Knightscove Media Corp. Delays Filing of Audited Year End Financial Statements
May 1st, 2012 | Posted by Global InvestorsKnightscove Media Corp. (TSX VENTURE:KC.A)(TSX VENTURE:KC.B) (“Knightscove”) is announcing that it will be late in filing its audited annual financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, the related Management’s Discussion Analysis, and the CEO and Corporate Controller certification of filings (collectively, the “2011 Filings”).
The delay is caused by a couple of key factors. First, Knightscove has had a change of auditors from Grant Thornton LLP. It was mutually agreed that this was in the best interest of Knightscove and not as a result of any “Reportable…
View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
Financial Status Bar & Goal Updates
April 23rd, 2012 | Posted by Global InvestorsIt’s time for some Spring cleaning and I have updated this post which explains my ratio-based method of tracking our financial progress towards early retirement (as shown by the status indicator on the top right of every blog page). I’ve made some clarifications/edits and also added links to recent updates.
Our goal is to always have a full year of expenses in cash equivalents as our “emergency fund”. (This is not the same as a year of income. Our expenses are much lower than our income.) This is a cushion for a variety of potential events including job loss, health concerns, or other unplanned costs. It also allows us to take a more long-term view with our investment portfolio since we know we won’t have to touch it.
Since our emergency fund is relatively large, I try to maximize the yield. If we stuck it all in a money market fund, the yield would be barely above zero. With a bit of work, our cash earns a blended rate of over 2% annually without taking on extra risk. We use the same accounts to make money from no fee 0% APR balance transfer offers, but currently don’t play that “game”. Here are recent updates on where we keep our cash:
March 2012 Cash Reserves Update
May 2011 Cash Reserves Update
January 2011 Cash Reserves Update
I don’t think everyone should buy a house (or more accurately, take out a huge loan on a house). I don’t necessarily think it works out a very good investment over time. However, if you are geographically stable, I do think buying and eventually owning a house free and clear can be a solid component of an early retirement plan. My current forecast is to have our house paid off in 10-15 years. Housing is very expensive where I live, so once that mortgage payment is gone, the actual income my investments will have to produce will drop drastically.
There are many ways to define home equity, and I am sticking to a simple method of calculating home equity by taking 100% minus (outstanding mortgage balance / original home purchase price). As of 2011, our home price has rebounded to over the original purchase price according to a refinance appraisal and comparable sales. Overall, I’d rather enjoy having continuous progress without worrying about my home’s exact market value. Here are some historical mortgage updates:
November 2011 Mortgage Payoff Update
February 2011 Mortgage Payoff Update
The goal of my investment portfolio is allow withdrawals to support our needed expenses in “retirement”. Again, income and expenses are not the same thing. After mortgage payoff, I expect our required expenses to be less than 25% of our current income. I like to assume a simple 3% safe withdrawal rate, which means for every $100,000 saved, I can generate $3,000 a year of inflation-adjusted income for the rest of our lives. I used to use 4%, but since our target “retirement” age is in our 40s and not 60s, I feel that 3% is better. Even 3% is not guaranteed, but again it does provide a quick estimate of progress. Here are recent portfolio updates:
February 2012 Investment Portfolio Update
November 2011 Investment Portfolio Update
July 2011 Investment Portfolio Update
My initial goal was to try and keep the home equity and expense replacement ratio about the same so that both will reach 100% at the same time, but we’ll see. I am still (very slowly) researching shifting to a more income-oriented portfolio that yields about 3% and has a principal value that can grow with inflation.
The actual implementation of my plan will probably require more flexibility. At some point, I plan on using some of my money and invest in an immediate annuity to hedge against living too long (a problem I hope to have). I’ll also need to vary my exact withdrawal rates a bit from with market conditions. Once I reach age 70 or so, Social Security will kick in something. I don’t think Social Security will disappear although I do expect means-testing, but I also don’t expect to be so rich as to not get anything.
Related posts:
Financial Status Bar & Goal Updates from My Money Blog.
© MyMoneyBlog.com, 2012.
View full post on My Money Blog
What Cities Are People Moving To For Financial Reasons?
February 10th, 2012 | Posted by Global InvestorsThis post has been revised with new info and added to my Expense Reduction Guide: Housing.
Although it takes considerable effort, nearly 40 million Americans move every year. Now, the reasons for all these moves are not all financial, but you can improve your financial situation drastically by moving. You might increase your income, decrease your housing costs, or decrease your tax bill.
Where are people moving to? This Forbes article analyzed address data from IRS tax filings, and found that a trend that households are moving to warmer climates with lower taxes and property values. The majority of the top ten counties are in Texas and Florida, where there is no state income tax.
After accounting for property taxes, Shrum’s analysis shows that Texas has the fourth-lowest personal tax burden in the country, and Florida has the eighth lowest.
They also compiled an interactive map which shows relative inflows and outflows for each county. (Previous year’s version here). It’s pretty fun to click around to where you live, and where you might consider moving to.
Below is the map for Travis County, TX, where Austin is the major population center. A blue line between two counties mean that more people migrated to Austin than left, and a red line means that more people left Austin for that county than came in.
Where are people leaving? Places with high tax rates.
Shrum also points to eight states that have targeted wealthy households with extra-high tax brackets: California, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Hawaii, Oregon, Connecticut and Wisconsin. Six of the top 10 counties the rich are fleeing are located in those states.
Personal case study. My sister used to live in San Francisco, California. She recently moved to Austin, Texas where her income increased and her housing costs decreased at the same time. Texas has no state income tax but relatively high property taxes. But since she rents in both places, the lack of state income tax becomes yet another boost to her bottom line. I should note that we both lived there for a while as children, so there is some familiarity, but she left in elementary school. From the looks of it, she wasn’t alone!
Related posts:
What Cities Are People Moving To For Financial Reasons? from My Money Blog.
© MyMoneyBlog.com, 2012.
View full post on My Money Blog
Moved For Financial Reasons? Share Your Story.
February 9th, 2012 | Posted by Global Investors
Have you moved for financial reasons?
Where did you move to? Where did you move from? How did you decide?
Larger income? Better job for similar income? Lower housing costs? Something else?
Share your story in the comments below!
I don’t think there will be as many as the 358 replies to my six-figure salary stories request, but I’m sure reading your case studies would be very interesting.
Related posts:
Moved For Financial Reasons? Share Your Story. from My Money Blog.
© MyMoneyBlog.com, 2012.
View full post on My Money Blog
2011 Financial Goals Reviewed, When Things Happen But Not The Way You Think
December 27th, 2011 | Posted by Global Investors
Each year, I establish my financial and blogging goals at the beginning of the year. It is a way to focus on very specific things throughout the year instead of trying to reach all kinds of goals at the same time. So my 3 financial goals for 2011 were :
#1 Paying off all my credit cards (22K!)
Good news or bad news, I know that as of the end of January 2012, I won’t have any credit card debt. I say good news because I will reach my goal albeit only 1 month late. But I say bad news as it didn’t happen the way I thought it would. To be honest, my goal was to systematically pay back my debts throughout the year. If you have been following my net worth statement, you know that it didn’t happen at all. In fact, I kept increasing my debt level (up to 28K back this summer!). This is how I finished in the top 3 and made $176K this year.
So the way I found to reach my goal was to get the most amazing bonus I’ve ever earned (which will be paid in January 2012). This is the only reason why I will be able to:
a) Clear 22K in credit card debts
b) Pay off my 10K RRSP loan
While I’m pretty proud of my bonus, I’m not that proud of my spending habits! This is why I’ve started to see things differently and applied a few changes to my habits. Starting January 20th, I will be leaving my job downtown to either work 5 minutes from my house or 50 feet away from my bedroom (I don’t know if I’ll stick to the rat race or not yet). In both cases, I’ll be saving roughly $10,000 in transportation cost (this includes, metro pass, gas, parking and car maintenance). Since I live in a highly taxed province, this will equal almost $20,000 of gross income 
#2 Increase my net worth past 200K (from 152K)
Here again, I say mission accomplished but not the right way! As of November, my net worth was sitting at $177K. I will see a big jump in January with the arrival of my bonus (which will be roughly 30K after taxes. So in a single year, I was able to increase my net worth by 50K while the 30K will serve to pay down my debts.
I don’t expect to reassess my company shares until our annual meeting that usually happens in April or May. Until then, my net worth will be pretty stable. My other big asset, my house, has been reassessed after I’ve installed a central AC this summer. Also, I won’t increase the value of my house again at the end of the year to consider inflation. However, my neighbor just sold for $340K and I have over 400 square feet more (and a central AC ;-D ).
#3 Get into the Top 3 Financial Planners in Montreal and Make 150K
I still don’t know if I’ll win the Planner of the Year in Montreal (the announcement is being made in late January) but I know already that I’ll be in the top 3. This year was a tremendous one and I’ve achieved 272% of my numbers. This is how I finished in the top 3 and made $176,000 this year.
I know I might never repeat this great year, but at least, I will use the money earned for a good purpose. Instead of building a garage (man, I really miss my garage!), I will pay down my debt and start fresh for 2012… with more goals! Those will be announced at the beginning of 2012 .
Stay tuned as I’ll also update you on my 2011 blogging goals next week!
View full post on The Financial Blogger
Tips For Young Financial Advisors
December 8th, 2011 | Posted by Global Investors
As you may already know, I’m a financial advisor by day. While I never discuss my business on this blog, from time to time I give updates about my career evolution. This is why I get several emails from young men and women looking to start their career in this field. In a very few years, I was able to rank among the top performers at work. In my opinion, I don’t do anything extraordinary; I just try to do my job properly. However, there are a few things that I do that most advisors don’t. This is why I decided to share some of my tricks if you want to start your career in the financial industry.
Get titles
I’ll tell you one thing; both employers and clients LOVE titles. They are synonyms of knowledge and professionalism. Two competencies appreciated by your future employers and your future clients. In a world where everybody claims to be THE expert, titles will make a difference in order to prove yourself. Having a CFP title on top of an MBA boosted my credibility. While the latter has nothing to do with my job, the CFP title is a must in my opinion. It gives me the tools needed to make a complete analysis.
Don’t sell
I hate to be sold and you probably hate it too. So would it be so different for a potential client? The difference is that everybody loves to buy. And this is what you need to do. How can you have people buy YOU? (‘cause they are not buying your products or your banner, they first buy into the individual). It’s quite easy to make people buy something; you just have to not sell . What I’m saying is that it is inappropriate to shove the document down the client’s throat to make him sign. Don’t be insistent and tell your clients that they can think about it. Trust me, I used to push a little bit harder on my clients and since learned my lesson. They were signing upfront (I even closed deals on first appointment and within 35 minutes!). But then, I had to meet the clients 2-3 times over the next couple of months because they had more questions. I did this for the first 6 months of my career and have completely stopped. I now let clients think about it and schedule a second and third meeting. They usually sign on the second meeting but they are convinced and happy at that time and they don’t call me back for further “insecurity” questions 2 weeks later . People simply appreciate a pressure free environment.
Be transparent
Are you about to offer a high MER solution to your clients? Or you know that there is a disadvantage in your strategy (nothing is perfect by the way, so there are flaws attached to each investing or financing solution)? Then tell your clients upfront!
I always tell my clients the advantages as well as the disadvantages of each strategy. I also tell them if I make more money with one or the other. Clients appreciate this transparency a lot and they understand that you work for them and not for your pocket.
Talk about needs and not stats
I’ll tell you upfront: most clients don’t care about the beta, about the GDP or about the tactical deviation. The numbers as well as long and sophisticated financial terms bore them. However, they are interested in retiring at 60, or having a “bulletproof” portfolio or saving taxes. And most of them don’t really like knowing the technical side (I always provide them with the technical but never focus on it). I give them 2 documents: One thick and detailed document explaining the technical (and I mention that this is for a rainy Sunday) and another with 5 pages that outline the main benefits of the strategy.
People care about their needs and seek benefits. They don’t care about numbers and definitions.
Follow-up
I’d say that the name of my success is “follow-up”. When a client signs with you, you just don’t close a sale; you enter into a relationship. And this relationship needs to be taken care of by both sides. Don’t wait for your client to call you and ask questions when the market is bad. Call them; send them a newsletter, book follow-up appointments.
A good presentation will get you the deal signed. A good follow-up method will get references which will lead to even more deals signed. And there is nothing easier to close than a warm reference from a satisfied client!
Sir, do you have 45 minutes for a great financial advice?
Dear young advisors or financial advisors to-be, I want to leave you with one last trick. This has been one of my most successful tricks to get an appointment: calling a client and asking him if he has 45 minutes to meet with me in exchange for great financial advice. It’s free and it doesn’t cost anything else but 45 minutes of his life to improve his personal finances forever. Sometimes you can give a major advice that will literally change someone’s financial life while others will get good advice that worth’s thinking about. But I have yet to face someone that I couldn’t improve their finance one way or another.
If you have any questions about getting a job in the financial industry or how to answer interview questions, please comment on this post!
View full post on The Financial Blogger
I’ll be Part of The Experts Tables At The Financial Blogger Conference And Nominations!
September 28th, 2011 | Posted by Global Investors
I’m happy and excited at the same time as I’ll be part of the “ask the experts tables” at The Financial Blogger Conference! Next weekend, I’ll be in Chicago for the first Financial Blogger conference. This was already an exciting experience as I will finally meet most of my blogging idols and friends after 5 years of sending emails!
But the best part has been confirmed: I’ll be meeting with anybody who has questions about valuing/buying/managing/selling multiple blogs. My name is now beside big guys like Mike Piper from Obvlious Investor, Peter Anderson from Bible Money Matters and Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income! (you can see the list of all “experts” here).
The “ask the expert” table roundup will be take place on Saturday. This will be a 30 minutes spot where everybody will have the chance to chat with any of us regarding specific topics. I think it’s an amazing opportunity for me to share my knowledge and connect with other people. So if you are coming to Chicago, be sure to stop by my table to have a chat ;-D
3 nominations for the Plutus Awards
The Plutus Awards are the first personal finance awards for bloggers. This year, the winners will be announced at the conference. I was happy to be nominated in 3 categories:
Best Personal Finance Blog for Entrepreneur (for The Financial Blogger)
Best New Personal Finance eBook (for Dividend Investing)<
Best Personal Finance Blog for Teens or College Students (for Green Panda Treehouse)
It is a true honour to be nominated for these awards! Sometimes, I compare myself to the “big guys” and often feel that I’m not “that good”. So I was quite surprised to find myself recognized! If you think I should win any of these categories, you can vote here.
Let me know if you are coming to Chicago this weekend, we’ll have a beer together!
Cheers,
Mike.
View full post on The Financial Blogger
Media Advisory – TD Bank Group to release third-quarter financial results
August 14th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsTD Bank Group (TD or the Bank) will
release its third-quarter financial results and host an earnings
conference call on Thursday, September 1, 2011.
Financial results will be issued in a press release at approximately
6:30 a.m. ET. The call will be webcast live via TD’s website at 3:00
p.m. ET and is expected to last about 60 minutes. The call and webcast
will feature presentations by TD executives on the Bank’s financial
results for the third quarter, followed by a question-and-answer period
with analysts.
The presentation material referenced during the call will be available
on the TD…
View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
Isis Reports Financial Results and Highlights for Second Quarter 2011
August 8th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsIsis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ISIS) today announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2011. The Company finished the second quarter of 2011 with a pro forma net operating loss (NOL) of $11.6 million and $24.9 million for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011, respectively, compared to a pro forma NOL of $15.5 million and $17.1 million for the same periods in 2010. The Company finished the second quarter of 2011 with more than $395 million in cash. Isis remains on track to meet its 2011 guidance of an NOL in the… View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
Trilogy Energy Corp. Announces Financial and Operating Results for the Three and Six Months-Ended Ju
August 3rd, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsTrilogy Energy Corp. (TSX:TET) ( Trilogy or the Company ) is pleased to announce its financial and operating results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2011.
FINANCIAL AND OPERATING HIGHLIGHTS
– Sales volumes for the second quarter of 2011 averaged 29,320 Boe/d as
compared to 25,362 Boe/d for the previous quarter, representing a 16
percent increase quarter over quarter. Increased oil and natural gas
liquids production to 25 percent of total production.
– Capital expenditures (excluding acquisitions and dispositions) totaled
$42.8 million…
View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
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