All posts by Jonathan Chevreau

Settling on the elusive definition of Financial Independence

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | April 8, 2015

Here’s my latest MoneySense column, which tries to nail down a definitive definition of Financial Independence. As I note in the above headline, this exercise is a bit more elusive than you might think, and the waters continue to be muddied by the mainstream term, Retirement, which I do NOT regard as synonymous.

As also noted in the Hub’s version below, I’m inviting reader feedback: Has Wikipedia’s definition nailed it, or can the term be improved?

Maybe I should grab the bull by the horns and create my own formal definition of Findependence, even though I view that term simply as a contraction of Financial Independence.

Reader input welcome! Continue Reading…

Why are all these Canadian financial experts in Chicago this week?

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | April 7, 2015

Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, IL in morning — Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago

By Jonathan Chevreau

This week, a chunk of Canada’s financial community and media commentators are descending on the Windy City for a half-week conference on ETFs and mutual funds.

They include CBC’s Rick Mercer, BNN’s Larry Berman, author and radio host Andrew Busch, BMO Capital Market’s chief investment strategist Brian Belski and BMO private Bank CIO Jack Ablin, robo-adviser pioneer Randy Cass, Morningstar director of global ETF research Ben Johnson, ShareOwner CEO Bruce Seago and even myself.

You can find the full agenda here. Located at the Trump International Hotel, there are two concurrent streams, one devoted to mutual funds, the other to ETFs.

Wednesday morning (April 8th) kicks off bright and early with a keynote by Brian Belski on the market outlook: It’s titled (reassuringly) The Secular Bull Market is Very Much Alive.

Robos crash the party

One of the big topics within the ETF stream is robo-advisers, most of which have ETFs as their fundamental building block. Continue Reading…

ETFs: the next 25 years

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | April 7, 2015

By Mark Yamada, PUR Investing Inc.

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

From zero assets in 1989, to $79 billion in 2000, to $2.7 trillion into 2015, it has been quite a ride for global exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Few financial sectors have approached the over 25% compounded annual growth that ETFs have enjoyed. Yet many industry observers are disappointed.

ETFs’ value proposition is well known: diversification, professional management, shared expenses, all the benefits of mutual funds at a fraction of the price plus better transparency and continuous intraday trading. Yet ETFs represent only 12% of US and 6% of Canadian mutual fund assets (10% if US-traded ETFs owned by Canadians are included). If ETFs are so much better than mutual funds, why haven’t they replaced them by now?

Adopting new ideas Continue Reading…

Aging, longevity & the Urban Agenda

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | April 6, 2015

By Mark Venning, ChangeRangers.com

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Unless extreme wild-card world events occur that might change the urban agenda, over the next fifteen years the global population will be at the highest level of its migration to cities. It is no longer a question of looking for clues in the shifting elements of demography. The lab results are in and the evidence is firmly in front of us.

I will submit here, that if there is one place where the longevity revolution is to play out most prominently, it is in the urban space. The evolution of cities will be every generation’s project – function, form, flow and the fabric of human interaction. Over the same next fifteen years, the percentage of persons older than 65 will be significantly higher and thus the need to adapt the urban agenda to a workable inter-generational model for an aging population is a key opportunity.

Need for more age-inclusive cities

Experiential Vacations as part of your Encore Act

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | April 5, 2015

By Frank Psoras, VP Credit Cards, TD Bank

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

A growing number of North Americans – both young and old – are using vacations as a time to embark on a new adventure or pursue a personal interest. In fact, my wife and I recently travelled to the Cayman Islands to snorkel with exotic fish and swim with local sting ray.

According to a recent TD travel survey, roughly three quarters (74%) of Canadians have already taken or are interested in taking an experiential vacation. And older baby boomers are also interested in trying new travel experiences, with 65% having taken or expressing interest in this type of trip.

But when it comes to travel, there are various factors people consider when determining the type of trip they will take. Continue Reading…