Million Dollar Journey

Building Wealth through Saving and Investing

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Best of Million Dollar Journey – October 2008 Edition

Welcome to the monthly Million Dollar Journey summary.  October was “gut check” month where the markets aggressively corrected taking my portfolio and net worth with it!  No worries though as it’s a long term game.

Here are the top articles, comment contributors, and referrals for the past month:

Top 5 Most Popular Posts for Oct 2008

  1. Frugal Tip: Give Yourself an Allowance – This is a frugal strategy that my wife and I use to help keep our discretionary spending low. Even though we try to run a tight ship, it’s nice to be able to have a bit of money to spend as you please without any questions asked.  With this strategy, it allows us to live a frugal lifestyle without feeling deprived.
  2. Doctor Salaries – Not as High as You Think – Ever wonder how much physicians make in salary?  Personally, I assumed that most of them made around the $300k-$500k/year range.  Did you know though that doctors who work outside a hospital can face extremely high “overhead” fees that can take as much as 40% of their salary before taxes?
  3. The Smith Manoeuvre during a Market Crash – During the big market correction in October, I had many readers asking what I was doing about my leveraged portfolio.  My answer?  I am buying!  Typically speaking, markets drops are a great time to buy for dividend investors.
  4. Upcoming Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) – With the much hyped TFSA coming in January of 2009, I did a short summary of the banks and discount brokerages who have made announcements on their TFSA offerings.
  5. Divorce – A Wealth Killer – This column explains the technicalities behind divorce and how it affects finances.  In Canada, there is a “no-fault” rule and assets are generally split 50/50.  There are some exceptions however, check out the article for more details.

Top Comment Contributors

Top Referrers

Many thanks to the sites that sent traffic to Million Dollar Journey over the past month.  Below are the referrals that sent the most traffic to us in October.

  1. Canadian Capitalist
  2. My Dollar Plan
  3. AOL Money Blogs
  4. Value Investing News
  5. Red Flag Deals


6 Comments, Comment or Ping

  1. Thanks for the list MDJ.. I especially liked the one about the leveraged portfolio and the market “correction” :-)

  2. I was impressed with the doctors salaries. Never thought about it before. In addition, I’ve also read the divorce at Money Sense Magazine. Good stuff, as always.

    Thanks.

  3. You are a machine FT! Great article on doctor salaries, had no idea…

  4. 4. Scott

    I have a comment about the “Top Comment Contributors”, as I am one of them (I think I am any way!). Technically and statistically I may be a “TCC”, but I don’t feel I deserve such an accolade. I merely comment, while others, Ed for example, post a great deal of useful information, both general and specific. It’s those people who are MY top contributors!

  5. 5. DAvid

    I agree with Scott; there is a great difference between quantity and quality, and there are others who contribute far more than I.

    DAvid

  6. 6. Cash Instinct

    Top contributors are by quantity only I think, MDJ does not rank people by the quality of posts.

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