How to Beat the Bank with Larry Bates (by cutting fees and portfolio optimization)

Today we have author and Canadian investor, Larry Bates on the show. Larry is the author of the book “Beat the Bank”, where you shows (specifically for Canadians), how you can build a larger retirement nest egg by switching from high-cost mutual funds to more efficient, low-cost investment products. He also explains how you can do it in just a couple of hours per year.

He talks about some of the secrets in the investment industry that many Canadians don’t know about, he decodes some of the mystery that is prevalent around investing here in Canada, and he provides a simple, step-by-step guide to investing. Just like me, he believes that you don't need to be an expert to start investing successfully...you just need to know the basics.

Larry is a former banker turned investor advocate. He spent 35 years in banking, has since retired from that, and now spends his time increasing financial literacy for Canadians, specifically in the area of investing.

Book Giveaway!

To kick things off on a good note for 2019, I’ve arranged a book giveaway with Larry where you can enter for free for a chance to win one of 3 signed copies of Larry’s book. This is obviously for a limited time, the giveaway ends at the end of February 2019, so be sure to sign up now for a free chance to win.

To enter the giveaway, just go to buildwealthcanada.ca/beatthebank

Get Your Free 1-Year Subscription to Canadian MoneySaver Magazine

Lastly, don’t forget to claim your free 1-year digital subscription to Canadian MoneySaver Magazine (Canada’s largest personal finance and investing magazine).

The magazine features Canada’s top experts on personal finance and investing, and is a great place to learn best practices, and stay up to date on changes that will impact your investments and financial situation for years to come, specifically here in Canada.

To get that, all you have to do is open up a free savings account with my favourite bank (and the bank that I personally use, EQ bank).

The reason that I personally use EQ bank, is that they have one of the highest interest savings rates in Canada. In fact, over all the years that I’ve been with them, I’ve seen them consistently be almost double the interest rate compared to other online banks, and well over double the interest rate compared to the major brick and mortar banks that we have here in Canada.  

Plus it’s free to sign up and keep an account with them, so you’re not paying a monthly fee as you do with many of the other banks out there. As a bonus you also get 5 free Interac e-transfers every month!

Because of those reasons, I’ve been with them ever since they launched in Canada years ago, and it’s where I keep my entire emergency fund and spending money.

To get the free account and a 1 year free subscription to Canadian MoneySaver magazine, just go to buildwealthcanada.ca/eq, open the free account, and once you’re done, forward any email that you get from EQ to bonus@buildwealthcanada.ca and I’ll send you a coupon code that gets you a free one year subscription to the magazine.

Enjoy, thanks for supporting the show, and now let’s get into the episode.

Questions Asked During the Interview:

Tell us your story and what your new book is about?

What inspired you to write the book?

Now that you’re retired, what do you personally hold in your portfolio? 

Let’s talk about doing passive index investing through ETFs vs selecting individual stocks. What do you see as the pros and cons of these approaches and what do you personally do?

When it comes to evaluating individual stocks, a common concern that investors have is what if the stock they are considering is overvalued, and they end up overpaying for it. What precautions, due diligence and research do you personally do before investing in any particular stock?

If you were instead doing a much earlier retirement, like in your 30s or 40s, how would you tweak that strategy?

For the bond portion of your portfolio, what kind of bonds do you recommend? Long vs short term? Canadian vs international?

What are your thoughts on the criticisms of the S&P TSX (i.e. The Canadian Index).

For index investors, should we be adjusting our portfolio for the shortcomings of this index? (i.e. The sector concentration).

Adjusting for this inherently adds complexity to our portfolio, so is it worth it?

What are your thoughts on using bonds vs GICs vs a combination of the two, particularly for those in traditional retirement and early retirement?

What are your thoughts on the 4 percent rule and safe withdraw rate for traditional retirement age retirees vs early retirees?

Going back to your book, one of my favourite parts was how you broke down investment portfolio optimization to just 6 core areas to focus on. Can you talk about each of those?
Where can we get your book, and how can we learn more about you and see more of your work?

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