12-Minute Balance (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on May 12, 2012

Many believe that one of the most important keys to happiness is balance. Sadly, many lives equate to a never ending juggling act struggling in search of that so elusive concept.  

The 12-Minute Approach offers you simple yet powerful ways to achieve that so precious balance in your life.

Let’s hope that, by focusing on rhythm, order and harmony, these 12-Minute Ideas help you strive toward that balance so essential to your happiness and well-being.

Equal Balance between Needs and Activities

In order to stay happy yet still be effective, your life should be equally balanced between your needs and your activities.

The Impact of Climate Change on Stocks

Despite what many people think like some in power south of the border and others closer to home, global warming has started to greatly affect our planet and already too-many lives consequently have suffered from it. Unfortunately, global warnings are not enough to fight global warming.

Social media and live news probably amplify our exposure to it but you cannot deny that catastrophic events sure are more frequent and violent. Luckily for us, significant disasters have spare our family so far. Nevertheless, we have felt Mother Nature unleashing its power in the form of extreme heat, stronger winds and rain.

We know that human lives have no cost and should be treated with respect and dignity. In the current circumstances, everything within our power should be put in place to save and help as many human beings as possible.

That being said, we are even more worried about the profound impact climate change could have on our economy. If our economic system collapses because of it, we won’t be in a position to help anyone anymore.

We have been reflecting on it for a while and so far, are not reassured. A lot of troubling questions arise and for now, we have failed to find adequate answers. Here are some on those questions.

Portfolio Update November 2018

With Halloween just behind us, once more, it’s time for another DIY Portfolio update after that scary season. As now customary, you can expect our next update in about 12 weeks, in February 2019.

You can also access our earlier portfolio updates here:

All Portfolio Updates

Portfolio Update November 2017

Portfolio Update February 2018

Portfolio Update May 2018

Portfolio Update August 2018

Speaking of scary, what happened especially in the last month can be preoccupying. We had several days where we had a taste of what a major market correction may involve. With markets that fell more than 10% from their high, we are now by definition, in correction territory. Can this be the long announced big market downfall? We can certainly feel that panic could easily settle in.

The increasingly polarized positions and resulting frictions between our powerful and sometimes ill-tempered neighbours are also concerning. Particularly when their colorful leader continually fuels them.

Even though we don’t approve, he would still probably appreciate it because we are talking about him again. His eventual departure or exit also bring a lot of uncertainty to the table. You can bet it won’t be a smooth process but rather will involve a loud bang like his presidency. At times, we think of selling everything to secure our holdings before suffering those potentially disastrous consequences. Then again, we would miss out on all our profits meanwhile. Turbulent periods like recent ones will always occur and we are far from being advocate of doomsday or black swan scenarios.

So today, after looking at why Canadian stocks have been noticeably lingering as of late, we will talk about how we try to keep a long-term investing focus. We will conclude by sharing some of our latest investment reflections.

Housekeeping The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on April 12, 2012

Living in a clean environment can contribute to your well-being and happiness but proper housekeeping takes time.

So, here are some 12-Minute Ideas to keep your house neat and tidy. Hope this helps make your home more peaceful, relaxing and inspiring.

Stop Wasting Time Looking for Better Short-Term Rates

For merely a decade, Canadian interest rates flirted with historically low levels before the Bank of Canada finally started to gradually raise the prime rate in 2017. Almost immediately, many banks consequently increased their mortgage rates. As expected, they still took a while longer to offer better rates on savings account. So, for an extended period, so-called «high-interest» savings accounts were paying negligible interest.

Competition, especially from their virtual counterparts, now has forced even traditional financial institutions to offer improved rates. But, in the end, does this really matter?

We just don’t think so.

Still Preparing to Invest Big Money

For some years now, I’ve been gradually working less and swiftly heading to semi-retirement. Technically, it’s even better than that as in 2020, I should be working no more than 2 days a week! Full retirement will come just a couple more years afterwards! Hence, the accumulation stage of our investing plan is almost over and, mainly for fiscal reasons, we also started to phase out of RRSPs.

Despite all those facts, we are still preparing to manage and invest an extra 15-30K$ annually for the next 6 years. How could this be?

It’s true we will soon stop putting new money in. Yet, old money indirectly put aside years ago will start pouring in our investment accounts. A big chunk of our preretirement plan, currently tied up in other investment vehicles, will be released soon and we will have a chance to manage it ourselves. Some of our earliest RESP contributions are also similarly locked out. Since Lady C will (already!) start her post-secondary education, some portions of those RRSP funds will also become available for us to control.

We kind of just recently realized it, but all this means a lot of money, probably even more than in most typical accumulation years, will become available for us to invest and acquire stocks.

To some extent, let’s see how we intend to go about all this.