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.

MoneySense Retired Money: Are Asset Allocation ETFs truly diversified?

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OptimizedPortfolio.com

My latest MoneySense Retired Money column looks at the dilemma many retirees and would-be retirees face these days: that with sky-high stock prices and interest rates seemingly bottoming and headed up, there’s no such thing as a truly “safe” investment. Click on the highlighted headline for full column: Is the All-Weather portfolio the answer to the shortage of “safe” investments? 

Even supposedly safe bonds, bond funds or ETFs largely suffered losses in 2021 as interest rates seemed poised to rise: now that various central banks are starting to hike rates, such pain seems destined to continue in 2022 and beyond.

Yes, short-term bank savings accounts and GICs seem relatively safe from both stock market meltdowns and precipitous rises in interest rates, but then there’s the scourge of inflation. Even if you can get 2% annually from a GIC, if inflation is running at 4%, you’re actually losing 2% a year in real terms.

But what about those Asset Allocation ETFs that have become so popular in recent years. This site and many like it are constantly looking at products like Vanguard’s VBAL (60% stocks to 40% bonds) or similar ETFs from rivals: iShares’ XBAL or BMO’s ZBAL.

The nice feature of Asset Allocation ETFs is the automatic regular rebalancing. If stocks get too elevated, they will eventually plough back some of the gains into the bond allocation, which indeed may be cheaper as rates rise. Conversely, if stocks plummet and the bonds rise in value, the ETFs will snap up more stocks at cheaper prices.

But are these ETFs truly diversified?

True, any one of the above products will own thousands of stocks and bonds from around the world. They are geographically diversified but I’d argue that from an asset class perspective, the focus on stocks and bonds means they are lacking many other possibly non-correlated asset classes: commodities, gold and precious metals, real estate, cryptocurrencies, and inflation-linked bonds to name the major ones.

The Permanent Portfolio and the All-Weather Portfolio

I’ve always kept in mind Harry Browne’s famous Permanent Portfolio, which advocated just four asset classes in four 25% amounts: stocks for prosperity, long-term bonds for deflation, gold for inflation and cash for recessions.

A bit more complicated is the more recent All-Weather portfolio, from American billionaire and author Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates. You can find any number of variants of this by googling those words, or videos on YouTube.com.  There’s a good book on this, Balanced Asset Allocation (by Alex Shahidi, Wiley), which makes the All-Weather portfolio its starting point. Continue Reading…

Thinking of buying a home in the U.S.? Here are 5 tips to help you on your journey

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Image RBC/www.pexels.com

By Alain Forget, Head of Sales and Business Development, RBC Bank

(Sponsor content)

When it comes to the ins and outs of purchasing a property in the U.S., the process may seem complex at first. While there are some differences from how you buy a home in Canada, such as the mortgage process, taxes and insurance requirements, with the right partner and preparation, purchasing your dream home south of the border may be easier than you think.

Whether you are just starting to dream about owning a home in the U.S. or you are ready to make a purchase, here are five things to consider to help you on your journey.

1) Choose where to buy

If you’ve been heading south for years to vacation in the U.S. you may already know where you want to buy. If not, it’s important to consider why you are purchasing a property and what’s important to you in terms of location. While warm weather may be at the top of your list, you’ll also want to think about what type of activities you want to be close to. For example, do you want to be within walking distance of restaurants, shopping and entertainment or do you envision yourself outdoors, either on a golf course or walking down a beach? If you need more time to think about where you want to buy, it might be helpful to rent first. By renting, you’ll be able to test out different areas and figure out where you’d like to call home.

2) Understand the dollars and cents of buying in the U.S.

While there are a lot of similarities when buying a home in the U.S., there are some key differences that could impact your budget and what you can afford. For example:

    • Exchange Rate – While you need to account for some level of currency exchange when buying a property in the U.S., it might not have as much of an impact as you might think. Homes in many markets in the U.S. tend to be more affordable than in Canada which means your budget can go farther even after the exchange.
    • Taxes and Insurance – It’s important to factor in the ongoing costs of owning a U.S. property into your purchase decision. For example, while you will usually pay lower taxes in the U.S. than in Canada, you may need different – and potentially more expensive – insurance to protect your investment.
    • Down Payment – In the U.S. a down payment is typically 20% if you plan to spend time in the home and 25% if it is an investment property you don’t plan to live in.
    • Closing Costs and Timelines – While closing costs in Canada are typically about 2.5% of the purchasing price, in the U.S. it can range from 1% to 5%. It’s also worth noting the extra time it takes to process a U.S. mortgage. In Canada, while mortgages can process in 5-10 days; in the U.S., it can take 30-45 days.

3) Consider the benefits of financing your purchase

Paying cash isn’t the only option when buying a U.S. property and financing your purchase may be the way to go. Whether you’re buying a home to enjoy or making an investment, you can save thousands in upfront costs just by financing with a U.S. mortgage. When you finance versus paying all cash, your initial costs are limited to a down payment and closing costs. This preserves your Canadian equity and assets and saves you thousands of dollars in one-time, upfront foreign exchange costs. In addition, U.S. mortgages are always open so you have the flexibility to repay your mortgage at any time without penalty, like when the Canadian dollar is stronger. Continue Reading…

Best Investments across different Age Demographics

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Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Investing is a vital part of a person’s financial life. Whether you’re trying to aggressively grow your assets or prepare for retirement, investing is crucial for reaching your goals. There are several different types of investments that you can make throughout your lifetime, depending on your financial situation and what age demographic you’re in. Investment strategy can and should change as you get older, as your focus begins to shift from your career, to retirement, and beyond. Let’s take a look at three different age demographics and some investment tips for each.

20s –30s: Career Focused

At this age, you may be fresh out of college with a heavy amount of loans to pay off while starting at an entry level position with low income. In this situation, your first thought may not be to start investing your money and saving for retirement. This is understandable, but it’s also a mistake. Investing at a young age will better set you up for the future. Start to put some of your money into a retirement account like a Roth IRA. The IRS allows you to put up to $6,000 a year into your Roth IRA. If your company has a 401(k) plan, that’s another easy way to start saving for retirement especially if they’ll match a certain percentage of your paycheck.

Another popular way of investing is in real estate. Unlike stocks, you can assess its value and what profit it will bring you prior to investing. Especially at this young age you can begin to work on improving your credit score so that you’re able to buy homes and earn passive income. If you get lucky enough to find a home or apartment for a low selling price, you can resell or rent it out to make a large profit. Looking for investments that are low risk and high reward may be best for this age, especially when you don’t have a high amount of income.

40s –50s: Retirement Focused

You’re heading toward retirement age, most likely deep into your career, and have a significant increase in your income. Investing in more stocks and bonds is a great way to earn extra cash to prepare for your coming retirement. Along with that, your Roth IRA and/or 401(k) account most likely have a hefty amount accumulated. It’s suggested that you prioritize saving over spending at this age as it can benefit you immensely once you retire. Continue Reading…

11 practical ways Retirees can learn more about Personal Finance

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What is one way a soon-to-be retiree can learn more about personal finance?

To help retirees further their education on personal finance, we asked financial experts and business leaders this question for their best insights. From finding targeted podcasts to taking a class, there are several practical ways for a retiree to learn more about personal finance.

Here are eleven ways retirees can learn more about personal finance:

  • Find Podcasts targeted at soon-to-be Retirees
  • Use Online Resources
  • Look to a Financial Planner for Guidance
  • Lookout for Blogs
  • Join a Group
  • Assemble a Support Team
  • Speak to the Professionals
  • Non-profit Organizations
  • IRS Elderly Benefits
  • Read, Read, Read
  • Take a Class

Find Podcasts targeted at soon-to-be Retirees

There are plenty of great podcasts out there sharing incredibly useful information on retirement, although many these days are on retiring early, which may or may not be you depending on where in your financial journey you are (not to mention your age range!)

This is why it can really help for soon-to-be retirees to find podcasts targeted at their specific circumstances. One good example is Finishing Well with Hans Scheil, which covers all sorts of topics on retirement planning. You may also want to consider the podcast Retirement Answer Man hosted by Roger Whitney. A Certified Financial Planner, Whitney covers both the money-related aspects of retirement as well as some other questions on this stage of your life that you may have. –– Anna Barker, LogicalDollar

Use Online Resources

There are a number of online resources a soon-to-be retiree can make use of in preparation for this next big step in their life. It’s never too late to learn or improve your personal finance skills. I would urge retirees to get on YouTube and search for personal finance videos aimed at retirees. There is, no pun intended, a wealth of information in these videos about what steps to take and which actions to avoid to keep your head above water as you enter retirement. — Carey Wilbur, Charter Capital

Look to a Financial Planner for Guidance

The best thing you could do for yourself in preparation for retirement is going to a financial planner who can help you organize and explain your financial situation. Hopefully, you’ve been preparing for retirement in the form of something like a 401k, but if you haven’t, a financial planner can help to explain your options: which is what you need plenty of. The financial planner will likely emphasize the realm of tax efficiency, which is typically what matters most to people who are retired. If you want to do some independent research, I would look into literature discussing tax-loss harvesting, rebalancing your portfolios, and back-door Roths (while they last). — Tom Mumford, Undergrads

Continue Reading…

Is it ever too early to start thinking about Retirement Income Planning?

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By Ian Moyer,

Co-founder & President of Cascades

(Sponsor Content)

We normally think about it in the few years leading up to the “Retirement Date,” but should we be crunching the numbers at other times?

The short answer is yes and here is when: preceding a change in career or a shift to part time, following a large increase or decrease in annual income. You may also wish to take the measure of a move from salary to self-employment, or upon the death of a spouse or following a divorce.

It is important to keep in mind the difference between Retirement Planning — the amount of money you will have accumulated by a specific retirement date — and Retirement Income Planning, which is the income that you will derive from that accumulated cash. Those are the numbers that really matter and represent the income you will want to live on (and sustainably so) for the rest of your life.

The following commentary is from a user of Cascades software and highlights her specific number-crunching situation:

I am currently in my early fifties, but I had already been worrying for several years about how much I needed for my retirement and how best to plan for it. As academics, we often assume our pension is sufficient: if we are even tenured, as many of us are not; if we have been working at a decent salary for many years, as many of us have not; and if we have been taught to think about or plan for retirement, as most of us have not.

As I spoke to my colleagues, I began to realize that the problem of not planning was widespread. One colleague (and friend) told me she did not even know what an RRSP was. Another colleague and friend revealed she never considered saving money in a TFSA. Still another had no idea what her pension was because she had worked at four different Universities, and so her pensionable earnings were scattered across these institutions.

Going to the bank to gain some insight and assistance was not much better. The bank, one of the largest in Canada and the one with which I have dealt since I was eighteen years of age, could not have been more disappointing. Most institutions are comfortable taking your money to invest it, but they are considerably less interested in helping you plan what to do with it. It’s not just an egregious oversight, it’s bad customer service. So, the bank with which I work did some preliminary planning, but it was largely unsatisfactory. How would I know how much I would have upon retirement? What were the sources of income I could rely on? How long would the money I saved support me? I still had no idea. Continue Reading…