Author Archives: peter benedek
Target-Date Funds II
Target-Date Funds II A few weeks ago in my Target-Date Funds (also called Lifecycle Funds) blog, I outlined some of the advantages and potential problems with them. I promised to look at a simple model that you may choose to use to implement your own custom Lifecycle/Target Date Fund using existing ETFs. In “Lifecycle funds: […]
Target-Date Funds I
Target-Date Funds Target-Date funds have a lot to offer. They are supposed to be a “single decision” fund and completely maintenance free. Once you selected your target retirement date, then just choose the Target-Date fund closest to that date and you are set until retirement. Life-time income funds are the complementary “single decision” funds that […]
Markopolos: “No one would listen: A true financial thriller”
Markopolos: “No one would listen: A true financial thriller” The story Harry Markpolos’s book is a fun and informative read. He approached the SEC the first time in 2000 with documentary evidence and recommended an investigation of Madoff’s fund. We all know how this story ended in 2008. The book reads like a thriller, well […]
Feedback on “Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada’s Retirement Income System”
Feedback on “Securing Our Retirement Future: Consulting with Ontarians on Canada’s Retirement Income System” Peter Benedek, CFA, RetirementAction.com Recommendations- Highlights Of Canada’s three-pillar retirement income system, only Pillar 1 (OAS/GIS) is doing its job of minimizing seniors’ poverty. Pillar 2 (CPP/QPP) is failing due to very low replacement targets and low earnings ceilings, thus dramatically […]
“$windler$” by Al and Mark Rosen
“$windler$” by Al and Mark Rosen In a nutshell The Rosens’ book “Swindlers” can be best summarized in their own words that: all scams are “dependent on conflicted auditors, inadequate or non-existent regulations, ill informed directors, crooked managers and gullible investors.” They also say that scams remain “undetected because auditors, regulators, lawmakers and self-regulated professions […]
New Ontario pension windup flexibility is great but must include ‘self-administration’ option
New Ontario pension windup flexibility is great but must include ‘self-administration’ option It is wonderful to read that Ontario Finance Minister Duncan decided to broaden the available options upon pension wind-up, rather than forcing pensioners into an annuity. The Nortel pensioner group NRPC’s announcement in the context of the so called Financial Sponsorship Model-FSM (ominously) […]
PRPP: An agreement to kick the can down the road and deliver more fees to Canada’s financial industry
(Originally posted Dec 21, 2010; re-hosted in March 2012) In a nutshell Given the limited granularity available in the PRPP (Pooled Retirement Pension Plan) announcement, we must conclude that this is an agreement to do nothing, except perhaps a handout to the financial services industry at the expense of the average Canadian. By taking advantage of […]
Pension Reform: It’s not rocket science
Pension Reform: It’s not rocket science In a nutshell With the latest re-vectoring of the federal government’s ideas on pension reform (PRPP), we compare it to some of the more meritorious proposals tabled for pension reform (or already operational in the Saskatchewan SPP). PRPP comes up wanting in comparison to the others based on the […]
“13 Bankers” by Simon Johnson and James Kwak
“13 Bankers” by Simon Johnson and James Kwak In a nutshell “13 Bankers” is about how the powerful financial industry/oligarchy has burrowed itself deeply into government policymaking circles and under the banners of “free-markets and capitalism” they have succeeded in creating an almost regulation-free system where they get most of the upside while the taxpayer […]
Structured products: BMO Life Stage Retirement Income Portfolios
Structured products: BMO Life Stage Retirement Income Portfolios Background In the January 24, 2011 Hot Off the Web blog I mentioned a new product from BMO, which I described as fitting into the category of products of expensive and opaque nature, the “BMO Life Stage Retirement Income Portfolios” . At the time, I also had […]
RetirementAction.com 