All posts by Financial Independence Hub

Best First Quarter since 2019!

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By Dale Roberts

Special to Financial Independence Hub

It was a wonderful quarter for U.S. stocks. In fact, the S&P 500 index rose 10.2% during the first three months of the year, its best first-quarter performance since 2019. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite gained 5.6% and 9.1%, respectively. Canadian and International stocks also pitched in with a strong quarter. Given that, balanced portfolios of all stripes are rewarding patient investors. A global equity portfolio (XEQT) delivered 9.6%. It’s the best first quarter since 2019 on the Sunday Reads.

U.S. stocks had their best first quarter since 2019.

Looking for that soft economic landing

While the stock market saw intermittent sell-offs, it continued marching higher as robust corporate earnings and a strong labor market renewed hopes that the economy will avoid a recession.

The S&P 500 on Thursday logged its 22nd record-high close of the year. The first 17 were recorded during the first 50 tading days of 2024, the largest tally during that period since 1998, according to Bespoke Investment Research.

Companies in the S&P 500 saw earnings grow 4.3% during the fourth quarter of 2023 from the prior year, according to FactSet data. Analysts polled by FactSet expect S&P 500 earnings to grow by more than 10% for all of 2024.

Let the good times roll?

In another positive sign for markets, history suggests that new highs at the beginning of the year often portend positive annual returns. The S&P 500 has seen an average 15.8% return in years that it notched new highs in January and February, in contrast to an average 9.2% gain for all years, according to CFRA Research data going back to 1954.

I like this quote that I read on Seeking Alpha …

All manner of genius is presently simply embarrassed by the market’s failure to stop going up.

Alex King – Cestrian Capital

Every sector (except real estate) offered gains in the first quarter.

And momentum is a powerful force. Of course past performance and trends are not guaranteed to repeat. But just for fun, have a look at this table.

While markets mostly go up, the chances of them going up are at a higher level in 2024. Of course that’s no reason to adjust your strategy. We adopt a simple investment plan and stick to it like glue. As I wrote a few months ago …

The watiting is the hardest part. We set the table for the next robust upturn, or three.

A nice mix of top performers

Our top performers for the quarter are a mix of Canadian energy stocks, tech and some defensives. Bitcoin leads the way.

Canadian stocks are helping out

Canadian stocks also had a solid first quarter with iShares TSX 60 (XIU) up 6.0%. That was the headline in last week’s Sunday Reads – Canadian stocks are better than you think.

And a report on Thursday offers hope that the Canadian economy still might have a pulse after many quarters of population-adjusted negative growth (aka recession).

This week I updated the post that looks at the BMO Low Volatility ETF – ZLB. That may be the best core Canadian ETF. I also compared that wonderful market-beating ETF to the Canadian Wide Moat portfolio.

And here’s a post on the move out of high fee Canadian mutual funds. More Canadians are making the sensible shift to ETF portfolios and building stock portfolios. But it’s not fast enough. There’s still $2 trillion in mutual funds, most of those funds being high-fee and very poor performing. The opportunity costs is just tremendous. Please share this blog with friends and family stuck in ‘the old way’ to invest. Continue Reading…

Automating Wealth: How to Systematize your Path to Financial Independence

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Pexels/Tima Miroshnichenko

By Devin Partida

Special to Financial Independence Hub

Financial freedom: everyone knows what it means, but few understand how to achieve it. Those who do understand the role of automation in the process and how it allows them to focus on other vital actions necessary to reach their goals. Automating repetitive manual tasks can streamline financial management and improve decision-making.

Strategies for Automating your Finances

Becoming financially independent requires the right habits. However, consistently following a set pattern for saving, budgeting and other money-related activities can quickly feel repetitive. Automation can take care of the boring stuff, saving time and giving you more control over your financial situation. Here are some ways to go about it.

Automate Bills and Recurring Expenses

Bills you pay regularly — such as rent, mortgage, utilities, credit cards and subscriptions — take a significant part of your budget. These payments can cause stress and anxiety, especially if you have to keep track of them manually. Most banks offer automatic debit arrangements  that deduct monthly payments from your account on or before specified dates, ensuring your expenses are always covered on time.

Use a Budgeting App to Track Spending

Building long-term wealth begins with knowing where your dollars are going and how changing prices affect your budget. If you need help with your finances, a budgeting app will be your best friend.

These platforms can simplify expense tracking and help you identify where to scale back. Several are available, so feel free to explore until you find one best suited to your requirements.

Set up Automatic Transfers to your Savings Account

It’s easy to forget to transfer funds into your savings account, especially if you have many financial obligations. Like your recurring payments, you can also automate your financial conservation efforts. This method can help eliminate  the emotional side of decision-making that often makes saving money difficult.

Set Investments on Autopilot

Investing is a powerful way to grow your finances, but the inherent risks can be off-putting. Consider using a robo-advisor or investment bot to manage your portfolio, make data-driven decisions and minimize the time required to manage your investments.

For example, AI stock-trading programs can analyze historical information and current trends to predict market shifts, cluing you in on when to buy or sell a particular stock. Some systems can even tailor recommendations based on your budget and automatically make investing choices based on set parameters.

How Automation gets you Closer to Financial Independence

Financial freedom starts with defined goals backed by intentional action. Automation plays a massive role in shortening the path to achieving these objectives. Ideally, a well-framed goal only requires 3–5 steps to accomplish: anything more than that will likely complicate the process. Continue Reading…

ETF Fees Explained

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By Danielle Neziol, BMO ETFs

(Sponsor Content)

Canadians are facing a lot of sticker shock lately. My grocery bill was how much? My mortgage payment is going to increase by what per cent? Don’t even ask me what it costs to fill up my car these days. With more money going to living expenses, it has become harder to save than ever. One simple way to get ahead is to be more aware of what we are spending — especially in times like these —  and to review our monthly expenses to see where there are opportunities to make cuts.

Our investment portfolios should be viewed no differently. If you are an investor who holds a mutual fund or an exchange traded fund (ETF) there are fees attached to your investments. It would be prudent to review the cost structure of the funds you hold to ensure that the fees make sense relative to the fund’s investment mandate. It would also be wise to review the cost of the funds you hold to see if that fee is competitive relative to similar products in the market. Fees detract from total portfolio returns, so anything an investor can do to manage these costs can help keep more money in their pockets.

Management Fees and MERs

Every investment fund has a management fee. This is the cost a fund manager charges to manage the portfolio operationally (buy and sell securities, rebalance, etc). The Management Expense Ratio (MER) is the bottom-line cost to the investor. It includes any taxes charged to the fund, as well as any added fees (such as leverage). An investor can look up the management fee and MER within the Fund Facts and ETF Facts of their funds. These are regulatory documents that can be found for every fund issued in Canada. Some asset managers advertise very low management fees but have higher, less advertised, MERs, so investors should always do their due diligence on the total fund cost to fully understand the bottom-line payment that they are making every year.

The MER is subtracted from daily returns. Therefore, it has a direct impact on the total return of the fund. And as investors we know that overtime, our total returns help build our overall wealth. Therefore, the lower the fee on the investment, the more money there will be for the investor at the end of their investment period.

Comparing Fees

Once investors are aware of the fees they are paying for their investment products, they have the ability to “shop around” to see if there are any products that may be a better fit in their portfolios or which offer lower fees. When comparing fees it’s important to understand what you’re getting for in return for what you’re paying for. Broad market index funds generally have the lowest fees in the market. For example the BMO S&P 500 Index ETF (ZSP) has an MER of 0.09%. Index funds tend to have the lowest fees because operationally they are easier to manage. A Portfolio Manager will go out and buy the stocks within a particular index, and rebalance when needed.1 Continue Reading…

Lowering the first rung on the housing ladder

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Image courtesy of CMI/Envato Elements

By Kevin Fettig

Special to Financial Independence Hub

 

A recent report by Ontario’s Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) highlights the scarcity of homes under $500,000 in Ontario.

In 2013, 74% of residential properties had a value below this threshold. Today,  just 19% of homes are valued below $500,000.  While this situation varies from province to province, it highlights the significant challenges faced by first-time home buyers who find the first rung of the property ladder is nearly unreachable.

Most urban centers would benefit by encouraging lower cost paths to home ownership. One avenue for this is building properties on leased land. In certain areas of Vancouver, we already see this practice, often on First Nations or university-owned lands. Leased land provides two primary paths to homeownership: one involves placing mobile or manufactured housing on the leased property, while the other entails constructing permanent homes on the leased land.

More than 50 years ago, manufactured housing made up as much as 6% of Canadian housing completions. Today, it represents less than 1%. In the U.S., supporting the availability of manufactured housing is a key component of the administration’s effort to ease the burden of housing costs. Most of these initiatives focus on improving mortgage financing for these homes through housing finance agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Currently, Americans must rely on personal property financing (chattel lending) rather than conventional mortgages.

CMHC launched Chattel Loan program in 1988

In Canada, we’ve had a mortgage insurance product for these loan types for some time. The Chattel Loan Insurance Program (CLIP) was first launched by CMHC in 1988 as a 5-year pilot program. However, CMHC has never actively promoted the program, leading to a lack of awareness among lenders. Moreover, consumer preference for traditional stick-built housing and resistance from local communities to mobile home park developments have further hindered the adoption of the program.

Although the eligible amortization period can extend up to 25 years, some provinces have not allowed longer-term leases, making it challenging to finance structures on leased land, whether stick-built or manufactured. Even with an insured mortgage product, securing financing for manufactured homes can be difficult. Financial institutions often lack understanding of these structures, and the constraints on amortization period restrict the type of homebuyer. Consequently, the market has primarily targeted retirees seeking to downsize from larger family homes to smaller units. However, with appropriate financing options, these properties could also appeal to first-time buyers.

Building permanent homes on leased land is a second avenue to reducing home-ownership costs. Leased land communities are typically located close to small urban centres. The design ranges from townhouses to single family dwellings, and from traditionally built to manufactured. There are some larger institutional groups in this sector, including Parkbridge, a leading Canadian developer and operator of 106 residential and recreational communities across the country. CAPREIT, a Canadian real estate investment trust, also manages leased land communities but is not a developer. Continue Reading…