Day 15 Sleep-easy investing – taking back the power
(Continued from Day 14)
The aftermath has been painful. As a financial author and commentator, I hear almost daily from frustrated, disheartened Canadians. We want to be responsible, to live comfortably within our means, and to prepare for our retirements, but we are discouraged about our ability to do so.
This guide was designed to as an antidote for that discouragement, providing a series of easy-to-apply strategies to help you avoid risk (also known as losing your hard-earned money) and create wealth, without losing sleep in the process. And although it is really tempting to use big words and throw in every piece of information that has ever been written about the financial markets, we’ve made a real effort to keep it simple and relevant to the needs of individual Canadian investors. If it isn’t here, it’s because you can build wealth and generate income without it. If you want to learn more, either because you’re actually interested or because you want to impress other guests at cocktail parties, you’ll find a list of further recommended reading in the appendices.
We begin with strategies for building wealth, and then move on to strategies for creating income with that wealth. Through the liberal use of quotes throughout the book, we’ve let the experts speak for themselves. The tone throughout is conversational, because we believe that if you wanted a textbook, you’d read a textbook – and wherever we use a word that a beginning investor may not be familiar with, we’ve tried to provide a definition.
“When facing a difficult task, act as though it is impossible to fail. If you’re going after Moby Dick, take along the tartar sauce.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Life’s Little Instruction Book