Contents: Advisers disagree on approach to retirement income, prepping for bond bear market, Canada’s soaring real estate prices: good or bad? UK house prices also soaring, snowbird US real estate peril not quite as suggested, US pre-approvals replaced by pre-qualifications, increase OAS by 36% by delaying start to age 70…but what if claw-back start is […]

 Contents: Are ‘fee-only’ advisers mislabelled? actuarial portfolio expectations: 6% nominal, inflation protection now, retirees’ advice gap, getting closer to national securities regulation in Canada, adviser registries tainted, US real estate up, don’t get carried away with housing as an investment, Palm Beach County listings up 28%, Nortel pensioner CV/LIF takers less equal than annuity takers, […]

 In a nutshell The bottom line is that for Ontario Nortel pensioners only, CV is calculated (as defined in the legislation and the same as for deferred pension plan beneficiaries) on windup date life expectancy and some of the CV is considered to have already been collected since windup, so it’s worth less now. Whereas […]

Contents: Personal finance lessons from the financial crisis, up/down/up “glide-path”? US home frenzy easing, Alberta public pension changes? longevity decreases for >65 age group? investor lessons from war strategies, rising rates and stock price relationships? Zero interest rate impact on jobs? The Great Recession: causes and lessons. Personal Finance and Investments In WSJ’s “What we […]

 Contents: Bonds as portfolio stabilizers, end of income investing, ‘autopilot’ withdrawal strategy, financial plan: necessary but only useful if implemented and up to date, Swedroe: don’t approach investing like lottery, careful with ‘safe’ investments, insured annuities-unlikely, advisors: need for, problems with and potential value of a professional advisory relationship, Canadian house prices up in August […]

Contents: Short-term bond funds? global home price comparisons: US cheap and Canada expensive relative to past experience, accessibility of “longevity insurance” improving in US but still non-existent in Canada, ETFs “at least as safe as the underlying assets”, financial and personal cost of caring for a relative, low interest rate risk.   Personal Finance and […]

Contents: Corporate class funds-NOT, decumulation: longevity risk transformed to investment risk, no punishment for fraud in Canada, US house prices up 12% YoY and 2.2% MoM, dengue fever in Florida? Canadian ready or not for retirement- depends who you ask, Bogle: active managers not passive investors are parasites, Coxe: tapering is good for growth/workers/savers/pensions/equities, massive […]

Contents: Prescribed rates, equity-indexed annuities? what do P/E ratios mean? Palm Beach County home prices up YoY but down QoQ, South Florida 43rd in home price increase from through, second home ownership declining and discriminatory property tax practices spreading, coastal flooding risk mitigation required in Miami/Tampa/Vancouver, Canada’s large pension plans struggle, 60% of Ontarians without […]

Contents: Things to mess up retirement, unexpected death of spouse running finances, the permanent portfolio, accumulation vs. decumulation, US vs. Canadian listed Vanguard ETF considerations for Canadians, Canadian house prices/sales up again-overheating? CPPIB reports subpar Q2 pension plan return, US-DOL driving toward fiduciary requirement for IRA providers, fiduciary and investment losses 23% of available 401(k) […]

Contents: Investment manager or financial planner? importance of liability management, comments on proposed changes in OBSI terms of reference, indexing vs. dividend-based strategy, Canada/Denmark looking to reduce mortgage related housing risk, Obama: privatize mortgage insurance, actuaries the last to discover that Canadian living longer-eh? recommendations to upgrade RRSP effectiveness to that of DB plans, US […]