My Top Favourite Free Financial News Smart Phone Apps

My Top Favourite Free Android Smart Phone Financial Info Apps

First Published Date: February 23, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

In the past, I talked about Android Financial Apps. Today, I will go over some financial news apps that will make your news quest in the financial world a lot easier and you will have the latest news at your fingertips instantly.

Bloomberg for Smartphone by Bloomberg LP – View financial news, market updates, and stock quotes with this app. This app can provide so many categories for financial news that it can overwhelming and hard to decide how many categories you want to set for your phone. The best feature this app has? You can watch live Bloomberg TV and video clips. Picture quality is unbelievably crisp clear. After installing this app, I started watching Bloomberg TV on my phone regularly for important highlights.

Google Finance by Google Inc. – This is somewhat a simple financial app compared to Bloomberg. There are only 3 tabs: Markets, Portfolios, and News. On the news tab, you can’t pick any categories. It shows all news at same place. The drawback with this app is that it does not support the Canadian market or stocks. If you have created watchlists for Canadian stocks under Google Finance Canada, it will show only the names of your watchlists, but will not show any individual stocks on the Canadian market.

Yahoo! Finance by Yahoo! Inc. – Very similar to Google Finance, but it supports Canadian markets and stocks. And its news section even shows Canadian business news. Very simple layout and easy to use.

iShares Offers More Exposure to Emerging and International Markets

iShares Offers 5 New ETFs

First Published Date: June 8, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

iShares recently launched 5 new ETFs giving investors different taste from different segments from the emerging and international markets. These 5 ETFs are:

XUS – iShares S&P 500 Index ETF

XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF

XEC – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index ETF

XCD – iShares S&P Global Consumer Discretionary Index Fund (CAD-Hedged)

XGI – iShares S&P Global Industrials Index Fund (CAD-Hedged)

Today, I will discuss XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF and XEC – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index ETF, as there are very similar ETFs that exist from iShares and Vanguard Canada.

XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF MER 0.30% – XEF tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the MSCI EAFE IMI Index. The MSCI EAFE Investable Index is a measure of the broad international stock market that includes about 2500 small, mid, and large cap companies around the globe excluding North America.

Another ETF XIN – iShares MSCI EAFE Index ETF CAD-Hedged MER 0.50% exists from iShares which is somewhat similar to XEF. However, unlike XEF, XIN tracks the MSCI EAFE Index. The MSCI EAFE Index captures 85% of total market capitalization representing about 915 mid and large cap companies around the globe excluding North America. The MSCI EAFE IMI Index goes much deeper to captures 99% of total market capitalization representing about 2500 small, mid, and large cap companies around the globe, excluding North America.

Vanguard offers very similar ETF (like XIN) VEF – FTSE Developed ex North America Index ETF CAD-hedged MER 0.43%. The FTSE Developed ex North America Hedged CAD Index represents about 1340 mid and large cap companies around the globe excluding North America.

XEC – iShares MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index ETF MER 0.35% – This new MSCI Emerging Markets IMI Index fund holds about 1800 emerging market companies without currency hedging. Another ETF XEM – MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund MER 0.82% exists from iShares which is somewhat similar to XEF. It holds about 831 companies. Another ETF from Vanguard VEE – FTSE Emerging Markets Index ETF MER 0.54% offers exposure to the emerging markets. It holds about 790 emerging market stocks. One major difference VEE has from its peers is that it does not have any stocks from South Korea as FTSE Emerging Markets Index does not consider South Korea as an emerging market. So if you would like to have Samsung or any other South Korean companies, VEE is not for you.

As you can see, these two new international and emerging markets ETFs XEF and XEC from iShares offer wide exposure in the international and emerging markets without currency hedging at unbelievably lower cost. I have not seen anyone before beating rock-bottom-MER guru Vanguard, and iShares was able to do so with these two new MERs. This is good for Canadian investors.

CI Launches Guaranteed Retirement Cash Flow Series start

CI Guaranteed Retirement Cash Flow G5/20 Series

First Published Date: July 16, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

As stock markets continue their rollercoaster ride and the once-considered safe haven gold loses it luster, baby boomers and regular investors continue to search for products that offer predictable, guaranteed income with peace of mind. To capture this segment of the market, CI has come up with a product called the G5/20 series. Let’s look at some features this product offers.

What Is CI G5/20 Series

You can think of it some sort of hybrid of an annuity and a mutual fund.  The G5/20 series is an actively-managed mutual fund consisting of global and Canadian equities alone with some fixed income securities to provide 20 years of guaranteed income. For example, let’s say you have 2 investments: A and B. Investment A is $100,000 invested in CI G5/20 series and Investment B is another $100,000 invested elsewhere such as stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, etc. In case of a global market meltdown, theoretically, Investment B could go down to $60,000 or even less. However, Investment A, CI G5/20 Series, are guaranteed and protected against any such loss.

Some CI G5/20 Series Features

– Each Series has a 25 years lifespan.

– Each Quarter Will Offer a new series

– The first five years is called accumulation phase. In this phase, the investor will invest and watch the growth. There will be no payments. The principal amount investor invested can not go down even if the market tanks due to its guarantee.

– The next twenty years is called distribution phase. Investors will get back 5% each year for twenty years based on their initial investment or investment + accumulated growth from five years, whichever is greater.

– The portfolio and active asset allocation are managed by CI.

– The income flow of G5/20 is guaranteed by the Bank of Montreal.

– The risk management segment (to reduce volatility and enhance growth) to the portfolio is managed by Chicago-based Nexus Risk Management.

Is the CI G5/20 Series For You?

This is suitable for those who are looking for an actively-managed, risk-adjusted product managed by those who have the expertise and guaranteed by a well-known bank to provide income for 20 years in exchange for 2.77% MER (before taxes).

Link: CI Retirement Cash Flow Series

Some Other Alternatives Providing Guaranteed Income

BMO LifeTime Cash Flow Product

Manulife Income Plus

Vanguard Canada Launches 5 New ETFs

Five New Vanguard Canada ETFs

First Published Date: September 5, 2013

Low cost ETF guru Vanguard Investments Canada Inc. launched 5 more new ETFs in August. Vanguard entered the Canadian ETF market in December 2011 and currently its total ETF portfolio consists of 16 ETFs, including these 5 newcomers. Let’s look at these 5 new ETFs briefly.

VCN – FTSE Canada All Cap Index ETF MER 0.12% – VCN tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the FTSE Canada All Cap Index. The difference between VCN and Vanguard’s other similar ETF VCE FTSE Canada Index is in its holdings. VCE holds about 77 large and mid-cap stocks. On the other hand, VCN offers more diversification by holding 277 large, mid, and small cap stocks.

VDU – FTSE Developed ex North America Index ETF MER 0.28% – VDU tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the FTSE Developed ex North America Index. The difference between VDU and Vanguard’s other similar ETF VEF FTSE Developed ex North America Hedged CAD Index is that unlike VEE, VDU has no currency hedging. The FTSE Developed ex North America Index provides exposure to developed countries excluding North American or emerging market stocks. If you remember my older posts on iShares 5 New ETFs, XEF – iShares MSCI EAFE IMI Index ETF MER 0.30% offers broader diversification by holding 2479 stocks, while VDU holds 1338 stocks.

VUN – U.S. Total Market Index ETF MER 0.15% – VUN tracks (net of expenses) the performance of the CRSP US Total Market Index that holds about 3582 large, mid, small and micro cap stocks. VUN is basically the non-hedged version of Vanguard’s VUS.

VGG (Non-Hedged) and VGH (Hedged) U.S. Dividend Appreciation Index ETF MER 0.28% – These ETFs track (net of expenses) the NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index that holds about 146 U.S. companies that have increased dividends over time. Some other U.S. dividend ETFs listed on TSX are XHD, CUD, ZDY.

There are about 281 ETFs trade on the Canadian TSX. The number is much higher in the U.S. at 1490 ETFs. Vanguard has about $2.5 trillion global assets under management ($285 billion in ETF). BlackRock iShares is the world’s largest asset manager and the world’s largest ETFs provider with about $3.6 trillion global assets under management ($645 billion in ETF).

Teaching Kids Not To Spend All Their Money

Kids Should Not Spend All Allowances At Once

First Published Date: April 25, 2012 ADawnJournal.com

Teaching kids about money should start at an early age. The money management skills you teach them today will go along a long way and can make the difference between a well-managed financially successful adult or someone who is living paycheque to paycheque.

Giving kids an allowance should start at an early age. However, the art is to teach them how not to spend it all and save some for the future. The basics of budgeting should be considered while talking to kids about not spending all their money. Instead of leaving them without any guidance after giving allowances, it is recommended that you break down their allowances into pieces in terms of how it should be used. For example, 10% should go to charity, 10% should go to buy a science magazine, 10% should go to the piggy bank, and so on.

Some of the biggest challenges parents will face managing allowances or saved money from past allowances are misbehaviour and identifying the distinctions between wants vs. needs. Misbehaviour can be managed by applying a few rules for violating a good behaviour. Try to explain first that this is (a misbehaviour) something not acceptable and there will be consequences if it happens again next time. If kids do the same misbehavior again, stopping allowances for a few weeks or a deduction can be tried. However, be careful not to implement something too harsh. The differences between wants vs. needs can be addressed by talking to them. If they are asking for something unnecessarily, have a conversation if they are willing to give up (spend) their allowances to buy this, and this is something they need it enough to buy right away.

Parents play the most important role to instill right money habits on kids from the beginning. Whatever you are teaching them now will become a lifetime habit. Habit from childhood is something very hard to break. So it is important to give kids some positive money habits that will lead them to the highway of financial success.