The new retirement season is beginning. What’s that you say? Don’t I know that retirement season is the first two months of the year, when investors can make contributions to their RRSP accounts and still claim the tax deduction for the preceding year? I am well aware of the end-of-February deadline for RRSP contributions but it doesn’t have to be that way. Planning for retirement should not be a one-time occurrence - it should be a continuous process throughout the year. This is not a new idea but it is an idea that needs to gain traction in the minds of advisors and investors. There are two very good reasons.
As I was thinking about the economic outlook at the beginning of the year, I did a quick review of potential economic problems around the globe.
It’s the beginning of a new year, and a good time to look ahead at some of the developments we may see both in the economy and capital markets and some of the issues that will have an impact on Canadians’ plans for their retirement in the years ahead. Together, they add to an outlook for the economics of retirement in 2011.
As we move toward the end of 2010, it’s worth reviewing what has changed – and what hasn’t – in the economics of retirement. We’ll do that by looking at the performance of the global economy and markets this year, investor perceptions of that performance and the ongoing public policy discussions around retirement income in Canada, as well as the impact that each of these factors might have on those who are saving and investing for retirement.
There has been a good deal of volatility in international currency markets this fall and some discussion in the press about the possibility of an international currency war. Changing international currency values won’t affect all of your clients equally, but there is a very good possibility that they will have some effect on nearly all […]
It’s autumn and with the summer now in the rear view mirror, it’s time for many of us to re-focus and begin setting out plans for the busy months ahead. Interestingly, Fidelity’s research reveals that the summer is the most popular time for Canadians to retire, with one-third of people who retire in any given […]
One of the most basic elements of the economics of retirement is the role of fixed-income investments in your clients’ portfolios. Some parts of this have changed over the years: clients in retirement today are more likely to continue to hold more equities than they would have in the past, when the standard model prescribed […]
As concerns about the European debt crisis continue and as signs emerge that the economic recovery is slowing, it’s a good time to think about how your clients might be reacting to what they are hearing and seeing and what you can do to give them some perspective. You can do this by helping them […]
If someone asked me to come up with the two defining characteristics of financial markets, my answer would be “opportunity” and “risk”. The opportunity to make a good return on an investment and the risk that an investment will diminish in value. Both have been well-illustrated in the past three years. Unchecked, opportunity and risk […]
In early May, I had the privilege of being a panelist at a conference held in Toronto by the Institute for Research on Public Policy. The conference was entitled ‘Avenues for Reforming the Canadian Retirement Income System’. These days, that’s a hot topic in the industry. The panel I was a part of discussed ‘Savings […]