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Author Archives: Kristina Tahnyak

Avatar photo About Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.

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Friday Roundup: Debt, Congress, and The United States of America

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Happy Friday DINKS! I know by know you are sick and tired of reading about the Debt Crisis in the United States.  However, for the last few weeks the office water cooler, the internet, and most news channels have been buzzing with details, opinions, and “what if” scenarios about the US Debt Ceiling Crisis.

To end (maybe) one of the most important weeks in US History I thought that it is only appropriate for us to share some of the best posts from around the web about US Congress, the Debt Ceiling Negotiations, and the great country of America.

Were the news reporters and the personal financial bloggers correct? Keep reading to find out. Have a great weekend everyone!

It’s Only Money talks about staying invested during times of economic uncertainty in the post Debt crisis distress? Here’s another reason to leave your retirement portfolios alone. You can follow It’s Only Money on Twitter  @onlymoney.

Weakonomics suggests that the US Government could learn a lot about efficiency from the Dilbert cartoons and its creator Scott Adams in the post Dilbert Creator Using Bad Ideas TO Fix Our Problems. When there is a problem at hand we have to keep things simple. In order to solve a problem we need to start with a small or even a bad idea and work our way up from there.  Follow Weakonomics on Twitter @The_Weakonomist.

Financial Samurai says that Government Officials should not compromise if it means compromising our core values in the post Debt Ceiling Debacle’s Bright Side: Standing Up For What You Believe In. Sometimes disagreeing is for the greater good. Follow Financial Samurai on Twitter @financialsamura.

Monevator advises us to pay attention to the small things in the post Weekend reading: The default drama is in the details.  Monevator is not worried about the crisis in Europe, but he is (not so secretly) worried about a possible US default.  At the time this post was posted online Monevator claimed that to date the default in the US was only a possibility. Although people were panicking, the markets hadn’t actually moved too much.  Follow Monevator on Twitter @Monevator.

MSN Money tells us that a debt default is not the Armageddon in the post Debt ceiling battle: What you should do now.  MSN Money also says that now may be the time to make those safer changes to our investment portfolio that we have been contemplating but not yet made.  Follow MSN Money on Twitter  @SmartSpending.

Photo by DonkeyHotey

Blow It, Extract It, Drill It.

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stock market, investment options, stock investment

oil rig water
People who invest in the stock market may be looking for secure investments that provide a steady fixed income on a monthly basis. Some other investors may be looking for their portfolio to grow over the short or long term.  As a Financial Advisor I definitely don’t support investing for the short term and trying to time the market; but the reality is that everyday people buy and sell Stocks, Mutual Funds, and Commodities.

Some extremely popular investment options are Gold, Gas, and Oil. Since I don’t have any insider tips about how these commodities are going to perform in the future, I think it’s best if we examine the past performance and potential volatility of Gold, Gas, and Oil investments. Commodities will always be in demand as long as people need them to live.  If people need them to live then the price will remain constant or grow over the long term.

Investments such as Gold, Gas, and Oil are considered risky investments in the short term because not only does the price fluctuate daily, but the price depends on the demand of the commodity.  The more risk we are willing to take with our investments, the higher potential rate of return we can earn over the long term.  The risks are greater when we invest in one specific commodity or sector because we are investing in only one specific area.  If the investment value goes down we don’t have another investment to offset the loss.  We definitely don’t want all of our eggs into one investment basket. If we are adding commodities to our investment portfolio I suggest that we invest only 10% into one particular sector to take advantage of the potential high rate of return, without taking risk on our entire investment portfolio.

If you are comfortable investing in a specific commodity or sector, and if you are comfortable with the possible price variations and potential risk versus return then Gold, Gas and Oil may be a great investment option for you.

Gold, Gas, and Oil Mutual Funds offered by Mutual Fund companies:

  • JP Morgan has a Global Natural Resources Fund that invests in equity securities of companies in the natural resources sector and their associated businesses.  The JP Morgan Global Natural Resources Fund invests at least 40% of its total assets in countries other than the United States.
  • Dundee Wealth offers the Dynamic Gold and Precious Metals Fund. Although the 1 year rate of return as of July 22, 2011 was 37.59%, the 12 month price per unit variation was between $17.13 and $26.75.  The 1 year rate of return by no means indicates that every single day of the year the fund increased in value, it definitely had its ups and downs; but the average rate of return has been positive.  The top 10 holdings include Perseus Mining Limited, Sabina Gold and Silver Corporation, as well as Alamos Gold Inc.
  • Fidelity has a Select Energy Service Portfolio that invests in companies who are in the energy service field.  This includes companies who provide services and equipment in the areas of oil, gas, electricity and coal.  This fund requires a minimum investment of $2500.  The year to date performance (as of July 22 2011) was 20.37% and the 1 year high and low unit price varies between $49.37 and $88.76.

Gold, Gas, and Oil can also be purchased through ETFs as well as individual Stocks in companies.

Photo by Ken Hodge

Financial Truth or Dare

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financial truth or dare, financial game, financial fun games

blindfolded

Good Morning DINKS! For those of you who are following us on Twitter @dinks_finance you know that we have started Financial Truth or Dare game.  Every so often we ask you to be honest about your finances, or we dare you to try something outrageous with your money.  It’s fun and it lets us try new experiences. For those of you who don’t have the chance to follow us on Twitter we are going to play our own game of Financial Truth or Dare today.

We are going to ask you 5 questions about your personal finances and we hope that everyone answers honestly.  Of course we will also participate.  Personal Finance blogging and DINKS Finance are about sharing our stories, ideas, opinions, and experiences with each other. Next Friday we will give you an update on our Financial Dares and we hope you do the same. Don’t forget that you can connect with us anytime on Twitter.

Let’s play (Financial) Truth or Dare:

DINKS Truth:

  1. Are you secretly or openly jealous of people who make more money than you? Are you still jealous if one of those people is your spouse?
  2. What is the one thing that you overpay for or that you feel is overpriced?
  3. What is your current net worth? If your Net Worth is positive how did you build it?
  4. How much do you owe in consumer debts, including loans, lines of credit, financing, and credit cards? (not including your mortgage). What is your strategy to pay them off?
  5. If you have a home do you regret buying your home? If you are renting do you regret not buying a home?

DINKS Dares:

  1. We dare you to donate (not sell) your unused and unwanted items.  Have a look through your closets, cupboards, and drawers for items that you haven’t used in the last 6 months, put them in a box, and donate them to a good cause. Don’t list them on craigslist.
  2. Leave your wallet at home for the week.  We dare you to live for one week without buying coffee, lunch, snacks, magazines, clothes and all other impulse personal spending purchases.
  3. Live without a luxury item.  If you are addicted to your iPhone, Blackberry, Car or any other luxury item that is not a necessity for life, try to live without it for a week (or at least a day).
  4. Save what you usually spend.  If your daily personal spending budget is $10 a day then save it instead of spending it, you will be surprised how quickly your savings account will grow.
  5. Just Buy It.  If you have been contemplating a purchase for yourself, for your spouse, or for your home then stop torturing yourself and just buy it.  You can use our DINKS Financial Truth or Dare to justify your purchase later.

 

Don’t forget to let us all know how it goes.  Enjoy!

Photo by Life in Pictures

Being Broke But Living Life To The Fullest

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living life to the fullest, being broke but happy, happiness tips

piggy bankAs a DINK, the only time I hang out in a couple is when I am with my boyfriend Nick.  My single girlfriends are my usual crowd of people that I hang out with, some of whom still live at home with their parents.

People choose to live at home for a number of reasons such as saving money, stability, or fear of change. Some people are forced to stay at home for reasons such as religion, culture, or the necessity of taking care of a sick parent.  The longer we can live at home without paying rent the more money we can save.

People who stay at their parent’s house after college graduation tend to save a lot of money because they enter the workforce full time and have little or no expenses. I have a friend who moved out of his parent’s house at 33 years old and right into a brand new 2 bedroom condo. How many of us can say that moved out of our parents house and right into our first home? Probably not many of us, but it does happen.

I moved out of my parent’s house at 18 years old with $200 in my pocket and another $150 in my bank account.  I would definitely be much better off financially if I would have stayed at home and lived with my parents while attending University. I would also have started saving money a lot sooner if I didn’t have to start paying rent, paying my University tuition, and paying for weekly groceries all at the same time.

I have loved the experience of living on my own, but I haven’t always loved my financial situation. We have to grow up very quickly when we move out of state at 18 years old. Life on my own was great, but the money was not.  At the time I worked part time in a call center for a major financial institution as well as part time at a major retail chain. Luckily I was able to transfer to a new location out of state.  I didn’t have a lot of money in my pocket when I moved out but at least I had a guaranteed regular income stream.

I was struggling just to make ends meet and I kept asking myself if the experience of living away from my parents (and their divorce drama) was worth not being able to have everything that I wanted. The answer was Yes!  All I really wanted was to be on my own, even if that meant living without material possessions. I quickly grew up from a spoiled little kid to a carefree and broke young girl in her late teens.

When I was young and broke I thought that the experience of living on my own in a big city away from my family was all the experience that I needed; I wasn’t into exploring new places or trying new things.  Now twelve years later I am a well established professional with the disposable income to support my curious lifestyle; now I never feel completely fulfilled.  There is always a new country that I want to visit; there is always a new experience that I want to try, or a new item that I want to purchase.

It’s funny how when I was younger just living on my own was enough of an experience to make me happy, and now I can’t get enough new experiences.

Photo by Images of Money

Great Deals and Coupons Galore!

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coupons, great deals, big discounts

coupon clipping

Happy Friday DINKS! I hope that we all successfully survived another hot summer week.  Today we are discussing how to save money while shopping, along with the items that help us save money… coupons.  We scoured the web to bring you the best websites that offer deals, coupons, and discounts.

  • Coupon Mountain helps online shoppers save tons of money with coupons from Target to HP. Follow them on Twitter @couponmountain to get daily deals on everything from Art and Collectibles to Travel and Wedding items.
  •  Short Cut$ is our savings destination with free coupons on groceries and store loyalty cards. We can upload electronic coupons directly onto our store loyalty card and they will be deducted directly at the cash check out when we swipe our card.  They also offer printable coupons and cash back when we are shopping online. We can sign up to create our profile and track our savings. Follow them on Twitter @Shortcuts.
  • Savings offers all the best personalized deals for stores and brands like Dell, Gap, Sephora, Travelocity and more! Your online deals, coupon codes, discounts, and promo codes await at Savings.com.  We can even search their website by store name, brand, or keyword to find great deals. Follow them on Twitter @savings.
  • Target offers a daily deal that expires in 24 hours and they always offer free shipping. We can find daily deals on everything from Patio Furniture and Swimming Pools to Jeans and Cutlery Sets. The Target Daily Deal lists the current sale price as well as the total percentage of savings. Follow them on Twitter @TargetDailyDeal.

We hope you enjoy these deals and savings sites that offer coupons and discounts.  If you have a favourite deals site please let us know so we can share the savings.  Have a great weekend.

Photo by Osseous

Money Dilemma or Moral Dilemma

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money problems, moral issues, ethical dilemma

weights
Good Morning DINKS. Today we are discussing exactly how far we would go to make money.  We aren’t talking about stealing money or about taking anything that is not ours, we are talking about moral and immoral ways to earn our own money.  Would you lie to your spouse about where money came from? Would you hide money from your spouse that you earned immorally? We will see!

A recent scandal to hit the news worldwide is the Rupert Murdoch newspaper scandal involving obtaining confidential information illegally, and definitely immorally.  Illegally obtaining confidential information gave Rupert Murdoch the headlines that he needed to sell newspapers and make a lot of money with News of the World. Because they immorally obtained confidential information by hacking into the private phone lines of citizens, News of the World was the first newspaper to publish breaking news stories. Although Rupert Murdoch claims to have no prior knowledge of the illegally obtained information and phone hacking scandal he recently decided to stop printing the newspaper.

The financial services industry has also seen its share of immoral activities for the personal gain of some dishonest people. I absolutely understand that it may be tempting to indulge ourselves in the wealth of others, but once again the impact can be catastrophic.  Investment Brokers are paid a commission on a per transaction basis, this could sometimes bring up the moral question if they are really carrying out business in their clients best interest. We are discussing making immoral transactions for a personal profit; we are not even talking about the many Financial Advisors who have actually stolen money from their clients for their own personal gain and use.

So many financial and news media scandals are tragic because innocent bystanders are indirectly impacted. The Rupert Murdoch scandal impacted hundreds of employees as well as Rupert Murdoch’s family media empire.  This could be a very disastrous ending to a family man’s life work.

As DINKS we all have a special someone in our lives. Would you still take the risk of profiting from immoral activities if you knew that the repercussions could also impact your spouse? I can definitely say the answer is no.  I may act on my own behalf, but I would never put my boyfriend Nick in harm’s way, even if it meant we were poor and not rich.

Would you obtain information illegally or profit from the loss of others for your own personal gain? Would you do it if there was no way you could ever be caught? We all love money and everyone hustles for their own personal gain; but there is a difference from having a side hustle and hustling on the side.

Here are some other Moral and Money Dilemma posts from DINKS Finance:

Photo by Winnie Fred

My Fellow (North) Americans

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America's issues, American classes, American problems

American Flag

Good Morning DINKS. This post is about the point of view from an outsider regarding the current Democratic administration and its struggles with congress to make changes.  This post is not about President Obama, and it’s not about Democrats, or the Republican Party; this post is about America.

We have been hearing so much bad news about the current state of America that I think it’s time for some good news. According to the New York Times, US exports skyrocketed in 2010 and the United States of America became the 2nd largest exporter in the world, after China.  Last year US exports rose 21% and totalled $1.28 trillion.  I think we can all agree that this is good news.

Now for the not so good news. We know that America has been devastated by some terrible natural disasters.  We know that rich Americans get tax breaks while lower and middle class Americans are being taxed more, even though they cannot afford it.  We also know that the current unemployment rate is high, and we know that people have lost their homes.  As a country we have to move forward and find a solution so that we can rebuild America and fix our internal problems.

The American Upper, Middle, and Lower Classes

What does this mean? It means that the gap between the upper class and the lower class is getting bigger.  Depending on where you sit on the tax scale hopefully we can all agree that the current Administration came into office with the task of trying to pick up the pieces of an economic mess that was left behind from a previous Administration.  Our current Administration is trying their best to rebuild a strong American economy, but they definitely have their share of obstacles. In his speech at the end of June the President called out the upper class citizens saying that Hedge Fund Managers and CEOs don’t need tax breaks, they need to pay more taxes because they can afford it.

If I was President everyone would be taxed at a standard (enter your own number) tax rate. People who make $500,000 a year would pay a higher dollar amount (but not percentage rate) of tax because 25% (as an example) of $500,000 is a higher dollar amount than 25% of $75,000. We are all Americans and we should all be treated equally, therefore we should all contribute equally (proportionate to our income) to the American economy.

What is the Problem in America?

If the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, what is happening to the middle class? Our current Administration was voted in by the middle and lower classes and they are trying to help their people; but they are being blocked by an Opposition majority in Congress.

(I hope) that we can all agree that when the current Administration was elected in 2008 they entered into an office with its share of problems; No one is denying that.  The problem is that the Administration is working hard to try and fix the current economic problems in America, but they do not have full cooperation. As the President said in his speech at the end of June, don’t blame the Administration for lack of change and progress, blame Congress.  All I have to say is that our current Administration was voted in by the people and they will be here until at least 2012; so please, let the President do his job!

The current issue at hand is the Debt Discussion that must reach a mutual agreement by the August 2nd deadline.  I personally don’t believe that Congress will allow America to default on its debts because the implications of defaulting on American debts are far worse than those implications of Republicans in Congress cooperating with the Democratic administration.

The Next Step for America

In order to rebuild and reinforce the American economy America needs consumer confidence.  America needs confidence from the American consumers!  This doesn’t necessarily mean having full confidence in the current Administration. We don’t have to be confident in Obama, and we don’t have to have confidence in the Democratic Party, but we have to have confidence in America as a country.

Photo by Evil Tom Thai

Friday Roundup: Investing, Stocks, and The Stock Market

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Happy Friday DINKS.  This week we surfed the Net and explored Twitter to bring you some great posts about Investing, Stocks, and The Stock Market.  Investing, and especially Investing in the Stock Market, is a very personal decision. Some of us may invest in Stocks because it gives us direct access to shares of companies that we love, some of us may buy into The Stock Market because our brother in law told us to, and some others of us may buy Stocks because we are young and we can afford to take the risk.

Why Do You Buy Stocks and Invest in The Stock Market?

Money Cone gets technical about buying stocks in the post Market Volatility, Can You Stomach It?  She says that the amount of risk that we are willing to take in our Investment Portfolio is directly proportional to the amount of Return that we want.  However, it is also directly proportional to our personal sensitivity and individual adversity to change.  It is rare that a very conservative person will take a lot of risk in their Investment Portfolio. Twitter @moneycone

The Globe and Mail tells one investor’s story about staying invested for the long term and not trying to time the market in the post A steady-as-she-goes Portfolio. This investor buys passively managed low fee Exchange Traded Funds. He buys and holds the investments for long term success because low costs equal high profits. Twitter @globeinvestor

My Open Wallet talks about getting her bonus and going on a shopping spree in the post Springtime Shopping Spree.   What did she buy you ask? My Open Wallet purchased over $10,000 of Mutual Funds in her E*Trade Investment Account. Follow this New Yorker on Twitter @MyOpenWallet

Go To Retirement  gives some insight on the performance and holdings of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the post Is Now the Right Time to Buy Dow Stocks? Twitter @ToughMoneyLove

Money Under 30 wonders if he is on the right investment track for retirement in the post How Much Should Be in Your 401k at 30? As a general rule we should be more willing to take risk on our investments in our 20’s and 30’s because we are investing for the long term.  If we lose money over 5 years it’s ok because we are investing for 25 years and more. We also have to remember that the less risk we take, the more we have to save in order to build up the value of our investments. Twitter @MoneyUnder30

DINKS Reality: Extreme Couponing for our Troops

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extreme couponing for troops, couponing, saving on groceries

shopping cartGood Morning DINKS.  Today we are discussing the TLC Television phenomenon known as Extreme Couponing and how we can use coupons to support our troops.  This post is not in favour of war, nor is it unsupportive of our brave troops.  This post is simply about the generosity of people giving to others who are less fortunate and those in need.

Not so long ago we received a comment from a reader about the impact of Extreme Couponing on our economy.  If people are receiving mass amounts of products for free then who is making money? That is a really great question! Not to mention the fact that no one needs to stockpile 35 deodorants, don’t deodorants have an expiry date?

If we receive something for free and we don’t really need it then we should be kind enough to share it with someone else who is in need or who is less fortunate than us. We have to remember that not everyone has the luxury of “buying” 150 bottles of Coca-Cola. The next time you use a coupon to buy something ask yourself do you really need it, or are you just buying it because it is on sale?

I recently watched a few episodes of Extreme Couponing on TLC which focused on donating goods to our Troops overseas.  These Extreme Couponers were not selfish, nor were they hoarders; these Extreme Couponers were generous people who went out of their way to collect coupons and send care packages overseas to our troops.  Not everyone can afford to donate money or volunteer their time; but we can all use coupons to help donate items that we can’t afford to buy. We can give back in so many other ways that don’t involve making a financial donation.

I watched an episode of Extreme Couponing with a woman sponsored troops overseas.  She is the mother of a military family and she goes shopping specifically for items that the troops have requested.  The woman sends care packages overseas full of the troop’s favourite toothpastes and deodorants.

On the second episode of TLC’s Extreme Couponing a young DINK couple purchased 700 items in one day for their local charity mission as well as our troops overseas. This couple “purchased” $1000 worth of groceries for absolutely $0. As the couple are DINKS they felt the need to use their resources to help others. This young DINK couple often shops with coupons and they give away 80%-90% of what they “buy”. The couple uses store loyalty programs, in store sales, company rewards programs, and manufacturer coupons to “buy” items and donate them to our troops.

Here are some other Organizations that use Coupons to help our Troops:

Operation Troop Aid  has been collecting donations for our troop for more than 6 years.  They accept donations of the small things that we may take for granted like Toothpaste and Oreo Cookies. Operation Troop Aid is getting ready to send $35,000 worth of Girl Guide Cookies to our troop in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We Use Coupons recently sent 1000 care packages to our troops overseas in Operation Feed The Troops.  The We Use Coupons website allows us to sign up for daily deal alerts and join their facebook page to get the latest deals. We can find coupons, search through coupon resources, and print coupons directly from their website.  There is even a couponing forum 101 for beginners.

Photo by Cool Mike

More Than a Mutual Fund

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mutual funds, investment options, stock market options

Good Morning DINKS. We have discussed Mutual Funds and investing in Mutual Funds several times here on DINKS Finance.  Today we are going to give you some information on different types of investment options that are either a variation of a Mutual Fund, a different type of Mutual Fund, or simply put an investment option that is just plain more than a Mutual Fund.

Segregated Funds

Segregated Funds are offered by Insurance companies.  They have similar qualities to a Mutual Fund such as being sold in units as well as a daily fluctuation in the unit values; segregated funds also have similar qualities to an insurance policy.  Segregated Funds are also commonly known as Guaranteed Income Funds because they offer a guaranteed maturity value as well as a guaranteed death benefit. RBC Insurance, Sun Life Financial, and Manulife Investments all offer Segregated Funds.

Labour Sponsored Funds

Labour Sponsored Funds are offered by some Wealth Management and Investment Firms.  The purpose of Labour Sponsored Funds is to invest in small and medium size businesses.  There are also tax advantages of investing in Labour Sponsored Funds because they support the long term growth of local growing businesses.  Labour Sponsored Funds are Venture Capital investments with a long term investment horizon. Labour Sponsored Funds are a great equity investment for a well diversified investment portfolio, but investors should be aware of the associated risks when investing in small and medium sized businesses TD Waterhouse offers Labour Sponsored Funds.

Target Date Funds

Target Date Mutual Funds are designed to invest for a specific amount of time until a target date is reached.  These are a common investment type for both Education Savings as well as Retirement Savings because they both require an approximate target date. Target Date Funds are Mutual Funds and therefore they are an open investment that never expires.  If we take our retirement before or after our target date it is ok because the target date is just a goal, it is not a maturity.

Target Date Mutual Funds offer a tactical asset allocation that is rebalanced as the target date approaches.  If we invest in a Target 2020 Fund our Mutual Fund will have a more aggressive asset allocation (with investments in equities) the farther away we are from the year 2020.  As the years pass and we approach our target 2020 date the asset allocation is rebalanced to become more secure and income orientated. Fidelity Freedom Funds are Target Date Mutual Funds.

Index Funds

Index Mutual Funds have a passive management style because they follow the performance of a major Market Index.  Index Mutual Funds do not have a Fund Manager who actively buys and sells holdings within the Mutual Fund and this is why the Management Fees are lower.  Many Mutual Fund companies offer Index Funds for Local, International, Bond, and Equity Mutual Funds.  Fidelity offers both Bond and Stock Index Funds. AGF also offers a variety of Index Mutual Funds.

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