Welcome to the Globe and Mail Personal Finance Reader. I'm Rob Carrick, personal finance columnist at The Globe, and twice weekly I compile a list of articles, blog postings, videos and websites that represent the best of what the online world has to offer on money-related subjects.
You'll find a veritable buffet in this edition of the Reader -- everything from advice for young people buying a first care to some cool tools for tracking household spending and help for investors who have received bad financial advice. What, you want something edible? Then get ready for the new sandwich from KFC, which has nothing to do with personal finance but has been included here for its zeitgeist value.
Found something on the Internet that your fellow investors might enjoy? Talk to me at rcarrick@globeandmail.com
Globe and Mail Personal Finance Highlights
Go into it with your eyes open because it's not a bed of roses, writes Tim Cestnick
Five U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds to look at
All insurers are raising rates. That bloated renewal rate is their very best offer. It's the high level of claims.
Tips for first-time homebuyers from personal finance blogger Chaya Cooperberg
Average investors predict they'll make 10 per cent on stocks this year, but one market watcher sees cracks in the premise
For most people, bankruptcy should be a last resort, says Angela Self. Here are some alternatives.
The finance minister says his frugal upbringing instilled in him the need for financial caution. He wants to spread the habit
Must Reads From Around the Web
Driving A Bargain
A video tutorial for young adults on the harsh financial realities of buying a car. At the risk of corrupting today's youth, I'd like to mention that some of my favourite purchases ever have been cars. And, in my younger days, there were many.
Mountain Equipment Co-op is getting into the bike business -- good for people buying bicycles, not for independent bike stores.
Investorama
Pimco, the U.S. firm that manages the world's largest bond fund, says high-yield bonds still look good. They won't match the huge gains of 2009, but they do stand up to rising interest rates better than higher-quality government and blue-chip corporate bonds. Also, the yields are way higher than government bonds, as is the level of risk.
Investment dispute consultant Robert Goldin has recently updated Investor Beware!, his guide for people who have lost money through bad financial advice or unethical behavior by an adviser. You can download a copy here.
Saving and Retirement
A collection of online tools for tracking your household spending and net worth from the Squawkfox blog.
Some common sense thoughts on how much you need to retire comfortably from personal finance writer Ellen Roseman.
Housebound
People with variable-rate mortgages will want to read this forecast of when the Bank of Canada will start raising rates, and by how much.
Food and Drink
Slimy and unnaturally moist -- that's how New York Times food critic Sam Sifton describes the new sandwich from KFC (cheese, bacon and mayo between two slabs of fried chicken). If you'd like to invest in this concept, the company is called Yum! Brands and the stock symbol on the NYSE is, of course, YUM.
A crash course to make you an expert on whiskey.
Save Room For Dessert
Vanity Fair has published this excerpt from a new tell-all book about the personal lives of executives at Lehman Brothers, the storied and now stone-cold-dead Wall Street firm, and their wives.
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Rob Carrick