Table of Contents

The book is divided into three major sections:

  1. Introduction to investing concepts, including the impact of investing fees on returns and the cost of advice; where returns come from; what indexes are; what mutual funds are; risk and historical returns; taxation issues and TFSAs, RRSPs, and RESPs; the importance of planning and the impact of inflation on long-term plans; the inherent uncertainty in long-term planning and the need to make regular course corrections; and what asset allocation is.
  2. Step-by-step instructions and spreadsheet templates to put it into practice, including screenshots from three investing options that represent three good trade-offs between complexity and cost.
  3. Deeper discussions on developing good processes, taming the need to tinker, reading your statements, worked examples, and further reading.

On Exponential Growth, Bunnies, and the Future

    Introduction (see here for an excerpt)
    The Framework of the Story – Part 1: Investing
    The Framework of the Story – Part 2: Fees (see here for an excerpt)
    Math Time: The Power of Compounding
    Investing: Basic Types of Investments
    More on the Stock Market
    Mutual Funds
    Passive Investing
    Risk and Historical Returns (see here for an excerpt)
    Tax
    TFSA – Tax-Free Savings Account
    RRSP – Registered Retirement Savings Plan
    RESP – Registered Education Savings Plan
    Inflation
    Planning
    The Cone of Probability
    On Course Corrections
    Asset Allocation
    Asset Allocation: Special Situations
    Rebalancing

Putting It Into Practice

    Step 1: Make a Plan
    Step 2: Determine Your Risk Tolerance and Asset Allocation
    Step 3: Account Allocation
    Step 4: Create an Account and Invest! (see here for an excerpt)
    Step 4a: Investing with Tangerine
    Step 4b: Investing with TD Direct Investing
    Step 4c: Investing in ETFs (see here for this updated sample chapter)
    Rebalancing Redux
    Record-Keeping
    Selling
    Automation

Burrowing Deep

    Taming the Need to Tinker
    Breaking Up Is Surprisingly Easy to Do
    Mortgage or Invest?
    A Twist: Currency Neutral Funds
    A Twist: US ETFs (see here for an excerpt)
    Advanced Tax
    Reading Your Statements
    Expected Value and Process
    Turning Investments into Retirement Income
    Worked Examples
    Next Steps
    Getting Help
    Further Reading
    The End
    Acknowledgements