(Past Due Edition … oops)

 

Think Again

I often ask Kristin if I am due for a Paul’s Prose and the answer is usually “Well sort of!” However, this time the answer was “abso-freaking-lutely!”

Perhaps I just didn’t have much to say? Wait, that can’t be it … I always have too much to say to anyone who will listen.

Speaking of ‘my opinions’ I am in the middle of reading a book titled “Think Again’ by Adam Grant. It really does drive home the point about how many of us, including little old me, require a full reset on our opinions … all of them. It talks about how people get so stuck in believing things we learned about a certain topic many years ago and refuse to take in new facts that may be contrary to our original point of view.

Most of us do not want to be categorized as a person who is inflexible and unable to keep an open mind. We think that our approach to forming an opinion on a topic already includes all the relevant information. In fact, we can support it with up-to-date facts. The problem is … where do we get these new facts?! The book points out that we are trained to have a bias to sources which already support our ancient points of view.

This is a great book with a great message in this age of people alienating further and further from each other.

But Paul, how does all of this relate to you managing my money? (other than you are proving that you could read … which I was kind of hoping was a basic requirement for my financial advisor).

I’m glad you asked … I do not feel that at any point in my career there has been a bigger need for people sitting in my chair to keep a completely open mind and put a lot of time into seeing how each company in each sector weaves its way through this new era of political strife, climate change and Artificial Intelligence … stay tuned as portfolios begin a slow but long-term shift. I truly do love my job - it never gets boring!

 

Digital Currencies – Where do you Stand?

Perhaps you should ‘Think Again’ about your position??? (Just checking to see if you read the above piece!!!)

Our firm just put out a very informative article looking at the concept of central banks moving away from paper currencies and jumping on board with digital currencies. Quite frankly, I cannot seem to get my head around the whole thing, regardless of how many articles I read or ‘smart’ people I talk to. The problem with people sounding smart about a topic like this is that there is no way to call them out on it unless you know more about it than they do … a dangerous road to follow.

There is no doubt some strong arguments exist exemplifying the benefits of going digital with our currencies. But there is so much more to the story than the fact that ‘even grandma doesn’t carry cash anymore’ (as I have more and more of my friends in their 50s and 60s becoming grandparents, I realize that they are talking about my wife – not me, of course). So many reasons to believe that cost reductions would be massive – that I can really get my head around. There would also be so many advantages when it comes to trade. I can picture the banks having issues with often losing the position of being the middleman in plenty of transactions and this would help everybody’s bottom line, well, except the banks.

Nonetheless, I must revert to the quote below in the article written by one of our US analysts …

“We think having a single point of failure for dollar payments in a world that uses the greenback for all manner of trade is, in a nutshell, a terrible idea. In one move, we think the U.S. would create an unparalleled target for hackers and thieves, not to mention terrorists or geopolitical rivals. Even a cursory look at the history of electronic security shows the risks of centralizing data and wealth.”

I just don’t think we are ready … there may be some out there who believe digital currencies are the way to go and have some strong arguments to back themselves up. However, I cannot get away from comparing this move in technology to the new ‘key fobs’ for our cars that were supposed to make car thefts a thing of the past … instead we ended up helping the thieves steal our cars in a matter of seconds instead of a matter of minutes. I realize that my philosophy professors would likely tear that analogy to shreds but I think it helps get my point across.

 

Congratulations Corner!

We now have a team member who has celebrated 50 years with RBC!!!!! Congratulations Maurice!!!!!

Maurice has played several important roles within RBC over this very long time! Often as a Planner but also as a Branch Manager… Maurice won several awards throughout his career, including the top award of an RBC Cruise … and he did this more than once!!!! (While working for me, I think I bought him a coffee a couple of years back).

We are so happy and privileged to have such a hardworking and dedicated planner on our team… if he has not done a plan for you or updated your existing one lately give him a call!!! Not sure if he will be around another 50 years!!!!

 

Personal Thoughts

Quite frankly I’m thinking as time goes on, all of Paul’s Prose has become “Personal Thoughts”. 

As I write this the real feel is near 40 and has been for 3 days … of course last week my Air Conditioner at home broke down and our home is a cool 32 degrees at night!!! We have a great HVAC guy and he showed up right away and secured a new compressor for us (under warranty) but it’s coming from Texas, and they think it is snowing here so I likely will not get it until Christmas!!!! Do I seem a bit bitter??? Sorry, it’s the heat!!! You know it’s hot when Rosanna quits golf after only 9 holes!

Leah and her partner Matt (think this is Matt’s first honourable mention in Paul’s Prose – quite a milestone in a relationship with my children) have been looking for a place outside of the city. They currently have a condo close to the hospital where Leah currently works, 10-minute walk for her … but they want some space and some land … I love that. Both of my kids are such outdoorsy types and truly love nature – please don’t get Bradley talking about foraging for mushrooms! Anyways, housing market is so tough right now for young people – something has to give in order for so many of them to be able to afford that standard dream of a countryside bungalow with a picket fence.