Topics: Advisor ethics, women’s retirement, fiduciary advisor, mutual fund disclosures, retirement savings milestones, US  real estate a Canadian opportunity, Nevada’s real estate disaster, deploying a windfall, household incomes down, inflation and retirees, Shiller’s CAPE indexes, financial repression: retirees and governments, is QE bankrupt? ETF inflows, Roubini: perfect storm to continue, joblessness worse than numbers indicate, […]

Topics: High fees, protecting retirement assets, financial to-do list, investing a windfall, retirement portfolio needs risk, tax deferral? UK bans advisor commissions-fees only permitted for advice, Vancouver home sales plunge, pensions undamaged by QE, annuities? Unchartered territory for developed countries, ETF risks, gold standard? Entitlements corrupt? financial/economic documentaries. Personal Finance and Investments In a Consuelo […]

Topics: Income investments, advisor/planner models and reality, house prices: Canada continues up while U.S. is starting up, cost of cottages, serial refinancing, society improving pension situation? technology revolution in finance? hedge funds? banks encroaching insurance in Canada? gold standard? Personal Finance and Investments Jason Zweig in WSJ’s “Will these royal yields rule?” warns that ”royalty […]

Topics: Elder abuse, hedge funds add no value, financial certification rating, fiduciary, RESP fees, short-sales to drive real estate prices? US house sales/prices up, pensions underfunded, PRPP promotes DB closure, PRPP=RRSP, financial industry needs government help on annuities, index funds bad say active managers, Gross wrong on equities, food prices and commodity speculation. Personal Finance […]

Topics: Target-date funds, executor warning, taxes and asset allocation, pension or lump-sum? saving OBSI, covered call strategy-not, bonds: bumps ahead for individuals but pensions buy more for ALM, assisted living, fiduciary standard, debt in retirement, global real estate, multiple personal use homes, Shiller unsure about housing recovery, target benefit plans, Canada’s annuity industry, trader vs. […]

In a nutshell Since target date funds (TDFs) became available as a permissible default or an option for 401(k) accounts, their popularity has been exploding, with predictions that within a decade 50% of 401(k) funds will be in TDFs. But some are raising valid concerns about these supposed “one decision” “low/no maintenance” funds. Given the […]

Topics: Passive beats active, don’t die intestate, control: risk-level/asset-allocation and rebalancing, SS delayed-retirement credits, Canadian housing to fall? US housing up- but on the rebound? no pension relief to Canada’s corporations, spending in retirement, some CPP recipient more equal than others, no Paulson subprime mortgage related Goldman charges, StanChart villains- the lawyers? sell gold? backlash […]

Topics: Dodd-Frank looking better, universal public LTCI? Gross: death of equities, Malkiel: equities alive and well, US/Florida house prices up, Toronto/Vancouver sales slow, ‘lump-sum’ vs. annuities, voluntary vs. mandated pensions, pensions and muni bankruptcies, Danish rates go negative, Finra’s unsavoury arbitration, money market reform, Sarbox failed, end-of-life plans. Personal Finance and Investments In the Globe and […]

Topics: Humans compelled to trade, wills after re-marriage, long-term care fears over-rated? withdrawal strategies, US/Canada home prices up, Toronto no bubble-maybe, pension changes? pension costs critical, do actuaries add value to pensions? retirement needs 25 years of safe assets? gold is insurance? disaster economics suggests portfolio insurance re-think? illegal acts essential to success in financial […]

In a nutshell: The authors compare five retirement withdrawal strategies (under the constraint that the retiree considers bequests to be of zero importance) and define a measure of Withdrawal Efficiency Rate as a means to compare them. They conclude that the commonly mentioned/used “Constant Dollar” (first year 4% of original assets, then adjusted annually for […]