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.

The Apple Watch and Findependence

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Smart watch isolated with icons on white background. Vector illustration.My friend the inimitable Norman Rothery posted a blog at MoneySense.ca Thursday that was inspired by a Twitter exchange last weekend: the post is titled Apple Watch Delays Findependence.

On Twitter, I had publicly disclosed that I had pre-ordered the new Apple Watch, even though delivery is several weeks away. Norm made a query about the possible impact on Findependence, then followed up in his blog by suggesting that young people buying these gadgets might seriously be delaying the arrival of their Findependence Day (that is, the day they reach Financial Independence) by 17 days for the cheapest model and for as much as two years for the expensive glitzy gold model.

I have no great problem with the blog, a typically contrarian piece by a great value investor: it’s all grist for the mill, as they say and I’m happy to see an influential writer like Norm use the term Findependence. Even so, let me assure readers out there who may have fancied me to be a frugal kind of guy that I quite definitely did NOT purchase the expensive gold-banded version. For the curious, I picked one of the simple entry-level models with a black band and the smaller watch-face, roughly the model illustrated above.

I entirely agree with Norman that the first generation of technology tends to have kinks and it’s never a bad idea to wait for a few releases and let the pioneers suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous technology fortune.

My three reasons for pre-ordering Continue Reading…

Foreign Withholding Taxes — the price of global diversification

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Depositphotos_6444034_xsHere’s my latest MoneySense blog, which focuses on one of the ETF sessions I participated in last week’s ETF & Mutual Funds conference in Chicago, hosted by BMO Global Asset Management. You can find earlier Hub blogs from the conference through these three links:

Secular bull market still very much alive: BMO’s Brian Belski

A murder mystery: who will kill the global economy? 

Why are all these Canadian financial experts converging on Chicago?

For convenience, we’ve included the new blog below. Note too that you can find the original PWL white paper on Foreign Withholding Taxes here. We hope to run a slightly condensed version here at the Hub in the near future.  Continue Reading…

Why It’s Important To Talk With Your Kids About Money

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BriefingBy Gary Rabbior,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Do you talk with your kids about money matters? Are you preparing them to handle the financial decisions and responsibilities they will face in their lives? Do you get a sense that your kids are getting the financial knowledge, or developing the financial skills, in school that they will need in life? Or do you know much at all about what your kids know about money – and how they make financial decisions>

If you are like many parents today, the answers to those questions may not be very encouraging. In this day and age, with money matters so dominant in so many peoples’ lives, it almost seems surprising to have to advocate for talking with our kids about money to help them prepare for their financial futures. But that is what we  — The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE) and BMO Financial Group — are doing with the Talk With Our Kids About Money Day program, which happens today (Wed., April 15th).  We are encouraging and helping parents and teachers to talk with our kids about money.

Early days for school-based Fin Lit Continue Reading…

Winning the Tax Game during Your Decumulation Years

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Tax Game Screenshot (800x496)We’re happy to present another Decumulation blog from the forward-thinking Doug Dahmer, which you can find below.

This instalment focuses on a very interesting web-based game that demonstrates how important tax planning is, particularly during your Decumulation years.

No doubt you’ll be shocked but not surprised to discover that the single biggest expense in Retirement will be income tax. Fortunately, there is more opportunity to take advantage of proper tax planning once you have begun to draw down on your nest egg. After you read Doug’s blog below, click on the links provided to view a 3-minute video on how to play the Retirement Tax Game. Then you’ll want to play the game yourself to see how well prepared you are for this daunting task. Note that you may be asked to download Microsoft Silverlight in order to play the game. — Jonathan Chevreau 

By Doug Dahmer,

Emeritus Retirement Income Specialists

Special to the Financial Independence Hub 

Many of our clients and friends still believe there’s  inherent fairness in government programs.

When I point out disparities in medical services, government contracts, municipal board decisions, welfare payments and the greatest of them all —  taxation —  I, sadly, waken them to the painful reality that lots of government programs just aren’t fair.

Too often in our first world, enlightened, democratic society it is still “What you know,” “Who you know” and “When you know.”

While I can’t help with many of the program disparities I can help in one and it’s the most important to you anyway: Taxation.

The greatest expense in retirement Continue Reading…

Life Annuities: What to Watch Out For When You Buy

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chantal-marr-findependence-hub
Chantal Marr

By Chantal Marr,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

An annuity is a type of investment sold through insurance companies. You can think of a life annuity as a life insurance policy in reverse — you pay the insurance company a large lump sum of cash and in return the insurance company pays you monthly premiums for life.

This can act as a form of retirement income after you leave the work force. Although life annuities can be a great option, here is some advice on the things you should look out for when it comes to life annuities.

Know the Difference between Immediate and Deferred Annuities

You should understand and watch out for the language in an annuity agreement. There is language that will signal if the policy is an immediate or deferred annuity. As its name implies, an immediate annuity means that you will obtain your fixed payments right away. There will be no delay in receiving your money. A deferred annuity is different. Continue Reading…