Here's the 3 Core ETFs I Use In My TFSA and RRSP. TFSA: $VFV$VDY$HDIV and RRSP: $VOO$SCHD$TSPY - It's simple and it works for me, you can watch the detailed breakdown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMrw36NhqXc - I Hold other ETFs in both accounts, but these 3 more or less give me the North American Equities Exposure I am looking for.
I'm sure we've all heard some sort of phrase along the lines of... “Our parents could buy a house on one income. Today, two incomes can barely cover rent.” And honestly, there’s some truth to it.Housing is more expensive. Groceries are more expensive. Cars, childcare, insurance, and basically everything else costs more than it used to. But I also think there’s another side to the conversation that we don’t talk about enough. A lot of us have quietly increased our standard of living without realizing how much it’s costing us. Think about what the everyday folks are paying for.... • $4–$8 coffees several times a week • Restaurants multiple times a week • Food delivery because we don’t feel like cooking • Two expensive vehicles sitting in the driveway • A $100+ phone plan for the newest device • Amazon packages arriving every other day • Gym memberships we barely use • Concerts, sports, vacations and weekend getaways • Buy-now-pay-later purchases spread across multiple accounts None of these things individually make someone financially irresponsible. It’s the accumulation. The problem is that modern consumption is incredibly easy. Want dinner? Tap an app. Want a new phone? Finance it. Want new clothes? Put it on a payment plan. Want a vacation? “Book now, pay later.” Want something from Amazon? It can be at your door tomorrow. Our grandparents didn’t necessarily have better financial discipline because they were inherently better with money.They simply had fewer ways to spend it. Today's middle class is living like the rich back compare to folks in the 1950s. Our standard of living has increased so much... There was no algorithm constantly showing you things you “need.” No monthly subscription for every possible form of entertainment.No food delivery sitting two taps away. No ability to finance practically anything. And definitely no Instagram convincing you that everyone else is living better than you. Meanwhile, someone can have a $700 car payment, $150 phone bill, $200 in subscriptions, $500 in restaurants and another $300 in random spending… …and then wonder why they can't save $20,000 for a down payment or invest any $ Yes, the cost of living has changed. Yes, housing affordability is a serious problem. But personal spending habits still matter. If your income increases by $1,000/month and your lifestyle immediately increases by $1,000/month, you didn't actually get ahead. You just upgraded your lifestyle. For me, building wealth is about intentionally directing money toward things that can grow over time, ETFs, stocks, real estate, and other investments instead of constantly upgrading my lifestyle. You don't have to live like you're broke. You just have to stop spending all your income away, you can enjoy life AND build wealth. The trick is making sure you're doing both. 😀 Cheering everyone on.read more
Today was another powerful day in the market, and I wanted to share a glimpse of what I was able to accomplish alongside my trading community. The positions shown here are: $AMD$475 Call – Sept. 18, 2026: +$251,500 $NBIS$220 Call – Sept. 18, 2026: +$224,000 $INTC$89 Call – Sept. 18, 2026: +$121,250 $ASTS$54 Call – Sept. 18, 2026: +$77,250 That’s approximately $674,000 profit But before anyone looks at these numbers and thinks this post is about showing off, that is not my intention at all. I’m not posting this to make anyone feel behind, to compete with anyone, or to make trading look easy. I’m sharing it because I know there are people here who are learning, people who are trying to understand options, and people who sometimes need to see that patience and discipline can eventually produce results. The money is not the most important part of this post. The process is. Behind every profitable position is analysis, preparation, patience, risk management, and the willingness to sit through uncertainty without allowing emotions to control the decision. And just as important, there are losing trades and lessons that never make a screenshot like this. Trading is not about winning every trade. No trader can do that. What matters is learning how to manage risk when you’re wrong and knowing how to capitalize when your analysis plays out. ⚠️ PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE LOOKING AT THE POSITION SIZE I especially want beginners to understand this. The screenshots show 100 contracts, but that does not mean anyone following my setups should be taking a position anywhere close to that size. These are positions in my own account based on my personal capital, account size, risk tolerance, experience, and trading plan. I never want someone to look at my results and feel like they have to match my position size in order to participate. Whenever I drop a setup inside my trading community, I make it clear that 1 or 2 contracts is okay for someone who has the appropriate account size and understands the risk involved. The number of contracts you trade should make sense for your own account, not mine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking 1 contract, 2 contracts, or even sitting out if the setup doesn’t fit your risk plan. The goal is not to trade big. The goal is to trade smart. Please don’t see a large position and think you need to duplicate it. You don’t need 100 contracts to become a successful trader. You need to learn how to identify quality setups, understand your entry, manage your risk, respect your stop, take profits when appropriate, and remain disciplined. Options can produce significant gains, but they can also produce significant losses. Never risk money you cannot afford to lose, and never copy another trader’s position size simply because you see a large profit on a screenshot. My goal with sharing these trades is to show what preparation and execution can look like, not to encourage anyone to take unnecessary risk. If you’re still learning, start small. Learn the mechanics. Understand the Greeks. Understand expiration and implied volatility. Learn how to manage a position before worrying about making a large amount of money. Build the skill first. The money comes second. And above everything else, I give God the glory for allowing me to see another day, another opportunity, and another successful trading session. 🙏 A PRAYER OF GRATITUDE 🙏 Heavenly Father, thank You for blessing me with another day, another opportunity to learn, work, grow, and provide value to the people around me. Thank You for the wisdom, patience, discipline, and strength You continue to give me. I don’t take any success for granted. I know that every opportunity, every lesson, and every new day is a blessing. Keep me humble when things go well, teach me when things don’t go according to plan, and continue to guide my decisions. And Lord, I also pray for everyone reading this post. Whatever season they are currently in, please give them strength, wisdom, patience, and courage. Bless their families, their businesses, their careers, their finances, and their goals. For those who are struggling, give them hope. For those who are learning, give them understanding. For those who are waiting for their breakthrough, give them patience. And for those who are already blessed, remind them to remain humble and grateful. May everyone reading this continue moving forward, one step at a time. Amen. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” – Proverbs 3:5–8 I’m grateful for today, grateful for the lessons, grateful for the people who continue to support me, and most importantly, grateful for the opportunity to keep learning and growing every single day. To everyone working toward their own goals, keep going. Your journey may look different from someone else’s, and that’s okay. Stay patient, stay disciplined, stay humble, and keep putting in the work. Success doesn’t happen overnight, but every day you choose to learn, improve, and keep moving forward, you are building something. I pray that the days ahead bring you peace, wisdom, progress, and many reasons to smile. May we continue to grow together, celebrate each other’s wins, learn from our losses, and never forget to be grateful for how far we’ve already come. Here’s to more growth, more wisdom, more discipline, and better days ahead. 🙏 God bless you and your families, and thank you for being part of this journey with me. ❤️ This post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to copy these trades. Options involve substantial risk, and position size should always be appropriate for your individual account and risk tolerance. read more
Currently at $95,066 Any gamers here? 🎮 My favourite game of all time is Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the trailer for its remake was just announced. I haven’t been playing games ever since I started working full time but this definitely marks my return. Might be time to invest into some Nintendo stock 👀
Originally published on Blossom on March 21th, 2024 Please find retrospective commentary at the end. DRIP is where you buy a stock and its quarterly dividend, instead of crediting cash into your account, automatically buys more shares of the stock. Over TIME, it juices the return of that stock investment. Sounds great, right? Maybe if you’re lazy or you don’t like tracking your investments - but you’re not… The conventionalists will have you believe this is a prudent thing to do. Why? There is nothing other than laziness that suggests you do this. Whoever told you.....do they get fees from such available DRIP investments? (I know not all stocks, ETFs have DRIP options - which is red flag #1). Or are those that tell you just repeating what they’ve been told because on the surface it sounds acceptable? A kind of sophisticated laziness? Let’s look into why DRIP is not a plan for us. First, you receive dividends monthly, quarterly, or annually, but most stocks, it’s quarterly. It is never true (that’s right, I said NEVER), that buying your DRIP stock at the TIME you receive a dividend is always a good TIME to buy that stock. You may have read KTS #2 “Follow the Sector” post from the other day that can give you some insight on this. A popular DRIP stock in the U.S. is $WBA , Walgreen’s pharmacy. Pull up a 10-year chart and imagine DRIPPING your quarterly dividends into that stock as it steadily dropped from $100 to $20 today. What a waste of dividends. Averaging is Dilution. You have a rationale, you do your homework, you make decisions at points in TIME to establish a position in a stock. So why then would you be willing to forgo your access to your quarterly cash reward and buy something that is currently overvalued? That makes zero sense - and don’t let the conventionalists tell you otherwise. Follow your current knowledge of the market and take that cask kick back and buy shares of a stock that has a likelihood to rise rather than fall. Test it out for yourself to convince yourself that there’s always a better place to invest than your current DRIP stock. So put it there instead if your objective is to grow your nest egg. I don’t want to lose the point that it’s fine to have a core holding that you plan to hold for a lifeTIME even when it’s not in favor or it hits a rough patch in business (see $TSLA ). But when companies are in periods of declining profits, smarten up and don’t take that monthly cash reward and try to catch a falling knife. SomeTIMEs when you receive your dividend, buying more of the stock that gave it to you IS THE BEST place to put it. But the point is, not always. The pros know you can read cycles, markets, fundamentals (company earnings, debt, fcf, etc.), and technicals (charts). Ignore those that say you can’t..........and I promise you the pros aren’t in any kind of DRIP! Next TIME you get your dividend, ask yourself this question, “If you were given $10,000 right now but had to put it into one stock, which would it be?” Then do that with your (much smaller) dividend instead. You're not lazy when it comes to investing so stop diluting your performance and check out my previous post on “Follow the Sector” to learn how to better redirect your dividends in a systematic, profitable way. It's too easy to just throw your hands up and say “nobody knows” But you can be a much smarter investor - reach for your full potential! Best of luck! Retrospective Commentary — September 9th, 2026 No need for much retrospective comments on this one – it is what it is. Side note: Walgreen’s pharmacy ($WBA ) is no longer publicly traded. You can find several examples everywhere underscoring why DRIP is a flawed Conventionalist tactic (e.g. - Alexandria Real Estate Equities ($ARE ), etc.). read more
Michael Burry is covering + reducing his short bets on $NVDA and $CRWV. He also sold his December puts on $NVDA and Palantir $PLTR entirely. He was on a hot streak earlier this year but it’s been rough for him last month. Send it son.
If you had $10,000 to put into ONE AI-related stock today and you had to leave it alone for the next 10 years… What are you buying? $NVDA $AMD $AVGO $TSM or someone else? Forget the next 6 months. Who do you think will be the biggest winner by 2036? I want to hear the reasoning behind your pick.read more
I’m honestly a little surprised to see Google getting hit like this. The market has been weak, but I don’t think the long-term story has changed much. Google just reported 24% revenue growth, Cloud was up 82%, and its Cloud backlog reached $514B. They’re also continuing to spend heavily on AI infrastructure, which I actually see as a positive for the long term. I think a lot of the pressure right now is more about the market worrying about massive AI spending, higher rates, and whether all this infrastructure spending will pay off quickly enough. Personally, I’m not investing in Google for the next few months. I’m looking 5+ years out. Search, YouTube, Cloud, Gemini, TPUs and now even more AI infrastructure gives Alphabet a lot of ways to win. I’m holding. If anything, I’m more interested in adding on weakness than selling because of a bad few weeks. $GOOGL & $GOOGread more
A stock dropping 50% does not automatically make it a bargain. If a stock falls from $100 to $50, don’t just ask, “How much can it rebound?” Ask why it fell. Before buying the dip, look at things like: Key price levels — Where are support and resistance? Volume — Is there strong buying interest, or is selling pressure continuing? Fundamentals — Are revenue, earnings and cash flow improving or deteriorating? Valuation — Is the stock actually cheap relative to the business, or just cheaper than before? Debt and liquidity — Can the company comfortably fund its operations? The original thesis — Has something fundamentally changed about the company? Technical analysis can help you understand what the market is doing.Fundamental analysis can help you understand what the business is worth. Neither should be ignored when making an investment decision. A stock being down 50% only tells you where it has been. It doesn’t tell you where it should be.read more
When setting up a portfolio, most Canadian and U.S. investors end up torn between taking total control with DIY investing or putting things on autopilot with a robo-advisor. Both get you away from high-fee traditional mutual funds, but they handle multi-currency portfolios and automation quite differently. Here is how to figure out which path fits your goals: DIY Investing: Lowest Costs & Multi-Currency Control With DIY, you open a self-directed brokerage account (like Questrade or Interactive Brokers in Canada, or Fidelity and Schwab in the U.S.), pick your funds, and execute trades yourself. * All-In Cost: ~0.05% to 0.25% MER (you only pay the internal fund management fee). * CAD Examples: $XEQT / $VEQT (All-in-one equity growth) or $VDY (Canadian dividend income). * USD Examples: $VOO / $IVV (S&P 500 index) or $SCHD (U.S. dividend growth). * The Vibe: Maximum control and lowest possible fees. Crucially, DIY lets you hold both CAD and USD natively, helping you avoid forced currency conversion fees when buying U.S. stocks or ETFs. Robo-Advisors: Automated Peace of Mind Platforms like Wealthsimple Invest, Questwealth, Betterment, or Wealthfront use algorithms to build and manage your portfolio automatically. * All-In Cost: ~0.45% to 0.90% (includes the ~0.25%–0.50% platform management fee plus underlying ETF costs). * How It Works: You complete a risk profile questionnaire, set up recurring deposits, and the algorithm automatically allocates cash across diversified index ETFs and rebalances as markets swing. * The Vibe: Hands-off simplicity. You pay extra so you never have to think about calculating unit purchases, placing trades, or converting currencies. However, most robo-advisors convert everything into local currency portfolios rather than letting you hold raw USD cash. The Middle Path: DIY with Automation Tools Many investors use portfolio management tools like Passiv to get robo-style convenience while keeping low DIY fees. You keep your self-directed brokerage account, but the software calculates target allocations, sends drift alerts, and handles currency routing or one-click rebalancing. The Bottom Line * Choose a Robo-Advisor if you want 100% automated, set-and-forget investing and know you'd procrastinate or panic-sell during market drops. * Choose DIY (or DIY + automation) if you want to keep fees under 0.20%, hold native USD assets, and don't mind spending 5 minutes a month logging into your account. Are you team DIY or do you prefer having a robo handle everything on autopilot? Disclaimer: For educational purposes only not financial advice. Always do your own research before choosing an investment strategy. read more
📊 Long-Term Investing: The Power of Thorough Analysis When it comes to long-term investing, understanding the fundamentals of a stock is crucial. It’s not just about jumping on trends; it’s about making informed decisions based on solid data. This chart breaks down the essential financial statements—Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement—that every investor should analyze before committing to a stock. 🔍 Balance Sheet: This tells you about the company’s financial health, specifically its assets, liabilities, and equity. A healthy balance sheet is a sign of stability and resilience. 💸 Income Statement: This shows the company’s profitability by detailing revenue, expenses, and profits. A strong income statement indicates a company that’s generating profits, a key factor for long-term growth. 💰 Cash Flow Statement: This reveals how the company manages its cash, from operations to investments and financing. Positive cash flow is essential for sustaining operations and fueling future growth. By mastering these fundamentals, you can make smarter investment choices that stand the test of time. Remember, successful long-term investing isn’t about timing the market; it’s about time in the market, supported by thorough analysis. $VGT$TXN$QQQ$AAPL$META #InvestSmart #LongTermInvesting #FinancialLiteracy #StockMarketAnalysisread more
Let’s get a discussion going - if you were to build a 3 fund portfolio using of ETFs only Mine are $VTI $AOTG $XLE Drop yours in the comments? 👇read more
If I had $10,000 to invest today and could only buy 4 stocks: $SOFI — $3,000 $UBER — $2,500 $NFLX — $2,500 $AMZN — $2,000 That’s probably how I’d allocate it right now. What 4 stocks would you choose? read more
Started the journey of building my income portfolio just over 3 months ago and I just cracked over $1000 in dividends. I’m currently 95% of the way to my goal of $1000 per month in dividends. Almost There.
$AAPL event begins now. Could definitely be a catalyst for $MU and $SKHY as they’ll talk about price hikes due to the memory shortage. As Tim Cook called it the “100 years flood” Eyes peeled.
..... and counting.........using one single KTS #2 Tool. 😂🤣 And I told you exactly how to do it about two years ago. Seriously. Go check for yourself. Open your favorite accounts on this app right now and look at their all-TIME returns. I’ll wait. Nobody’s close. Most portfolios on this app? 😂🤣 In March 2024, I shared a simple ETF approach that could be used to READ, LISTEN to, and TIME the markets to achieve double-digit annualized returns. (KTS #2 – Follow the Sector.) On April 29, 2024, I bought one share of $XME and one share of $XES as part of the “This Is the Way” series to demonstrate the application of KTS #2. Here's yesterday's RE-POST of the original March 2024 post sharing the KTS #2 tool: https://www.blossomsocial.com/posts/KTS-2-Follow-the-Sector-RE-POST__POST-1788528588432-2Vw4Cx2V_qoQV3QbaHcPIAvML And here's the link to the "This is the Way" Series post: https://www.blossomsocial.com/posts/This-is-the-Way-Series-1-KTS-2__POST-1714389509714-79HySrJi_qoQV3QbaHcPIAvML Since April 1, 2025, these two subsectors have returned: $XME: +110% 🏆 $XES: +75% 🏆 While $SPY returned only half of XES and one-third of XME for a measly +38%. 🤢🤮 You could have simply followed my second KTS post and outperformed…….everyone. 🤑🤑🤑 Think about all the TIME you’ve spent building your portfolio since that date? 🤔 Think about how you are juggling the daily ups and downs of economic data, concerned about whether you should be in …. or out of the SpaceX IPO. Is the semiconductor rally over? Is Crypto a buy again? Is the Fed going to raise or cut rates? The country’s debt is unsustainable!?!?!? Silver & Gold are back???? What’s Michael Burry thinking? What’s BlackRock buying? Are software stocks back for good? What’s going on in the Middle East? China and North Korea!?!?!? Russia-Ukraine??? Whatever happened to the ESG movement? Is TRUMP just saying shit to keep markets propped up until the midterms? And is the SpaceX IPO – at the highest level of understanding – just Elon Musk selling a new crypto coin to the Teachers’ Unions??? 🤣😂 You think this helps you. But does it? Does half of what you read really matter? Maybe it’s interesting. Maybe you’d rather be catching every financial news development because it’s your passion. But is it necessary for portfolio outperformance? 🤔 The answer is no. No, it’s not. That should be music to your ears! 😀😃😄😁🙂😊 There are even popular members of this community who preach spending 50–100 hours researching a single company before investing 😂🤪🫨😳🤣😆. And their profile shows an all-TIME return of……………-1.65%! WTF!?!?? In the greatest bull market of their life 😂. Oh geez. Keep it up basement boy - maybe you’ll get there one day? 😂🤣 Meanwhile……. successful investors step back to see the big picture. They read the plan and the strategy we laid out. They see it playing out in real-TIME and are reaping the rewards of their intelligence – and got their weekends back. 😎 Answer this honestly. It’s April 29, 2024, and you get to run it again. Door 1: Buy XME and XES, close the app, and go live your life for two years. Door 2: Your “sophisticated” portfolio, your watchlist, your 100 hours of research, your swing trading. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah!!! 😂 Which door do you walk through? 🤔 I’ll give you 5 minutes to digest that……even though it should only take you 5 seconds. 😂 Or maybe you’re buying XEQT, VFV and other passive funds? Do you even know how just ONE measly percent of outperformance impacts your retirement age? 🤔😅 If not, read this: https://www.blossomsocial.com/posts/Why-Outperforming-the-SandP-500-Index-Matters__POST-1712844746313-WeQtSmOp_qoQV3QbaHcPIAvML Look at the chart attached and tell me which sector you would have wanted to own over the last 18 months. I’ll tell you what: my first pick wouldn’t be the line at the bottom (S&P 500), but that’s just me. Wanna know the best part? $XME and $XES have chopped sideways for most of this year (2026) building potential energy….and STILL beat virtually everyone on this app. Now wait until that coiled energy converts to kinetic energy! 🚀👩🚀😅😂🤑🤑🤑 And the party isn’t over. I told you when I bought it..…and you had a 2-year window to enjoy my content for free and learn an alternative approach designed to outperform any type of market. The ones who could recognize the true value and listen are now members because they understand that they can outperform for the rest of their lives by stepping back and reading the market instead of the news within the context of the real estate/banking crisis cycle. They’re also the only ones who’ll know when $XES and $XME aren’t favored sectors anymore. Always remember that I want you all to win! But I can’t do it for you. You have to recognize for yourself that conventionalist propaganda will never allow you to outperform… and take the steps to change that. Learn about membership here: https://www.beskarcapitalkts.com/ Natural selection is alive and well. I always give you my best. 🏆 This is the Way! 🏄🌊 read more
My 5 year base targets for the stocks I own. These are NOT my bull cases or best-case scenarios. These are the prices I believe each stock can realistically reach if the businesses continue executing. A few of these numbers might look aggressive today. I don’t think they will in 5 years. Here they are 👇 1. SoFi | $SOFI 5 year base target: $80 I believe SoFi will be a significantly larger and more profitable financial platform by then. 2. AMD | $AMD 5 year base target: $800 I think AMD still has a massive runway across data center, AI, and high-performance computing. 3. Oscar Health | $OSCR 5 year base target: $60 Oscar is finally showing what the business can look like when growth is paired with improving margins. 4. Amazon | $AMZN 5 year base target: $650 AWS, advertising, retail efficiency, and AI infrastructure give Amazon multiple huge growth engines. 5. ServiceNow | $NOW 5 year base target: $325 I think ServiceNow becomes even more important as enterprises automate workflows and deploy AI at scale. 6. Zeta Global | $ZETA 5 year base target: $80 Zeta remains one of the most underappreciated growth businesses in my portfolio. 7. Snap | $SNAP 5 year base target: $20 This is my highest-risk holding, but the upside is substantial if Snap continues improving monetization and profitability. 8. Uber | $UBER 5 year base target: $175 Uber has already proven the profitability story. Now I think the next phase is about compounding cash flow across an increasingly valuable platform. 9. Brookfield | $BN 5 year base target: $100 Brookfield is one of the slower-growth names here, but also one of the businesses I have the most confidence in compounding steadily over time. 10. Netflix | $NFLX 5 year base target: $150 I think Netflix can continue compounding earnings through revenue growth, margin expansion, advertising, and buybacks.read more
Red, red, and some more red to kick off the new week. 😅 I did manage to pick up some more ROL today though, that was a bright spot. 👍 What were your best and worst performing stocks today? Let me know in the comments! 👇
Since so many people ask how to invest in this sector, or this country, or this asset, I’ve decided to make a comprehensive guide on how you can invest in specific areas. This is NOT portfolio advice, simply information about tickers that you can research yourself. Save this for later so you have a list of ETFs to come back to! Canada: $XIU$XIC$ZCN All expose you to the TSX in Canada. These ETFs consist of all top Canadian companies and access to our national stock exchange. $VCB$VGV$VLB$VAB$VSB$VSC$XBB$XCB Expose you to Canadian bonds; whether it be long-term, short-term, corporate, government, etc. $VDY$XEI$CDZ Expose you to Canadian dividend companies $XRE$ZRE$VRE Give access to Canadian REITs $ZEB$XFN$RBNK Lets you buy the Canadian banks USA: $VFV$ZSP$XSP$XUS$HXS Lets you buy the S&P 500 (learn about hedged vs. unhedged in my other post) $XQQ$HXQ$ZQQ All give you access to the NASDAQ 100 $IWR$VO$VOE$VOT$IJH$SCHM Lets you buy US Midcaps $IJR$IWM$VB$VBR$VBK$SCHA Lets you buy US Smallcaps $DIV$SPYD$RDIV$DHS$VIG$SCHD$VYM$DGRO$SDY Give access from small to high dividend US companies $VTI$ITOT Lets you buy the whole US market $TLT$IEF$VGIT$GOVT$SHY$VGLT Give access to US bonds $XLC$XLY$XLP$XLE$XLF$XLV$XLI$XLB$XLRE$XLK$XLU All give you access to each sector in the S&P such as financials, energy, healthcare, etc. International: $XEQT$FEQT$VEQT$ZEQT Give you an all-in-one exposure to Canada, US, emerging and global markets. $VEA$IEFA$SCHF$SPDW$EFV$EFA Give access to general international exposure $EWJ$EWU$EWC Gives direct access to developed international countries $INDA$MCHI$EWT$EWY$EWZ$EWW$EIDO$EWM Gives direct access to emerging international countries Assets: $KILO$PHYS$CGL Let’s you buy gold directly through ETFs $SVR$HUZ Let you buy silver through ETFs Savings/Interest: $CASH$HISA$PSA$HSAV Access to Canadian savings and interest payments $HSUV-U $PSU-U $HISU-U Access to US savings and interest payments There’s so many ETFs I didn’t go into with dozens of categories, but this should give you some basic starting point to look into your ETF investments. This is simply the starting point, when choosing your investments always research the ETFs, what they provide to you, their fees, your goals, your risk, and what you’re looking to get out of investing. As always do your research and happy investing! Subscribe to the newsletter: relatablefinance.substack.com read more
The 4% rule was recently discussed and Ive also seen some misconception when it comes to safe withdraw strategies in retirement...the basic idea is pretty simple: If you have $1,000,000 invested, a 4% withdrawal rate means taking roughly $40,000 in your first year of retirement, then generally increasing that dollar amount with inflation. The research behind the 4% rule was built around roughly a 30-year retirement and a diversified portfolio. It's not a guarantee that your portfolio will earn 4% every year. It's a historical framework for surviving market crashes, inflation and different sequences of returns. But here's where I think some investors get confused. I've been seeing investors in covered-call ETFs saying things like: "My fund yields 8–10%, so I can withdraw 6-8% and still be fine." I don't think that's the right way to look at it. An 8–10% distribution does NOT mean your portfolio is generating an 8–10% total return. Covered-call ETFs generate income by selling call options. That can create a large cash distribution, but you're giving up some upside potential in exchange for that income. And some distributions can also be classified as return of capital, which isn't the same thing as the portfolio actually earning that amount. That's the part that can create a false sense of security. You see $10,000 deposited into your account and think "I'm living off the income. I'm not touching my principal." But the more important question is? What happened to the total value of my portfolio after that distribution? Cash flow ≠ return. That's why I personally don't want to build my retirement around chasing the highest possible yield. I've been seeing people talk about withdrawing 5%, 6%, 7%+ as if it's automatically sustainable because their ETF is distributing that much. It can work in certain circumstances. But there's a huge difference between: "My ETF pays me 8%." and "My portfolio can sustainably support an 8% withdrawal rate for the rest of my life." Those are two completely different things.The biggest problem with a high withdrawal rate is sequence-of-returns risk. Imagine retiring with $1M. If the market performs terribly during your first few years of retirement while you're withdrawing 6% or 7% every year, you're taking money out while the portfolio is down.That can permanently damage your portfolio's ability to recover. And the longer your retirement is, the more important this becomes. Obviously, real retirement planning is more complicated than multiplying your portfolio by a percentage. Taxes, pensions, CPP/OAS, inflation, asset allocation and spending changes all matter. The 4% rule isn't a magic number either. It's a guideline based on historical outcomes. For me, I'd rather build a portfolio large enough that I only need to withdraw 3-4%. And hopefully a much better chance of never having to worry about running out of money. The goal isn't just to retire. The goal is to stay retired. Hope this made sense and Happy Monday. read more
17 days after selling McDonald's ($MCD), I bought it back. But not because I'm lovin' the food… I first started buying MCD during the COVID crash in our taxable "overflow" account, at as low as $132, and ended up with 11 shares at a cost basis in the mid-$180s. Then our 20-year-old roof took storm damage, and we needed a new one, so we sold all of our McDonald's at $279 to help pay. But what surprised me most was that I missed owning it! This past Friday, I was working at the DeKalb, IL post office, and I could see a McDonald's from where I was. Every single time I looked up, people were going in and coming out. Then around lunch, two postal employees came back carrying McDonald's bags and drinks. That did it. On my lunch break, I sold some VTI and started a McDonald's position again. What's funny is that I almost never eat there. The only time I really do is at the airport, when we leave the house in a hurry and need something quick and cheap before boarding. But I don't have to be a customer. I just have to notice everybody else is. One thing I'm really lovin' is how former McDonald's CEO Harry Sonneborn famously said, McDonald's isn't in the burger business. It's in the real estate business. About 95% of the restaurants are run by franchisees who pay McDonald's rent and royalties, and McDonald's owns most of the land they sit on. That's why it has a very high 46% operating margin and 49 straight years of dividend raises (soon to be 50 years and a Dividend King this fall). One of McDonald's tasty twists is negative shareholder equity on paper, which sounds scary. It's not for two reasons: First, they've paid out more in dividends and buybacks over the years than they kept, and that's what drives the number below zero. Second, and what I find fascinating, is that all of McDonald's real estate is on the books at what they paid for it. So let's say they bought a corner lot for $700K in 1976, and it's worth $20 million today — the balance sheet still says $700K. McDonald's has a massive amount of hidden net worth that no ratio I know of shows. But I do have a bias I'm working through. Part of me wants to wait for $180 again, but that's dumb. The company earns more now than it did when my average cost was in the $180s. A more profitable business shouldn't sell for the same price it did five years ago. So instead of anchoring to an old price, I'm looking at what I'm paying for the earnings today: P/E, or price-to-earnings (showing how many dollars you're paying for each dollar of earnings), is about 20.8. Its average over the last nine years is about 26, so currently you'd pay $20.80 for every $1 of McDonald's earnings. Free cash flow yield, which shows you the exact percentage of actual cash a company makes compared to what its stock costs, is 4.3%. Its median is 3.15%. Dividend yield is 2.9%. Its 5-year average is 2.3%. By all three, this is the cheapest McDonald's has been in years. So, why is it down? U.S. traffic went soft. Lower-income consumers are pushing back on prices, and CEO Chris Kempczinski said on the last call: they don't have a strategy problem; they simply didn't execute at the level they needed to in the second quarter. I give him credit for honesty, but that's a strike against him, and I think his leash just got a lot shorter. And if you haven't seen the video of him eating the Big Arch burger, you have to watch it here. He got roasted because it looks like the man has never held or eaten a burger before! If things don't turn around soon, I think they'll replace him. But there's another thing you might not know: McDonald's corporate can recommend a price, but the franchisees don't have to follow it. Kempczinski said U.S. restaurants haven't consistently executed the discount strategy, and only about 60% to 65% of the system had put in the "under $3 menu," which is supposed to include 10 items. Thousands of independent owners, each doing their own thing. It's like herding cats, for better or worse. Turning around McDonald's is like turning around the aircraft carrier I served on, the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). It can't change direction like a small boat. It's slow, but once it turns, it turns. These things take time, and that's why I'm buying with confidence. What pushed me into buying was that parking lot in DeKalb that looked packed every time I looked at it. But the data says something different. U.S. same-store sales rose just 0.8% last quarter, and every bit of that came from higher checks — people spending more per visit — while fewer customers actually walked in. Placer.ai measured McDonald's U.S. visits down 4.5% from a year ago. So the lesson is that a busy lot doesn't tell you if it's busier than last year, and it turns out it wasn't. And on top of that, according to Inc., about 36% of McDonald's visitors come from areas where the median household income is under $50,000. Those are the people getting squeezed hardest right now, and they're the same customers McDonald's fumbled with its value menu. That looks like a broke-customer problem and a management problem, and both are fixable. I've been hearing since high school in the 1990s that McDonald's is finished. The Super Size Me documentary. Fitness fads. Fast casual dining. Now it's GLP-1s. It's 2026, and McDonald's is still growing, still profitable, and still the biggest restaurant company on earth. This looks like another in a long line of cycles, not a broken or dying business. Two things I'm watching, and if these break, I’ll reconsider adding more: U.S. guest counts. They need to stop falling and turn positive over the next few quarters. If traffic is still negative a year from now with a new value menu fully rolled out, then I was wrong, and it's structural. The October dividend raise. This would be year 50, and a solid raise of around 5% tells me management is confident. A token raise of 1% to 3% would be a warning. My plan: I'm buying in my Roth IRA, and I intend to never sell. Tax-free compounding, theoretically forever. In the $250s, I keep adding. The lower it goes, the more aggressively I buy. I don't use it. But I'm lovin' it. How about you? This is from the FREER weekly newsletter, which you can check out here 👉 https://dapper-dividends.kit.com/posts/i-never-eat-there-but-i-just-bought-the-stockread more
I help my mother manage her money, and we’ve done well in less than 3 years. Today, about $140K from her annuity transfers became available, and I made three purchases: 🟢 ~$50K$OVL 🟢 ~$50K$TDAQ 🟢 ~$10K$TMGN I also kept ~$30K in cash for future opportunities. The goal is to continue building income + growth while maintaining flexibility and being selective about where we put the money. This is real money and part of her retirement journey. 💰📈 One move at a time. Not financial advice. I’m sharing my personal experience and portfolio decisions. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.read more
