Decumulate & Downsize

Most of your investing life you and your adviser (if you have one) are focused on wealth accumulation. But, we tend to forget, eventually the whole idea of this long process of delayed gratification is to actually spend this money! That’s decumulation as opposed to wealth accumulation. This stage may also involve downsizing from larger homes to smaller ones or condos, moving to the country or otherwise simplifying your life and jettisoning possessions that may tie you down.

Managing Inflation in Retirement

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Roger Wohlner, The Chicago Financial Planner

By Roger Wohlner,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub 

Inflation may seem like a tame or even non-existent threat. We are actually witnessing deflation in the price of oil and other commodities as I write this. Even so, it’s highly unlikely that inflation is dead. The U.S. economy continues to recover from the financial crisis and times of economic recovery are often a trigger for higher inflation.

An annual inflation rate of 2 per cent or 3 per cent over a period of years can seriously erode the purchasing power of your retirement nest egg.  At 2.5 per cent inflation, US$1 today will be worth approximately 78 cents in 10 years, 61 cents in 20 years, and 48 cents in 30 years. This could have a major impact on those entering retirement and those already in retirement.

Managing inflation in retirement is crucial;  here are some thoughts you need to consider. Continue Reading…

Retirement, Findependence or Unretirement?

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Chad Smith (FinancialSymmetry.com)

Certified financial planner Chad Smith has written a piece called Retirement, Findependence or Unretirement. Which path are you on?

Safe to say we all know what the word Retirement refers to. Those coming to this website will also know Findependence, a contraction for Financial Independence. Smith credits financial planner and blogger Michael Kitces for pushing for Financial Independence as a more useful term than Retirement, especially for Millennials.

This observation was also made by Alan Moore of XY Planning Network at this blog here at the Hub late in 2014.

I had also made a similar recommendation at a blog I wrote about the same time for Roger Wohlner’s The Chicago Financial Planner.  And on the same theme, I gave a little talk for Toastmasters on this, which I later expanded here at the Hub. Continue Reading…

“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

Continue Reading…

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.”

Continue Reading…

Rethinking Retirement and Home Ownership

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Gary Gorr, CHFC

By Gary Gorr, Chartered Financial Consultant

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Recently I have been doing retirement assessments for several new customers. What amazed me as I spoke with them was how resigned to defeat the clients were. It was like they knew in their guts that they had started saving too little and too late to attain the retirement they wanted.

One answered my question on when do you want to retire by saying “around 120 is the only way I could.”

After the initial meetings I reflected on other circumstances from planning for customers in 2014 and noticed some commonalties.

  • Age range: 45-55
  • They own homes with attractive Fair Market Values
  • Had fairly decent equity positions in homes
  • Most would carry a mortgage into retirement
  • All had projected incomes at retirement far less than their desired outcome

Many Canadians, including these clients, have grown up with the belief that home ownership is an important goal. The home represents a significant part of their net worth.

Not easy to unlock home equity

Continue Reading…