Get sick and get paid. It’s a grim proposition but it’s one that is transacted upon every day through life insurance companies. Critical Illness [CI] insurance is a form of Living Benefits insurance that provides a lump-sum payment in the event the insured becomes seriously ill and survives a waiting period.

Most young adults don’t have CI coverage in force and are more likely to rely on debt to fund their recovery. Millennials report low savings levels, at about $13,000 each, and plan to use credit cards and loans to carry them forward in case of a critical illness.

Illnesses don’t affect just older people

It’s a common misconception that major illnesses only affect older people. A study done by the Neurology journal found that the rate of strokes among people in the 20 to 54 age group has increased from 13% to 19%. Continue Reading…

SensibleInvesting.tv recently released a free documentary that’s a behind-the-scenes look at the multi- billion dollar investment industry.

Welcome to the second part in our series entitled How to Win the Loser’s Game, which clocks in just under 8 minutes.

You can also access it at sister site Findependence.TV.

Although this is a 10-part series, each video can be viewed on its own and you can go back at any time to view what you may have missed. Here’s part one.

Penny wise, pound foolish

Have you ever noticed how we will line up for gasoline if the price drops just a few cents, an exercise that will usually save us less than than $10?  We look for price drops at the grocery store and can’t wait for Black Friday, Boxing Day or Super Bowl weekend to give a discount on that big screen TV.

Yet few of us know what we are paying when it comes to the fees we are charged for our investments and perhaps even fewer people seem to care. This is due in large part to the fact that our retirement may be so far away, but those fees can have a significant impact on the overall return.

The video looks at British pension funds and shows the dramatic impact of investment management fees of 1.5% and 2.5%: the higher percentage consumes a much bigger chunk of the investment returns. The parallels to Canada’s retail mutual funds should be evident.

After watching the video if you want to learn more, download the free guide, 12 Essential Ideas For Building Wealth.

“If you are serious about investing and building wealth the video documentary series ‘How To Win the Loser’s Game’ is a must-see. It’s excellent.” — Paul Philip, Financial Wealth Builders Securities

By Aman Raina, Sage Investors

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

A common question I get revolves around when stock prices are going to fall or rise. “Should I be buying stocks now?” or “Are stocks in a bubble and if so when is it going to burst?”

Asset bubbles don’t necessarily need an “event” to pop. Asset bubbles can just pop for no identified reason and at any time.

Conventional wisdom says we need to find some kind of catalyst or crystalizing moment to occur. Things happen for a reason.

Rate rise as watershed?

Recently in economic circles, that watershed moment has been identified as when interest rates are going up. Many analysts have said the moment Central Banks like the Federal Reserve in the US start normalizing interest rates from near zero per cent that that will cause stock prices to plummet.

Continue Reading…

By Bob Cleaver

I had begun to read books on the stock market:   investing, history and psychology. It was a tremendous learning exercise.

Then one day during a conversation with a like minded friend he mentioned charts. I had read about charts; they seemed complicated but something struck a chord and I signed up for a stock charting service. The charting included with the discount brokerage I use is archaic and slow and I wasn’t learning anything from it. The charting service opened my eyes to a whole new world.

Why isn’t investing taught in the schools?

At the same time as I was learning I wondered why investing isn’t being taught in our schools. I wrote  letters to several different  ministers of education for the province of Ontario. All polite replies but nothing positive until one day I received a letter that referred me to two policy statements  for the province for grades 4 to 8 and another for grades 9 to 12. “It’s all in there ,” was the reply. Continue Reading…