It’s a new season and the perfect time to learn about making smart investing decisions. During this time of the year, many are highlighting the importance of investor education as October is Investor Education Month in Canada and the first week of the month is World Investor Week, an initiative of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

In this issue, we’ve put together information on many key investor education concepts, like the importance of checking registration, researching a product before investing, assessing the impact of fees, power of compounding, creating an investment plan and avoiding investment fraud.

Creating an Investment Plan

A well-thought-out investment plan can help you along your financial journey as you work towards important milestones like attending post-secondary education or buying your first home. It can also help you be ready for the normal ups and downs of the market, and to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Follow these 4 steps when creating your plan.

The Power of Compounding

Compounding can help you grow your money faster because in addition to earning interest on your initial investment, you also earn interest on previous earnings. This is also called earning interest-on-interest. You can also reinvest other earnings, like dividends from stocks, and benefit from the power of compounding.

How much could your money grow to? Use our Compound Interest Calculator to find out how your investment could grow over time with compound interest. You can also include regular contributions, if any, as well as change the compounding period between monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, and annually.

Visit GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca for more popular and free articles, tools and calculators to help you with your finances.

Investing for Growth

Growth investments have the potential to increase in value. You can make money by buying at one price and selling at a higher price in the future. But these investments can also lose value, which makes them risky. Growth investments include equity mutual funds, ETFs and stocks.

When you’re investing for growth, you might want to consider one of these approaches to choosing investments. Learn more

Investing for Income

Income investments make payments of interest or dividends at set times, such as monthly or quarterly. This is also called passive income. A typical investor using this strategy hopes to achieve a constant stream of cash. Before you choose a specific income investment, get the answers to these four questions. Learn more

Check Before You Invest

Always check the registration of any person or business trying to sell you an investment or give you investment advice. Registration helps protect investors from unqualified or fraudulent investment professionals. Visit CheckBeforeYouInvest.ca.

You can also watch our new series of short Check Before You Invest animations back-to-back at this link. These animations build on the original series of short videos.

Telephone townhalls are a way for the Investor Office to connect with thousands of Ontarians at a time, in the comfort of their own home. Telephone townhalls work much like a call-in radio show where OSC staff provide information, answer questions and conduct live polls over the course of one hour.

The next telephone townhall is on October 3 and is being organized as part of World Investor Week and Investor Education Month.

Free registration

Investor Core Competencies

IOSCO and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently developed a Core Competencies Framework on Financial Literacy for Investors to assist members, investor education providers and other stakeholders in their efforts to develop and implement investor education initiatives. It seeks to better prepare investors to navigate an increasingly complex investing environment.

Remember to visit us at GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca for more unbiased information on investing. If you're just starting out, check out what you need to get started. And, if you're working with an advisor, ask these questions to help make sure you're working with someone that's right for you.

Education Cost Calculator

In our last issue, we launched our new Education Cost Calculator. Have you tried it yet?

Saving for post-secondary education? Do you know how much you or your child's college or university program could cost? Use our new Education Cost Calculator to find out the costs for attending a specific college or university program as well as typical food, residence and other living expenses. You can also compare up to three student loan options. Try our new calculator

Ask Us An Investing Question

Investing and the investment world can be complex. Our Re: Investing website offers clear, unbiased answers to your questions about investing, from a trusted source. Here are some recent questions and our responses:

“Do mutual funds carry risk?”
“Can I open a TFSA for my children?”
“Should I transfer my mutual fund to another institution to save on fees?”

Welcome Place Inc. and Others - Claims Process

The Civil Remedies for Illicit Activities Office (CRIA) of the Attorney General of Ontario issued a notice related to funds forfeited in relation to activity in contravention of the Ontario Securities Act that occurred between March 1, 2008 and May 15, 2013.

Victims of the specific unlawful activity that lead to this forfeiture may submit a claim for compensation.

Read the notice for more information.

The OSC recently announced the agenda and preliminary list of speakers for Dialogue 2019: Regulation for Confidence and Growth. This year’s event brings together financial industry leaders, senior regulators and investors to discuss collaborative strategies to drive efficiency and economic growth, while fostering market confidence.

OSC Dialogue 2019 takes place on Thursday, November 21, 2019 and registration is now open.  

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