Don Edwards, longtime member of 30+ years and active community leader, provides clients a worry-free investment experience.

Don opened up his presentation to the club by answering everyone's questions, including:

Q: How much should I save for retirement?

A: how much do you want to live on? Work the reverse numbers. For example, if you want, say, $300k/yr, then you'll need at least $10 million by the time you're 65. TFSA's are gold, don't touch it because it'll garner 1% more per year than an RRSP. Maximize it as much as you can for as long as you can. Take out the RRSP first then at 71 the RRSP turns into a RRIF. Remember that you can always replenish money taken out of a TFSA.

Q: Whats the smartest way to transfer wealth from a company? Dividends? RRSP?

A: A lot of people take dividends but then you don't have a salary with which to make an RRSP contribution. Regular RRSP contributions are gold. So, there's a balancing act that will need to be checked with your accountant. 

Q: Should I carry debt into retirement?

A: No. You should have everything paid off before you retire.

Q: How much do I need to start investing?

A: CIBC recommends $250,000 in order to have a diversified portfolio. To get to that point, start with a discount brokerage who charges less per transaction. Make regular contributions as much as possible. Some clients even borrow money to make contributions, it's that important.

Q: Is it worth it to borrow money to invest?

A: It's a great idea as long as the borrowing rate is lower than the investment return rate!

Q: What's the deal with gold?

A: A gold mine executive indicated that gold is tied to the US dollar. Other than diamonds, it's purely emotional - never proven to be a hedge against inflation.

Don believes in the longevity of the markets, even if they go down (which he believes they're likely to do soon). If they go down, you'll have to delay retirement. You can get a bigger dividend from a stock (2-4%) than from a high interest savings account.

On the personal side, he's raised record funds for the hospitals of Regina, he's served with the Kinsmen to run Telemiracle, and delivered meals for Meals on Wheels.