Andrew Allentuck

We’re in the middle of a stock market boom. Stocks are up in the U.S. and Canada, the Euro has gained value as the world has come to realize that the European Union will remain intact in spite of debt management problems, and consumer sentiment is improving in what appears to be all major industrialized […] Read more

In northern Alberta, Jack Downey (not his real name) farms 1,280 acres. He has a herd of 200 beef cows. The time has come to pass the operation on to his three children, who are in their mid-50s. There is not much time to waste, for Jack is 79 and his ailing wife Mary is […] Read more

Interest rates are rising around the world. You wouldn’t know it from the stand pat position of the Bank of Canada, which continues to hold overnight loan rates to chartered banks down to one per cent. That administered rate sets the tone and the rate of interest for short bonds and many bank loans. But […] Read more

For an off-farm investment or a loan to buy a combine, there’s hardly a more important question than where interest rates are going. Currently, they remain in a historically low range. For the future, it’s a sure thing that they are going up. But when that will happen depends on why rates are still low. […] Read more

The March 1 RRSP deadline can loom large for many. How much you put in RRSPs may have been committed some time ago, however where to put that money to first not lose it and then, perhaps, make money isn’t an easy decision. The S&P/TSX Index has put on 200 points since Sept. 1, as […] Read more

The point of investing is not to have fun, it is to make money in a responsible way. Investors have a vast choice of ways to make it, yet few really estimate the risks they take with sufficient accuracy to avoid major losses from time to time. There are investment vehicles out there that are […] Read more

The dilemma for anybody who wants to sock away some money in an off-farm investment is finding a balance between safety and return. These days it’s tough, for returns on bonds are low single digits at best and returns on stocks are not likely to be much more than four per cent on a safe […] Read more

For fixed income investors, inflation or deflation is important. It makes a massive difference whether consumer prices will rise or decline. If they rise, then an income stream from a bond or from a preferred stock will lose purchasing power over time. If we have sporadic or even steady deflation, an income stream will gain […] Read more

A couple we’ll call Henry, who is 68, and his wife Julia, who is 66, are in transition from active farming to retirement. They farmed 720 acres in Manitoba for the last fifty years. Julia worked in off-farm businesses until she retired last year. Their farm, 720 acres with mixed grains and a few cows, […] Read more

Not far from Selkirk, Man., a couple we’ll call Charles, who is 80, and Maude, who is 74, farm 525 acres. They’ve been there for 60 years, raising their own beef and living a good if not wealthy life. Nearby, their son, who we’ll call Ted, 55, farms 1,000 acres. Their daughter, 48, who we’ll […] Read more