Investors sometimes ask us whether they should buy stocks “on margin.” That is, whether they should borrow money from their broker to buy securities.

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The main cost involved with buying on margin is the interest on the money you borrow. Plus, when you sell a security that you’ve bought on margin, you must first pay back the loan from your broker.

Interest rates remain low. That adds to the appeal of buying stocks on margin. However, there are a few things to keep in mind if you’re considering this portfolio management strategy:

• Maximize your margin investing with our three-part strategy. If you could follow a portfolio management strategy of buying on margin when the market hits bottom, stay margined as the market rises, and sell out at the peak, you could very quickly build a large fortune. But no one has the sense of superhuman timing necessary to consistently succeed in that.
  
  That’s why we continue to recommend that if you are going to use margin to invest, it’s all the more important to stick with our three-part portfolio management program: mainly invest in well-established companies; spread your money out across the five main economic sectors; and avoid stocks that are in the broker/media limelight.
  
  If you rigorously follow that advice, you stand to make money over long periods. With margin, you’ll make even more.

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• Increased leverage can work for or against you: The main risk of buying stocks on margin is that it increases your leverage. Leverage works two ways: It magnifies your profits when the market moves in your favour, but it magnifies your losses just as effectively when the market moves against you. That’s because the amount you owe on your investment loan stays the same, so every dollar your portfolio loses comes out of your equity.
• Buying stocks on margin has tax advantages: When you buy on margin, you’ll be able to write off your margin interest in full against ordinary income in the current year. However, you’ll pay less than ordinary income-tax rates on dividends from Canadian stocks, thanks to the dividend tax credit.
  
  Above all, you’ll defer all capital gains taxes until you sell, and only pay taxes on capital gains at half the rate you pay on ordinary income.

Portfolio management: A simple 3-part test to tell if you should buy on margin

Due to its increased risk, buying stocks on margin is certainly not for everyone. That’s why buying stocks on margin only makes sense if all 3 of the following apply:

1. You are in the top tax bracket and expect to stay in it for the foreseeable future;
2. You follow our conservative three-part investing approach (see above);
3. You invest consistently over a number of years, and resist the temptation to increase your margin borrowing when stocks have risen, or reduce it when prices have dropped.

If you’re looking for authoritative advice on investment issues, or fundamental analysis of stocks you’re considering buying (or selling), you should join Pat McKeough’s Inner Circle. It’s Canada’s most exclusive investment group.

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