Happy New Year, everyone! Wishing you all a year filled with health, love, and time to make wonderful memories.
I recently finished reading the book “Die with Zero” by Bill Perkins. Bill’s call to action is to be a maximizer of life experiences not of wealth. He reminds us that the 3 key assets we need to juggle to maximize our life experiences are: Time, Health and Wealth. He talks about how over time health goes down while wealth goes up, and how we should constantly strive to make maximizing the value of our time a priority so we can enjoy life and build memories that last.
As we think of this year, let’s look at our investment plan and ask ourselves, “do I have a plan that will allow me to live the life I want now and in the future?” It all starts with a deeply personal question: “What do I want in my life now, and in the future?” I’ll leave you with that while I share “The Stock Talk 2025 Game Plan”.
Disclaimer: This plan is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. It reflects my investment learnings over time and prioritizes long-term, sustainable growth, not personal financial goals.
Here is the plan for 2025:
Simplification:
Replace all Canadian Stocks: Enbridge, Magna, Telus and TD with a larger position in XIC (the Index ETF that tracks the TSX). The Canadian market is highly concentrated in some sectors: Oil, Banks, Commodities, and few companies within each sector. I have found it difficult to predict the specific companies that will thrive in each sector during the year. To gain broader exposure, I'm replacing individual Canadian stocks (Enbridge, Magna, Telus, TD) with a larger position in XIC, an ETF tracking the TSX.
Replace all Blue Chips stocks (AIG, Disney and Walmart) with DIA (the index ETF that tracks the Dow). Even though the 3 companies performed really well in 2024 (+48% combined), and way ahead of the Dow (+14%), in a year that might be filled with geopolitical uncertainty, I will take the opportunity to diversify by investing across top 30 US companies with DIA, an ETF that tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
To a lesser extent, in the technology bucket, I will replace only Paypal with QQQ (the index ETF that tracks the Nasdaq 100). Paypal had a strong 2024 (+55%); however, I have lost interest in following it as a company and therefore would rather replace this position with QQQ. Needless to say that I believe in owning stock of companies you are interested in following and learning about.
Rebalancing: I trimmed the stocks and ETF’s that disproportionately grew in 2024 to ensure the portfolio remains balanced and diversified. Specifically, in 2024 Apple grew 49%, Amazon 63%, Meta 84%, Google 50%, Netflix 110%. The cash raised through rebalancing will be invested throughout the year on a monthly basis in equal lump sums.
Learning Stocks: There are 2 stocks that I would like to own and follow throughout 2025: Nike (NKE) and Snapchat (SNAP). Both had a rough year in 2024 down 28% and 26%, respectively. Why are they down? In my opinion, both companies were complacent and allowed competition to get ahead of them. However, I believe in the power of brands and leadership; and although I don’t have a clear indication that either company has refined their growth strategies just yet, I believe they will and both are in markets that have growth potential (or in the case of Snap, there is also the potential to be an acquisition target). While they may not fully turn around in 2025, I would like to follow their journey and learn from it.
To that end, I will replace the prior stocks in the “Bets” bucket (+74% combined in 2024); which were: Travel (Air Canada and United Airlines) and Clean Energy (Boralex) with Nike and Snap.
“Discovery” ETF’s: In 2024, I held 3 “Discovery” ETFs: BOTZ (AI & Robotics), ICLN (Clean Energy), DRIV (EV and Self Drive). Unfortunately, the investment in ICLN has continued to decline and I don’t have a reason to believe it will reverse its course; therefore, I’m selling ICLN and keeping the 2 ETF’s: BOTZ and DRIV.
Finishing Touches: I will continue investing in a GIC ladder for guaranteed returns; which in 2025 will have a 3-yr GIC at 5.25%, 4-yr at 5.40%, 5-yr at 4% (yes, interest rates have definitely come down). The available cash will continue to be invested in CASH.TO (money market ETF)
When all is said and done, here is what the Stock Talk portfolio looks like at the start of 2025:
If you made it this far, thank you for reading 🙂! Feel free to drop me a note with any thoughts about the Stock Talk Game Plan.
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Claudia Soler
January 6, 2025
* Disclaimer: The information contained within this blog is for informational purposes only and it is not intended as a recommendation of the securities highlighted or any particular investment strategy; nor should it be considered a solicitation to buy or sell any security. In addition, this information is not represented or warranted to be accurate, correct, complete or timely. the securities mentioned in this blog may not be suitable for all types of investors and the information contained in this blog does not constitute advice. Before acting on any information in this blog, readers should consider whether such an investment is suitable for their particular circumstances, perform their own due diligence, and if necessary, seek professional advice.