The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – America’s New Financial Watchdog

First Published Date: July 19, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

America’s new financial watchdog the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau starts its journey this week. It was setup in the aftermath of the global financial crisis to give US consumers financial rights and to protect consumers by carrying out financial laws.

The central role of the CFPB to inform consumers by promoting financial education, enforce Federal consumer financial laws, and study, analyze information to better understand consumers, financial markets and service providers.

Information is what makes all the difference when it comes to understand the terms and agreements implemented by the financial companies. These terms and agreements are written in such a way that even an MBA holder faces difficulty comprehending the true meaning lies behind these infinite mazes – forget about a general consumer with no financial literacy. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s main objective will be to educate consumers, so they understand the risks and rewards when they shop for financial products. The CFPB will be doing various other things. Here are some of the most important ones:

– Enforce consumer protection laws

– Monitor financial markets to restrict illegal, abusive practices and to identify new
risks  to consumers

– Maintain a consumer toll-free hotline to take complaints

– Review practices of financial service providers

– Promote financial literacy

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau resulted from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank Act). On July 21, 2010, President Barack Obama signed this act into law.

How to Do a Background Check on Your Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Broker, Financial Planner

How to Check Out Your Financial Advisor

First Published Date: August 1, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

Investors’ Resources and Tools to Protect Against Fraud and Scams

You work hard for your money, and so are scammers and con artists to grab a bite on your hard-earned money. Scammers and con artists look professional and friendly to give you the impression that they are the real financial professional to hand over your money. So you need to be careful before trusting someone with your life savings. Today, I am going to show you some simple but effective tools you can use to find out if he is really the person he is saying he is.

National Registration Search – Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) website contains database of all financial professionals and firms across Canada, except those registered only in Ontario with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). Here is the link for Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Registration Search.

Only For Ontario Search – If you are in Ontario, you need to search on Ontario Securities Commission’s Check Registration page.

All Other Provinces and Territories Search – Some of the financial advisors are only registered with their own province or territory. To perform a search, try these keyword phrases on Google: Your province or territory securities commission registrant search. For example, someone in Alberta would search for: “Alberta securities commission registrant search.”

Insurance Agent Search – To check if an insurance agent or advisor is registered, try these keyword phrases on Google: Your province insurance council license search. Or try: Your province insurance agent license search.

Disciplinary Action Search – Advisors, who are licensed to sell various products such as stocks, bonds ETFs and including mutual funds are regulated by Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC). You can search their database for disciplinary actions against advisors taken in the past or currently under investigation, or research the background and qualifications of advisors at IIROC regulated firms here: Know Your Advisor. Advisors, who mainly sell mutual funds, are regulated by MFDA (Mutual Fund Dealers Association), which is the national self-regulatory organization for mutual fund advisors. MFDA’s Enforcement page will give you valuable information on enforcement policies and procedures. Also, the Canadian Securities Administrators website has a list of Disciplined Persons search and listing.

You work hard for your money, and the onus is on you to check for every bit and piece before handing over your money to someone else. One very simple thing you can do is to search on Google for your would-be financial advisor’s name. Try to be creative here by putting words like “complaints,” “fraudulent activities,” etc. next to her name to see if you can find anything. Also, don’t forget to read articles featured on A Dawn Journal’s Internet & Investment Fraud and Scams thoroughly to enhance your knowledge, helping to protect you and your hard-earned money from scammers and con artists.

How to Check Investment Products

How to Check If Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds, ETFs, Securities Are Legit and Not Scams

First Published Date : August 10, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

I discussed how to check out your financial advisor in this article: How to Do a Background Check on Your Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Broker, Financial Planner. Today, I will further discuss how to check investment products so your hard-earned money does not go down the drain.

My Best Advice

When you are ready to buy your investments, my best advice would be not to rush into it and take your time to do some research before buying any investment products such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, GICs, ETFs, or anything else you can possibly imagine.

Tools and Resources You Can Use to Check Investment Products

I am going to give you lots of useful links leading to various tools and resources in this section. I suggest you bookmark or save this article so you can come back and read it later or you can access this article whenever you will need to use these tools and resources.

Know About Internet and Investment Fraud and Scams

This is the first thing to do – have a basic understanding about Internet and Investment Fraud and Scams. Once you have some knowledge on how con artists work, everything else will be a lot easier for you to follow. Here are the links to some great articles on A Dawn Journal:

– Internet and Investment Fraud and Scams

Here are some free eBook links:

– Protect Your Money: Avoiding Frauds and Scams

– Investing and the Internet

– Scam Artists Pursue Adults Over 50

Information about Individuals and Companies Which May Pose Risks

– OSC Investors Warning Page

A List Containing Individuals and Companies Which May Pose Risks

– OSC Investors Warning List Page

OSC Tools and Resources Webpage

– Investors Protect Against Fraud Page

OSC Investment Fraud Checklist

– Check Before You Invest

IFE (Investor Education Fund) Money and Investing Information Site

– Get Smarter About Money

U.S. Tools and Resources Links

– Protect Your Money: Check Out Brokers and Investment Advisers

– FINRA Protect Yourself Page

Remember, use your common sense and vigilance as they are your best defence. If you ever believe you have been a victim of fraud and scams, here is what you can do:

– Call your local RCMP detachment or your Police Department

– Report your situation online through Reporting Economic Crime Online

– Visit PhoneBusters, send an email to info@phonebusters.com, or call 1-888-495-8501

How Many Credit Cards Do You Need?

How Many Credit Cards You Should Have

First Published Date: August 16, 2011

When I was a student, getting my first credit card with a $500 credit limit gave me the feeling of conquering a country – it was a feeling nothing like I had experienced before. And then I got addicted to applying and getting more credit cards. I wanted to have them back then just because they looked cool and I wanted to have a collection of all sorts of cards. However, things are different now. There is no need to acquire cards one after another just to make your wallet fat. Today, I am going to talk about how many credit cards you should have and if there is any perfect number you need to stick with.

Let’s look at how having more than one credit card affects you in terms of your FICO® score. Your debit-to-credit ratio is your combined credit card balance divided by your combined credit limit. Credit-to-debit ration represents 30 percent of your credit score. If you carry a balance on your credit card, the more credit cards you will have, the better (lower) your debit-to-credit ratio percentage will be. For example, if you have one credit card with a credit limit of $1000 and you spend the full $1000, your debit-to-credit ratio will be 100 percent. However, if you have 4 credit cards with $1000 credit limit each, spending the same $1000 will make your debit-to-credit ratio only 25 percent. So having more credit cards does help in your FICO® score; however, you should not worry too much about this 30 percent of your score as there is 70 percent remaining to improve your score. And besides, if you have difficulty controlling your spending, more credit cards translate into more spending.

Now, how many credit cards do I think you should have? There is no ideal answer because it all depends on your personal situation. However, from my point of view you should have at least three (VISA, MasterCard, and American Express) major brands. One of the main benefits of having all is that not every place/merchant accepts all cards and having each of them will come in handy, especially when you travel. Another benefit of having more than one card is you can use them for different purposes.

As I mentioned earlier, if you have a spending problem, strictly stick to one credit card and only use it for emergencies. And then when you think you are responsible enough to handle more credit cards, you can look into getting more based on your needs.

Canadian Gold ETFs

Gold ETFs Canada

First Published Date: August 24, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

As global stock markets stumble and take a deep plunge, investors across the globe take shelter in one specific metal – gold. Gold has had an immense impact on human civilization. It caused the fall of nations, pushed the Age of Discovery, made some people rich and others poor. It is something that we all cherish and we all want more of it. In search for more gold, what can be better than gold ETFs? Today, I am going to discuss some gold ETFs I like. ETFs trade on stock exchanges just like stocks and you can buy them through your discount brokerage account or through a licensed financial advisor. For more information on ETFs, please visit A Dawn Journal ETF Section.

Central Gold Trust ETF (TSX: GTU.U) – Established in 2003, this is a pure gold trust holding gold bullion stored in the treasury vault facilities of a bank in Canada. As of the end of December 2010, GTU assets consisted of 604,676 ounces of gold bullion, 6,156 ounces of gold certificate totalling 610,832 ounces.

iShares S&P TSX Global Gold Index Fund ETF (TSX: XGD, MER: 0.57% ) – This ETF tracks the performance of the S&P/TSX Global Gold Index – which tracks the world’s leading gold companies. iShares ETFs are managed by BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited.

Claymore Gold Bullion ETF (TSX: CGL, MER: 0.54%) – This ETF physical gold and tries to replicate the performance of gold bullion price.

iShares COMOX Gold Trust ETF (TSX: IGT, MER: 0.40% ) – This is a U.S. gold ETF that trades on the TSX. It owns physical gold and trades in Canadian dollars.

Horizon COMOX Gold ETF (TSX: HUG, MER: 0.65%) – This ETF tries to track the performance of the COMEX gold futures. BetaPro Management Inc. is the portfolio manager.

BMO Junior Gold Index ETF (TSX: ZJG, MER: 0.55%) – If you like junior gold companies, this may be for you. This ETF tracks the performance of the Dow Jones North American Select Junior Gold Index.

Disclosure – This article is for information purposes only and No information is intended as investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, or as an offer to sell or buy or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security, ETF, or fund. The author assumes no liability for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. You bear responsibility for your own investment research and decisions, and should seek the advice of a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision. I own some of the ETFs mentioned here.