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In recent weeks, you may have heard the word recession a lot. You may even have a vague understanding of what a recession is, but would like a better understanding of what a recession really is. What the Dow Jones Industrial Average? You probably hear that every night on the news and you know that it has something to do with the stock market, but aren't sure of the details. 

Diversification is one of the cornerstones of traditional investment advice. The most common saying we hear is “never put all your eggs in one basket” and the moral holds true. Markets go up and down through economic change, business cycles, and a wide variety of factors changing investment outcomes. Managing these peaks and valleys is the primary goal of an investment plan.

Riding the highs, and experiencing the lows, it is the way of the investment market. However, what if we told you that the key to sound and quality investing is learning how to keep it cool when the market is in turmoil? In this article, we are going to look at some of the tools that can help you manage your emotions and expectationsduring market uncertainty.

The goal for your saving plan is up to you. Some people enjoy travel or the latest electronics. Others may save for school or a home purchase. While there are a thousand ways to spend your money, there’s only one way to save it — stick to the plan.

If you’ve been listening to the financial media of late you have no doubt heard some of the so-called experts prognosticating on the prospect of the next big bear market. Unquestionably, the stock market is at another crossroads, and its significant increase year-to-date belies the concerns that most people have over the global economy. So, gloom and doom forecasts by a media anxious to sell papers or air time, should not be at all surprising. Even if we were to buy into the media hype, should we be at all concerned? In the overall scheme of things, should bear markets even matter to us?

Answer this riddle: what’s the one thing that will eventually happen to everyone, but generally, no one wants to discuss? Death is a subject that immediately conjures up all sorts of emotions because, let’s be honest, the absence of being IS emotional. But, death is also cause for practicality. It’s a cause for stating clearly what to do about money and property so there is no dispute or cause for fights between family members claiming rightful ownership. (We’ve all seen movies and TV shows where that happens and it never ends well.)

We learned from legendary bank robber, Willie Sutton that the reason he robbed so many banks was, as he put it, “obvious ... you go where the money is and you go there often.”  Today, the real money exists not in banks, but in cyberspace among the trillions of bits and bytes that hold the keys to the massive digital vault guarding our most sensitive personal data. Instead of donning a mask and risking capture by the police, cyber-thieves never have to leave their homes, and they hide behind the anonymity of the Internet cloud. They are relentless, and more often than we want to know, they are successful.

ORLANDO, Florida, May 24, 2016 – The winners of the first annual PlanPlus Canada National Financial Planning Awards competition were announced at the Canadian Institute of Financial Planners' annual congress in Orlando, Florida.

PlanPlus is pleased and honoured to congratulate:

Winner: Conrad Toner CFP, CLU, True North Retirement Counsel
First runner-up: Allan Norman CFP, CIM, MSc, Atlantis Financial Inc. (IPC)
Second runner-up: Jason Pereira CFP, CFA, MBA, Woodgate Financial Inc. (IPC)
Second runner-up: Sterling Rempel CFP, CLU, TEP, Future Values Estate & Financial Planning

It has only been since the Baby Boomer generation began to cross the retirement threshold that we’ve had to seriously confront the new challenge of our longevity. Although most of us are now bracing for the probability of living 20 to 30 years in retirement (nearly double the retirement life spans of our grandparents), what isn’t quite as clear is that our actual longevity is a moving target. That is, the older we get, our life expectancy increases, and that can have serious implications for the way we plan for our retirement income.

In the good old days thieves just went after the green. Nowadays they’re after your credit card information. Why? Because, it’s easier to steal your credit card information than your money. Each day, billions of credit card transactions with each use being a potential opportunity for a thief to abscond with an account number. But, contrary to popular belief, most credit card information thefts don’t occur through online transactions, rather through physical theft, such as retrieving receipts or bills from garbage cans or open cars. In any case, your credit card information is a top target of relentless identity thieves as evidenced by the millions of people who have theirs stolen each year. Just by taking a few extra measures in your daily activities, your credit card information can be kept safe and secure.