Gail Bebee

Canada's Independent Voice on Personal Finance

  


Personal Finance Speaker and Author

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Resources

Gail Writes and Speaks

  • Morningstar Articles

Worried about another October 1987? Put options provide a safety net.
GIC Ladder Return Calculator
Extended product warranties: Worth the cost?
You snooze, you don't lose: Low-risk fixed income is boring, predictable -- and an essential part of the investment mix
Relief from high fund fees: Clueless about costs? Or seeking money-savings tips? Read on
Scenes from a U.S. Recovery
Our love-hate relationship with mutual funds
The debtors' dilemma: Contribute now, or wait?
Welcome to the New TFRS Season
Ten New Year's resolutions for astute investors

What Should Battered Investors Do Now?
Common Investor Mistakes
How to Choose Your Mutual Fund
Investment Products to Avoid
How to Find a Financial Advisor
Let's Talk Investing, GlobeInvestor: Investing: Riskier than you might think
Let's Talk Investing, GlobeInvestor: Dangerous investments: Don't go there
Let's Talk Investing, GlobeInvestor: How much investing risk can you stomach?
The Wealthy Boomer, The National Post: Understand What You're Buying
The Wealthy Boomer, The National Post: Five rules for Investors
Financial Post Jon Chevreau Wealthy Boomer video
One Minute How To interview on choosing a financial adviser
Choosing a financial advisor CBC News: Business, July 29
Resolving complaints about your advisor Globe Investor June 22, 2009
Ten Steps to Selecting a Mutual Fund
Ten Steps to Selecting Winning Stocks
One Minute How to Pick a Stock (audio, click here)
TFSAs - What you should know. Forever Young, February 2009
Investment Products to Avoid (Part 2). Canadian MoneySaver, February, 2009.
How to Weather the Economic Storm. Toronto Sun, November 9, 2008.
Investment Products to Avoid (Part 1). Canadian MoneySaver, September, 2008.
How to Select a Mutual Fund. Oneminutehowto.com, Podcast 2008.

Books on Investing
I’ve picked these books to provide a well rounded general knowledge:

  • Atkinson, Howard J. & Donna Green. The New Investment Frontier III A Guide to Exchange Traded Funds for Canadians. Insomniac Press, 2005.
  • Bebee, Gail. No Hype - The Straight Goods on Investing Your Money. The Ganneth Company, 2008.
  • Cadsby,Ted. The Power of Index Funds: Canada's Best-Kept Investment Secret. Stoddart Publishing, 1999. (An easier read than Howard Atkinson, but may be difficult to find as it’s out of print)
  • Chevreau, Jonathan. Findependence Day. Power Publishers, 2008.
  • Dunnan, Nancy. Year-Round Investment Sourcebook for Managing Your Personal Finances 2001. HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  • Ferri, Richard A. Serious Money, Straight Talk about Investing for Retirement. Portfolio Solutions, 1999, free online.
  • Goodman, Adam. Following the Goods Financial Management for the Young and Ambitious. Blue Pig Publishing, 2009.
  • Lynch, Peter. One Up on Wall Street. Penguin, 1989.
  • MacDonald, Larry. Outperforming the Market: A Case Study Approach to Selecting Investments. ECW Press, 1998.
  • Hagstrom, Robert G. The Warren Buffett Way. John Wiley & Sons, 2005.
  • Mackenzie, Warren. The Unbiased Advisor. HarperCollins Canada, 2006.
  • Milevsky, Moshe with Michael Posner, Money Logic: Financial Strategies for the Smart Investor. Stoddart Books, 1999.
  • Otar, Jim C. High Expectations & False Dreams: One Hundred Years of Stock Market History Applied to Retirement Planning. Otar, 2001.
  • Reynolds, John Lawrence. The Naked Investor. Penguin, 2005.
  • Jeremy J. Siegel, Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies. 4th Ed. McGraw-Hill, 2007.
  • Trahair, David. Smoke and Mirrors: Financial Myths that will Ruin Your Retirement Dreams, 4th ed. Self Counsel Press, 2006.

Calculators

Financial Blogs

• Canadian Capitalist, www.canadiancapitalist.com/
• Canadian Couch Potato, www.canadiancouchpotato.com
• Canadian Financial DIY, www.canadianfinancialdiy.blogspot.com/
• The Dividend Guy, www.thedividendguyblog.com/
• Ellen Roseman, www.ellenroseman.com
• Larry MacDonald, www.blog.canadianbusiness.com/category/larry-macdonald/
• Michael James on Money, http://michaeljamesmoney.blogspot.com/
• Million Dollar Journey, www.milliondollarjourney.com/
• Squawk Fox, www.squawkfox.com/
• Steadyhand Mutual Funds, www.steadyhand.com/blog/
• The Wealthy Boomer, http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/wealthyboomer/default.aspx
• Where Does All My Money Go, www.wheredoesallmymoneygo.com

Financial Advisors/Planners
The following are not recommendations, just ideas. Please do your own due diligence.

Advisors/planners who would like to be listed here, should email their request to gbebee@gailbebee.com

The Financial Advisors Association of Canada web site has a good advisor search feature: http://www.advocis.ca/content/find-ad-form.aspx

Fee only Firms
These firms have several offices. Consult their web sites for specific locations.

• EES Financial, www.ees-financial.com
• Weigh House Investor Services, www.weighhouse.com
• T.E. Financial Consultants Ltd, www.tefinancial.com/

Advisors Who Offer Advice and Sell Products

Irene So, RBC Dominion Securities Inc.
Irene.so@rbc.com , 416-733-5208

Patricia Mosdell, RBC Dominion Securities, North York
patricia.mosdell@rbc.com, 416-733-5105

Harry Apostolatos, RBC Dominion Securities, Durham Region
harry.apostolatos@rbc.com , 905-434-3924 or 1-800-267-1522

Jim Otar, www.retirementoptimizer.com
cotar@rogers.com , (905) 889-7170

Sheryl Purdy, Leede Financial Markets
spurdy@leedefinancial.com , 403-531-6808

Michael Reynolds, BMO Nesbitt Burns
mike.reynolds@nbpcd.com , 416-359-7053

Kurt Rosentreter, Manulife Securities Incorporated
Kurt.Rosentreter@manulifesecurities.ca , 416-628-5761

General Financial Web Sites

General Investor Education

  • Canadian Securities Institute, www.csi.ca
    not-for-profit organization providing education for investors and for the financial services industry
  • Canadian Securities Administrators, www.csa-acvm.ca forum on harmonizing regulation of Canadian capital markets. It includes investor education information and links to all 13 provincial/territorial securities regulators.
  • Investor Education Fund/GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca, www.getsmarteraboutmoney.ca
  • Ontario Securities Commission, www.osc.gov.on.ca

Government Sites

Independent Investor Information

Investor Protection – Insurance Protecting Financial Assets

Investor Protection – Resolving Complaints

  • The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca
  • Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, www.iiroc.ca regulates investment dealers and trading activity.
  • Canadian Life and Health Insurance OmbudService (CLHIO), www.clhio.ca complaints regarding insurance products and services e.g. annuities, seg funds.
  • The Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI), www.obsi.ca complaints regarding banking services and investment firms.
  • Small Investor Protection Association, www.sipa.ca is a volunteer organization which offers general guidance on resolving complaints about investments with a bank, broker, financial advisor or other seller of financial products.

Magazines

Newsletters

Mutual Funds

Public Company Information

  • EDGAR, www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml
    Online database of corporate financial information filed with the US Securities and Exchange commission
  • SEDAR, www.sedar.com/
    Online database of public companies and investment funds information filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA)

Regulators

Retirement Planning

  • Atkinson, Richard. Don't Just Retire Live It, Love It! Retire Right Publications, 2008. www.dontjustretire.com
  • Banerjee, Preet. RRSPs The Definitive Book on Registered Retirement Savings Plans. Self-published, 2008.
  • Grant, Ross. What IF Retirement Planner© , an easy to use Excel spreadsheet to plan, track & revise your path to retirement. www.firstmillion4you.com
  • Mackenzie, Warren and Ken Hawkins. New Rules for Retirement. HarperCollins, 2008.
  • Milevsky, Moshe. Are You a Stock or a Bond? Create your own Pension Plan for a Secure Financial Future. FT Press, 2009.