Book Review of Rob Carrick?s Guide to What?s Good, Bad and Downright Awful in Canadian Investments Today

href="http://www.groceryalerts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/robcarrick.jpg"> "border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="robcarrick" border="0" alt="robcarrick" align="left" src="http://www.groceryalerts.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/robcarrick_thumb.jpg" width="180" height="260" />Well, I consider myself a self-taught investor. I stick usually with consistent dividend stocks (aside from some investments in RIM and THI and some high-flying energy stocks). In my early days it was exciting but stressful buying and selling stock each week, but in my old age (I am 32), stress is not what I need.

I have stuck with logical picks and safe bets. As a Canadian that does not have a pension, I need to make sure I have a nice nest egg when my wife and I retire.

Respected Globe and Mail personal finance columnist Rob Carrick has followed up How to Pay Less and Save More For Yourself: The Essential Consumer Guide to Canadian Banking and Investing, a guide to getting the best deals in banking and investing, with another book.

The way the book is laid out is similar to a blog ? with categories and informative posts.

For example, in the Mutual Funds chapter, he wrote a section called, ?Three low-profile find companies you should know about? and ?Five good socially responsible funds?.

It is very easy to follow as a personal finance book and well indexed.

Prior to reading this book, I was very cocky about picking stocks. He is tough when he mentions facts like there are no safe stocks but he is true. He mentions throughout the book the buy and hold strategy and enforces the idea of long-term investing.

I am not a fan of mutual funds and I enjoyed that he mentioned ETFs and bonds and GICs as alternative investing vehicles.

The stock market is great and makes people diversified but it makes sense to understand where your money is going. It frustrates me talking to people that give all their money to advisors but don?t realize the high fees they are paying.

This book is great for Canadians that would love to start investing or want to know more about investing for Canadians. It is not a very long book (just over 200 pages) but with the easy index to follow it is a great reference tool.

Rob Carrick is one of Canada’s most trusted and widely read financial experts, with two decades of experience as a business and economics reporter and commentator. He worked on both Bay Street and Parliament Hill before becoming the personal finance columnist for The Globe and Mail ten years ago and is the author of three previous books, including How to Pay Less and Keep More for Yourself. Carrick lives in Ottawa with his wife and family.