Here at TEIBAS we like to say financial, physical, and mental wellness are essential to living a healthy lifestyle. Financial Wellness is what it sounds like, healthy finances. Part of having heathy finances is learning about investing. What is investing? Investing is the process of putting money into assets with the goal of growing wealth over time. Unlike saving, which typically involves keeping money in low-risk accounts like savings or GICs, investing usually carries higher risk but also offers greater potential returns.
One of the most common investment types is stocks (also called equities), which represent ownership in a company. When you buy a stock, you become a shareholder and can potentially benefit from dividends (company profits shared with investors) and capital gains (profits from selling the stock at a higher price). However, stocks can be volatile, meaning their value can rise or fall quickly.
Bonds are another popular investment. They are essentially loans you give to a company or government in exchange for regular interest payments and the return of the principal at maturity. Bonds are generally considered safer than stocks but can offer lower returns.
A key principle in investing is diversification, which means spreading your investments across different asset classes, and geographies to reduce risk. For example, holding both stocks and bonds in different industries or investing in both domestic and international markets helps protect against losses in any one area.
Another important concept is knowing your risk tolerance, or how comfortable you are with uncertainty and the risk of losing money in the short term in order to pursue longer term gains. Younger investors might take on more risk because they have time to recover from downturns, while older investors may prefer safer options as they near retirement.
Investing also benefits from compound growth, where returns are reinvested to generate their own earnings. The earlier you start investing, the more time your money has to grow.
Understanding basic investment options, knowing your risk tolerance, diversifying your portfolio, and starting early are crucial steps toward long-term financial success. Whether you use a financial advisor or a self-directed account, educating yourself is key to becoming a confident investor.
Want to learn more about investing? Check out the resources below to get started:
Smart Path: Smart Path is Canada Life’s Canadian group retirement and savings plan education website. Canada Life offers additional financial well-being resourcessuch as a resource page to brush up on different ways to improve your own financial well-being – whatever that may mean to you. You can connect with a Canada Life health and wealth consultant for assistance with your plan-specific inquiries.
Get Smarter About Money: Is an Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) website that provides unbiased and independent financial tools to help you make better financial decisions.
Financial Consumer Agency of Canada: The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada has a variety of great tools to help you choose a bank account, credit card, and has budget and mortgage calculators.
TEIBAS’ The Wire: Read about the latest news on your pension and benefit plans.
Questions? We’re here to help! You can email us at members@teibas.com or call us at 416-637-6789 (toll-free 1-800-267-0602) for assistance during our regular office hours (Monday to Friday 7:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.).
Disclaimer: This blog was prepared on behalf of the Trustees of the IBEW Local 353 Trust Funds. It provides summary information in plain language. This blog is not intended to provide financial advice. If there is any discrepancy between this blog and the legal documents that govern the plans, the legal documents will apply. The Trustees expect to maintain these benefit plans indefinitely. However, they reserve the right to change of cancel any or all benefits under the Health and Welfare Plan, the Pension Plan and the SUB Plan for active and retired members, and their survivors and dependants.