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Prayer Vigil Tonight at Six Steps for George Koutroubis

The search continues for our good friend and relative George Koutroubis.

We are hosting a prayer vigil TONIGHT at Six Steps Restaurant at 6:00pm. We are asking anyone to join us at 55 Colborne Street whether you pray or not, whether you know him or not, or whether you simply can be here to support those involved.

I’m calling anyone we know to join us tonight and lift our thoughts and concerns to our God. Please…if you can be here then do just that. It’s time put aside anything other then our friend and relative George Koutroubis and ask that God will provide wisdom, strength and clarity to those involved.

Thank you in advance for your continued prayers and support.

Chris & Elisseos

SAFEBRIDGE on Investment Executive TV

Elisseos and I were blessed enough to have the chance to be interviewed on Investment Executive TV in respect to our current “business building” model.

We were thrilled for this opportunity to get our message out that we want to help our clients manage all of their financial affairs from their mortgage to their insurance to their investments, and that’s exactly what we got to talk about. Our clients are the reason we have put this model together, and we are very grateful for the many Toronto based families that have chosen to work with us.

Take a look at the video below to gain a better understanding of what we do here at SAFEBRIDGE, and why:

Until next time, have a Terrific Thursday.

Chris & Elisseos

Warren Buffet in the New York Times

I’ve attached a great article about Warren Buffet and what he is personally investing in within his own portfolio. Better yet, he even explains why so please give this a read!

Buy American. I Am.
By WARREN E. BUFFETT

Omaha

THE financial world is a mess, both in the United States and abroad. Its problems, moreover, have been leaking into the general economy, and the leaks are now turning into a gusher. In the near term, unemployment will rise, business activity will falter and headlines will continue to be scary.

So … I’ve been buying American stocks. This is my personal account I’m talking about, in which I previously owned nothing but United States government bonds. (This description leaves aside my Berkshire Hathaway holdings, which are all committed to philanthropy.) If prices keep looking attractive, my non-Berkshire net worth will soon be 100 percent in United States equities.

Why?

A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful. And most certainly, fear is now widespread, gripping even seasoned investors. To be sure, investors are right to be wary of highly leveraged entities or businesses in weak competitive positions. But fears regarding the long-term prosperity of the nation’s many sound companies make no sense. These businesses will indeed suffer earnings hiccups, as they always have. But most major companies will be setting new profit records 5, 10 and 20 years from now.

Let me be clear on one point: I can’t predict the short-term movements of the stock market. I haven’t the faintest idea as to whether stocks will be higher or lower a month — or a year — from now. What is likely, however, is that the market will move higher, perhaps substantially so, well before either sentiment or the economy turns up. So if you wait for the robins, spring will be over.

A little history here: During the Depression, the Dow hit its low, 41, on July 8, 1932. Economic conditions, though, kept deteriorating until Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in March 1933. By that time, the market had already advanced 30 percent. Or think back to the early days of World War II, when things were going badly for the United States in Europe and the Pacific. The market hit bottom in April 1942, well before Allied fortunes turned. Again, in the early 1980s, the time to buy stocks was when inflation raged and the economy was in the tank. In short, bad news is an investor’s best friend. It lets you buy a slice of America’s future at a marked-down price.

Over the long term, the stock market news will be good. In the 20th century, the United States endured two world wars and other traumatic and expensive military conflicts; the Depression; a dozen or so recessions and financial panics; oil shocks; a flu epidemic; and the resignation of a disgraced president. Yet the Dow rose from 66 to 11,497.

You might think it would have been impossible for an investor to lose money during a century marked by such an extraordinary gain. But some investors did. The hapless ones bought stocks only when they felt comfort in doing so and then proceeded to sell when the headlines made them queasy.

Today people who hold cash equivalents feel comfortable. They shouldn’t. They have opted for a terrible long-term asset, one that pays virtually nothing and is certain to depreciate in value. Indeed, the policies that government will follow in its efforts to alleviate the current crisis will probably prove inflationary and therefore accelerate declines in the real value of cash accounts.

Equities will almost certainly outperform cash over the next decade, probably by a substantial degree. Those investors who cling now to cash are betting they can efficiently time their move away from it later. In waiting for the comfort of good news, they are ignoring Wayne Gretzky’s advice: “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been.”

I don’t like to opine on the stock market, and again I emphasize that I have no idea what the market will do in the short term. Nevertheless, I’ll follow the lead of a restaurant that opened in an empty bank building and then advertised: “Put your mouth where your money was.” Today my money and my mouth both say equities.

Warren E. Buffett is the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, a diversified holding company.

Until next time, have a Magnificent Monday!

Chris

David Bach on Monthly vs. Bi-Weekly Mortgage Payments

If you are anything like my wife, you watch a lot of Oprah.

David Bach is the author of the “Automatic Millionaire” and has been featured on Oprah on multiple occasions. The video below is an exerpt from one of his appearances on the show discussing how home owners can shave years off their mortgage payments and save them thousands of dollars in interest. Enjoy.

Your Take-Away: Making one simple change from monthly to bi-weekly payments can save you literally thousands of dollars over the life of your mortgage. It’s simple yet effective, so why not at least consider it?

Until next time, have a Wonderful Wednesday.

Chris & Elisseos

Illness Protection Insurance

Many have heard the term “Illness Protection” or “Critical Illness Insurance”, but I’m not sure how many of us actually understand what it is and the benefits it provides.

Critical Illness Insurance (CII) provides a lump sum, tax free benefit to the insured in the event that they are diagnosed with a terminal illness.  The illnesses covered range from between 4 in a basic policy to upwards of 25 depending on the company of choice, and include illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, and stroke to name a few.  This benefit is paid out after a 30 day waiting period and can be used for alternative health care measures, replacing an income, or even making modifications to your home to help adapt to the change in your health.

Your Take-Away: Just think, if you were lucky enough to own a machine that you ran in your basement 24 hours a day and all it did was print money, wouldn’t you insure that machine in the case that it broke down?  After all, if it did broke down but with the right money you could get it running again, I don’t know a single person who wouldn’t get it fixed.  Protecting yourself and your family with Critical Illness Insurance is the exact same thing. In fact, if you are the only or primary income earner in your family, you owe it to yourself to ensure that both you and the rest of your family would be able to sustain a life changing event such as cancer, heart attack or any other number of illnesses that seem so prevolent today.

Statistics say that 1 in 4 Canadians will be diagnosed with Cancer prior to their 65th birthday.  Personally, that alone is enough to make me seriously consider the benefits of protecting myself and my family’s well being. 

Until next time, have a Wonderful Wednesday.

Chris