An insured annuity is a combination of a prescribed life annuity and a life insurance policy
An insured annuity is a combination of a prescribed life annuity and a life insurance policy
Common sense, patience and fortitude to not follow the crowd are characteristics of some of the greatest investors
Planning for retirement today can be different than in years past
Most investors are content to follow a well-worn path to wealth creation, investing in common stocks and bonds that hold the promise of patient, steady and measured growth over time. For most of us, more exotic investment adventures are the stuff of day dreams. Some investors with a big taste for risk, a hefty chequebook and highly specialized investment knowledge, do take the plunge into more exotic investment realms and “go for broke” in more ways than one. A reality check as well as a chequebook are necessary first steps towards these kinds of investments.
Experienced investors like to think they can see through “get-rich-quick” investment schemes. But don’t be too sure.
August is over, kids are back at school and everyone seems to be back at work. I know this, because when I head to the gym at 5:30 a.m., there is traffic!
As a Baby Boomer riding the current retirement wave, you’re among the very first generation of women to have participated in the workforce throughout your adult life. Having lived through and benefitted from the Women’s Liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s, women your age have greater savings and larger pensions than any before you. So why does your retirement picture differ from that of your male peers?
Do you have joint accounts with your children, either at banks or investment firms? The policies of individual institutions may be very different from the terms and conditions that you signed for your account, and what you envision as a very simple process on your passing, may not be. Make sure you have, in writing, a detailed outline of what will be required for the joint tenant to take ownership of the account.
Remember the old days, when the only savings choice you had was an RRSP? Welcome to the 21st century, where acronyms abound. You can use your TFSA for short or long-term savings, your RDSP to save for a disabled family member, or an RESP to save for your child or grandchild’s education. And within that RESP, you have to understand CESGs, and the RDSP has both CDSGs and CDSBs. If you are the average Canadian, you don’t actually have the resources to do it all, so how do you figure out where to start?
When it comes to investing, what’s your risk tolerance? Do you like to stick to investments with lower risk — such as GICs? Or are you looking at more risk — stocks, fixed income, preferred shares? Or are you somewhere in the middle?
Do you recognize the symptoms of portfolio paralysis? If you see yourself in any of the scenarios listed below, this may be your wake-up call for finding a financial advisor to help you get back on top of your game.
Just when you think it’s time to take it easy, you turn 71 and then retirement really happens. That’s when investors must convert their Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) into cash, a life insurance annuity or roll the savings over into a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF).
What is really important? I think we are going to find out…
Patience may be a virtue, but when it comes to building your portfolio it’s also an excellent investment strategy. A long-term investment perspective requires a well thought out plan of action plus the discipline to stay with the plan. In return, long-term investing offers distinct safety advantages. Here’s why.
The recent trip to California in the Smart car was a learning experience in several ways. First, snow storms in the Sierra Nevada in a Smart car are not particularly pleasant, but the $250 round trip fuel cost was great.
This is the second segment in a look at insurance from an…
Investors don’t usually think of insurance as part of their investment strategy, but they should.
“Ultimately it is not the stock market or even the companies themselves that determine an investor’s fate. It’s the investor.” — Peter Lynch, stock market legend and fund manager who took Fidelity Magellan from $22 million in assets to $14 billion in little more than a decade.
