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QUESTION
We wanted to know what financial topics you wanted us to write about. I received an e-mail last week from Kimberly NJ:

I would like to read about stock.  Quite frankly have no idea how to invest in stock. I understand that it is a great way to earn passive income but thats all. I see people looking at the news paper and reviewing details – I always wonder how to get my hands around it.

Kimberly

ANSWER – PART II
Stocks is such a large topic. When Nellie Chowbay, Investment Advisor & Financial Planner, BMO Nesbitt Burns, provided an
answer for us to this question, she gave so much valuable information that we decided to break it into two parts.

The second part is “WHY” stocks versus other investments.  When considering you need to decide how much RISK – what you are willing to lose OR gain – from your choice. The great thing is that for most stocks you are not bound to a time frame.  You will need to speak to your financial planner or bank about this further.

WHY CHOOSE STOCKS?
2. Why you will choose a stock vs. another type of investment?

I. To get higher returns
Stocks provide greater return potential than bonds, but with greater volatility along the way. Selecting a certain investment depends on the risk tolerance level of the investor.

II. To get more liquidity
Stocks provide more liquidity (ability to go to cash) than bonds or other investment instruments.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER:
Long Term goals-

Long Term goal determines the kind of investment to choose. Fixing the long term goals also depends on your risk tolerance level. A few examples of long term goals are;
. Paying for children’s college education
. Funding a long and active retirement

Risk Tolerance Level-
Risk tolerance is the degree of uncertainty that an investor can handle in regard to a negative change in the value of his or her portfolio.

Before starting on the setting of the investment portfolio, every investor should establish their risk tolerance level. Only after this they are ready to build strategies for the accomplishment of their financial goals. The higher the degree of risk involved in the investment portfolio the greater the chances of higher returns and failures.

Low Risk Investment

1. Bonds
Bonds represent your loan to a government or corporation, and generally offer steady, fixed income. The primary advantage to bonds is that they have a fixed maturity and, ignoring the potential for the company going bankrupt, you know exactly how much money you will be getting and when. But this is only true if you hold the bonds to maturity. You can choose the amount of time you want a bond for. Longer time periods yield you higher return rates. Also, bonds are extremely stable, especially government bonds.
Unfortunately, bonds have significant disadvantages. Because they are so stable the reward on an excellent bond is dramatically less than an excellent stock. Investing in a bond also renders your money illiquid, meaning it’s locked away and inaccessible for a period of time.

High Risk Investment

2. Stock
Many investors purchase a particular stock with the intention of making a big profit over a short period of time. The stock market is characterized by the trade-off between risk and return. The higher the risk the investor is willing and able to take, the higher the potential rewards from the investment. Therefore, if a particular investment offers you high returns, it is an indication that it will come with a high risk burden.

Information provided by: Nellie Chowbay, FMA, FCSI
Investment Advisor & Financial Planner | BMO Nesbitt Burns | 416-359-5365 | www.nelliechowbay.com

Disclaimers
BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltée provide this commentary to clients for informational purposes only.  The information contained herein is based on sources that we believe to be reliable, but is not guaranteed by us, may be incomplete or may change without notice.  The comments included in this document are general in nature, and professional advice regarding an individual’s particular position should be obtained.  BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. and BMO Nesbitt Burns Ltée are indirect subsidiaries of Bank of Montreal and Member CIPF. “BMO (M-bar Roundel symbol)” is a registered trademark of Bank of Montreal, used under licence. “Nesbitt Burns” is a registered trademark of BMO Nesbitt Burns Corporation Limited, used under licence.

ANALOGY WHEN SHOPPING:
When I am shopping for clothes I consider the purchase – is this something that is high fashion for the moment (HIGH RISK) and I know that in a few wears or few months I will likely not want to see this piece of clothing again OR is it a staple piece of clothing, one that will last for years and years (LOW RISK).  I also think how much will I spend for each of these categories. I definately have a limit of what I will spend for something that may only last one season versus a skirt, pair of pants, dress, purse, that I know will be carried through year after year.

Of course there are the one offs that I purchase that I spend a lot on and know that I may only wear it a few times.  These are NO RISK for it is totally based on emotion – LOVE FOR THE PIECE.

When considering stocks, please get fully informed about fees – from the investment person/institution, trading costs, and more. You always want to know what your net is.

Be well and make good decisions – these “pieces” may be in your closet for a while!

All my best,

Sandra

THE ACTUAL DAY OF MY MOVE … I decided to carry my jewlery and some other breakables over myself just to make sure everything was fine. In that pile I brought a mirrored, framed, tray that I put my crystal perfume bottles on. This came from my grandmother and I really liked it.

CHALLENGE: SUPERSTITIOUS  OR AN OLD BELIEF?
I decided to do a run to my new house as they were packing up my  old house and this is when it happened…. I took the mirrored tray out of my car while unpacking and dropped it. The mirror shattered. I was shocked. I knew I can fix this however I was more in shock that I just created 7 years bad luck. I quickly called my girlfriend and left her a message. I then took a deep breath and started to calm myself down.

20 mintes later I am breathing well. I had cleaned up the mess and put the mirrored pieces in the back of my car wrapped up.  I started to ask myself – whose belief am I carrying? Is this really about 7 years of bad luck or is it a message saying that I have finally broken a cycle in my life – my ex and my marriage and more importantly EMPOWERING ME –  that I have been working so hard at doing over the last decade? This made me smile.

I CHOSE BREAKING OF CYCLES

With this in mind I smiled and felt better. I received a text from my friend who told me to “let it go” that everything is ok!

LEARNING – AWARENESS… As we move along our path/journey of awareness we will come across these types of situations that will pull us back in if we let it. I almost went there however I am strong enough now to sit back and really question where my beliefs are coming from and are they serving me. If not, let it go…

Something to ponder.

Thank you for being understanding while I did not post last week. I was so exhausted from the move. AND NOW I AM RARING TO GO.

All my love,

Sandra

THE INVITATION READ… My older son was invited to a birthday party via email from ECHOAGE, www.ECHOage.com. This 10 year old girl chose an ECHOage party and what that meant is that rather than receiving gifts she asked her party guests to donate whatever amount of money they chose and this money was pooled and given to a “cause” or charity of her choice.

This meaningful act allowed her to receive from her friends and then turn around and give back to a cause that she believed in.

I feel this is an excellent way to teach our children.

I CANNOT SAY MY YOUNGER ONE WILL BE INTO THIS YET. He just celebrated his birthday and it was a small gathering of family. This meant a smaller number of presents for him and this concerned him.  I am working on this.

I CAN ONLY LEAD BY EXAMPLE… Well as I said, I can only lead by example. This September, I will be giving the children allowance however this will be split three ways – one portion for them, one portion to go into savings – their bank, and the third to be collected and pooled and then given to a “cause” of their choice – feed the children, education, etc. Perhaps they will buy and donate computer stuff. I am not sure however I want the money to be used for a purpose – to empower other children so they too can have the ability to be all they can be.

I hope the feeling my children get from this is wonderful.

CHOOSE: www.echoage.com – for your next party.

All my best,

Sandra

WANT TO SHARE AN EMAIL I RECEIVED
I am having work done in my new home and I am really excited.  It has been a challenge making sure that all the trades work together and do not hold one another up.  I have been managing it fairly well. Of course there are the “hiccups” that happen doing a move.

I really feel that what you give out, or how you treat people comes back to you ten fold.  The crew that installed my carpets were amazing. Mario has 33 years experience and I really trusted his knowledge. He not only did a fabulous job on my installation, he also made me aware of 2 cracks in my foundation — which I am now having fixed (what’s another $1200????).  As well, he showed me how to cut those pulls you get without having a compelet run in my carpet and finally he talked to me about my hot water tap and that I need insulation for it.

I am grateful for his presence.  We had some pretty funny talks. What I really admire about him is his authenticity, says it the way it is, his honesty and his warm personality. I really work at treating all people the same and this is no exception. In return I received an email from him which I will pass on…

Dear Sandra,

I wanted to extend my sincere gratitude to you for the kind generosity you showed
both me and Andrew during your carpeting installation. You are most definitely above
the norm of customers we deal with on an almost daily basis. 
3 weeks ago, a particular customer took the time out of her (super) busy schedule to
call XX company, go through reception, get transferred to the installation manager,then
demand she speaks with the company's owner to personally lodge a complaint that one of
their crew (me and Andrew) were bothering her for drinks all day!!!!
The real truth of the matter is that Andrew took her up on her offer, and asked her
3 times for a tumbler of water during a 4 day installation of her 2nd and 3rd floor
carpeting.... GAWD!!!!!!! LOL!
Then you come along, gracious and full of life and vibrancy, feet well planted and a
heart full of humility, honestly I sure could use more customers like you.
It was a true pleasure meeting and doing the work for you, and I can personally
assure you it was done with the utmost care and diligence. WE also enjoyed your
company while you were around and positively impacted us.
Just wanted you to know that your kind gestures were appreciated by both of us.
Best wishes to you
Sincerely,

Mario Ruggier

______________

All my love,

Sandra

IT’S LIKE PICKING FROM AMONGST ALL MY BLACK SHOES – WHICH ONE DO I KEEP THAT WILL SERVE ME WELL?

Maritza tackled the checking question from her own financial awarenes:

As we are exploring comparing our finances to our closet let’s explore checking accounts. Take a look at your checking account and make sure it matches your style. For example, there are checking accounts that charge you a fee if you don’t keep a certain minimum amount. There are interest checking accounts that pay you an annual interest rate for holding x amount of funds in the account, usually about a $2,500 minimum. As well there are some checking accounts that don’t charge you for checks. Although these are small charges, they can add up at the end of the year. As you start de-cluttering your closet do the same with your finances. Get rid of things that you don’t need and keep only the things that you need. Pay attention to the fees your bank is charging you, if any, and if it doesn’t fit your needs find a checking account suitable to your lifestyle. For further information you can visit your bank of choice and discuss the best plan for you however please don’t neglect the small charges when you probably can avoid these charges.

SANDRA’S BEEN LIVING IT…

I am in the midst of moving — the thick of it with costs just going up and up. It was a pleasure to sit with my financial planner and tell me the markets have been up. There was not a great report today out of the US however you must admit that we are moving in a better direction.  It’s baby steps.

In our discussion we started to talk about my checking account and that I am holding too much money in this account. I am not earning any interest I am just looking to avoid the fees.  The minimum for my account is more than Maritza mentioned.  When Jeff, my planner questioned me — as he says I am astute, why am I leaving my money in this account? — I say YOU ARE RIGHT.

It’s like packing up my kitchen — this house is smaller and I had things in 4 different areas. Now in the new house I HAVE CONSOLIDATED my kitchen so that I know where everything is and can get to them easily and with little effort.  I have had different checking accounts set up over the last few years for I was dealing with some inheritance, my ex husband and our legal stuff and my personal stuff. I am NOW CONSOLIDATING my finances. I will take a good look at my checking account for I believe that this account is really about flow and that it is for money to come in and out of it. It is not where “I earn money” rather it is how I live and pay my bills.  The monthly fee is $25 if I choose not to keep the minimum amount and multiplied by 12 = $300.

This means that I want to earn enough interest to cover this cost and then some. Why am I locking up my money in an account that is no longer “serving me”? I am looking to change that!

I am reorganizing both my closet and finances. In the new house I have a fair bit of storage —  I need to make sure that I know where everything is!

Take a look at all our you checking accounts and begin to ask the questions to determine if this “account will stay in your closet or be thrown out”.

All our love,

Sandra and Maritza

GREAT CONVERSATION… I meet with a group of Women to discuss the book, Tao Te Ching —  This is a very enlightened book, reminding us how simple life is — a way of being.

Many discussions come up and the other day a discussion came up that this woman’s daugther said to her that she doesn’t seem so up set for her to go off to university.  In fact, all the other mothers are really upset.

I know this woman. She lives her life authentically and with purpose.  She knows that we do not own our children and as much as we want to protect our children she understands that this is not so; that our children have their own path to go on.

ASK YOUR DAUGTHER… I said that this woman needs to ask her daughter if she prefers the mother that trusts and loves her daughter unconditionally and is empowering and encouraging her to go off and “spread her wings”.  She is always there for her however she does not want to impose her views and thoughts.

OR she can have a mother who is overbearing, feels she must protect her child at all cost, is a worrier, neurotic and controlling?

If I were this woman’s daughter I will go up to my mom and say “thanks for loving me unconditionally and trusting in me and my decisions. I love you!”

The path is yours to create …. enjoy and know you are being guided and loved.

All my best,

Sandra

NO MORE PROCRASTINATING… I am still working with this young woman empowering her in her PR work as an intern for 2bempowered as well as having Tom Martin of Tom Martin Media guide her and her work. With over 20 years experience in the communication and PR work, Tom is a valuable resource for this woman.

I have pushed her in some ways for this is her first real experience in the PR “field”. I asked her to draft a press release and while she sat on it for a bit she tackled it and finally wrote her first ever draft. She did tell me that she revised it a few times and then sent it to Tom for his comments.

I am so proud to say that Tom not only liked it, he said for her first piece ever written he marks it a “7 out of 10″. Wow this is great.

Fear can stop us from learning and moving forward – call it procrastination or something else — it is all an illusion.  There is nothing to fear for to learn you must “fall down like the baby learning to walk” and you will realize that it is not so difficult and the next time you tackle your desire — we, the adults and guides in your life, are here to gently tell you YOU CAN DO IT.

All my love,

Sandra

OUR HEARTS
I am not sure people truly understand and know how powerful the heart is. I did a workshop on getting people to FEEL vs. THINK. This feeling is the one we get from our hearts, gut and intuition – it is a guide to tell us “yes, this feels good and works for me” or “no, this does not feel good and I want to move away from this”.   It can be referring to the job we are in, the relationship we are in, a dangerous situation and more.

I feel that people understand when they have a visual however there are some amazing facts about the heart that you may or may not know:

* the heart is the first organ developed in the body
* the heart is 5000x magnetically more powerful than the brain
* the heart is 100x  electrically more powerful than the brain
* there is a heart/brain communication which is important. The communication begins in the heart and then goes into the brain which sends a life chemistry to feed our emotion – anger, sadness, joy, happiness.  The “feeling” that we have is our thought plus our emotion.

The power of the heart is so vast that it shapes our world. While this is my belief, it is shared by many. What I mean by this is that we are in a time in our universe in which heart energy is impacting our world. Over the last two days and tomorrow there has been an email sent around asking each and every person to feel in your heart love energy — be grateful and happy for everything that is in your life.  Without going deep into the “spiritual energetic movement” going on right now, suffice it to say there are big shifts going on energetically in our planet.

WHAT YOU AND I CAN DO
As humans we have free will and choice. I choose to give love to this world; to visualize a world that the ecosystem is rebalancing itself; a world where we begin to show compassion to our fellow human beings and genuinely mean it – lose the What’s In It For Me attitude.  I visualize a world where creed, colour, gender, religion no longer matter – that we begin to see each other as equal and deserving.

If this is too much for you then start with baby steps – be kind to yourself and your family.  Smile at your neighbours and offer a helping hand when needed without expecting in return.  Be there for a friend. Begin to show love to your fellow human being.

WE CAN REVERSE AND CHANGE THE MESS WE CREATED
The greatest awareness is that we can make different choices that will begin to reverse some of the damage we have done to our world particulalry in our environment.  I know that this world is one that we borrow from our children and I plan on leaving them their world in the best shape possible.

We can do this united — it begins, believe it or not, by loving ourself and treating ourself well and then we mirror that in our life by treating others good as well.

All my love,

Sandra