David Sawyer is a regular guest contributor at Monevator and has written several pieces for us since publishing his debut book, RESET. He returns here to explain how to use the UK budgeting tool Money Dashboard — one of his nine underrated tools for people pursuing financial independence. Sitting through a long meeting. Persistent eczema. … Read more

Gurchuran Rai learned the hard way that patience and discipline are central to successful long-term investing. His first encounter with the stock market began after a cold call from an unfamiliar broker who pitched shares in an electronic monitoring company. Rai bought a small position, saw the price rise briefly, then increased his stake. The … Read more

Smart Investing: Why Copying the Best Can Improve Your Portfolio When it comes to investing, learning from successful investors is often one of the wisest moves you can make. Unlike academic work, where originality is essential, investing rewards those who adopt time-tested ideas from knowledgeable market participants. Observing how experienced investors think and allocate capital … Read more

After the success of his acclaimed book Just Keep Buying, bestselling author Nick Maggiulli returns with The Wealth Ladder. Below, Nick explains why the Wealth Ladder is a practical framework for tracking progress and improving your financial life. When I was five, my father taught me how to play chess. For fun, he invited his … Read more

If you’ve ever created an investment plan, you know asset allocation—the mix of stocks, bonds, real estate and other holdings that determines your portfolio’s expected risk and return. Less commonly discussed is asset location: how you distribute those assets across your different account types, such as RRSPs, TFSAs and taxable accounts. Like real estate, location … Read more

I have written extensively about return premiums—those so-called superheroes of passive investing that promise to outperform the market. But like any hero, they have weaknesses: circumstances in which they underdeliver or disappear right when investors expect them to save the day. This article is an anti-hero guide. It highlights the key limitations and traps that … Read more

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, sits along the North Saskatchewan River and its expansive river valley, offering residents a balance of natural scenery and modern urban life. In recent years, Edmonton’s comparatively affordable housing has attracted buyers from other provinces, making the city one of Canada’s most sought-after real estate markets. Table of contents: Best … Read more

The main reason people try to keep up with the Joneses is the status games we all play. Humans are social animals, and across our evolutionary history it has been vital to know where we stand in the tribe. Status could affect access to food, mates, safety, and resources. In modern life it also determines … Read more

What caught my eye this week. When former Chancellor George Osborne announced increases to stamp duty and reductions in mortgage interest tax relief for landlords, many dismissed the move with a shrug. “They’ll just raise the rents!” some scoffed. “Generation Rent can pick up the tab.” But it turns out that having ridden one of … Read more

You and I are often advised to put our money into simple portfolios and to invest in shares for the long term for retirement. That advice is sound for most of us. But once preserving capital becomes more important than growing it, different approaches come to the fore. For the very wealthy, the preservation of … Read more