u/AxeloftheMountrain

I've never been to the South Pacific Islands. Would like any feedback on what to see, do in these two places. Also some info on good restaurants (preferably local food with reasonable prices), food outlets and grocery stores would be great. What is the best way to get around once you are there - and any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

Rielly isn't , and never was, a top pairing D-man. So who is the left shot D-man going to be on their top pairing ? Werenski would have been perfect but he made it known he isn't leaving Columbus - not to mention the price it would've cost to get him. McCabe might be Ok, or is there another trade that might shore things up ? Rielly is a great team player, but he has always been below average in his own zone and has always been one of the league's most non-physical D-men. Checked today and there is nothing on the rumour board that another D-man is coming. If they don't get a solid partner for Raddyish then their biggest weakness - their weak defensive play in their own zone - will continue to hold them back.

I am in my 50s, have been athletic my whole life and never experienced any hip issues - nor had any serious sports injuries - until this past April. I started playing competitive pickleball 5 days a week and gradually noticed tightness in my left hip, but I figured it was just general soreness and continued playing. Then one day I was limping and couldn't put full weight over my left hip. It wasn't overly painful at first but I knew something was wrong.

I saw my doctor, got an MRI and - as I suspected from reading up online - I had a labral tear in my hip. I read up on treatment and the overall consensus is that a labral tear wont heal on its own because it has poor blood flow. Your options are physio treatment, orthoscopic surgery, or - what I feared the worst - a hip replacement.

Having been an athlete all my life with no prior injuries, I was pretty devastated that my athletic ability and sports were in jeopardy. Being athletic, active and mobile is a huge part of my life. The thought of not being able to do things the way I had before was not a pleasant one to say the least.

I continued to look up treatment options and ideas online. There are some good YouTube videos. I got inspired by one video from a physiotherapist who said that a labral tear can in some cases actually heal over time with treatment. He has seen it several times in his clinic, but it's a slow process and he says that doctors typically recommend surgery too quickly. He also says that this idea that labral tears wont heal is a medical assumption but there is no research on the possibility they may heal on their own.

So I figured I'd give it a try and see if I can at least try to heal my labral tear. I have been going to physio since the injury and have a good physiotherapist. I also started taking collagen supplements daily along with the glucosamine supplement I have been taking for years. The physiotherapist gave me some good hip exercises to do with inflatable exercise balls. I also read a post where a woman mentioned she was walking backwards for a few minutes a day just to make the joint move differently . Everything has helped so far.

The main issue with a hip labral tear seems to be the poor blood flow to the area. One thing I really wanted to focus on was trying to get blood flow into the area. Movement of the joint is important for blood flow - and not sitting too long, as I found out, also helps the process. But two things that I tried seemed to have really worked and improved blood flow. I bought a high quality massage gun and I also bought an ultrasound therapy device (both were bought on Amazon). These two devices, along with everything else I was doing have worked wonders for me.

It's been 4 months and my hip feels as close to normal as it has been since the injury. The feeling like there is a piece of glass moving around in my hip has gone, as is the feeling like my hip would collapse. The crepitus has largely gone too. I can't pinpoint what has helped the most, but I am back in the gym, golfing again and skiing this winter is back on the schedule after being in doubt earlier.

A month ago I called my surgeon to book a followup because my hip pain and discomfort were pretty severe and I thought a hip replacement was inevitable since I was considered too old for orthoscopic surgery to be successful (the MRI showed that i already had some arthritis in my hips even though I didn't feel it before). I cancelled the appointment because the injury has improved drastically in the last few weeks. I have no medical background and I can't say for sure whether the tear has healed or whether my hips have readjusted themselves after the injury, but my point is do whatever you can to avoid surgery and give yourself a long runway timewise to see if you can manage your hip injury first

OK. I have read countless books on building wealth, getting rich, beating the stock market etc. over the years. I have been investing for almost my entire working career and am retired from the rat race at a relatively young age. I don't pretend to be an investment guru in any way, but I have learned a lot and put into practice ideas that have worked out well for me - in addition to having a few hiccups along the way.

Much of the investment advice out there is nothing more than clickbait or fluff.

Here's what I would advise anyone looking to create a retirement portfolio to do based on my experience. It's worked very well for me. My portfolio is composed of mostly dividend stocks. I do have American stocks in my portfolio within my RRSP, but I am going to keep it simple and stay within Canada and ideally focus on your TFSA. For many you, your TFSA is a better friend to you than your RRSP.

First of all, decide how much time you want to put into your investment. Do you want to watch your portfolio regularly or do you want to watch it periodically and then forget about it for a while ?

If you are willing to watch your portfolio regularly (at least a few times per week) then I would recommend Plan A. If you want to watch you portfolio periodically but want to be able to forget about it for weeks at a time then opt for Plan B.

In either case, you need to give yourself a large time frame for either plan to work (at least 10 years, or ideally 20-30) years. The trick is to take advantage of compounding and the longer the time frame, the better the results.

So....Plan A is going to be to invest in blue chip Canadian dividend stocks. A portfolio of 8-10 should do the trick for you, and I'm going to name names (as of July 2026) that will help you.

Here's the plan....

(1) Your first stock pick will be your choice of any of the big banks (Scotia, TD, RBC, BMO, CIBC). The banks are some of the best, most reliable stocks out there to choose from. Ideally choose the bank you deal with and are most familiar with. This is a great idea because you can see how their day to day operations and their service level impact you. A sudden change in performance, excess fees or questionable practices will be noticed by you before it impacts them on the market. And if the service level is consistently good, then you will notice that too.

(2) Your second pick will be perhaps Canada's most reliable dividend company - Enbridge. Enbridge is a reliable, solid company that nearly everyone is familiar with, uses regularly and they pay consistently high dividends.

(3) Pick one of Fortis or Hydro One as a utility/ electricity provider. Both are solid picks, Fortis has the better reputation as a dividend stock but Hydro One is more familiar to those where I am in Ontario.

(4) Pick your cell. /media provider. Here the choices are generally Rogers, Bell or Telus. Bell and Telus offer higher dividend payouts but Rogers is the most financially stable.

(5) Pick one of Canada's railways. Both are reliable, have been around for more than 100 years, pay consistent dividends and are among the most profitable railways in the entire world. You wont go wrong picking either one.

(6) Add a little diversity to your portfolio with some real estate by choosing a REIT. Choose one of RioCan, Smart Centres, Choice Properties, or CT. These REIT's all involve properties catering to retail sales. Chances are you were at one of them recently. RioCan owns a bunch of retail plazas that have several big name outlets. Smart Centres is in the same boat and its main tenant is Walmart. Choice is more specific and caters primarily to Loblaws and their related outlets, and CT REIT caters exclusively to Canadian Tire stores. They pay high dividends and very reliable.

(7) Choose your grocery stock. Here the main choices will be the Loblaw/George Weston group, Metro or Empire (parent company of the Sobeys chain). All three are reliable and are essential to households no matter what is happening in the economy. Ideally, like the banks, choose which one you deal with most often because you will notice any sudden changes in their service level or pricing and will see the impacts much faster.

(8) Choose one of Canada's insurance providers - either Manulife or Sunlife. Both are reliable and pay steady dividends. Or you can choose Power Corp. which is more of a finance company but is the parent company of the Great West Lifeco insurance company.

(9-10) The first 8 companies will serve you well, but if you want a bit more diversification or like other Canadian companies with good track records then choose 1-2 or more of the following. Most are very familiar and need no introduction. Brookfield Asset Management and their other branch companies like Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. Canadian Tire Corporation. Restaurant Brands International (parent company of Burger King AND Tim Hortons). TC Energy. Canadian Natural Resources. Suncor. Canadian Utilities Ltd. Nutrien (one of the world's biggest suppliers of potash). All are proven performers with solid track records.

There you have it for Plan A. I am invested in all of the stocks named here and all have done very well for me with the occasional correction or setback.

Now Plan B involves less monitoring and is more for those who want more security with less effort . The tradeoff is likely less return over the long run. In this case I would recommend 3 ETFs (Exchange traded funds). I have had IShares funds in the past and currently own shares in a Vanguard fund. The three I would recommend cover most angles of the Canadian market and are about as secure as it gets. I will stick to Vanguard for simplicity's sake but other companies offer similar or the same ETFs. Choose the Vanguard Retirement Income Fund (VRIF). An ETF more weighed in fixed income investments and a consistent yield near 4%. The Vanguard High Dividend Yield Index (VDY). This ETF will include many of the companies already mentioned in Plan A and is geared towards Canada's most reliable dividend companies. And finally, the Vanguard Canada Index ETF which largely mirrors the TSX index itself. It's up when the markets are up and down when the markets drop back, but it has risen consistently higher long term.

There you have it.

I don't pretend to be an investment advisor or guru. But this investing style is proven, has worked well for me and has allowed me to retire well before the age of 65 to live the retirement lifestyle I currently enjoy. The trick is to give yourself a long runway (like I said 10 years at a bare minimum) for compounding to really kick in and make sure you re-invest your dividend income. You will likely be making double digit returns most years and the compounding really hits critical mass after about 20 years or so.

Best of luck.