7 Good Reasons Not To Get Stressed

What Makes Investors Worry and Why You Should Not

I spend most of the working day discussing with my clients their investments on the phone and in person. Long ago I've identified the issue that causes the most anxiety and stress for investors. What do you think it is?

Is it the inflation? The expectation of the market crash? Maybe it's the fear of some natural disaster or a major war? No, none of the above.

Over the years, I've learned that the main cause of investors' stress and anxiety is their inability to locate and/or understand the documentation they receive pertaining to their portfolios - statements, confirmations, receipts, especially so during the tax time.

If you are one of us, the paperwork–challenged community, then the following list is for you:

7 GOOD REASONS NOT TO GET STRESSED BY THE PAPERWORK

1.You are not alone. Most of our investors find that it takes effort to understand the statements, especially after letting the envelopes sit for a week unopened on the kitchen counter.

2.There is no shame in not understanding some industry jargon. So what if you forgot that "TDBK 5 N-C 1ST PFD S" means the TD Bank 5% non-callable 1st preferred share series "S", which we discussed last week? We'll understand.

3.Celine and me are here, and we get calls like these all the time. By calling us and asking to explain, you are not wasting our time, because talking to you is our job. My direct number is 403-266-0148, Celine is at 403-266-0133.

4.Duplicates are available. If you had misplaced that RRSP contribution receipt, or a T5, call us and get the duplicate. We won't charge you.

5.Computers have long memory. Even if the information you need is a few years old, in most cases we can still recover it for you. Let's check what you paid for these Apple shares back in 1999.

6.You can let your accountant speak to us. Some of our investors delegate to their accountants the responsibility to call us and ask questions. This is fine, however in this case we would need from you a letter authorizing us to release your information to someone else.

7..You can get online yourself. If you'd still rather not call us for help, you can obtain a user id and password to access your accounts online and dig for the information yourself. (You would still need to call us to get set up).