Ethical investing is a bit broader than donating, since the benefits extend beyond supporting a cause to also expecting a financial return
Many financial new-age thinkers encourage people to invest ‘ethically,’ based on the notion that your money should be invested in things that do good – for your community, your country or humanity more broadly – instead of just creating financial returns. We’ve been programmed to consider return and risk as the primary (if not only)…
Trillions of dollars in Canadian-controlled funds should be driving our economy. Yet our prime minister is forced to look for foreign investment help
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Davos, Switzerland, this week to spark interest in trade and investment in Canada. This kind of rhetoric usually gets a bit of press but is largely ignored by the general public. Should the average person be interested? In order for our society to operate effectively, every citizen is expected…
By targeting small business owners, the federal government is undermining the very essence of economic growth
The federal government has proposed significant changes to the Income Tax Act that would harm small business owners. We've seen this kind of tax turnabout before and it's both ugly and unfair. Some politicians and much of the media are describing these business owners as tax cheats, and have demonized them. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation…
Control your own financial destiny by doing your homework, finding boutique advisers and using your TFSA to its maximum potential
Most people spend more time mowing their lawn than they do managing their money. That may sound harsh, but the majority of people have ceded their investment decisions to the army of financial advisers employed by big banks. Employees in Canada's big banks “are pressured to up-sell, trick and lie to customers to meet unrealistic sales targets…
Do your homework. Look with a critical eye at your service providers. After all, it is your money
The tax free savings account market continues to be a great unknown for many Canadians and the big banks apparently aren’t helping. Recently, I asked readers if they were among the six million Canadians with the savings accounts known as TFSAs, and if they truly understood the value those accounts represented – and the flexibility they offered investors. “The pitiful…
Why do Canadian governments look for investment help abroad? And why won't Canadian fund managers invest in homegrown projects?
Does capital have a responsibility to all of society or is return on investment the only consideration? Opinion is changing rapidly in favour of social responsibility and it's starting to penetrate to the highest levels of investment management. Consider the recent paper Shaping Society, by Saker Nusseibeh, a member of the prestigious 300 Club and chief executive of…
Too few Canadians know they can use TFSA funds to invest in ventures that could bring big gains (and cost nothing in tax)
Are you one of the six million Canadians who have opened a tax free savings account (TFSA)? Have you ever wondered about the real purpose of these accounts? You’re not alone. Millions of Canadians are unaware of the potential windfall that former finance minister Jim Flaherty handed them in 2009 when he introduced TFSAs. TSFAs were…
It's time to put trillions of dollars in Canadian savings to work kickstarting our economy – and not go cap in hand to foreign sources
Over the past few weeks, both Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have travelled to the United States to drum up interest in the energy industry and promote investment in the Canada. Why do Canadian politicians go to the U.S. for investment capital? Conventional wisdom says Wall Street (and, to a lesser…
Many financial new-age thinkers encourage people to invest ‘ethically,’ based on the notion that your money should be invested in things that do good – for your community, your country or humanity more broadly – instead of just creating financial returns. We’ve been programmed to consider return and risk as the primary (if not only)…
