Next

This is a very broad question - what do you want your money to do for you? What are your goals?

I would say the first thing you should do is think about what you want and when you want it. To help you frame this thought you should check out The Geometry of Wealth by Brian Portnoy.

Then, work backwards to make a plan that will get you there. Assuming your goal is something like buy appreciating assets to increase net worth, you can do it with real estate or equities. If your goal is generate cash flow to live off of, you can also do that with real estate or equities. If you want a vacation home, then obviously don't buy equities.

With respect to investing in the public markets (i.e. NOT real estate) I would read some books and educate yourself so you can make more informed decisions.

Examples include:
- Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam
- Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel
- The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

First off - congratulations.

What you do depends a lot on what your current RSP, TFSA, and pension state are.

The only benefit RSP has over TFSA is if you plan to make less in retirement than you do today, and that amount is enough to move your tax bracket. If this isn't likely to happen because you have a healthy pension or other savings generating some kind of capital gains, then maxing the TFSA is a better bet. In fact, for most middle-class folks TFSA is a superior retirement vehicle than RSP. So you probably want to max that first.

You paid off your house a decade in age younger than I, so that's a big positive.

Before the TFSA came about, I was investing in both the RRSP's and the non-registered account. Not really getting anywhere, because I was trying too hard to follow the top investors during my era. Once I stopped trying to copy great investors, amongst them Ben Graham and Warren Buffett, and just be myself, things finally started to click. Better late, than never.

Now I just keep investing very simple.

Index funds in the RRSP's and TFSA's. Individual Canadian dividend growth stocks in the taxable portfolio. I don't do any financial analysis. Works for me. Then again, after over thirty five years of equity investing, I'm quite used to the ups and downs of the markets, while others seem to panic.

You're just going to have to find your own personal investment system OP, that works for you.