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%.

Additional Interesting Budgeting Ideas

A couple months ago, we started this series on budgeting by presenting our distinctive way to Enjoy the Pleasures of Budgeting.

Last time, we talked about How Budgeting Can Be So Simple and Easy as even children can have fun with it.

Today, a more profound look at budgeting will propose interesting advanced budget ideas.

So, let’s cut to the chase and get right to it!

Additional Budget Tips

Before spending any of your hard-earned cash, you should always ask yourself this vital question: 

Do I really need it?

As we already talked before, in our consumption-driven society, a lot of people seem to crave high-ticket items and end up buying plenty of useless stuff.

To address this bad habit and improve deficient buying decision making, we like to convert possible purchases into working hours.

How Budgeting Can Be So Simple and Easy

Last month, we wrote about our unique way to Enjoy the Pleasures of Budgeting.

Today, we’ll continue on the same exciting subject and see how budgeting can be simple, accessible and even fun for everyone. We’ll also share some easy starting pointers. These fundamental basic budget principles should get you going in the right direction.

In our next and last article of this three-part series on budgeting (coming your way in June), we’ll continue to expose our distinctive point of view on the matter. Additional Interesting Budget Ideas will be presented to you along with more elaborate tips.

Simple Math

Many people get stopped by the supposedly complex nature of budgets.

But in fact, budgeting is only basic math. The arithmetic behind a balanced budget is far from rocket science. You only must obtain a positive result (greater than zero) when you add up your different sources of income and subtract all your expenses. No magic can get you around this basic budget equation.

Enjoy the Pleasures of Budgeting

Many view the budget as an ugly nagging beast they will never be able to master. Because it only reminds them about the frustration of being in the red, they prefer to ignore it instead of trying to tame it.

In the same fashion, many other persons not completely averse to budgets still find it utterly dull. In that sense, a lot of people resign themselves to accept the sad truth that money matters are a reality of our modern life and nobody can really get around it.

For us, keeping a budget is quite the opposite. It’s much more fun and to some extent, it rhymes with excitement! We get those pleasant vibes perhaps because we mostly associate budgeting to having dreams, realizing projects and the freedom of making choices.   

From our standpoint, a budget is an easy-to-use tool to understand where your hard earned money goes. It helps you regain or keep control over it. It can also point out interesting opportunities to improve.

An effective budget can be set-up on a single piece of paper, using the most sophisticated software or with many possibilities in-between.

Next time, we’ll talk about How Budgeting Can Be So Simple and Easy.

So today, let us expose our unique point of view on this simple yet extraordinary tool. Let’s hope you’ll see how powerful it can also become for you!

Teach your Children to Properly Manage their Money with Both an Investment Account and a Fun Account

Investment Account and Fun Account

To help your children adopt good financial habits, open them a Long term investment account. But also open them a Fun account.

Every time your children receive money, ask them to deposit half of it in their investment account and the other half in their fun account.

Subsequently, they can do whatever they want with their fun account money as long as it’s something fun for them.