You get what you pay up for
How many times have you gone with the cheaper product or service, only to regret it later? In other words…You get what you pay for. Don’t feel bad, we all make this mistake. The other day, I was looking for a charge cord for my Apple AirPods, and instead of paying $40 to buy the quality product from Apple, I bought a cheaper knock-off from Amazon for a quarter of the price. Not surprisingly, I threw the crappy knock-off cord into the garbage a few days later.
Fun with numbers – should you realize capital gains and pay taxes early?
Before 1972 there was no tax on capital gains in Canada. In that year, as part of a major overhaul of the tax scheme, capital gains taxes were imposed. The inclusion rate for capital gains (the percentage subject to tax) has varied over the years from the present level of 50% to as high as 100%, with stops (both in the year 2000) at 75% and 66% along the way. There is currently much speculation that the federal government will increase the inclusion rate in order to help finance the enormous budget deficit being rung up due to the COVID-19 crisis. Some accountants we know have urged their clients to realize existing capital gains now, before the rates go up. Is that a smart idea?
What happens if Biden wins?
Many of our clients have asked us what the impact of a Joe Biden victory would be on the stock markets and the American economy. In the short run, say the first few weeks after an election, we just don’t know. It is worth remembering that on the night Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the futures market indicated that American stocks would open the next day down by as much as 4%. Instead, by the end of the day there were solid gains. So we will make no predictions about the very near term. However, in the medium term, we expect that a Biden administration, particularly if coupled with a Democratic majority in the Senate, would be good for the US economy. Here are six reasons why.
Why we still love our FAANGs (+ Microsoft)
Despite falling in recent weeks (a confirmatory “told ya we were in a bubble!” moment for many investors), the sharp rise in the share prices of major technology companies over the past six months has understandably caused many people to claim we are in a repeat of the 1999 tech bubble.
What I learned about investing from baby monitors
Benjamin relates how the baby monitor for his 11-month-old son, which provides a plethora of information on his sleep habits, compares to the almost infinite amount of information available to investors to allow them to treat their portfolios as restless babies, in need of constant monitoring, and yet this does not always lead to the best outcome.
Rule #1 for Bonds: Don’t Lose Money
The world has changed a lot in just the past seven months. In this article, Barry explains that, despite this, our long-standing perspective on the appropriate portion of fixed income investments in your portfolios has not changed but actually been reinforced.
You can’t control COVID but you can control yourself
At the time of writing, most investors’ stock portfolios have recovered significantly from the precipitous drop in late February through March, 2020 and with the worst of it over – hopefully – Benjamin outlines 3 lessons can we learn from the COVID-19 crisis that can guide us through the next one.
Why is the US market the best place to invest in 2020?
With its wealth of businesses that are asset light or price makers in their market, the U.S. has been and will continue to be an area of focus for Baskin Wealth Management in building portfolios for our clients. Barry explains in this video how these characteristics make for an attractive investing opportunity.
Why the big technology companies are must-own stocks for most clients.
Barry describes the technology giants Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and Netflix as “digital toll booths on global growth”. He goes on to explain how these companies have benefited from an amazing technological shift and why they have an unbelievably long runway for growth.
How are we looking at our portfolio companies in the time of COVID?
Death, debt and dividends are 3 factors we have been putting an increased emphasis on during this period of extreme uncertainty. David explains how each is considered by the Baskin Wealth Management Portfolio Management Committee as we carefully assess the holdings in our client’s portfolios.
Why is the stock market going up when the economy is still so bad?
To answer a question that is on many investors minds these days, David outlines 4 key reasons for why there has been such a contrast between stock market performance and the overall economy so far this year.
Where do we go from here?
Ernest tackles the question on everyone's mind these days - "Why is the market going up when the outlook is so grim?" - and then explains what investors should be focused on.
