How to Invest in Canada (Part 1)

Today we are going to learn all about how to invest if you’re living here in Canada.

For all our non-Canadian listeners, we’re also going to cover best practices when it comes to investing so you can definitely start applying those too and get a lot out of the show.

To make this series beneficial to everyone, we’re going to start with answering beginner level questions intended for those just starting out in their investing journey. As the interview goes on, we’re going to progress into more advanced level questions.

This way if you are already investing you’ll still get a LOT out of the show by learning some best practices, and how to optimize your portfolio and save money by eliminating unnecessary fees.

To help me with this, I’m very excited to have Dr. John Robertson on the show. John is a is a PhD scientist, a writer, investor, and he teaches newbie investors on how they can actually start investing.

Links and Resources

• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments. 
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest
• John’s Blog: Blessed by the Potato

Questions Covered

1. Tell us your story and what prompted you to write your book.
2. What are the most common mistakes you see beginner investors make when they’re just starting out?
3. What about those in their 40-50s that have been investing for a while?
4. In your book, you make a really strong case for investing in broad market indexes. For our listeners who are just starting off in investing, can you tell them what this means, and why this is a good way to invest?
5. What is an “asset allocation” and how would you change the asset allocation for someone fresh out of school vs someone nearing retirement?
6. You thoughts on investing in stocks versus bonds and on creating an all stock portfolio.
7. In a low interest rate environment like we are in right now, what are your thoughts on investing in bonds? Especially considering rates are bound to go up eventually which would hurt the existing bond prices.
8. How are you investing now?
9. If you could go back to when you made your first investment, what advice would you give yourself.
10. Over the years in your investment journey, what’s worked for you, and what hasn’t worked so well?
11. Was there ever a point that you didn’t feel confident about what you’re investing in, and the investment choices you made?
12. Your thoughts on investing in other indexes like small cap companies instead of just broad market? (many argue that they generate higher returns at the cost of higher volatility)
13. Thoughts on dividend investing vs broad market index investing.
14. What is the 4% rule and what are your thoughts on it? Do you prefer a variation of it?