Issue #9 - Would you rather have $3 million or $4.5 million?

Happy Friday!

Yours truly won the squash tournament last weekend! The real award goes to my wife MJ and 3.5 month old baby Julia for being there to cheer me on. 

As usual, thank you to all readers for being here, and a big welcome to the 43 new subscribers this week. We are at 283 and counting. 

1. Personal Finance

This might stir some controversy.

I come from the Portfolio Management world - and I definitely think there is a place for it (but not all PMs are made equal).

And now I talk a lot about Do-It-Yourself ETF investing - with a few hours of learning - anyone can do it (insert commercial break for the Simply Investing Masterclass).

IF you are considering an Advisor/Portfolio Manager - please be fully aware that a 2% all in fee will suck at least 30% of your future dollars out of your pocket.

There's an essay to spell this all out, including making a compelling case for each approach, but I want to keep it short for today. 

Happy to discuss and I can offer perspective from both sides.

2. Stock Markets

BITCOIN.

Now that it has crossed it's prior all time high, I have people from all over asking me about it. I smell a crowd. 

Before any of you pile into Bitcoin, or any other hype stock you get in some paid daily newsletter, make sure you do your own due diligence.

Don't rely on someone else to convince you.

I own Bitcoin, but I will never recommend it to anyone. The only thing I do recommend is buying this book:

The Bitcoin Standard by Dr. Saifedean Ammous.

It is pretty much the only Bitcoin reading you’ll ever need.

Once you read the book, you’ll understand its "likely" inevitability. 

But not without its volatility. And there is risk it goes to 0. My price journey so far:

     $3,600 

↑ $69,000 (felt great)  

↓ $16,000 (going to zero) 

↑ $72,000 (not sure how to feel)

Once again, do your own due diligence. Make your own conclusions. 

3. Real Estate 

Last week I shared that we are selling our townhouse. 27 groups through the open house last Saturday/Sunday. 

This was a great turnout! And yet, there was only one offer: $10,000 below our asking price of $1,300,000 ($1,000/sqft). We accepted.

In the same complex, a friend of mine is selling his larger townhouse.

Same location, same 'new' features, including the million dollar view.

But the size 1,800 sqft and $1.8 million price point only attracted 5 groups to his first open house.

They relisted at a lower price and are doing another open house this weekend, but that is going to be an uphill battle.

Long gone are the days of multiple offers and bidding wars. 

With interest rates stubbornly high, a mortgage on that larger unit is easily $9,000-$10,000 (after tax dollars) and there just aren't as many people that can afford to pay that. 

So, it isn’t just about location, location location. It is about liquidity, and time. 

Vancouver used to be a "sellers" market.

But this time is different.

1 Quote

"If I do a job in 30 minutes, it's because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes." 

- Davy Greenberg

A Question 

Can you guess who the Model is that's featured on my refreshed course website?

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Thank you

Eddie Gudewill, CFA

P.S. How I Can Help You

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