All posts by Financial Independence Hub

5 things your advisors should be doing to protect you from identity theft

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | June 15, 2015

By Rick Hyde

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Most articles about identity theft will offer practical insights and steps that you can take to protect your self. But what about all the other people that handle your personal data – the financial advisors, accountants, lawyers and health professionals, to mention a few – what are they doing to protect YOUR privacy?

Identity theft and fraud is growing

As the use of digital systems for storing personal financial and health data has grown, so has the problem of fraudulent access to that information.

Identity theft and fraud has been growing steadily in the past 10-20 years, according to reports in the US and Canada. So far in 2015, the US-based Identity Theft Resource Center reports almost 300 incidents involving data on over 100 million individuals.

You are your account numbers

What is financial freedom?

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | June 14, 2015

By Jack Crew,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

For the majority of young adults, the most common New Year’s resolution is to earn financial freedom. Unfortunately most of them fail to achieve what they set up as a goal on New Year’s Day.

That’s because they have only a vague idea about what financial freedom is all about. For most of us, financial freedom means having enough money that we can us spend on whatever we want. While earning a lot of income and enjoying control over expenses are important financial objectives, this by itself cannot be a true definition of financial freedom.

A precise definition is not universal, as many pundits have different takes on the subject. Here ’s what I think about ‘Financial Freedom’:

Winning Fear

Today’s retirement reality

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | June 11, 2015

By Marie Engen, Boomer & Echo

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

We all like to compare ourselves with our peers to see how we measure up to everyone else.

Here are some retirement statistics from the most recent Canadian Census, Statistics Canada and various surveys.

Age statistics

In Canada in 2014 the average age was 58.
The baby boom demographic, representing those born between 1946 and 1966, represents 30% of the population.
Within 10 years, those age 55 and over will outnumber children.
One in seven Canadians are now elderly and two thirds of the very elderly are women.
Average life expectancy is 82.5 years for women and 77.7 years for men.

Retirement statistics

7% of Canadians aged 55 and over had already retired once. Of this group, 17% returned to work.
48% returned to some form of work for financial reasons. The others had new, interesting job offers.
23% retired initially due to personal and family responsibilities or care giving.
8% retired initially due to personal health concerns.
6% retired because they qualified for full pension benefits.

We may be saving enough, yet still not be ready for retirement

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | June 9, 2015

pinpoint__dsc1211_opt_367_x_326 — Lisa Taylor

By Lisa Taylor, Challenge Factory

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Recently, Malcolm Hamilton’s C.D. Howe Institute paper, Do Canadians Save Too Little?, challenged the prevailing view that Canadians are not financially prepared for retirement. His Financial Post column summarized the key findings of his paper and highlighted that many of the assumptions made about retirement are not accurate. Canadians are saving and the determination of how much saving is enough is dependent on many non-financial factors. [See also the Hub’s blog on this: JC]

Indeed, the question of “retirement readiness” is more complicated than calculations predicting financial security.

Meaning of “Retirement” has changed

Retirement has changed. Every formal definition of the verb “to retire” focuses on retreat, withdrawal and conclusion. The original meaning of the word included a complete withdrawal from work, a focus on rest or seclusion, a retreat from battle or the time to go to bed. We retire equipment when it is taken out of service. We retire a bond by taking it out of circulation. Continue Reading…

Retirement Reflections Entering our 25th year of Financial Independence

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | June 8, 2015

retirement_reflections1 — Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

In January we began our 25^th year of Financial Independence. Few people can say they have 24 years of self-funded retirement by age of 62, and have a higher net worth after spending and inflation than when they started. This is something of which we are quite proud.

As we have aged one thing we have learned is that the long term is getting shorter every day. Life is to be enjoyed now, not someday – the older we get, the more we appreciate that view. Life is continuously full of opportunities and we want to take them.

Opportunities abound

For example, last year we were approached by a startup company that sponsored us for several months in Saigon, Vietnam. Continue Reading…