Happy Labor Day, investors!
I just came back yesterday from a 2-weeks vacation in New Brunswick. I had a great time. I had spent close to 2 years without traveling back home. I needed a little vacation time off. It's not fun to be stuck in one place without being able to travel anywhere, even if it's just to New Brunswick. As you may know, August 27 was my birthday. I just turned 41 years old. I asked my old folks if I look 41 for validation, and the answer was a simple NO, thank God.
All sorts of things were happening when I was on vacation. Louisiana and other states got hit by a historic hurricane. In New Jersey, there's a city name New Brunswick that also had been hit badly. We also had an Amber Alert in Quebec regarding a little boy who got kidnap by his father, but fortunately enough, the story ends well. During those events, the TSX baby just kept going on. The TSX closed this past Friday session on an awesome 20,821.43 points. As I saw that, I knew I was going to be on a record high net worth, and so I am. My net worth is currently at $332,735.61. I am now missing less than 70k before hitting the magical $400k, and only missing $17,264.39 before hitting a $350,000 net worth, which is quite nice.
Also, when I was away, National Bank announced that there will be no more commission fees for buying and selling stock using their National Bank Direct Brokerage. I am seriously thinking about transferring all my stuff with them. Why should I pay $9.99 per trading move with TD Waterhouse when I will be paying $0 with the National Bank? I prefer to be with a broker who's also a bank, it makes me feel more secure. And National Bank is a bank offering a broker service... Currently, my margin interest rate with TD is 4%. With National Bank Direct Brokerage, the margin interest rate for the current $47,800.45 margin debt that I hold within my non-registered portfolio would be only 3.75%. It's only a 0.25% deduction, but for a 100k margin debt, the interest rate, with the National Bank Direct Brokerage is only 2.75%... You can check on the pricing here. I have to say, it's quite super tempting!