Canadian Royalty Trusts, also known as a CanRoy, are a great alternative to traditional stocks.

I’m not a skilled investor, particularly when it comes to short-term prognostication, and my long-term track record has yet to be established considering my first investing decision was less than ten years ago. I don’t invest in many individual stocks. My 401(k) includes company stock as part of my employer’s matching contribution, and I opted into a stock purchasing plan where I can buy more company stock at a discount. Other than that, I’ve only invested in a few companies here and there.

Did you know that if you do a Traditional to Roth IRA conversion, that you can undo it? This “do-over” process is called recharacterization, and can come in very handy if the value of your investments drop significantly after your conversion since you owe income taxes based on the value of the IRA at the time of conversion. With the recent market volatility, this may apply to many investors as it did previously in 2008/2009.

Do you use a financial adviser to help you manage your finances? I don’t. I’m a self-educated investor. I’ve been managing my family’s financial portfolio for over a decade now, and I’ve been doing a good job – I periodically compare my portfolio’s performance to the performance of major financial benchmarks, and so far, I’m pleased with the results.