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'Non-Tradition Investments"
Below you will find a video link that discusses the "non-traditional" investments that may be appealing. These are less common was you can invest your money. The disadvantages and advantages are weighed of each. Some of these investment options include: Real Estate (REIT), commodities, derivatives.
The most interesting information this video taught us is the concept of derivatives. Derivatives is a complex "gamble" on if the price will increase or decrease. This is a new investment option that we didn't know existed.
We chose this video because of the distinctive information it gave about types of investments. Most websites and video only provide material on tradition investment types. This video explained different ways to invest your money that we felt it was important to have knowledgeof.

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Cash Equivalents & Alternatives | Non Traditional Investments

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"5 Step for Getting Started"  presented by The Plan Bagel provides a basic guide to help allow views to start investing. He explains what to achieve before investing.
This video was helpful in organizing yourself to be ready to invest. We both decided that in the near future we would be looking to start investing. But we were overwhelmed on how to start. This video broke-down basic questions to help organize our goals, before and after we start investing. This questions included: Are we in a good financial position to invest? How and where we want to invest? How much are we going to invest?
We incorporated this video to showcase how to taking action once you have understood the importance of investing. Although it may not cover every step towards investing, it helped pointed us in the right direction to have a better financial future.

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"How Investments Cost You"
The video linked below discusses the topic of investment fees. Richard explains the importance of being aware of your fees and how it effects your portfolio. The difference between the two types of fees and how they make a difference to your return.
We thought this was an interesting video to include in our research, because fee's are often ignored and not advertised in investment information at the firs glance. This video gave us a better understanding about being aware of these fees before investing, and it allows us to make a smarter decision. Thus, are inclusion of it on our Padlet.

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Welcome to our Padlet! Here you will find important information you need to know in-regards to investing. We discuss: Why you should invest, types of investments you should look into, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

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This image represents balancing low-risk and high risk investments and how to obtain your desired return. It is important to make sure you are not all high risk high reward, so you do not lose everything.

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We thought this image represented the potential your money has, when you invest it. By researching and caring about where your money is being invested, you can receive a large return. This will allow you to achieve your financial goals.

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Stocks
The website that is below specifically talks about the advantages and disadvantages of investing in the stock market. Stocks can be very rewarding but are also very risky.
It is very important to us to know the possible risks when investing money. It was easy for us to navigate the website to find what we were looking for. By knowing the pros and cons first it allowed us to decide whether we could afford to invest in stocks, before spending to much time learning what they are. We thought this would be a good website to share because after it lists the five advantages and disadvantages of stock investing it gives a brief summary of a smart strategy for investing.

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Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

This site talks about the large variety of ETF's that are available. The pros to investing in an ETF are mentioned on the website. After talking about the advantages the website goes on to answer many of the frequently asked questions.
This website has a lot of information on ETFs. How to buy ETFs is important information that is listed on this site. We both liked the fact that a number of questions that we had about ETFs were answered at the bottom of the website. Not many websites had this section easy to find.

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Imagine an investment that provides many of the advantages of mutual funds-but it's easier to buy and sell, and it has lower fees too. If that sounds good, then it's time to meet one of the hottest investment products out there: the exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

Since the first one hit the market 20 years ago, these nimble investment funds have taken investors by storm. In late 2010, ETF assets reached $1 trillion (U.S.) and there are more than 915 different ETFs to choose from in North America.

Easy trader
If you've ever invested in mutual funds, you're well aware of their advantages. Rather than dealing with a broker or choosing stocks to invest in on your own, you can buy one mutual fund and let a professional money manager put together a diversified portfolio of stocks or bonds for you.

But while mutual funds can be a great way to start investing, they also have some drawbacks. Buying or selling a mutual fund can take several days. The fees can be high, and while fund managers can add value, they don't always make good stock picks.

ETFs offer a quicker way to buy and sell funds. When you buy an ETF, as with a mutual fund, you get an instant portfolio of dozens, even hundreds, of stocks or bonds. But instead of buying the fund through an adviser and waiting several days for the transaction to take place, you can buy an ETF instantly on the market, just like a stock-they even have ticker symbols.

Traditional ETFs also differ from mutual funds in that their managers do not choose the individual stocks or bonds in an attempt to beat the market. Instead, they follow indexes, usually created by third parties, that are designed to give investors the returns of overall markets. This means you can't underperform a market by much, and it helps keep the cost of ETFs low.

Evolution of a market marvel
The world's first successful ETFs were launched by the Toronto Stock Exchange back in 1990. Originally called Toronto Index Participation Shares, they tracked the TSE 35 index (and later the TSE 100). The success of the participation shares prompted two executives from the American Stock Exchange, Nathan Most and Steven Bloom, to develop a similar investment product for the American market called Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts, or SPDRs (pronounced "spiders") for short. This ETF, which still trades with the ticker symbol SPY, tracks the S&P 500 index of large U.S. companies.

Both the Canadian and American ETF products were created to allow investors to easily get the same return as the indexes they tracked. For instance, if an investor bought the SPY ETF, she would get the same performance (before fees) as she would get if she took her money and split it up among each of the 500 stocks that make up the S&P 500 index (as long as she weighted her investments the same as the index does). The aim was to create a simple investment that could easily give you performance similar to that of an entire market.

Low, low fees
With a mutual fund, you have to pay your fund manager to choose the individual stocks that go in your fund. But ETFs don't have fund managers because they automatically include the same stocks with the same weighting as their underlying index. Because ETF providers don't have to do stock-picking research and analysis, the fees for ETFs tend to be lower. For instance, the annual fee for the ETF that follows the main index in Canada (the S&P/TSX Composite Index), is about one quarter of one percent. Typical equity mutual fund fees, on the other hand, tend to fall somewhere between 2% and 3%.

"Mutual funds have to issue quarterly statements, annual prospectus reports and issue proxies and circulars," explains Richard Ferri, CEO of Portfolio Solutions, and author of The ETF Book. "On top of that, they need to educate brokers and keep their administrative side up to date and all this takes money. ETFs, on the other hand, are more cost-effective. That's translated into lower management fees."

How do you buy ETFs?
That's not to say there are no fees at all with ETFs, of course. In addition to paying a fee to cover operating expenses (known as the management expense ratio or MER), whenever you buy or sell an ETF, you have to pay a commission, just like you do when you buy or sell an individual stock.

The most cost-efficient way to buy and sell ETFs is through a discount brokerage. These allow you to set up online accounts where you can buy and sell stocks, bonds, mutual funds and ETFs yourself without having a broker do it for you. There is no one to provide advice on what to buy or sell, but the trading fees are much lower. All the big banks have discount brokerage arms, and there are a few independents too (see How to open a discount brokerage account ).

The cost of buying and selling ETFs is typically between $5 and $29 a trade, depending on your brokerage, the amount of money you have in your account, and how frequently you trade. After you buy, your ETFs rise and fall in value along with the index they follow. You make money if you sell your ETF for more than you bought it for, and you lose money if you have to sell it for less. Some ETFs pay you regular dividend income as well.

Tax-efficient, too
The final reason many investors like ETFs is because they are tax-efficient. Whenever a fund sells stocks or bonds at a profit, it generates capital gains, and these gains usually mean a higher tax bill for investors.

ETFs tend to have a lower turnover than mutual funds, because they hold on to their stocks for as long as the companies remain in the index. They also use an innovative structure that allows them to avoid having to sell the underlying securities whenever investors redeem units in the ETF. "This makes the ETF basket much more tax-efficient than a mutual fund," says Ferri. In fact, many ETFs have managed to entirely avoid passing on taxable capital gains to their investors.

Today there are hundreds of ETFs following every imaginable sector in the stock and bond markets. There are ETFs following commodities, precious metals and currencies. ETFs now follow different types of index structures, some have leverage built in, and some don't even directly buy the stocks they follow. In May, look for the next booklet in our four-part series on ETFs, where we'll take a closer look at how to trade ETFs effectively.

Where can I buy ETFs?
You can buy ETFs through a stock exchange, such as the TSX. They can be bought or sold any time the market is open. Many people use a discount brokerage account to buy and sell them.

How do I make money with an ETF?
The price of your units goes up if the index your ETF follows rises. So if you bought an ETF that follows the S&P/ TSX Composite, and the Canadian market went up, the price of your ETF would rise too. As with a stock, if you sell your ETF for a higher price than you paid, you make a profit. If you sell for less than you bought it for, you suffer a loss. Some ETFs hold dividend-paying stocks and pay you regular distributions too.

What's the most common type of ETF?
The most common type of ETF is a broad-market ETF. These ETFs follow the big market indexes, such as the S&P/TSX Composite index in Canada or the S&P 500 in the U.S. There are many other types of ETFs though, including sector, industry, countryspecific, commodity, currency, leveraged, short and actively managed ETFs.

Are ETFs good for retirement portfolios?
ETFs can be used in your retirement portfolio as part of a buy-and-hold strategy, where the same ETFs may be held for decades. An investor would typically build a diversified portfolio of broad-market ETFs and rebalance them just once a year.

What else can I use ETFs for?
ETFs can be used for day trading, currency speculation, commodity trading-almost any kind of investing you can think of. They can be a very low-risk way to invest, but they can also be riskier than investing in individual stocks. It all depends on how you use them.

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Imagine an investment that provides many of the advantages of mutual funds-but it's easier to buy and sell, and it has lower fees too. If that sounds good, then it's time to meet one of the hottest investment products out there: the exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

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Mutual Funds
The website below explains what a Mutual Fund is, what kinda of Mutual Funds there are, advantages and disadvantages and lastly the type of return you achieve with a Mutual Fund investment.
Overall investing in a mutual fund is easy, low-stress, allows the investor to attain a diverse portfolio, and the funds are managed by specialists.  The advantage that caught our attention the most, was the ability to have access to investments you would not necessarily have access to - if you were not invested through a mutual fund.
We decided this website was the most informative when talking about all topics regarding Mutual Funds. It compares the advantages and disadvantages in a understandable way for the reader.

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A mutual fund is a pool of money from a number of people that is invested in products like stocks, bonds, Treasury bills, etc. and handled by a fund manager. "A mutual fund is simply a vehicle whose contents are selected based on investor goals, profile, and risk tolerance," explains Annamaria Testani, Vice President of National Sales at National Bank Investments.

Mutual funds are perfect for small investors, who benefit from the leverage effect of pooling money from many different sources. Such funds also give small investors access to a range of investments that would otherwise be out of their reach.

A broad variety of mutual funds

When you put your money into a mutual fund, you're buying a share in it. Each fund has its own goal, strategy, composition, and level of risk. So it's important to read the prospectus of the fund you're interested in to clearly understand its specific characteristics.

Whether they focus on income, security, or growth, all mutual funds are aimed at diversifying your portfolio.

There are several different types of mutual funds. As their name indicates, stock or equity funds are made up of stocks. There are Canadian equity funds composed of common and preferred shares in Canadian companies. Other funds are made up of shares in well-established or fast-growing U.S. companies.

International equity funds comprise shares in publicly traded companies in the main industrialized countries and certain emerging countries. In the last two cases, exchange rates can have an effect on yield.

As a general rule, equity funds are best suited to investors with a higher risk tolerance. However, their inherent diversification gives investors exposure to various markets, especially U.S. and emerging country equity funds.

Fixed income funds provide regular income from interest or dividends, while preserving invested capital. They're generally made up of debt securities such as bonds or debentures, or preferred shares in companies that issue regular dividends. Returns are relatively modest, but fixed income funds provide a stable income at low to moderate risk.

Balanced funds combine common and preferred shares in Canadian and international companies, debt securities, and money market instruments. Diversification ensures fairly stable returns and moderate risk.

Money market funds are composed of short-term bonds and short-term debt securities issued either by governments (Treasury bills, for example) or by companies. They generate a fixed income that is safe but quite low. They are used to secure capital or store cash slated for another type of investment.

Specialized funds invest in specific economic sectors such as precious metals or technology or in certain geographic regions through company shares. They present a relatively high level of risk from market or currency fluctuations. A lack of geographical or sectoral diversification and political disturbances can also negatively affect their performance.

Index funds track the performance of specific indices, such as a market index, and fluctuate accordingly. Risk levels and returns depend on the index used.

The pros and cons of mutual funds

Mutual funds are very popular with investors and offer a number of advantages. They provide access to the professional expertise of seasoned fund managers, offer a high level of diversification, and come in a variety of forms. They allow you to invest in different economic sectors and types of securities, which helps you manage overall risk and choose the type of investment product that best suits your needs. They also permit small investors to target markets that would otherwise be hard for them to access, especially overseas markets.

They are flexible and investments can be transferred to other funds in the same family and with the same fee structure free of charge at any time. It is also possible to make regular deposits or withdrawals. And lastly, mutual funds are easily bought and sold if you need cash at any time.

One of the main disadvantages of mutual funds is their management fees, which can be as high as 2.25% to 2.50%, although fees have been coming down in recent years, notes Annamaria Testani.

Management fees depend on a number of factors, particularly the type of fund: Equity funds cost more to manage because fund managers spend considerable time on analysis. The fund manager's management style can also affect fees, for example, active management aims to beat market performance and passive management simply seeks to track it. Active managers buy and sell securities more often, which has an impact on fees. Passive management involves fewer transactions and so fees will be lower.

When you buy shares in a fund, you should consider the management expense ratio (MER). This ratio represents the percentage that will be directly skimmed off your fund's net return and indicates the cost of administering the fund. So the higher the ratio, the lower your return. A fund's prospectus will provide details on the various fees involved.

Types of returns mutual funds provide

Mutual funds offer two types of returns: capital gains and dividends or interest.

You earn capital gains when you sell your shares in a fund at a profit. Of course, it's also possible to suffer a capital loss.

A mutual fund can also generate dividends, interest, and other types of income. These returns can be either withdrawn or reinvested in the fund.

Specific tax rules apply to mutual funds. Selling shares in a fund leads to a capital gain or loss, which may be taxed or be deductible, depending on the tax laws in effect.

With all these choices, everyone can find the investment vehicle that best suits their needs based on their risk tolerance and investor profile.

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A mutual fund is a pool of money from a number of people that is invested in products like stocks, bonds, Treasury bills, etc. and handled by a fund manager. "A mutual fund is simply a vehicle whose contents are selected based on investor goals, profile, and risk tolerance," explains Annamaria Testani, Vice President of National Sales at National Bank Investments.

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Bonds
This website will briefly describe what bonds are, and how a bond will work. It will explain some of the several ways to invest in bonds. When investing there will always be risks. This site will explain what some of the risks of bond investments can be.
This link is very informative. The information on the site is very easy to understand for an individual investing for the first time. It breaks down what is need to know into different categories, so it is possible to find what you are looking for quickly. It was important to us to be able to understand the information provided on the site. We were able to understand how a bond works after looking into this website. We found it interesting that bonds will fall in value when the interest rates rise, and increase when they plummet. The shorter a bonds maturity the less of risk it will be, because there will be less time for the market to rise or fall.

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Bonds can help offset the volatility of stocks while providing a steady source of income.

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"Why is Investing Important?"
This video emphasizes the importance and understanding of investing at a young age. Richard explains essential terminology in-regards to investing including: the significance of diversification when investing, compound interest and re-investing. The value of having a well planned financial plan, that includes retirement funds, is also highly noted throughout the video.
We chose this video because of the information it brought to our attention. One piece of information that we thought was unique to this video is the explanation of how investing can save your money's value against inflation - which was something that we hadn't put much thought into. It is a less talked about factor when considering investing. Every year the cost of living increases. If your money's value can increase accordingly, then the question that is brought up is: why not invest it to do so?
Over all we think this video summarizes investing in a way that allows us to have a adequate base knowledge about investing as a general topic.

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The Fundamentals | Why is Investing Important?