Monthly Archives: September 2015

Who gets the Porsche — you or your investment firm? … Fees Matter! Introducing FWB TV

The Financial Independence Hub is excited to unveil a new Internet video project on investing made possible by FWB TV,  a unit of Toronto based Financial Wealth Builders Securities.

Starting today and on a regular basis, the Hub’s sister site, Findependence.TV, will be housing video content provided by FWB TV Paul Philip CLU, CFP and his associates.  These high-quality videos generally run between two and four minutes and focus on investment strategies that are quite consistent with the content normally run on the Hub blogs.

You can find the first one by clicking on this headline:  Who gets the Porsche — you or your investment firm? … Fees Matter! Expect the next instalment in a week or two.

Q&A on the rationale for FWB TV

To introduce the series and explain the rationale, here is a Q&A between myself and FWB TV owner Paul Philip CLU, CFP:

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Robo Advisers will force mainstream financial advisors to up their game, survey suggests

Cute RobotStarting last week, I’ve again begun blogging on a regular basis for the Financial Post. (Back when I was a staff columnist there, we ran the Wealthy Boomer blog for several years.)

You can read today’s instalment by clicking on this headline: Robo Advisers will force the financial industry to up its game, survey suggests.

Optimizing CPP: how to avoid missing out on $100,000 of retirement income

Because the Financial Independence Hub was moved Monday to a new server to accommodate ever-rising volumes of web traffic, we took the liberty of posting the normal Monday “Hub” blog at sister site FindependenceDay.com. The guest blog below is on optimizing CPP benefits:  the same subject as my Financial Post column that ran online Monday under the headline: Optimizing Your CPP is no trivial exercise. Now let’s get it from the horse’s mouth: Doug Dahmer. — Jonathan Chevreau

By Doug Dahmer, Emeritus Retirement Income Specialists

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Canadians are an easy going and trusting people. Every year thousands of people, across the country, carelessly start their CPP payments and in the process forego hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments to which they are entitled.

I call this “The Great Canadian Pass Up.”

To ensure you fully appreciate the value of making the right decision, before you elect to a start your Canada Pension, Emeritus Retirement Income Specialists has created a powerful tool called the CPP Optimizer. Give it a try at: www.cppoptimizer.com.

 Most people seriously underestimate their lifetime CPP income entitlement:

iStock_000034496492_Medium (640x427)-2Your CPP benefits are a big deal. For a couple, where both spouses have regularly contributed to the CPP plan, the lifetime CPP income they can anticipate will likely exceed $700,000. Consequently it represents an important strategic contributor to the creation of a sustainable retirement income. Therefore, decisions about this benefit need to be taken seriously.

Reliance upon “conventional wisdom” can be very costly

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Weekly Wrap: Horizons escalates ETF price war, Questrade expands active ETFs, CSA to review robo advisers

PRICE WAR red Rubber Stamp over a white background.

Three significant developments in the ETF and robo-adviser space late this week, the full recap of which can be found in my new Weekly Wrap that may run online Fridays in the Financial Post.  You can find the link for the first one here.

Horizons ETFs has rejigged fees on its popular Canadian equity fund, Horizons S&P/TSX 60 Index ETF [ticker HXT,] to just 0.03% or three basis points (plus taxes, down from the previous 0.05%. Previously the low-fee threshold was 0.05%, shared with three other providers.

Meanwhile, Questrade Wealth Management launched two actively managed ETFs, a global equity fund plus a fixed income ETF  subadvised by institutional money manager, Jarislowsy, Fraser Ltd. These expand the lineup of six Questrade Smart ETFs launched in March.

On Thursday, the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) issued CSA Staff Notice 31-342 directed at portfolio managers providing online advice, popularly known as robo advisers.   The CSA says it may conduct compliance reviews of online advisors within one or two years following launch, particularly as operations become more complex than the first generation that had basic ETFs or mutual funds as its underlying  investments, and “uncomplicated” asset allocation models.

 

Millennial is mortgage free at 31. Next goal: Findependence Day by 35

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Sean Cooper in front of his paid-for home

My latest MoneySense blog features 30-year old millennial and financial writer Sean Cooper, who is having a mortgage-burning party tonight to celebrate his paying off his mortgage in just three years. See Mortgage free by 31.

In an early guest blog here at the Hub, Cooper credited my financial novel, Findependence Day, with inspiring him to seek early financial independence himself. See also a second millennial’s story at Two millennials well on the way to achieving early Financial Independence.

The book argues in particular that “the foundation of financial independence is a paid-for house.”

Cooper apparently took this message to heart because. He doesn’t even turn 31 for a few more months and has set his next goal to achieve a net worth of $1 million within four years. Well done, Sean, may you serve as an inspiration to your generation!

Click on the above link at MoneySense to find the full Q&A I conducted with Sean, or see this mirror blog at sister site FindependenceDay.com.