General

Why it’s NOT okay to be in debt when approaching Retirement

Posted By |

By Douglas Hoyes

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

While we all strive for a Victory Lap leading to our Findependence, a growing number of Canadians can only dream about getting out of debt.

Every two years my firm, Hoyes, Michalos & Associates Inc., releases our Joe Debtor report, where we profile our clients who have filed a bankruptcy or a consumer proposal.  In our report two years ago we reported that seniors are the fastest growing risk group for insolvency, and that’s still the case today.

Almost one in five insolvencies involve pre-retirement debtors in their 50s, and more than one in 10 (12%) involve seniors in their 60s and 70s.

What’s the problem?  Shouldn’t older Canadians have a lifetime of savings to rely on as they enter their Victory Lap?  Many do.  If you had a well-paying stable job that allowed you to save and build assets,  have an employer-provided pension, or have been fortunate enough to own a house during the current real estate boom, you are probably in great shape heading into your golden years.

Many over 50s still have dependents

However, not everyone in the over 50 crowd is as fortunate.  Continue Reading…

The 6 steps to Financial Independence

Posted By |
L to R: Ed Rempel, Jon Chevreau, Mike Drak

By Ed Rempel, CFP, CMA

Special to the Financial Independence Hub 

What is financial independence? How do you get there?

Financial independence means work is optional. You have enough money to live the way you want without having to earn money.

When you get there, life changes. You have freedom. You can do only what you enjoy or find meaningful.

If you don’t like your job or your boss, just quit. Your life is full of options. You can make the most of your own life.

When you get there, you can have a quiet confidence. You are financially secure.

Your plan should start with understanding your inner motivation and defining specifically the lifestyle you want to have once you are financially independent. It is your opportunity to determine your future.

Becoming financially independent requires planning and effort, but it is worthwhile to live a more fulfilling life. “It’s not about the money. It’s about your life.”

“Real freedom is financial freedom.” When is your Findependence Day?

Achieving financial independence is a very broad topic. Writing nearly 1,000 comprehensive, professional financial plans specifically for real Canadians has given me a deep insight into what really works.

Seminar in Toronto this Wednesday evening

Continue Reading…

The evolution of Robo advice

Posted By |

By Josh Miszk, CFA, CFP

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Alongside the rapid growth of the online wealth management space is the speed with which firms are evolving to investors’ demands.

Some of the first online investment managers in Canada have evolved their initial investing models to include services like financial planning, advisory firm partnerships, and now, a platform offering portfolios from multiple management firms.

One of the challenges in evaluating cost, performance, and reputation across multiple “robo-advice” platforms is looking at their similarities and differences to get a real sense of how each portfolio compares. In addition, many firms are relatively new and, while investors like the experience of working with an online advisor, they’re restricted to portfolios designed solely by the same firm they feel provides that great experience.

A simple way of choosing the right portfolio

In response to the demand for greater choice, we’ve created a platform that offers clients multiple portfolio options created by two of the largest and most reputable institutional money managers in the industry; BlackRock and Vanguard. In working with these two firms, we are not only leveraging the quality of their investment products, but also their expertise in providing great portfolio solutions.

This addition will allow potential clients to compare and select portfolios based on our recommendations for them, as well as the elements of a portfolio they value most, like performance, asset allocation, and cost.

Continue Reading…

Be the first line of defense: top tips to prevent financial fraud

Posted By |
T

By Brent Reynolds, Capital One

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

As social media becomes ever prevalent in our lives, we have become increasingly accustomed to sharing personal details with friends, family and coworkers. While there’s certainly no harm in sharing vacation details or family photos with your network, this culture of sharing can lead to troubling consequences when it extends to personal financial information.

In the spirit of Fraud Prevention Month – an educational campaign each March that encourages Canadians to recognize and reject fraud – I’d like to offer a few tips to help empower Canadians to be their own first line of defense.

Protect your personal details

Our recent fraud prevention study found 47% of Canadians have shared their credit card number over the phone, via email or through the mail. One in five Canadians (22%) also admit to sharing their banking information via email, where the risk of phishing is high.

When it comes to sharing your personal information, always be cautious. Whether it’s over the phone, in person, through the mail or on the Internet, always know who you are sharing your personal or financial information with and why. If a call or email seems questionable, end the communication and visit the company’s secure website to contact them directly.

Select a strong PIN and protect it

While it may seem harmless to share your PIN with family members (in fact, 40% of Canadians admit to doing it), a PIN should never be shared with anyone. Select a secure and difficult-to-guess PIN that isn’t based on personal information like a birthday, address, SIN number or telephone number. Make sure you choose a unique PIN for each card. And, when accessing an ATM or paying with your card, be aware of who is around you and cover the keypad when you enter your PIN. Finally, if you’re going to store your PIN somewhere, make sure you choose a secure location and never write it on or store it near your card.

Take advantage of any features your card issuer offers

Continue Reading…

In pursuit of Boomer happiness

Posted By |
Mike Drak and Heather Reisman

I was at my local Indigo bookstore the other weekend and look at who happened to stop by.

I’m really starting to believe in this karma thing as more and more chance encounters like this are happening to me since writing the book.

Through this chance meeting I had the chance to talk to Heather about Victory Lap Retirement and my concern that we had miscategorized the book by putting it into the personal finance/retirement section. Heather was kind enough to share her thoughts and now I’m convinced that our book should be in the self improvement section.

Not really a retirement book

Victory Lap Retirement is really not a book about retirement; in fact we make a strong case about the benefits of not retiring in the traditional sense. It really is a book about lifestyle design with the goal of helping people create their own low-stress healthy fulfilling lifestyle, one based on their own unique needs and wants. We know that through proper planning and intentional living, we can substantially improve the quality of our remaining years, which is not a bad way to go out when you think about it.

Stress is the main risk in our eyes and prolonged exposure to stress can really mess a person up and in some cases actually kill them. I don’t know if it’s just me but I’m seeing more evidence of this each and every day; examples seems to be everywhere. Is it just me or are you seeing it as well?

We discussed the role of stress in a recent blog post called “The Big Dip.”

Stress inversely correlated with Happiness

Continue Reading…