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Gail Bebee releases third edition of No Hype book

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NoHypeCoverToday’s Hub review is a bit unusual in that we’ve allowed an author to review her own book. I originally reviewed No Hype: The Straight Goods on Investing Your Money when it came out almost a decade ago and found it a useful addition to the genre, seeing as so many financial books these days are written by financial professionals.

It was refreshing to see a book written by a pure financial consumer like Gail, who like the rest of us has to sort the financial wheat from the chaff and has no real axe to grind. As she says on her web site, she’s an independent voice.

Hopefully we’ll review it in the more traditional manner over the coming weeks or months but in the meantime, it’s nice to know the book is still out there and has been revised.

Incidentally, and as noted in Saturday’s weekly wrap, Gail and I are among six speakers at The Financial Show in Mississauga later this month. Joining us will be Gordon Pape,  Pat Bolland, Jim Ruta and Scot Blythe. — Jonathan Chevreau

By Gail Bebee,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

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Gail Bebee

When I set out in 2006 to write the original No Hype – The Straight Goods on Investing Your Money, my goal was to create a readable book that set down all the investing basics for Canadians, without a financial industry bias. It was born from my frustration at not finding such a book when I decided to take control of investing my money.

Thousands of books and two sold-out editions later, the students taking my Investment Planning night school course at Toronto District School Board still need a good reference, and retail investors are still looking for an objective, understandable book on all the investing basics written expressly for Canadians. Continue Reading…

Post-budget primer on RRIF withdrawal strategies 2015 and beyond

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Adrian
Adrian Mastracci, KCM Wealth

By Adrian Mastracci, KCM Wealth Management

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

“Be very mindful of your RRIF. Understand its purpose. Then review it periodically to make sure it’s on track to deliver.”

It’s time to start paying special attention to RRIFs.
Even if you don’t yet need one.

RRIFs (Registered Retirement Income Funds) are income withdrawal plans, while RRSPs are savings plans.

No deposits are allowed to be made into a RRIF after the RRSP conversion.

The venerable RRIF remains firmly entrenched as a prominent retirement planning vehicle.
It has become an essential foundation of many a retirement nest egg.

Starting a RRIF at age 71 implies long-term planning, say to age 90 and beyond, especially if there is a younger spouse.

That’s one very good reason to be aware of the details.

Two major changes were proposed in the recent Federal Budget, starting in 2015:

  • Minimum RRIF draws are reduced for ages 71 to 94 (See highlighted figures in table below).
  • Re-deposit of the difference in draws is allowed by Feb 2016.

Continue Reading…

Fed up: Latest Fee Grab Enrages Banking Customers

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Robb Engen, Boomer & Echo

By Robb Engen, Boomer & Echo

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

For years Canada’s big banks have walked all over their retail customers without fear of repercussion. They’ve raised account fees and hiked minimum balance thresholds at will, invented new charges for moving our money around, and generally nickel-and-dimed us to death just because they can.

Related: 10 fees you can avoid

Banks get away with it because of the perception that it’s difficult and inconvenient to switch. Typical Canadians, we grumble about the fee grab for a while,  then quietly return to our normal everyday routine.

But this time it feels different. While banks continue to enjoy record profits – particularly from their retail banking operations – consumers are paying higher fees and earning lower interest on savings deposits. Continue Reading…

US Large Caps top Templeton asset-class chart but remember Winners Rotate

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Here’s my latest MoneySense column, entitled Why Diversify? This chart shows you why. I used to write about this chart back at the Financial Post, and tacked the chart up on my cubicle wall. An updated version of the chart later followed me to my office at MoneySense, and the one below is now in my Editor-at-Large’s home office. Click on the above link to get to the chart, which can be further enlarged on your monitor.

The Hub’s version of the blog below also shows a second chart at the bottom about Risk. As you’ll see, it’s more predictable, living up to Franklin Templeton’s assertion that risk is more predictable than returns. I’ve always found it a useful reminder of the futility of chasing last year’s winners or attempting to predict next year’s winning asset classes. If you can’t get the charts  free through your financial advisor, you can download them here.

By Jonathan Chevreau

Franklin Templeton Why Diversify_low resolution

Continue Reading…

How to get the new TFSA limit to work for you

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Illustration depicting a red and white road sign with a taxt free concept. Blue blurred sky background.

By Jonathan Chevreau

Financial Independence Hub

Here’s my latest column from the print edition of MoneySense magazine, written right after the federal budget: Get the new TFSA limit to work for you.

Click on the link for details, but in a nutshell — and has been extensively reported in the media, such as this piece by Gordon Pape (subscribers only)  — there’s no reason why you can’t add another $4,500 to your Tax Free Savings Account right now, in addition to $5,500 you may have contributed anytime on or after Jan. 1, 2015. (Note to American readers: the TFSA is the equivalent of Roth IRAs, providing no upfront tax deductions but which let you eventually withdraw money tax-free in Retirement or for other purposes).

That means a whopping $20,000 per couple. Now while Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau seems to think only “rich” people have that kind of money available, the fact is that many hard-working middle class people have been saving and investing for the better part of two or three decades, and built up substantial non-registered or “taxable” portfolios. Even though they may have paid income tax to acquire the capital in the first place, over those decades they have been paying annual taxes on interest, dividends and (often) capital gains generated by that capital.

As the column points out, those who have built such “open” portfolios don’t have to use new cash to put $10,000 per annum into their TFSAs. They merely have to start transferring their non-registered securities into their TFSAs. This is called a “transfer-in-kind” Continue Reading…