Articles

We have realized that our role as a financial advisor is really to manage risk. The first thing we must establish with this responsibility is to define “risk”. Textbooks have told us over the years that you should measure risk in terms of volatility using standard deviations. As a mathematician, this should be easy. Next, we studied investment theory which introduced us into the world of Alpha and Beta. Sure, this makes great insomnia-curing reading but after doing this for many years we had to ask ourselves, “is this what is important to our clients”?

“In 2018, the re-emergence of volatility took many market participants by surprise. After all, aside from a few smaller, intermittent spikes over the course of the current bull market, volatility has largely been in a long-term downtrend since the aftermath of the 2008 Financial Crisis.”

It’s the start of a new year. A time for resolutions, goal-setting, reflection of the last 12 months and a fresh start.

Financially, it can be a very depressing time. The holidays are over and now you must face the harsh reality of your generosity over the gift-giving season. That said, receiving your January credit card statement should not be an anxious experience. In actuality, your credit card statements are excellent budgeting tools that not enough people use to their advantage.

When you think about your wealth, it’s easy for the mind to leap to any number of ways you plan to pursue more of it. You earn it, save it, invest it – all so you can accumulate enough of it to fund your dreams.

As of this morning’s cold open, the S&P 500 is down 7.5% or so. The Fed is hiking interest rates. Mortgage rates are rising. Homebuilder stocks are getting annihilated. The economic recovery is well into its ninth year. The unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in 50 years. People are asking — are the markets predicting a recession?

We get so many questions about what is going on in the current markets — what are we doing, what do we think, and how are we protected? The reality is with investments and all things in life, there are things you can control and things you cannot. The choice is yours as to which side you put your effort into.

I have a lot of things in common with the author of this article, Erin Barton. We both have 3 young children; they all have access to digital devices; my 8 year old thinks she is twice as old as she is; and we have already started having the conversation about safety and privacy on digital devices.

In times of turbulence in the market many clients asked me my thoughts on gold. Here is some information I think you might find interesting. Richard Wylie’s latest edition of The Big Picture commentary explains that during times of heightened uncertainty, investors have sought the refuge of lower risk investments. One of these so-called safe-haven investments, gold, has a particularly long history of attracting attention during periods of political and social upheaval.

Many don’t believe that life insurance is there to help you out when you least expect it. When you purchase term insurance, the purpose of it is to simply give you peace of mind with the hopes that you’ll never have to make a claim. However, the importance of it really comes through when one of the persons insured passes away prematurely leaving behind their loved ones to deal with the finances and children’s education.

What Cottage Owners May Want to Consider Sooner Rather than Later

The summer is coming to an end quicker than we would like.  And for many, that means closing down the cottage. For myself, and many of my clients, summers at the cottage are a break from the hustle and bustle of “city living”.  Having a place to retreat to in the warm months is just one of the many benefits of having a cottage in the family.