It is truly amazing how many people entrust their entire life savings to stockbrokers who know absolutely nothing or very little about investing. In their defense, many stockbrokers may be honest individuals who truly want to help their clients. However, the problem is that they were never trained to be investors but instead were trained to be salespeople, and they are constantly being pushed by their employers to sell. After being recruited by a brokerage company, they are subjected to intensive sales training where they are taught how to cold-call, prospect for clients, and counter various clients’ objections. The actual education on how to select and analyze particular investments is limited.
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While at a concert recently, I met a young woman who told me that she and her husband took a course a few years ago that taught them how to trade individual stocks.
She said, when she first heard about the training she almost didn’t take it, because the course was quite expensive, almost $9000. However, they decided to take it despite the cost, and she said they were able to recoup the cost of the course within one year of trading stocks.
She recommended that married couples should take the course together, so that both partners are on the same page. It is much more difficult if only one spouse understands what is going on.
Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs), are a common savings vehicle used by Canadians. There are different types. Some are locked in for a specific period of time, while others are cashable at anytime.
GICs provide the following advantages:
-Your principal is guaranteed.
-For most GIC types, you are guaranteed a fixed rate of interest for a specific period of time.
-They help people to save who would otherwise spend their money. If their money is locked away, they have no way of accessing it, making it impossible to spend it on a whim.
Inflation, the ever -increasing cost of everything over time, makes a significant impact on your savings. In a normal, healthy economy, the inflation rate usually hovers around 3%. Essentially, everything goes up in value except your money. This is an important concept to understand as inflation impacts your purchasing power.
For those of you who consider yourself to be visual learners, you will enjoy watching some of the personal finance and investing videos on http://kanjoh.com/. It is a website that aims to provide “financial clarity above the noise”.
The goal of the website is to help people understand the economy, how to effectively save money, and to understand the various types and aspects of investing. I am impressed with the videos I have watched on the site so far, as they are straightforward, easy to follow, helpful, and interesting.