Introduction

It all started one day in August 2010, when I was looking at my bank account online, and saw a button labeled "Purchase an Investment". Before that point, I had never considered investing, especially since I had just recently witnessed what could happen when a global recession hit. Then I began to think about the student loan I'm going to have to pay back, and how I'll eventually need to buy a car, a house, and eventually eventually retire. So I clicked on the button.

All the different investment options that my bank offered came up on the screen. I Googled any terms I didn't know, and began to learn more and more about all the different investment options that are available, how they are taxed, what type of accounts they can be held in, what risks are involved, and so on. I decided to ask several people I know that invest in different things for some advice. Several people recommended I start by opening an RRSP account to start saving for retirement, and I can make use of the first-time home-buyer's clause to make a down payment on a house at some point.

I went to my bank, armed with some rudimentary knowledge of mutual funds, and a few ideas of which funds I might be interested in. When I opened the RRSP, I had to take a quiz that assessed my investment knowledge and risk tolerance. The bank basically decided for me which mutual fund I wanted, so I left it at that for a couple months. Just recently, I recognized that a mutual fund with a MER of 1.9% was actually a fairly high fee, and there were some much cheaper options available. I switched over to two different mutual funds, one with a MER of 0.48%, and the other with 0.31%.

Shortly after opening my RRSP account, I also decided to open a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) with a discount brokerage so I could dabble in trading stocks. I've made a few trades over the past few months, and I plan to blog about what I learn, what I mess up on, and what successes I find.

I've done a fair amount of reading on personal investing in the past few months, and I've decided to get started on a dividend growth strategy for my TFSA account. I will elaborate more upon this strategy in further blog posts. I like the idea of the "buy-and-hold" strategy for stocks, as they generally tend to show positive returns in the long run, and dividend payments offer a way to earn passive income. I've heard nothing but bad things about day trading and trying to time the market, and I don't have the time or motivation to learn all there is to known about technical analysis to try and make that strategy work.

In writing this blog and learning more about personal investment, I hope to be able to accomplish my long-term financial goals, and end up with a nice portfolio for retirement.