Just what the doctor ordered, an apple a day keeps the financial gremlins away. Sorry that doesn’t really make much sense (what are financial gremlins, really?), but I felt like using the word doctor and apple together. Since apples are the ‘theme’ of youngandthrify.ca =) Speaking of doctoring… the apples look a bit brighter, thanks to Forest at Frugalzeitgeist.
I wanted to update you on how the Tax Free Trading Account that I got with Questrade is doing. My Tax Free Trading Account portfolio was funded with $5000 at the end of January and to date, I have about $46 in distributions, and total equity including distribution is $5607.
That’s a 12% increase in about 1.5 months time. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Because I was able to keep the trading commissions low ($4.95 with Questrade) I was able to preserve more of my hard earned cashola. I think this 12% definitely beats the 1-3% that a conventional Tax Free Savings Account offers.
It’s nice that the markets are cooperating these days!
Also in blog news, just wanted to share that Tom at Canadian Finance Blog kindly allowed me to guest post on his blog! Thanks to the Yakezie group for making this happen! This is my first guest post ever, so it is pretty exciting. Please go over and check it out (especially if you’re a family with children under 18 and you think Colin Hansen, our British Columbia finance minister is damn sexy).
Happy Friday everyone! I’ll be calculating my networth over the weekend and sharing my net worth on Monday. Hope it’s wayyy up in the green!
PS If you want $50 in free trades, sign up for a Questrade account and put in “youngandthrifty” under the promo code. You’ll be on your way to $50 a free trades and Questrade will credit you your money after 10 trades.
Your TFSA seems to be performing rather nicely! 5600 bones is really good if you ask me.
I also noticed that you bought LIQ.UN (among others) inside your TFSA. Good call! I loaded up my wife’s TFSA with LIQ and mine with FTS shares in 2009. We haven’t completed our 2010 TFSAs as of yet, but we’re waiting for our bathroom renovations and tax season to clue up first.
Nice post! Looking forward to Monday’s thread; best of luck!
.-= The Rat´s last blog ..BIN Revisited: From Tantrum to Tantalization =-.
@The Rat thanks! I have both FTS and LIQ! Both are performing quite nicely (FTS really has picked up in the past few days). Good luck with your TFSA! I think I’m in love with the TFSA moreso than the RRSP so far.
It’s definitely a nice feeling when you can take out a dividend or distribution payment without guilt, and knowing that it’s tax free!
.-= The Rat´s last blog ..BIN Revisited: From Tantrum to Tantalization =-.
@The Rat I know! I haven’t had the pleasure of that feeling yet. OR it’s a nice feeling to be retired already. *ahem ahem* I am jealous. =)
I know you ain’t hatin’ :0)
.-= The Rat´s last blog ..BIN Revisited: From Tantrum to Tantalization =-.
Hi young,
I like your blog – only discovered it the other day… I’d like to start a Questrade account. Where would you recommend learning about what to invest in? What advice would you give to a newbie to the market? Everyone always tells me to just read the investor information, business section of the newspaper. But, how do you know when to actually buy something? Any guidance would be really appreciated!
Hi Virginia! Thanks so much for stopping by!
Hmm I’m going to tell you that you learn a lot through experience (like losing money!!). One thing is for sure that I learned to TRY and control, is it very much about psychology. I’m emailing you more in detail about this and other suggestions =)
Hi Young,
I myself am also interested in opening a TFSA with Questrade. Can you also give me some insights, suggestions and opinions into the site?
@Balenceena Thanks for visiting! Please search “Questrade” on the side bar and you’ll see lots of feedback about Questrade- or you can check out the questrade review I have up at the top of the screen. To be honest, Questrade is really awesome- I don’t have any complaints, especially with the QuestraderWEB platform. You can’t go wrong with $4.95 trades!! The most important thing is that they don’t charge you a yearly fee for a registered account.