All posts by Jonathan Chevreau

“Robo Advisers” — Rise of the machines

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Doug Dahmer

By Doug Dahmer, Emeritus Retirement Income Specialists

Special to the Financial Independence Hub 

I know Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, I read Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and I love the Terminator movies (I’ll be back!).

From all this I know three things: Robots are very smart. Robots always start off to help you. Robots have a tendency to turn on you.

One of the newest crazes and buzzwords in personal finance is: “Robo-Adviser.” If you’re not familiar with the term, it refers to investment management by algorithm in the absence of human input.

With a “Robo” you are asked to complete an on-line risk assessment questionnaire. Your responses determines the prescribed portfolio of ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) with a built-in asset allocation best suited to your needs. Once a year the portfolio is rebalanced to this prescribed asset allocation recipe.

Dynamics change as shift from Saving to Spending

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7 things you may not know about TFSAs

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Canadian Tax-Free Savings Account concept word cloudFrom the latest issue of MoneySense comes this list of 7 things you don’t know about Tax Free Savings Accounts. Note to any American readers: Canada’s TFSA is similar to Roth IRAs.

Here are senior writer Julie Cazzin’s seven facts. Click through above link for more complete explanation.

1.) Whatever amount you withdraw from a TFSA is added to your contribution room in the following calendar year.

2.)  Interest, dividends and capital gains in your TFSA are not considered income, even when you withdraw the money. Continue Reading…

Why Boomer & Echo’s Robb Engen dumped stocks to be 100% an indexer

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Robb Engen, Boomer & Echo

By Robb Engen, Boomer & Echo

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

For a while now I’ve dithered over when to sell my portfolio of dividend stocks and implement my two-fund ETF solution.  The tanking stock market didn’t help – particularly with oil and gas stocks plummeting and a few of my holdings underwater.  Behaviourally, I badly wanted to wait until oil prices recovered so I didn’t have to sell those stocks at a loss.

But last Thursday I finally took the plunge and sold 24 dividend stocks, worth roughly $100,000, and immediately replaced them with two ETFs from Vanguard.  I’m not going to lie; it was hard to sell my babies:

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Retirement planning would be so much easier if we knew when we’re going to die

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By Jonathan Chevreau

My latest MoneySense blog is on the pros and cons of Extreme Early Retirement, or its opposite, which one reader dubbed “Extreme Working.”  It was in response to my recent column in the magazine about extended longevity, a theme we regularly explore here at the Financial Independence Hub’s “Longevity & Aging” section.

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David Davidson

As mentioned in the MoneySense version of the blog, one of the readers highlighted — Oakville-based David Davidson — also sent along a photograph of himself, which we’re running here (on the left).

What this all comes down to, and as I commented on Twitter after the original MoneySense blog was posted, is that “Retirement planning would be so much easier if we just knew the exact date of our death!”

Of course, few of us know that so there’s always going to be a tradeoff between planning for a long life that never materializes; and under-saving and living in the present, only to find yourself running out of money before you run out of life.  Personally, I’d rather err on the side of the first possibility but as you can see below, some readers (including David shown above), make the case for the second possibility, or a balance between either extreme. Some on Twitter are in the same camp, including Ryan (@simplemoolah):

“LOL.  Since we don’t — Don’t blow it all today. Live in the present & enjoy every moment but also plan for your future.”

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How to protect your biggest asset: the ability to earn an income

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Ermos Erotocritou, CFP

By Ermos Erotocritou, CFP

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

When a person suffers an illness or injury, it may take some time to know how long it will last, and how long it will keep the person from earning an income.

Hopefully, the disability will last a short time. However, in many instances, the disability can last for a long period of time, perhaps for life. The consequences facing an individual will tend to vary with the length of time a person is disabled.

The consequences will also extend beyond financial concerns. While every everyone is different, and will react differently to events in life, there are some commonalties that tend to occur among people who experience a disability.

Possible consequences of short-term disability

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