic and time consuming.

Portfolio Update February 2021

Another 3 months have gone by, so it’s time to report on our DIY Portfolio progress. As usual, expect our next update in about 12 weeks.

You can have a look at previous portfolio updates here:

All Portfolio Updates
Portfolio Update August 2018
Portfolio Update November 2018
Portfolio Update February 2019
Portfolio Update May 2019
Portfolio Update August 2019
Portfolio Update November 2019
Portfolio Update February 2020
Portfolio Update May 2020
Portfolio Update August 2020
Portfolio Update November 2020
 
On the human scope of things, those last few months have been rocky to say the least. Yet we all were lucky because events could have been even harsher, disasters were and are still just at our corner. Let’s hope for all our sake that things will get better now that the wolf is out of the sheepfold.
 
The air already feels fresher as common sense, cooperation and decency are getting back to the forefronts. Let’s hope most conservative Americans can wake up and really see the benefits of being kind to each other and sticking together.
 
Investing-wise, it has been smooth sailing, at least for us. We’ll briefly report on it next. Our main topic today will be to talk about our adventures withdrawing from our big banks RESPs. We’ll conclude with another quick review of our latest DIY Portfolio transactions.  
 
Once more, I’ll remind you that I am not an investment or tax professional of any kind. The intent of this blog is not to give specific investing advice. Before investing yourself, we suggest you do all necessary research and consult a licensed financial professional if need be. 
 
Still Going Strong
 
As always, we manage to stay patient thru all this. Markets and our morale were up and down (or maybe down and up) all last year. Our DIY Portfolio finally did quite well in 2020 with an overall return just under 15%, so our long-term average climbed a little to about 13%.

12-Minute Ways to Have a Better Day (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on July 12, 2012

Here are some simple 12-Minute Ideas to help things go smoothly; to have a brighter and merrier day.

Sometimes, 12-Minute it’s all it takes!

1-Wake Up 12-Minute Earlier

This will allow you to take time to smell the roses and relax before you start your morning routine or

to take a little more time before you embark in a busy work day.  

2-Take 12-Minute to Breathe

Take a break during an hectic day and just breathe!

3-Invest 12-Minute to Plan Your Day

Plan you day early in the morning or the next one late at night.

Investing Success: Just Plain Luck?

 

In this post, we will access if our DIY approach is doing better than indexing in the long run. We will also try to determine to what it can be mainly attributed.

 

Many assume it can only be plain luck. They think DIY investors aka stock pickers can only beat indexing if they are lucky. Lucky to identify and cash in on big winners or to avoid big losses or even both.

 

In the end, the big question boils down to knowing if DIY Investing is worth the trouble?

 

We’ll have a look at our own investing situation to have a better idea.

 

To be clear, indexing is probably a better approach for most people. But we are trying to verify what’s better for us and it definitely may not be better for you.

 

Why Did We Get into DIY Investing?

 

Let’s get back to why we got into DIY investing in the first place.

 

Our initial DIY assumptions were to try to obtain similar capital returns (8%) as our expensive-on-fees mutual funds (indexing was not that accessible yet in those days) but to do a little better on dividends (4% instead of 3%) and fees (almost zero versus 2%). Here, we’ll note that indexing solutions, with fees around 0.5% or even under, are now quite easy to find. In that context, indexing is already much better than archaic mutual funds.

 

From the start, our overall objective was to make 12% long-term (8% capital + 4% dividends + 0% fees) instead of 9% with our old-fashioned funds (8% capital + 3% dividends - 2% fees).

 

In fact, doing 2-3% better seemed to be worth the hassle for us.

12-Minute Meetings (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on June 12, 2012

Sometimes, meetings can be a drag, especially when your boss likes to listen to himself for endless and countless hours. Furthermore, he’ll probably be upset afterwards because you missed some of his points and you lacked time to complete all your work.

Maybe someone could introduce him to the 12-Minute Segment Rule.

Use The 12-Minute Segment Rule

During a meeting, each speech or presentation should be limited to 12-Minute segments because for most people, the optimum concentration period is only 12 minutes. Beyond that, the average person won’t be able to focus and follow explanations.  

Hard Work No Guarantee of Success

Some people feel they can accomplish anything by working hard or that hard work is necessary to accomplish anything. They think hard work guarantees them good results and success.

We believe this is simply not true. In fact, we consider you can accomplish a lot and probably much more by working intelligently and doing things better.

We’re not saying to be lazy but, in the end, we are pretty sure there’s more to success than only hard work. In reality, working hard may simply not be enough.

Maybe your boss can be impressed by committed employees that work long hours. But maybe he could be impressed even more by happier efficient employees that accomplish more working less.

Doing the Right Things Right

Some people just don’t work on the right things. There’s no point on working hard if you work on irrelevant stuff.

Take some time to identify priorities and focus more on these tasks. You probably can’t accomplish everything so try to concentrate on realizing what’s truly important.

12-Minute Balance (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on May 12, 2012

Many believe that one of the most important keys to happiness is balance. Sadly, many lives equate to a never ending juggling act struggling in search of that so elusive concept.  

The 12-Minute Approach offers you simple yet powerful ways to achieve that so precious balance in your life.

Let’s hope that, by focusing on rhythm, order and harmony, these 12-Minute Ideas help you strive toward that balance so essential to your happiness and well-being.

Equal Balance between Needs and Activities

In order to stay happy yet still be effective, your life should be equally balanced between your needs and your activities.

Portfolio Update November 2020

 

Again, it’s DIY Portfolio report time!  As usual, you can expect our next update in about 12 weeks.

You can have a look at previous portfolio updates here:

All Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update August 2018

Portfolio Update November 2018

Portfolio Update February 2019

Portfolio Update May 2019

Portfolio Update August 2019

Portfolio Update November 2019

Portfolio Update February 2020

Portfolio Update May 2020

Portfolio Update August2020

Note that the last words of this report have been written on November 1^st, before the US presidential election.

Despite all unprecedented events, our DIY Portfolio is still in the positive this year, which is surprising. Year-to-date capital return is around zero and are modest return essentially comes from dividends. Not that bad waiting for better days.

It would be doing even better if it were not for the last week of October where it abruptly went down by a little more than 4%.  We can sense markets are getting nervous about the upcoming US election. Contested results would probably cause the most turbulence. That’s why today, we’ll try to reason not giving into fear, essential for any successful investor.

After that, we’ll discuss our own portfolio management for the upcoming months and years. For now, let’s just say things are not getting simpler. We’ll conclude with our usual roundup of portfolio transactions. You’ll see we have been doing a little bit more lately.

Once more, I’ll remind you that I am not an investment or tax professional of any kind. The intent of this blog is not to give specific investing advice. Before investing yourself, we suggest you do all necessary research and consult a licensed financial professional if need be. 

Resist Giving into Fear

With all that is happening in the world, you may be tempted to give into your fear and cash in all your investments. We have to confess that even us, as committed investors, are sometimes afraid and have our moments of doubt.

We still believe you have to resist and remain patient as efficient investing always has to be approached with a long-term perspective.

Housekeeping The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on April 12, 2012

Living in a clean environment can contribute to your well-being and happiness but proper housekeeping takes time.

So, here are some 12-Minute Ideas to keep your house neat and tidy. Hope this helps make your home more peaceful, relaxing and inspiring.

12-Minute Financial Makeover Step 6 - Ease Your Mind with Debt Freedom Plan

This is the 6^th installment of our Financial Makeover Series featuring carefully selected personal finance subjects. We hope talking about these basic principles can allow you to figure out what can help the most in your own unique situation.

We talked about avoiding fees in Part 1 and how using a no-fee online checking account could help you so.

Part 2 featured spending more on things you truly love using a fun budget approach.

We continued in Part 3 with the amazing freedom of budget choices that can allow you to realize more of your projects and dreams.

Part 4 talked about emergency savings and having a personalized contingency plan.

Part 5 suggested to hammer down boring big recurring expenses.

After these, we now feel ready to abort an even more challenging subject. So, let’s put on our armor, sharpen our sword and face on the dreaded debt beast.

 

The Right Mindset

Having too much debt is probably today’s biggest financial problem of too many families. We did not start our Financial Makeover Series here because we believe it’s better to have developed some tools before tackling on dreaded debt.

 

With some confidence in your abilities, getting out of debt can be quite straightforward. You just have to allocate money in the right way to achieve it.

 

We know getting out of debt may seen difficult or even impossible for some. Many are even addicted to debt. They know extensive use of it is bad for them yet became comfortable bathing in it. Sadly, they are so afraid about getting into that battle.

 

But after you get over that steep psychological hurdle, getting rid of debt becomes basic math. You have to believe and decide you can get out of debt. No one can do it for you. You have to commit and do it for yourself and your family. The good news is that you have that power in you.

12-Minute and Your Schedule (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on March 12, 2012

The 12-Minute Approach can be applied tons of ways to your schedule. We will submit you some ideas here but the possibilities are almost endless.

Why 12 Minutes

Using the 12-Minutes Approach will allow you to be more efficient; doing something different only 12 minutes every day can produce surprising results.

If you break down your day in 12-Minute Periods, you’ll find that there are 120 such Periods:

1 day = 24 hours x 60 minutes =

24 hours x 5 x 12-Minute = 120 x 12-Minute

12-Minute Financial Makeover Step 5 - Slash Boring Expenses to Relieve Pressure

Our Financial Makeover Series features carefully selected personal finance topics. We hope talking about these basic principles can allow you to figure out what can help the most in your own unique situation.

In Part 1, we discussed avoiding fees and using a no-fee online checking account.

Part 2 pointed out how no-fee savings accounts and a fun budget approach could allow you to spend more on things you truly love.

We followed up in Part 3 with budget choices and the amazing freedom it can provide to realize your projects and dreams.

Part 4 suggested to start and build up emergency savings in accordance with your own crap-happens plan.

Today we’ll talk about expenses and propose ideas, hopefully inspiring, to reduce them.

We know a lot of people have a very hard time cutting down their spending as it can be simply too painful to them. But oftentimes, just focusing on boring expenses can give you the spark and motivation to get the slashing process going.

Getting More of What You Love

As we already highlighted in Part 2, getting more of what you love is the key here. So, try to focus on getting more resources like precious time and money!

 

On the cash front, reviewing your expenses and slashing unnecessary ones can be a straightforward way to free up big bucks to attain more of that.

 

An even more motivating approach is to concentrate your expenses carving on the boring kind. After all, cutting down on expenses that don’t provide you much joy should be much easier.

 

Working hard to tackle down your expenses should also help take out much of the guilt associated to spending. Enjoying more of what you love is not a sin, especially if you worked hard to achieve so.

 

As you can see, boring-expense money could provide some leeway and ultimately allow you to spend more on what you love. That’s plain and simple!

 

Fun Right After Necessity First

 

In all of this, you still have to prioritize essential spending.

 

You have no choice to spend some money on what you and your family, essentially need. There’s no way around it.

Workout The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on February 12, 2012

Whether you want to lose some weight or be in better shape, a simple solution exists:

Add a 12-Minute Workout to your daily routine!

Taking an extra 12 minutes a day or 1 hour a week to work out can greatly improve your figure and your general health.

Portfolio Update August 2020

Time flies as we again report on our DIY Portfolio progress.  In a similar fashion, you can expect our next update in about 12 weeks.

You can have a look at previous portfolio updates here:

All Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update November 2017

Portfolio Update February 2018

Portfolio Update May 2018

Portfolio Update August 2018

Portfolio Update November 2018

Portfolio Update February 2019

Portfolio Update May 2019

Portfolio Update August 2019

Portfolio Update November 2019

Portfolio Update February 2020

Portfolio Update May 2020

We are kind of glad to take a break from this unusually hot and humid summer. Luckily, our air-conditioned home can keep us cool. It may not be the case for everyone, and some would even prefer to get back to their more comfortable office. This unexpected crisis really forced many of us to experience the pros and cons of working from home.

Lots of companies have to reform their entire business model in these changing times. Some still thrive and even found unforeseen ways to reduce their costs. Others, not so much. Maintaining some level of sales or surviving till things get back to the new normal may be the key for most.

Despite all uncertainties, a lot of positives may be coming out of this year’s turmoil. For one thing, we were kind of obliged to adopt environment friendly solutions like telecommuting. A sense of solidarity also greatly developed in several communities. Even more important for humanity’s sake, you know who will probably get kicked out.

The next big question for many worried investors is how will the markets react to all of this?

Once more, I’ll remind you that I am not an investment or tax professional of any kind. The intent of this blog is not to give specific investing advice. Before investing yourself, we suggest you do all necessary research and consult a licensed financial professional if need be.  

Still Going Strong

Our answer is still somewhat the same: we don’t really know but don’t care that much.

What is important is that we remain confident our DIY Portfolio will fare well in the long haul, no matter all these short-term interrogations.