Hub Blogs

Hub Blogs contains fresh contributions written by Financial Independence Hub staff or contributors that have not appeared elsewhere first, or have been modified or customized for the Hub by the original blogger. In contrast, Top Blogs shows links to the best external financial blogs around the world.

Becoming a new Robo-Advisor client may be challenging, Dalbar finds

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | September 13, 2016

DALBAR has released results for its study of the user experience of North American users of robo-adviser services, dubbed the Robo-advisor Onboarding Experience study.

It found that opening a new account is a critical first point of contact between a service provider and a client.

In this press release, it found that some Canadian robo-advisors are “clearly falling short of peer performance as well as of Canadian investors’ expectations for service in the wealth management space.”

Service gaps identified

Funding the account was the biggest challenge facing Canadian robo-advisors.
Several firms encountered serious technical and logistical challenges using live chat effectively.

Congratulations – Your credit score has just gone up!

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | September 12, 2016

Richard Moxley

By Richard Moxley, eCreditFix.ca

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Congratulations – Your credit score has just gone up!

I would love to say it increased just because you are reading this article but in reality it is because Equifax has implemented a change in its algorithm (the computer scoring system that banks use to predict the chances of you paying on time).

These changes have had a huge impact on the report and 80 per cent of Canadians have seen a jump in their personal credit score. So if you were declined for financing previously, you might want to try again.

Here are some of the main changes that have been made:

Mortgage Payments now affect your credit score

As of June, your mortgage payment history now affects your credit score. If you are like most Canadians and paying your mortgage is top priority, then this will be one of the main reasons why your score has jumped.

Lines of Credit report different than your Credit Card

Before the recent changes, a high balance (any balance over half of the limit) on a line of credit or a credit card would lower your score the same amount. Now, a high balance on your line of credit will not hurt your score as much as if you have a high balance on a credit card. Continue Reading…

How “Victory Lap” was conceived

Posted By Michael Drak | September 10, 2016

MOSCOW - AUGUST 08: Group Russian unknown golfers shake hands on annual open international event for professionals and fans - VI Moscow Festival Retrostyle in Le Meridien Moscow County Club August 08, 2008 in Moscow, Russia — Victory Lap: Work while you play, play while you work

How did the Victory Lap concept originate? I smile every time I think about the fact that Jonathan and I have written a retirement book about not retiring. I know it’s weird, but weird seems to work in today’s world …

It all started about five years ago: the day I woke up and realized I didn’t want to do my corporate job anymore. Thinking like this was strange for me because I had always liked my job. I was good at it and it paid well, providing security and a good living for my family.

But truth be told, over the last few years the job was starting to have a negative effect both on my health and on my personal well-being. The stress of performing at a high level year in and year out was getting to me. I was reminded of this every morning, when I took my blood pressure medication.

Are mutual funds headed for extinction?

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | September 8, 2016

James Gauthier, JustWealth

By James Gauthier, CIO, JustWealth

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

The advent of the mutual fund was one of the greatest innovations in the field of finance. Mutual funds created a practical means for common folks to invest in the markets which used to be only accessible by the wealthy.

The mechanics of how mutual funds operate have not changed much in the many decades since they have been around. Simply put, a group of investors pool their money together and form a unit trust where all investors get a pro rata ownership of what they contributed to the pool in the form of units (or shares). The pool is then used to buy a number of underlying investments such as stocks or bonds.

At the end of each day, all investments in the trust are priced and a Net Asset Value (or NAV) is determined by dividing the total value of the trust investments by the units outstanding. Investors who want to purchase shares of the trust may do so based on the NAV established at the end of each day.

Mutual funds have been available to Canadians for over 80 years, and now number more than 15,000 worth well over $1 trillion. Companies or individuals who sell mutual funds like to promote the benefits of mutual funds: Continue Reading…

Early retirement? Half of us in trouble if we miss a single paycheque

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | September 7, 2016

Patrick_Mar05web — CPA CEO Patrick Culhane

As my Financial Post blog today summarizes, far from being confident about a comfortable or even early retirement, almost half of working Canadians (48%) say it would be hard to make ends meet if their paycheque were delayed even a single week. Click on the highlighted headline for full story: Nearly half of Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque — and that has big consequences for retirement security.

Almost one in four (24%) don’t think they could come up with $2,000 if an emergency arose in the next month, according to the Canadian Payroll Association (CPA)’s eighth annual Research Survey of Employed Canadians, which is being made public on Wednesday.

The survey of 5,600 employees across Canada (conducted by Framework Partners between June 27 and Aug 5) found 40% spend all or more than their net pay, while 47% are able to save only 5% or less of earnings. Little wonder that 75% have saved a quarter or less of their retirement goal. Even among those aged 50 or more, a “disturbing” 47% are still less than a quarter of the way to their retirement savings goal.

Half think they’ll need $1 million to retire, and will need till 62 to do so

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