Latest Posts

Pros and Cons of Annuities

With the turbulent times we have been experiencing in the markets, more people are considering annuities to ensure a certain income in their retirement years. It might not suit everybody to put some of their funds into annuities, and there is always the question of how much do you invest in them. There is no clear-cut answer, and you'll need to weigh your personal circumstances to see how annuities can fit into your retirement plans.

Reading the Economic Tea Leaves

An important retirement planning skill is having the ability to "sniff out" the future direction of various factors, such as inflation and interest rates for their potential impact on future household spending and savings efforts. "Reading the tea leaves" is a folk lore expression related to the practice of attempting to divine the future from the display of loose tea leaves at the bottom of a cup.

Financial Self-Care

Self-care is a popular buzzword, and it's an important one. It refers to the deliberate choice of thoughts and actions that are good for your mental and physical wellbeing. Financial self-care means practicing this with money matters to reduce your stress and increase your optimism. It's about making concrete plans, setting goals, and consistently practicing a mindset of possibility - that moves you into place of calm empowerment where you can achieve financial well-being.

Advice to a Future Widow

Most wives outlive their husbands. Women live longer than men the same age and tend to marry men who are older than they are. So, if you're a wife, it is more likely you will become a widow than your husband becoming a widower.

Knowing this, how can you prepare for it?

First of all, when widowhood strikes, don't do anything drastic. Do not sell the house or car. Don't decide to move to another town. You have just suffered a very traumatic experience and your system needs time to adjust to it. Take your time.

Cycle of Market Emotions

Getting emotional about investments can easily lead to poor decisions as investors fall prey to negative thoughts and fears. The chart below helps to illustrate the emotional aspects of investing.

The human brain constantly searches for trends or patterns in things, trying to make sense out of even random events and data. This essential life skill is not very helpful when it comes to investing.

Dealing with a Family Cottage

When Jesse and Kae Burke purchased a vacation cottage 30 years ago, they knew it was a good investment, but creating time for family was their primary goal. Indeed, the property value had appreciated considerably, but more importantly, it had given them a lifetime of memories with their children and, more recently, their grandchildren.

The Fed "Put" Revisited

When investment markets officially hit "bear market" territory in June 2022 - while Central Banks in North America and elsewhere were continuing to raise interest rates - questions began swirling about whether the US Federal Reserve (Fed) would once again rescue the markets by exercising the famous Greenspan "put"!

Putting It In Perspective

The investment markets have been very "volatile" since the start of 2022. Volatile is just financial industry jargon that means markets move up and down. For retail investors, the biggest concern is when markets move down. Retail investors love when markets go up and usually cringe or flinch when they go down.

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