Author Archives: peter benedek

Hot Off the Web- April 14, 2014

Contents: Bond returns should interest rates rise? mortgaging home to invest? Canada housing starts off, private sector DB plans’ solvency ratios >95%, UK: free and impartial advice instead of mandatory annuitization, US: greater adviser roles needed in retirement transition, Ottawa’s hidden $120B pension deficit, investors’ bad choices, real interest rates to stay low, embracing longevity, […]

Hot Off the Web- April 7, 2014

Contents: Aging brain, investment fees, why ETFs cheap, simple US portfolio, skip LTC insurance, foreign withholding tax in Canada, soft landing for Canadian housing, inadequate data to assess state of Canada’s housing, reverse mortgages affect heirs, pension reform: not “Big CPP” and not “Little PRPP”, what replaces UK’s discarded mandatory annuitization? annuities come up short […]

Hot Off the Web- March 31, 2014

Contents: Financial plan, adviser questions, hedge fund-like mutual funds, wise words for DIY investors, reverse mortgages, no annuity puzzle, taxation of Canadians abroad, US real estate up but slowing, UK decumulation default needed to replace mandatory annuitization, employers’ 401(k) fiduciary responsibility, pension plan headwinds? Gross: retirees crushed by financial repression, Bogle on parasitic financial industry. […]

Hot Off the Web- March 24, 2014

 Contents: Decumulation strategies, save more with Roth IRAs, retirement realities, fiduciary is a must but industry fighting it tooth and nail, soft landing for Canada’s housing? rich benefit from low interest rates, Canadian home sales up/down/flat depending on location, pension plan liability calculated with discount rate based on rate of return on pension plan assets […]

Two very different decumulation strategies

Summary This blog post provides additional details associated with a couple of interesting papers I mentioned over the past few weeks. The first is by Sexauer and Siegel proposing a self-executed low-/no-risk approach to retirement planning which aims to deliver DB plan like outcome. The second is Sheikh, Roy and Lester’s dynamic decumulation strategy which […]

Hot Off the Web- March 17, 2014

Contents: Lower return expectations, Buffett to wife: use cheap and passive, free automated portfolio management, advisers enhance returns by up to 3%, passive beats active, testamentary trusts still useful, new tracking at border-crossings requires snowbird vigilance, Canadian home prices at record level but no bubble? U.S. wealth at record $80T but only $10T in IRA/401(k), […]

Hot Off the Web- March 10, 2014

Contents: retirement savings first, bank falls for scam, non-financial retirement risks, adviser questions, undisclosed stockbroker red flags, hidden camera shows advisers “lying or incompetent”, “easy money” is attraction to active investing, Milken: health and education better investments than housing, Toronto home sales and prices up again, income replacement percentage inappropriate for estimating retirement expenses, CPP […]

Hot Off the Web- March 3, 2014

Contents: LTC planning not insurance, work till 75? retirees’ dumb moves, health insurance abroad, healthcare costs in (Canadian) retirement, 4% withdrawal rule unrealistic (Duh…), Green’s Gone Fishin’, GenXers’ financial priorities, getting value from an adviser, prepare “If something happens” binder, US house prices up 11% for year but down 0.3% in quarter, Shiller: losing optimism […]

“The gone fishin’ portfolio: Get wise, get wealthy…and get on with your life” by Alexander Green

In a nutshell Green’s 2008 book is a quick and informative read about how one might build a one-size-fit-all portfolio which only requires 20 minutes a year of maintenance. Worth a read even if not everyone would agree that: such a risky portfolio is appropriate for everyone (age 25 or 65), with the specifics of […]

Hot Off the Web- February 24, 2014

Contents: Mutual funds’ ‘all-in’ expenses devastate retirement savings, regulate Ontario advisers; yes but not this way, growing young vs. old housing wealth gap, information asymmetry makes pension purchase decision insurmountable, employers squeeze 401(k) plans, 401(k) on auto-pilot better but not perfect, financial services: conflicts of interest everywhere, couple’s retirement disconnect, no universally safe stock holding […]