Quotes of the Day

US-listed ETFs have lower fees and may also be more tax-efficient in RRSPs (US securities held in a RRSP are exempt from withholding taxes, thanks to a tax treaty between the two countries). Unfortunately, the currency exchange rates charged by online brokerages are usually terrible, especially on smallish amounts, and these costs can erode much or all of the benefit of using US-listed funds. If you're investing in a non-registered account, you need to report their capital gains and losses in Canadian dollars and report to the Canada Revenue Agency using Form T1135 if your non-registered account includes US-listed ETFs with a cost of more than $100,000. For these reasons, I recommend that do-it-yourself investors stick to using ETFs that trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange. [2021] - Dan Bortolotti

When looking for single-family homes, look for ones for which all utilities (including water, sewer, garbage, electricity, and heat) can be paid directly by the tenant. When shopping for multifamily, at least look for ones where heat and electricity can be paid by the tenant, and if you can find properties that can be converted to a "master metered" system to allow tenants to pay for their own water, you've potentially struck gold! [2015] - Brandon Turner

Try to present the offer in person or have your realtor present the offer in person if at all possible. Statistically, people who negotiate in person are more likely to come to a deal than people who negotiate over email or over the phone. [2015] - Gary Wong

High-quality government bonds issued by the federal government and the provinces are an option if you have at least $25,000 or so to invest. (Note that bonds issued by Canadian provinces offer yields higher than federal government bonds.) If you choose to buy individual bonds directly, I recommend sticking with less volatile, shorter maturity bonds (5 years and under) so you get the opportunity to acquire new, higher coupon bonds sooner if interest rates move up. [2018] - Larry Bates

One of the reasons institutional traders succeed better than does the average trader is that they have much more capital behind them. They can and do make the same mistakes but don’t have to worry that one mistake will end their careers; with capital and management behind them, they can survive those mistakes. [2003] - Marcel Link