RESP for Baby

Before Baby was born we already research how we are going to invest for her.  We had money from our wedding and we decided to invest that for baby (although we have to hold it in Trust for her until she's older and pay the taxes on the gains as well).

Also, we research RESP investment options.  Originally we thought about setting up a RESP account at BMO so that we can ask everyone to put money towards her education instead of buying her gifts.  BMO doesn't have a minimum limit like a lot of RESP accounts do.  Then grandpa said he was going to give her $100 every month towards her RESP.  And we were going to get $100 a month from Universal Child Benefit.  With these two regular monthly amounts, we thought we set up a regular RESP contribution for her through our insurance company's RESP programs. 

Through this program, they apply for the government matches, invest the money, and match our contributions by 15%.  This will be a nice little sum for her to add to our other investments for her for her education when she's older.

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Resources for Landlord

As mentioned Real Estate is part of my investment portfolio and Rentals are a sub group of that.  Recently I learnt a lot from a crazy tenant and thought that I'd share one of the most important thing I learnt - where to go to for information.

If you have questions regarding your rights and what you can do as a landlord you can go to Service Alberta's Landlord/Tenants website for information, forms, common questions etc.  If you find this a lot to read you can also called the Service Alberta number (1-877-427-4088) and ask your questions to a live service representative.   

When I was dealing with my tenant I dreaded having to dig and navigate my way through Alberta's Landlords/Tenants Legislation.  The website and the Service Alberta number really helped make things clear.

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My Investment Strategy Part 3 of 3 - Private Equity

This part of my investment strategy kind of happened by accident.  I had felt that there was something missing in my portfolio.  As a small shareholder in publicly traded companies I have very little control over what happened in the company.  Real estate investment means a huge chunk of money invested in a small number of properties in one type of investment.  I found out about the opportunity to invest in private equity when I went along with my sister to meet her investment advisor.  It seem to fit in between my equity and real estate investment.

I can participate in a small/medium sized company in lines of business I wouldn't be able to do myself such as factoring or flow through shares.  Also through my investment advisor and his firm, we have a lot more visibility over the company's decisions and strategies.

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