Canadian Personal Finance News | July 2014

One of the most common excuses made by forecasters is, "I wasn't wrong, I was just off with the timing." But that fails to acknowledge that timing is an integral part of any forecast. Imagine a weather reporter predicting rain on Monday and claiming he was still right when the downpour doesn't arrive until Thursday.

It was spectacular. The crowd went wild when they saw Robin Van Persie leap into the air for his gravity-defying header against Spain - a play he calls "the best goal of my career." And rightfully so; it was truly remarkable.

"Timing the market is a fool's game, whereas time in the market will be your greatest natural advantage." - Nick Murray A few months ago I looked at what would happen if you only invested at market peaks over a long time frame. It turned out the results weren't as bad as you would think.

Oh Suze.... You either love her, hate her or hate her. In truth, a lot of her advice is really good stuff. But some of it is teetering on the edge, and some advice is just plain bad. Even though I questioned some of her advice I still respected what she's been able to do in educating the masses.

This is what's happening in the background of your employer-sponsored Defined Contribution Plan. YOU should care if your HR team cares about your eventual decumulation of savings in into retirement income // Rivers of ink have been spilled over how to help DC members to save more, invest better and gain more knowledge. We have applied behavioural economics, calculated the effect of high fees on cumulative savings, taken advantage of the latest research on heuristics and employed the best consulting talent-all to ensure that the accumulated savings will prove adequate in achieving DB-like replacement ratios.

A summer from hell awaits the investment industry in two years' time. New securities regulations will require a major upgrade in the level of fee disclosure provided to clients starting July 15, 2016. Oh-my-God moments are guaranteed as investors open account statements that for the first time put a dollar value on fees paid to investment advisers.

In almost everything we do-whether it's learning the violin, playing chess or excelling in sports-practice makes us better. In his bestselling book Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell popularized the "10,000 hour rule." It says no matter how talented one might be, becoming a virtuoso musician, a chess grandmaster, or an elite athlete typically requires approximately 10,000 hours of practice.

It's easy to find advice about putting money into your retirement piggy bank. Far rarer are tips about how to get it out. That's a pity, because choosing the right option can mean a six-figure difference to the amount of income you collect over the course of your retirement.

By Samuel Lee | 07-22-14 | 06:00 AM | Email Article A version of this article was published in the July 2014 issue of Morningstar ETFInvestor. Download a complimentary copy here. Diversification is often treated as an unalloyed good. It's not.

Despite what Advocis has to say, banning embedded commissions will end the illusion that advisors on the commission system are anything more than salespeople, no matter how well-intentioned they are, and it will force them to charge fees more in keeping with the actual quality of advice they're giving, rather than the product they're selling.

I'm going to assume that your business income - while low - is enough to put a roof over your head, food on your table, clothes on your back, and a signal on your laptop. If it's not, back you go to boosting your income or decreasing your expenses.