The best of the Web on money, markets and all things financial, as chosen daily by Globe and Mail personal finance columnist Rob Carrick.
Fear of Scammers
What are older investors most afraid of? Getting ripped off by their adviser, according to a U.S. survey.
The Preferred Solution
Preferred shares pay a stream of dividend income that can yield 4 to 6 per cent, which is outstanding in today's low-rate environment. The problem with preferreds is they're surprisingly tricky to understand. Luckily, the Million Dollar Journey blog has taken on the task of explaining these securities.
ING Vs. PC Financial
There are two banks offering no-fee chequing accounts right now, ING Direct and President's Choice Financial. The Give Me Back My Five Bucks blog has just begun a comparison of the two, and already readers are chipping in with their own comments. Great stuff if you're thinking of going fee-free in your banking.
The Blogs A Blogger Reads
Here's a list of the financial blogs followed by the guy behind The Reformed Broker blog.
Editor's note: If you don't receive Rob Carrick's newsletter twice weekly by email, you can sign up to get it for free at The Globe and Mail. All you need to do is register for the site, or if you've already registered, login and go to your profile at the top of the homepage. Once you're in your profile, look under Newsletters and Alerts and look for the Personal Finance Reader and other newsletters. Other financial newsletters include: Business Ticker, a summary of the day's top business stories; Berman's Market Update, a summary of the markets at the open, noon and close; and Trade by Numbers, a monthly collection of articles exploring an investing trend or theme.
Rob Carrick