SLB Management is a possum playing bunch of SOBs. You know $SLB management has been grinning from ear-to-ear watching their stock fall the past month and saying nothing. Well, it's dead no more, just jumped 10+% today. After reading the earnings call, I can see why (number 4 is big). 1) Revenue reached $9.0 billion, despite a 13% sequential decline in Middle East revenue. Strength in Latin America, Europe & Africa, Asia, and North America more than offset the disruption. 2) Production Systems continues to be the engine of the business. Artificial lift, production chemicals, subsea equipment, and production optimization all posted strong growth. Oil companies aren't just drilling wells, they're investing to produce more from the wells they already have, and that's playing directly into SLB's strengths. 3) Digital keeps building momentum. Annual recurring software revenue increased 15%, and management continues to position AI and digital operations as major long-term growth drivers. 4) Data Center Solutions may be the most interesting part of the story. Revenue grew 80% year over year, and management now expects the business to exceed a $2 billion annual revenue run rate by the end of 2027. That's not something I expected from an oilfield services company a few years ago. Management also believes the industry is entering the early stages of an international upcycle, driven by deepwater investment, energy security, and growing demand for production and recovery services. If they're right, SLB is positioned exactly where customers are increasing spending. I originally invested in SLB because it was the leader in oilfield services. I'm staying invested because it's becoming much more than that, combining energy expertise with digital technology and AI infrastructure. Are we at the beginnings of an international upcycle in oil?
I’m never a big fan of ‘best’ lists when it comes to ETFs because ‘best’ often depends on the investors individual needs, objectives, views and/or risk tolereance. Best may also depends on what exactly is being measured: returns, risk, diversification, fees, tax efficiency, etc Last - always remember that the ‘best’ ETF can really only be identified with hindsight (making the criteria used to create these lists more useful than the list itself ✅). That said - given the trend I’m seeing of so many people ignoring, forgetting or not knowing what made ETFs so effective and popular initially (often in favor of high cost, high risk, concentrated ETFs) I thought this article was worth sharing in hopes maybe it can help refocus people back to the core characteristics that made ETFs such simple yet powerful drivers of wealth. As the article indicates: “ETF issuers are increasingly catering to Gen Z's appetite for high-beta and yield-focused strategies, often built with derivatives or concentrated exposures.” Many of the newer ETFs are the exact opposite of what traditional ETFs are - especially when it comes to risk - and frankly have the potential to do a lot more harm (based on the AUM they’ve attracted) then ever before. ⚠️ Have a read. If you’ve built full portfolios of high fee strategies with various derivative overlays (options/leverage) maybe it’s time to consider just how far you’ve strayed from the core strategies and characteristics that reliably delivered returns of various assets and markets over the past two decades. When product innovation starts introducing more risks than benefits it’s no longer innovation. It’s just unnecessary complication. Something to consider. 🤔 Do what’s best for you. 😉👍 https://www.kiplinger.com/investing/etfs/best-etfs-to-buy
One of the best parts about the Blossom community is how open everyone is sharing knowledge and experiences. To make things easier for anyone just starting their investing journey, here’s a simple glossary to help understand and simplify various terms. Common Terms: Dividend: A share of a company’s profits paid to shareholders, usually quarterly. Ex-Dividend Date: The cutoff date by which you must own a stock to receive its next dividend. ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund): A fund that holds multiple stocks or bonds, traded like a single stock. Covered Call ETF: An ETF that owns stocks and sells call options to generate extra income (higher yield, limited / capped upside). Earnings Report: A company’s quarterly financial performance summary. EPS (Earnings Per Share): A company’s profit divided by its number of shares. Market Cap: A company’s total value (share price × number of shares). ACB: The total amount you’ve paid for an investment, including the purchase price plus any fees or commissions. Book Value: The value of a company according to its financial statements (assets minus liabilities). Yield: Annual dividend as a percentage of the stock/ETF price. Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without impacting its price. Volatility: The degree of price fluctuations in a stock or market. Index: A benchmark of stocks (e.g., S&P 500, Nasdaq, TSX). Bull Market: A period of rising stock prices and optimism. Bear Market: A period of declining stock prices and pessimism. False Breakout: When a stock’s price moves above (or below) a key level, making it look like a new trend is starting, but then quickly reverses back. P/E Ratio: Price-to-earnings ratio (stock price ÷ EPS), used to assess valuation. Blue Chip: Well-established, financially strong companies with a track record of stability. Diversification: Spreading investments across assets to reduce risk. Broker: A platform or firm that facilitates buying and selling investments. Limit Order: An order to buy/sell a stock at a specific price or better. Market Order: An order to buy/sell a stock immediately at the current market price. Bid/Ask Spread: The difference between the highest price buyers offer and the lowest price sellers accept. Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): Investing a fixed amount regularly to reduce the impact of market swings. Capital Gain/Loss: Profit or loss from selling an investment for more/less than its purchase price. IPO: When a company first sells shares to the public. Index Fund: A fund designed to mirror the performance of a market index. Short Selling: Selling borrowed shares, hoping to buy them back cheaper. Margin: Borrowing money from a broker to buy investments, which amplifies gains and losses. Margin Requirement: The minimum amount of your own money (equity) you must maintain in a margin account to open or keep a leveraged investment position. Margin Call: A demand from your broker to deposit more funds or sell assets because your account equity has fallen below the required margin level. Time Horizon: The length of time you plan to hold an investment before needing the money. Short horizons = more risk-sensitive, long horizons = more room to ride out volatility. Stock Split / Reverse Split: A split increases the number of shares (e.g., 2-for-1) while lowering the price per share. A reverse split reduces the number of shares (e.g., 1-for-10) while raising the price per share. Your overall value doesn’t change just the math. Long (Being Long): Buying a stock or asset because you expect the price to go up. Short (Being Short): Selling a stock you don’t own because you expect the price to go down, so you can buy it back cheaper later. TER: The total yearly cost of owning a fund, including the management fee plus other costs like administration, audits, and legal fees. MER: The annual cost that a fund charges for management (includes any leverage costs if used). Management Fee: A portion of the MER that goes directly to the fund managers for running the fund. Withholding Tax: A tax deducted on dividends/distributions from foreign investments (e.g., U.S. dividends to Canadian investors face a 15% withholding in TFSA/Non-Registered accounts). Total Returns: The full picture of an investment’s performance, including both price gains and dividends/distributions. CAGR: The average yearly growth of an investment over time. NAV: The price of one share of a fund (stock or etf) NAV Depreciation: When the fund’s share price goes down over time. Mutual Fund: A pool of money from many investors used to buy a mix of stocks, bonds, or other assets. Bond: A loan you give to a company or government, and they pay you back with interest. Asset: Anything valuable you own that can generate money. Portfolio: Your collection of investments. Option: A contract that gives you the right (but not the obligation) to buy or sell a stock at a set price. Future: A contract to buy or sell something at a set price on a future date. REIT: A company that owns real estate and pays investors income from rent. Alpha: A measure of how much better (or worse) an investment did compared to the market. Beta: A measure of how much an investment moves compared to the market. Sharpe Ratio: A way to see if returns are worth the risk taken. Hedging: Protecting your investments from risk. Rebalancing: Adjusting your portfolio back to your target mix of assets. FCF: Free Cash Flow Understanding these terms makes investing far less intimidating. If anyone feels other terms should be included, please share in the comments. I’ll update this post so we can build a complete beginner-friendly resource together! *Sorry tagged a few etfs for reach 🫣
Here are the other Harvest distributions for the month! Nothing too exciting, with just a couple decreases unfortunately. 🥲 Ex-Dividend Date: July 31st Pay Date: August 6th — Monthly — 🔴 CCOE decreased -18.9% to $0.30 (Previously $0.37) 🔴 AEME decreased -16.7% to $0.25 (Previously $0.30) 🔴 HGR decreased -34.5% to $0.03 (Previously $0.0458) 🔵 BCEE stays the same at $0.14 🔵 CNQE stays the same at $0.26 🔵 ENBE stays the same at $0.13 🔵 RYHE stays the same at $0.14 🔵 SHPE stays the same at $0.21 🔵 SUHE stays the same at $0.27 🔵 TDHE stays the same at $0.15 🔵 TEHE stays the same at $0.12 🔵🧺 HHIC stays the same at $0.20 🔵 HHL stays the same at $0.06 🔵 HBF stays the same at $0.075 🔵 HPF stays the same at $0.025 🔵 HTA stays the same at $0.16 🔵 HUBL stays the same at $0.10 🔵 HUTL stays the same at $0.13 🔵 HDIF stays the same at $0.09 🔵 HLIF stays the same at $0.07 🔵 HHLE stays the same at $0.0934 🔵 HTAE stays the same at $0.175 🔵 HUTE stays the same at $0.095 🔵 HRIF stays the same at $0.13 🔵 TRVI stays the same at $0.18 🔵 HBIG stays the same at $0.16 🔵 HBIE stays the same at $0.20 🔵 HIND stays the same at $0.085 🔵 HVOI stays the same at $0.08 🔵 HBIX stays the same at $0.14 🔵 HBTE stays the same at $0.40 ---------- 1st Ex-Dividend Date: July 31st 1st Pay Date: August 6th 2nd Ex-Dividend Date: August 14th 2nd Pay Date: August 20th — Semi-Monthly — 🔵 HPYB stays the same at $0.07 🔵 HPYE stays the same at $0.07 ---------- Thanks for following, and expect a few more posts later today for Hamilton and Global X! 😄🍻 https://harvestportfolios.com/harvest-high-income-shares-etfs-announces-july-2026-distributions/ https://harvestportfolios.com/harvest-etfs-announces-july-2026-distributions/
What I always loved about this platform is the supportive spirit , willingness to help, selfless knowledge sharing and the constructive feedback loops. This week I saw an ugly side I didn’t like and I’m going to speak out about it! It’s the lack of empathy and the dancing on the misery of others. I can understand and appreciate when someone celebrates winning big, but what I can’t stomach is the glee, gloating and cheering when a name someone believed in gets cut in half. Mocking a losing position isn’t educational, giving people constructive feedback on how to understand what went wrong is. Every single one of us has been on the wrong side of a trade and the market humbles all of us eventually. Please remember kindness is free, but is a real compounder. Let’s all do better blossom, the market is the real enemy 😊
Are you getting sick of constant stock price updates on Blossom? My feed is filled with the same 20 tickers and a snap shot of it up or down and in a rare case, some supposed reason why. Are you posting up days? Why? Are you posting down days? Why? The reality is, constant stock updates are the investing equivalent of weighing yourself every 5 minutes. Drink a glass of water. You weigh yourself. You poop, you weigh your self. 🚨🚨🚨🚨 $AMZN is down 1.0% today!!! 🚨🚨🚨 $VFV is up 1.2% today! 🚨🚨🚨🚨 $SPCX is up 5... now 6, now 4, now 3.. Okay... and so what? Investors shouldn't be tracking price movements like I see on Blossom every day. Stop. It's UNHEALTHY and leads to INVESTING DISORDERS. Unless you're buying or selling today, that number is futile, vain and meaningless. What does it do? It likely grabs your attention and engagement on socials. It's likely creating an emotional response in you. And in the worst case scenario, it encourages you to confuse market ACTIVITY with PROGRESS and SUCCESS. The biggest danger is never that the market is moving... it moves every second the markets are open, year round, for all eternity. The biggest danger is YOU moving. There are countless studies on investor behavior and what makes the average retailer perform so badly. The studies show that checking stock prices every day makes it EASIER to panic, chase performance, sell low, buy high, and convince yourself that random market noise, future expected returns, analyst predictions etc is somehow meaningful to your investing success and you need to act on it. The market has rewarded PATIENCE for over a century now. Patience is a quality we all need and can improve upon. Your algo REWARDS your market anxiety with MoRE market anxiety creating content... So be careful what financial junk food you consume and what voices you surround yourself with . Your health and wealth are not rewarded buy consuming such content regularly. Stay safe out there investing friends 🙌👊
Two months ago I had a conversation with a new recruit about investing. (The reason I even started investing was because my field coach at work taught me, so I try to pass it on now to more junior members) He was young, had his whole career ahead of him, and I was explaining why your 20s are such a powerful time to start investing. Every dollar invested early has decades to compound. His response was, "I need to make more money first." Then about six weeks later, I found out he bought a brand-new $75,000 Toyota Tacoma on payments. To be clear, this isn't a post about car payments. Buy what makes you happy if it fits your priorities. It's about opportunity cost. Most people think they need a higher income before they can invest. But somehow they're comfortable committing hundreds or even over a thousand dollars every month to a depreciating asset. Imagine if even a portion of that payment was going into index funds instead. The biggest advantage young people have isn't a high salary. It's time. The dollars you invest in your early 20s often become the most valuable dollars you'll ever invest because they have 30-40 years to compound. You can always buy the nicer vehicle later. You can never buy back the years of compounding you gave up.
Longterm buying opportunities today: $ZETA at $18 $META at $600 $IREN at $38 $ORCL at $115 $SOFI at $16 $ONDS at $7 $HOOD at $95 I will be loading up on these stocks for the next few weeks as long as they stay under my levels. Use this market pullback to capitalize on longterm growth opportunities
📚 If you could recommend just ONE investing book to a beginner, which would it be? · The Psychology of Money – Morgan Housel · One Up on Wall Street – Peter Lynch · The Little Book of Common Sense Investing – John C. Bogle · The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing – Pat Dorsey Or is there an even better one? Drop your recommendation below so every beginner can build a better reading list 👇📚
TLDR: great results. In my eyes, we’re finally starting to see real profit and revenue generation as a direct result of AI CapEx. Which has been a huge drag on sentiment for Big Tech in 2026. One of the more interesting things from this quarter was seeing Google finally reach negative FCF, something that’s been projected for a while now, and something I wrote a post about not too long ago. But it means Google continues to see real returns from its investments, which we saw this quarter with cloud reaching over 80% growth and overall revenue reaching 24% growth. An unprecedented top-line growth rate for a $400 billion a year revenue business. As for earnings and EPS, I’d rather completely ignore that given the massive distortion from Google’s SpaceX and Anthropic stakes. Plus, inherently Google is already a GAAP profitable business, and earnings doesn’t tell you anything except that in this case. So it’s worth not diving into that too hard. Search revenue specifically also grew 17% YoY, which by itself is a hilarious statistic and means Search is now up ~$75b on a numbers basis, or +44% since ChatGPT destroyed the company back in 2023. Also, just this revenue addition alone, is roughly 3x more than the revenue OpenAI has generated in its entire history, combined. Google also showed around $240 billion worth of cash and equivalents sitting on its balance sheet. … though aside from this stat being a great headline for a Yahoo Finance article, it means nothing for me as an investor since most will be spent on continued CapEx, etc.  Overall, it’s a really interesting time for these companies. The takeaway here should be that Google shared great results, and that investments are leading to real dollars and profit. However, that simply means CapEx spend is only going to accelerate. (Which Google announced again that they are doing, hence why shares are down.) In the near term this means even more negative cash flow, likely more debt, etc., until demand bottoms out. Interestingly enough too, you may remember a couple weeks ago $META decided it was partnering with $AVGO (like Google and $AMZN and $MSFT have already done) to create a more cost sufficient in-house chip to replace and/or substitute $NVDA. And on this exact issue (which is why I brought it up), Google said this quarter that most of its cloud revenue is now being “primarily” generated off of their Nvidia in-house alternative… TPU chips. One of the core strengths of the Google thesis in general has always been that it was one of the first and only massive vertically integrated AI companies ever. And that holds today as well, but now other companies of similar scale are chasing that ordeal. Most notably Meta. But I’d say Amazon is the more underrated attempter at the moment. I think the real loser long-term is going to be Nvidia. Not overall (they’ll be around for a while), but in very core markets like with Big Tech, which at one point I believe took up about 20% of Nvidia’s total revenue. But I don’t keep up with him though as much, so I don’t know if that holds today. This is more an uneducated guess. Regardless though, YouTube, Gemini, now Gemini + iPhone, Google Cloud becoming the fastest growing and one of the largest Cloud platforms in less than a few years, Search continuing to grow thanks to AI integration and adaption… It’s hard not to be bullish here. Though I don’t want to be all pump and dumb, because there seems to be no end with the spending. And like I’ve said before, this is something to watch. The strategy at the moment for Google (and I’d be happy to guess most of Big Tech as well once we see their earnings) is to not stop spending (which would be a risk), but to become more efficient with its spending as it grows. Because for Google, the money being invested is already showing relative return, but the cost of investment is only going to rise since more returns gives management more incentive to spend. It’s a bit ironic, but that’s the cycle we’re in. Therefore the company (and most Big Tech companies) are betting on becoming more and more vertically integrated overtime to save costs, so they can make a bigger margin between the returns these investments are giving, and how much the investments are costing. (Broadcom, by the way, is one of only 2 companies in the world that these Big Tech companies are partnering with, for these in-house custom Nvidia-alternate chips. Them, and $MRVL. So it may be worth monitoring these two earnings as they come out as well.) Thanks for reading. Happy investing, folks. Earnings release: https://s206.q4cdn.com/479360582/files/doc_financials/2026/q2/2026q2-alphabet-earnings-release.pdf Cc: @bradleytalksmoney, @solofire
🚀 Gold’s Epic Journey: From $1,200 to Over $4,100+ (and hitting $5,600 ATH this year!) The yellow metal continues to prove why it’s a cornerstone for smart, early investors. From the 2011 peak and 2015 lows, through the 2020 surge, to the explosive rally in 2025-2026 — gold has delivered strong long-term gains (~+235% since 2010) while acting as a powerful hedge against inflation, uncertainty, and market volatility. Whether you’re diversifying your portfolio or watching the macro picture, gold remains a timeless store of value in uncertain times. What’s your take — is gold still a buy at these levels, or are you waiting for a dip? Drop your thoughts below 👇 #GoldPrice #Investing #Gold #WealthBuilding #FinancialFreedom #DividendInvesting #EarlyInvestors #MarketTrends #InflationHedge #NicksPicks #CanadianInvestors #PassiveIncome
I am not worried about day to day, week to week, month to month, price action in any said stock. I am worried if the business will be generating more or less cash 10 years from now. Everything else is just noise.
"Investing $50 a month isn't enough to make a real difference." This single thought keeps millions of people broke. They think if they can't drop thousands of dollars into the market at once, there's no point in starting at all. So they spend that $50 on takeout and coffee instead. Here is the truth: $50 builds the habit. The habit builds the discipline. The discipline builds the portfolio. You don't wait until you have a massive stack of cash to start investing. You start small today so you can have that stack tomorrow. $VOO$QQQM$XEQT$SCHD
Qualcomm will increase chip prices by double-digit percentages, citing higher production and operating costs. 📱 Smartphone makers could face higher costs, which may lead to more expensive phones for consumers. 💬 Bullish or bearish for Qualcomm? 📈🤔
If you’re under 40, focus less on today’s fear and more on the next 10–20 years. Watching closely: • $ZETA – 19 straight beat-and-raise quarters. • $NOK – AI growth accelerating. • $SOFI – CEO keeps buying shares. • $IREN – Massive AI infrastructure expansion. • $NVDA – Still dominating AI. • $AMZN – AWS + Ads + Prime. • $OSS – Fast-growing defense AI. • $ONDS – Strong defense demand. • $UUUU – Uranium + rare earth tailwinds. • $TE – Explosive revenue growth. Wealth isn’t built by chasing hype at new highs. It’s built by accumulating quality businesses when everyone else is afraid. Which stock on this list are you buying first?
You watched it double, then give all of it back in three weeks. $52.82 on 22 May, $80.72 on 22 June, $52.72 on 17 July. Not many explained why, This is my take. Here's What happened to $DRAM - DRAM is roughly 74% three stocks: Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix. About half the fund is South Korean. That means Korean margin calls are American portfolio events. - Korea listed 16 single-stock leveraged ETFs on Samsung and SK Hynix in late May. 92% retail-held. Margin debt hit a record ₩38.63 Trillion. (~$26.6 billion) - On 22 June, the day DRAM peaked, Korea's regulator said publicly he regretted approving these leveraged ETFs. The next day the KOSPI fell nearly 10%. - Three more major sellers followed, triggering an avalanche: 1. The national pension fund resumed rebalancing on 1 July, 2. Foreign institutions sold ₩7.76tn on 29 June alone (Concentration limits, Memory became too big) 3. Brokers began closing retail accounts at ten times the January rate. (Margin calls) - SK Hynix issued $28bn of new stock, the same week memory bottomed. - Meanwhile Micron reported revenue up 346% and 85% gross margins on 24 June. SK Hynix, Samsung and TSMC all beat and guided higher. —— Happened Today: The group is bouncing. MU and SKHY both trending up and DRAM back above $54 after hours. No new fundamental catalyst, this is a technical recovery after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index lost more than 9% last week. The RSI crossed back above 40 on the daily timeframe. Forced selling appears to have exhausted itself for now. Whether this becomes a recovery or a dead cat bounce gets answered by upcoming earnings starting with Western Digital on 29 July and hyperscaler capex commentary in the weeks ahead. Happened Last Week: The main piece of good news from last week is that the Korean margin debt has fallen from ₩38.63T ($26.6 billion) at peak to ₩27.40T as of July 13 a 29% decline in under three weeks. Seoul Economic Daily also reported on July 16 that the supply-demand environment was improving with foreigners beginning to return. —— What's next ? If that trajectory continues through this week it would suggest the forced selling that drove the mechanical collapse is largely slowing down and maybe even fully behind us. Next thing to watch are forward estimates. They've been rising the whole way down. If they turn this becomes an entirely different and much bigger problem. Next Post On Thursday $SPCX stay tuned. Educational content, not financial advice Disclaimer: I own $DRAM at $39 avg.
in my Roth IRA account I have only 4 ETFs that generate monthly income: $JEPI , $QQQI , $SPYI , $SCHD Currently it generating approximately 22–23 per month on average, or about 265–275 per year. since, its Roth IRA , i only can invest in it 7,500 a year (i m 1.5k away from max invest for 2026). My goal for next 20 years is to grow from 270 a year to 1,187 a year (to achieve a main goal: $2k a month from dividends) Meaning, each year i need to buy: JEPI - 41 stocks (820 shares in total for 20 yrs) QQQI - 45 stocks (900 shares) SPYI - 46 stocks (920 shares) YES, thats challenging .... but possible! YES, thats why having growth stock in your portofio will help big time i am sharing this so people understand that behind each goal, math strategy must present and YES , in 3 to 5 months i will do revaluation of my portfolio again to see what twist i can do to make improvements
Two mega caps reported this week and both got punished for the same reason. $TSLA beat on revenue and beat delivery estimates by nearly 74,000 vehicles, and fell 14.5%, because profit collapsed under AI and robotics spending. $GOOGL beat on everything, with cloud revenue up 82%, and fell 6.9% because it raised its 2026 capital spending plan to roughly $200 billion. Same message twice: the market is no longer paying companies to spend on AI. It is charging them for it. And this did not start this week. $META beat on revenue back in April and still sold off, on capital spending guidance. Look at where the money went instead. Across my list, the big AI spenders finished the last four sessions zero for five. Software, which buys compute rather than sells it, went zero for fourteen. The chip and equipment names went eleven for twelve, higher. And the buying spread beyond chips into the physical layer: electrical and power names like $ETN , $HON and $GE , utilities, and data center real estate. The market is selling whoever pays for AI and buying whoever gets paid for it. One detail matters: this was not a panic. Volatility spiked at the open and faded through the session, small caps outperformed the Nasdaq, and healthcare led with $MRK , $LLY , $AMGN , $ABBV and $JNJ all green. Money rotated. It did not leave. So here are the two ways this resolves. Scenario one, the spending holds. The mega caps defend their capital plans, the market digests it, and the AI supply chain keeps leading into year end. A narrow but durable market where fewer names carry the index. Less comfortable than 2025, still a bull. Scenario two, the spending gets cut. The pressure works, someone trims their investment plans, and the whole supply chain loses its customer overnight. Chips, power and equipment top together, because their revenue is somebody else's budget. That would be the real end of this leg, and it would not arrive through the VIX. It would arrive through an earnings call. The calendar decides it: $MSFT and $META report July 29, $AMZN on July 30, all three carrying enormous capital spending plans. Watch how the market treats those numbers, not what the numbers say. I do not know which scenario shows up. I know exactly what to watch for. One last note. I'm taking a couple of weeks off. Sayonara!! 🌸 Not investment advice. Do your own research.🐝
I am currently 47 years old. Unfortunately in that time frame I have lost a lot of family members. Some (most) were accidents, some to age, some to cancer, and one to suicide. That’s 11 deaths total. Only 1 person out of 11 had a will. When you are grieving the last thing you want to do is close an estate up. It’s even harder if nothing has been prepared in advance. After the initial shock of the death settles (the phase where everyone is usually nice), greed comes through in a most alarming manner. I’ve watched people turn into monsters. Make sure you have a will!!!! or people will fight.  I know most people hate thinking about their death or their spouses death but honestly it’s just a fact of life. I’ve personally been the executor of 2 estates now. This is my advice: 1. If your young get life insurance. If you’re retired it’s not worth it. 2. Make sure you have a will. 3. Make sure you have a personal directive. 4. Make sure you have a power of attorney set up. 5. If your married make your spouse the beneficiary of your TFSA and RRSP(has to be done through the account not the will), they will roll into the spouses account without taxation. 6. If you’re married, and you own a house, make sure both names are on the title, joint tenant, NOT tenant in common. This activates right of survivorship on property and doesn’t have to go through the estate. 7. If you’re married, both people should have their name on all the vehicles, joint, otherwise it’s a headache after death. 8. Buy a file folding system. I have a plastic one that has a clasp and handle. 9. Put EVERYTHING in this file folder that would be needed if you died tomorrow. a) all land titles B) information on house insurance so it can either be eventually canceled or name changed over. C) your will (or the location of your will),  power of attorney, and personal directive D) the information for your car, car insurance, and registration on vehicles. E) information on life insurance. F) all current year papers needed for filing your taxes. Because the survivor will have to do it and will need that information. G) where your household bills are. ALL OF THEM, electricity, gas, Netflix, magazine, subscriptions everything you can think of that is in their name. Because you are going to have to cancel them. H) their credit card information where to contact to cancel the cards I) birth certificate, SIN numbers, marriage, license, etc. J) information on all your investments accounts, bank accounts, etc. K) anything else you can think of for your situation If you’re married, I’d have one box per person. When you die, the funeral home will issue many death certificates. And your lawyer will give you copies of the will. These will be needed to change over any accounts. Everything else goes through the estate which is taxed and the lawyers take their fees so I’d avoid this as much as possible especially if you’re married. This is why having property in both people‘s names is so important because it doesn’t have to go through probate. I am widowed now and I have my black file folder and my two remaining children know if something happens to me, all they have to do is grab the folder. Everything they need to take care of my estate will be located in this folder. At the beginning of every year, I open this file up and go through everything to make sure it’s up-to-date. If you are young and do not own much or can’t afford a will, you can draft one up but it must be handwritten to be classified as a legal document. You cannot type it out!! If you’re not worth much, everything will most likely be sold to pay your bills and cover your funeral expenses. But you can state who your executor will be in your handwritten will.  Disclaimer I’m not a lawyer or an accountant and this is not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer and talk to an accountant. Make sure everything is set up for you and your situation. These are situations that I personally ran into. Good luck Also I’ll add in. IF you have a lot of assets make an appointment with your accountant first. They will tell you how to properly set things up. Then take that information to your lawyer.
