Debt & Frugality

As Didi says in the novel (Findependence Day), “There’s no point climbing the Tower of Wealth when you’re still mired in the basement of debt.” If you owe credit-card debt still charging an usurous 20% per annum, forget about building wealth: focus on eliminating that debt. And once done, focus on paying off your mortgage. As Theo says in the novel, “The foundation of financial independence is a paid-for house.”

Low future returns? The coming bull market in advice

Posted By Jonathan Chevreau | July 21, 2017

A bull market in advice? This novel idea is the basis of my latest Motley Fool blog, which came out of the 2017 Vanguard Investment Symposium held this Tuesday.

Hopefully, the title is self-explanatory. Click on the highlighted text to access the whole blog: Lower future returns from balanced portfolios means a bull market in advice.

Click through to get Vanguard’s forecasts for future returns. Suffice it to say that they don’t believe the next five years will be as good as the last five years have been for balanced investors.

All of which means good financial advice will be at a premium. Naturally, Vanguard believes that the lower expected future investment returns are, the more important it is to reduce costs and taxes, which of course its low-cost index funds and ETFs facilitate. But it also believes advisors can help investors by addressing the so-called “behaviour gap.” It’s been well documented that poor investing behaviour (buying high, selling low) are destructive to returns, which is why a good financial advisor can more than recoup his/her fees.

Advisors can add 3% value per a year

Many fee-based advisors use the kind of investment funds Vanguard provides and Vanguard believes good advice can “add value” of roughly 3% per year to clients’ investment returns.

Behavioural coaching is the single biggest value-add: 150 basis points (1.5%). “Staying the course is difficult,” but “a balanced diversified investor has fared relatively well,” said one Vanguard presenter quoted in the Motley Fool piece, Fran Kinniry.

Behavioural coaching is followed closely by 131 beeps for cost-effective product implementation (using low expense ratios). This alone can add 1 to 2 percentage points of value, Vanguard says, attributing the finding to “numerous studies.” Rebalancing accounts for another 47 beeps, and Asset Location between 0 and 42 beeps (as opposed to Asset Allocation, which it says adds “more than 0 beeps.”)

A proper spending strategy (identifying the order of withdrawals in the decumulation stage) accounts for another 0 to 41 beeps. All told, the potential value added comes to “about 3%,” Kinniry says.

Vanguard says a “strong move to fee-based” compensation is accelerating. In 2015, 65% of advisors’ compensation came from asset-based fees, while wealthier investors are “most willing to pay AUM-based fees.” Gradually this will ‘flow down” to less well-heeled clients, “as smaller balances can now be well-served” in a fee-based model because of scale and technology.

Using Cerulli data from 2015, Vanguard estimates the median asset-weighted advisory fee is 1.39% for the mass market ($100,000 assets), 1.28% for the middle market ($300,000), 1.09% for the mass-affluent market ($750,000), 0.92% for the affluent market ($1.5 million to $5 million) and 0.70% for the High Net Worth market ($10 million or more).

On average across all clients, the median fee is 1.07%.

How to set your Retirement savings target

Posted By Pat McKeough | July 10, 2017

How much to save for retirement depends on the type of lifestyle you’re aiming for

How much to save for retirement varies for each investor. A fulfilling retirement is not simply a matter of accumulating sufficient wealth to give you peace of mind. It is equally a matter of knowing what you will do — in effect, ensuring that you will be as active and productive with your time as you were during your working days.

These days, more investors suffer from what you might call “pre-retirement financial stress syndrome.” That’s the malady that strikes when it dawns on you that you don’t have enough money saved to be able to earn the retirement income stream you were banking on.

To alleviate this worry, we recommend that you base your retirement planning on a sound financial plan. Here are the four key variables that your plan should address to ensure you have sufficient retirement income:

How much you expect to save prior to retirement;
The return you expect on your savings;
How much of that return you’ll have left after taxes;
How much retirement income you’ll need once you’ve left the workforce.

Consider taxes when determining how much to save for retirement

As for the tax structure, it keeps changing. But it’s safe to assume that you’ll pay a lower rate of tax on dividends and capital gains than on interest, and that you’ll generally pay taxes on capital gains only when you sell.

As for the return you expect, it’s best to aim low. If you invest in bonds, assume you will earn the current yield; don’t assume you can make money trading in bonds. For stocks, the market returned 10% or so yearly on average over the past 80 or so years. Aim lower — 8% a year, say — to allow for unforeseeable problems and setbacks.

What exactly does your Home Insurance cover?

Posted By Marie Engen | July 7, 2017

I recently received my home insurance renewal notice. The company I deal with merged (or was bought out?) by another company and the accompanying letter advised reviewing the policy to make sure I was getting the appropriate coverage.

Being obsessive that way, I did go through it with a fine-tooth comb. I don’t want to be disappointed if I ever have to make a claim.

Do you know exactly what your home insurance policy covers?

Are you planning a vacation this summer?

Since an unoccupied home is at greater risk of damage and susceptible to break-ins, you may not be covered while you are away. Coverage may only be provided for a certain number of days. If your house will be empty for longer than that minimum you will probably be required to have someone visit your home on a regular basis – generally every three to seven days, depending on your policy.

Water coverage depends a lot on your policy

I was really glad to find out I had been paying an extra $12 for extended water coverage (I didn’t actually pay attention to it before) when a major sewer backup flooded my basement. My neighbours – who assumed they were automatically covered – were giving me the stink eye when the clean-up and restoration crews pulled into my driveway and totally rebuilt my basement.

Typically, this coverage is for when water backs up into your home from a sanitary or storm sewer that overflows, or any accidental water seepage from burst pipes, for example.

Check to see what your limit is. If you did extensive and costly renovations to your basement, a $10,000 limit is not going to cut it for you.

What we think of as “flood” insurance – when water gushes in to your home due to a river or lake overflowing its banks – was not available in Canada until recently (2015). If you build your dream home five metres away from a babbling brook that triggers only a “hundred-year flood,” be safe and buy the optional coverage.

Home insurance doesn’t cover your home’s market value

Home insurance covers only the actual cost to repair or replace your home as it was before the loss.

Insurance companies will look at the overall maintenance of your home. You need to keep up with repairs. You are not usually covered if you have cracks in your foundation, loose window casements, or a leaky dishwasher that allow water to seep through.

They will take into account depreciation of your roof and garden shed, and the condition of that (dead) tree in your yard that crushed the neighbour’s gazebo.

You can’t say, “I hope there’s a big wind storm that knocks down my (broken down) fence so I can replace it with a nice new cedar fence.”

Personal property is almost always covered for replacement cost at today’s prices. Actual cash value will only pay today’s value for the item, prorated for age, use and condition.

However, you must actually replace the items and provide receipts. The insurance company won’t just hand you a cheque.

Condominium corporation insurance doesn’t cover your condo

This insurance covers the building structure, such as roof or windows, and common areas. It does not cover the contents of your own condo, or third-party liability if you cause damage to other condo units. You need your own separate policy. My condo corporation insurance has a $25,000 deductible if I cause any damage – so I made sure that this liability was included in my personal policy.

Likewise, if you are a tenant, your landlord’s insurance is not going to cover you. A lot of renters don’t bother getting tenant’s insurance – as you have probably noticed when you hear of a building fire in the news and the tenants have lost everything.

What’s personal liability protection?

Personal liability protection only covers accidental injury to other people on your property, or damage to another person’s property.

So, if you get sued by your neighbour after punching him in the face during an altercation – you are on your own.

Final thoughts

Home insurance is not regulated like auto insurance. In fact, unless you have a mortgage, you are not obligated to even have it.

Policies can differ widely and may not fully protect you. Sometimes you need to pay a bit more to add a rider to the policy for your valuables, or to protect against different risks.

Know what’s covered. What are the coverage limitations? Don’t assume that insurance will pay for all damages. Update your policy if necessary to best protect your property. It doesn’t make sense to reduce your coverage in order to save a bit of money.

Marie Engen is the “Boomer” half of Boomer & Echo. In addition to being co-author of the website, Marie is a fee-only financial planner based in Kelowna, B.C. This article originally ran at the Boomer & Echo site on June 27th and is republished here with permission.

A nation of financial illiterates?

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | July 6, 2017

By John Shmuel, Managing Editor, LowestRates.ca

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Do you consider yourself financially literate?

When we posed that question to Canadians last month in an IPSOS survey, the overwhelming majority — 78% — said yes.

Canadians are clearly confident about their financial knowledge. But their actual knowledge, unfortunately, is lacking. When we followed up our initial question with a quiz, comprised of 15 intermediate questions about financial products, the majority of Canadians (57%) failed.

It should be noted that these weren’t simple questions. But they also weren’t questions that require special certification or an advanced knowledge of finance. One question asked whether there were financial institutions in Canada that offer free chequing accounts (there are). Another asked whether you needed a special license to buy stocks (you don’t).

Failure to know the answers to these questions shows that Canadians are confused about financial products. And financial institutions take advantage of that.

Let’s return to the question on chequing accounts. About 34% of those surveyed said they thought all banks charge you money to have a chequing account. Another 14% said they didn’t know the answer. With nearly half of Canadians not realizing free chequing accounts are an option, it’s no surprise many financial institutions continue to charge for them.

Then there is the issue of mortgages. Of our 15 questions, Canadians struggled with ones related to mortgages more than any other. For instance, we asked whether a mortgage term refers to the length of time you need to pay off your mortgage. 51% of Canadians answered incorrectly. Another 18% said they don’t know. (For those wondering amortization refers to the length of a mortgage, a term is how long variables such as your interest rate are in effect.)

So what?, you might say. What does a mortgage term have to do with being knowledgeable about finance?

It all comes down to empowerment. If you’re familiar with how a financial product works, you’re more likely to be confident in getting the best deal for that product. Knowing what a mortgage term is you probably know that you can negotiate mortgage rates, or that you can go online and see different rates from rival banks and brokerages. Continue Reading…

Top 10 tips to Save on Car Insurance

Posted By Financial Independence Hub | June 28, 2017

By Anne Marie Thomas

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Car insurance is one of those costs of owning a vehicle that everyone wants to save money on, and with these tips from InsuranceHotline.com you’ll be able to ensure that year after year, your premiums are the lowest they can be.

1.) Compare rates annually at renewal

For the sake of convenience, you may be tempted to simply renew with your current auto insurer when your policy is about to expire, but this could end up costing you big time. Rates often change and the insurer who offered you the best rate two years ago, or even last year, may no longer offer you the best deal today.

2.) Don’t wait for your renewal to shop around

A lot can happen over the course of a year, and as a rule of thumb, you should shop around anytime anything that could affect your insurance rate happens. For example, you should spot check your premiums when you move, get a ticket (or are involved in an at-fault collision), get married, change jobs or retire.

Tip: If you find a better rate when you shop around mid-policy, make sure the savings are more than the fee you’ll be charged for cancelling your policy. If the fees are higher than the savings, then it might be better to wait until your policy is set to expire before switching companies.

3.) Bundle it

We all know bundling phone and television services nets a lower bill, and the same is true for insurance. If you get your property insurance (home, condo, or tenant insurance) from the same company as your auto insurance then you’ll likely qualify for a discount that could save you from five to 15 per cent off of one, or even both of your policies.

4.) Review your deductibles Continue Reading…