Hey, let’s do something fun! About a year ago (or more, who knows), I made some investments. One was an RRSP (because I needed to for the home buyers’ plan) and the other was a new TFSA account (because I wanted to get rich). Admittedly, I went really far towards the risky end for these investments but how did I make out some 12 months later?
First up is the CIBC Latin American mutual fund. I know nothing about the Latin American economy, except that it’s even shakier than the North American economy. There’s a lot of corruption in these countries and depending on the region, people can be quite poor. So like an idiot, I put $1500 of my money into this fund. That $1500 is now worth $1234 as of today. Keep in mind, having this RRSP meant I paid less taxes last year, so you can’t just say I’m in the hole $300. Nonetheless, this doesn’t seem like it was a smart move for me. Who knows what will happen years down the road but if I had to do it over again, I probably would have not bought this fund.
Next up is CIBC Energy Fund, which I put into a TFSA. I put $500 into, so it’s not a big deal. I bought it when the price of oil had dropped. I didn’t realize it was going to drop even lower. I expected it to rebound pretty quick and then I’d make some fast cash. Nope. My investment is worth $392 today. I also hear that oil prices are going to stay depressed for a year or beyond. It looks like I’ll need to hold onto this for a long time before I break even again.
So there you go, that’s how I used some of my hard-earned money last year. This year, I anticipate being a little more reserved with my investments. Perhaps a bar of gold, hidden in a cave somewhere?