Longevity & Aging

No doubt about it: at some point we’re neither semi-retired, findependent or fully retired. We’re out there in a retirement community or retirement home, and maybe for a few years near the end of this incarnation, some time to reflect on it all in a nursing home. Our Longevity & Aging category features our own unique blog posts, as well as blog feeds from Mark Venning’s ChangeRangers.com and other experts.

Book Review: Ready to Retire?

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y450-293There’s no shortage of books that focus on financial readiness for retirement. But what about emotional or psychological readiness for retirement? Lyndsay Green’s just-published Ready to Retire? (Harper Collins, Toronto, 2016) puts a microscope on the less-scrutinized emotional and lifestyle issues of retirement. She interviewed 44 Canadian males and 17 of their spouses about common retirement fears (for those still working) versus the reality of retirement once it’s actually achieved.

Generally, these males either planned for retirement or – in the all-too-common case of sudden terminations – found themselves unexpectedly in the land of retirement years or even decades before they expected it.

But whether planned or not, most required a period of adjustment that can take years: not surprisingly, retirement is right up there with divorce, death and job loss in creating a traumatic new stage of life.

Mental Map depicts common emotions about Retirement

The book’s frontispiece conveys the common emotions in a graphic that I think should have been the cover. ( Continue Reading…

Healthcare abroad: What about the Language Barrier?

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Thailand's Bumrungrad Hospital
Thailand’s Bumrungrad Hospital. Photo RetireEarlyLifestyle.com

By Billy & Akaisha Kaderli

Special to the Financial Independence Hub 

When it comes to navigating healthcare issues in a foreign country, lots of travelers or would-be Expats have a legitimate concern over the language barrier.

While there is a possibility that you could find yourself in the backwaters of Vietnam, in a lonely village in the mountains of China or Tibet, or spending the night in a hill tribe pueblo reachable only by rickety bridges, chances are you will be somewhere close to a civilized town or large city. In our decades of world travel through dozens of countries, our experience is that most medical professionals speak English or enough English to make the transaction go smoothly.

Service is Primary

In the hospitals of Thailand, we have discussed surgeries, received executive physicals, blood tests, colonoscopies, eye exams, sonograms, x-rays and more. But we are not fluent in Thai. How were we able to communicate about such complicated topics?

Not only do these professional medical personnel speak English, but we are issued a personal translator/assistant who takes us from office to office, procedure to procedure. She translates for us if necessary, keeps our paperwork together and wheels us around in the wheelchair if required. The fee for this service? About $2USD each visit.

It’s not a guessing game

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Mother’s Day and your future role as Mom’s money manager

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Depositphotos_6869353_s-2015By Josh Miszk, Invisor.ca

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Most of us will care for our aging moms at some point in our lives, but helping our parents maintain their independence as they grow older can be a juggling act, particularly when it comes to their finances.

Before we are thrown into the overwhelming responsibility of managing Mom’s investments, it’s important to do some advance planning. For many, starting the conversation with Mom is the biggest hurdle, and what better time than on Mother’s Day?

Whether it’s day-to-day or long-term investments, here are a few things to consider when helping Mom with her finances:

Get a holistic view

Start by getting a complete picture of Mom’s current and expected cash flow needs. Look at her sources of income (like pension and CPP) and her living expenses to get a better idea of any cash shortfall her investments will need to cover.

Next, get a holistic view of her investment portfolio, including what investments she holds and where. Continue Reading…

What every woman needs to know about Retirement

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what_every_woman_needs1
Akaisha Kaderli

By Akaisha Kaderli

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

The other day I read an article about women and retirement. In this piece, the number one premise for motivation was that we should be afraid. Very afraid. It said that for the most part, men did the planning for retirement and that we as women rely on them blindly.

I dislike reading articles such as this, first, because it is fear-based but second, it doesn’t take into consideration the talents women contribute to the mix of partnership and planning. While it might be true that men are “wired to provide for the household,” women have moved into professions which pay grandly. Many marriages today are a different blend of partnership than what our own parents or grandparents enjoyed. Along with their jobs, many women still run the household, so why not get involved in retirement planning in a proactive manner?

Retirement is a boring word

The word “retirement” conjures up images of old people on pensions or perhaps pictures of those who no longer contribute powerfully to society with their expertise and knowledge. I prefer the description “financially independent” for the freedom, influence and self-reliance it implies.

One can choose financial independence at any stage of life and it’s an exciting and worthy goal. The younger a person begins on this path, the more you have in your favor.

Women, listen up

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SPIVA Scorecard: Canada comeback?

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graham-bodel
Graham Bodel

By Graham Bodel, Chalten Advisors

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

“Not to fear, we have found a manager based in our very own Canada that is able to consistently beat the pack.”

Standard & Poor’s has done a brilliant job over the last few years of shining the light on the fund management industry by publishing its SPIVA (S&P Indices Versus Active Funds) Scorecards,  which report on the performance of actively managed mutual funds relative to their benchmark indices.

We’re not spoiling anything by telling you the results don’t usually come out favourably for active managers:  the performance data has been fairly consistent and compelling for years.

The latest SPIVA Canada Scorecard for the year ended December 31, 2015 came out on Monday and at first glance there may be reason to cheer, especially for those fund managers focused on domestic stocks.

SPIVA Canada Scorecard 2

While 57% might not seem very convincing, it’s certainly a better result than US domestic equity managers, only 25% of whom managed to beat the benchmark last year (Source: SPIVA US Scorecard).

Of course, 2015 was a year where the Canadian stock market performed worse than any other developed market globally in USD terms and was only able to squeak past Russia and Brazil.   If you’d been one of the few lucky Canadians to properly diversify outside of Canada last year, you would have been disappointed with active fund management as only 21% of Canadian funds managing International Equities (outside North America) were able to outperform their benchmark.

The longer the time period, the worse the results

Continue Reading…