Year In Review: Top Inspired Investor Trade Articles of 2022

Like many investors, we stepped into 2022 with cautious optimism. The coming year promised – and delivered on – a loosening of pandemic restrictions, the return of travel and a sea change in the workplace. But as events unfolded, even we here at Inspired Investor Trade were surprised by the headwinds.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine presaged much of what lay ahead. It wasn't long before investors responded to reports of rising inflation (and the many other 'flations) by reviewing portfolios and everyday spending. Of course, the Bank of Canada had its own response to inflation: think this past year's numerous (and ongoing) interest-rate hikes, which kicked off in June and quickly impacted real estate affordability.

Around the same time, the equities bull market that started in 2020 officially met its bear, owing to supply chain challenges, labour shortages and more. Stocks that fared well over the past two years (so-called "pandemic darlings") had been cooling since the year kicked off, helping spark an uncertainty that spread to other parts of the market – and even investment types. And moving into 2023, RBC economists predict a recession, albeit a “moderate" one with relatively low job losses.

But there's also so much to look forward to. Technological breakthroughs – who hasn't been blown away by AI art these days? – social change, emerging global wealth and more trends are expected to shape the year to come.

Until then, let's take a look back on some of the top Inspired Investor Trade articles of 2022.

1. How Logic Wins Out Over Emotion for Frankie When Investing #InvestingTruths

TV personality and debate-school founder Frankie shares more about his investing journey so far.

2. What's Your Real Inflation Rate?

You can get closer to a personal inflation rate by looking at your actual spending and blending that with the inflation in those areas.

3. 10 Investing Terms People Search For Most

Deepen your investing knowledge with these top-searched investing terms.

4. 5 Savvy Setups for the New Trading Dashboard

Need Trading Dashboard inspiration? We asked power users with different investing styles to share their custom setups.

5. What You Need to Know About Rising Interest Rates and Your Investments

Understanding the relationship between interest rates and investments can help you make stronger investing choices.

6. You've Earned Your Success. Now Own Talking About It.

Normalize celebrating your triumphs (and feel good doing it) with these five strategies.

7. Inflation, Market Volatility and Your Mind

Our minds tend to take shortcuts when making decisions, some of which lead us to the wrong conclusions and actions.

8. Now I Know: 5 Investors Share Memorable Early Lessons

RBC colleagues share how the first steps of their investing journeys influenced their present stock picks, strategies and more.

9. Where's the Economy Headed? Key Economic Indicators Explained

Indicators can refer to trends, variables, data and other forces we can use to measure the state of the economy.

10. Navigators: A Simpler Order Entry Page Rolls Out

Find out what's new at RBC Direct Investing in June's Navigators update.

Honourable mentions:

With negative news out there and rising prices in our day-to-day life, my favourite discussions this year were about how to be kind to yourself and make choices that feel good, like Five Smart Decisions to Make When Nothing Feels OK.

Plus, a tasty and inexpensive meal helps me slow down and find my inner calm. The ideas and recipes in Smart Budgeting: 7 Meals That Cost Less Than a Latte were fun for me and my family. — Leigh Felesky, Head of Content, Personal Savings and Investments

Inflation has been such a topic of conversation this year, and I expect it will be in the year ahead as well. I'll be keeping Spending Less Can be a Pathway to Financial Peace — and Self-Love on my reading list to help keep my spending in check in the new year. — Judy McKinnon, Managing Editor

I got a lot of value from Investing in the Next Wave of Tech, which helped me better understand exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the idea of exploring broad sectors of the economy to invest in based on coming trends like electric vehicles and robotics. — Geoff Martin, Lead Content Strategist, Editorial and Video

Since moving to Canada as an international student, my views on money - savings in particular - have steadily evolved. Writing From Saving to Investing: A Newcomer's Perspective allowed me to reflect on my money goals, as well as the kind of life I want in the country I now call home. — Owen Guo, Lead Content Strategist, Editorial

If there's one article that really captures how I felt in 2022, it's On Our Minds: I'm Not Sure What My Next Investing Move Is — And That's OK. The name says it all! Writing it was half catharsis, half reminding myself that sticking to investing basics can help you weather a challenging year. — Nicholas Mizera, Producer, Content and Audience