financial planning toronto Archives

Real Life Investment Strategies #2: Debunking Retirement Financial “Rules”

Post published:March 19, 2024

Should You Plan Your Retirement Savings According to the 4% Withdrawal Rate Rule or 70% of Pre-Retirement Income Rule? Whether you’re an accumulator or preparing for retirement, how do you plan for saving AND spending your hard-earned cash in retirement? My Answer: It depends. All those popular retirement spending rules you hear about in the popular press or through your favourite financial guru really should be called guidelines. Augmenting blunt estimates with finer-pointed planning may not be as quickly accomplished. But it’s a far more effective way to plan for how much to save as you accumulate wealth, and how much to spend as you withdraw it. In fact, it’s best to consider retirement spending as being a variable process, versus a one-and-done equation. Which is why it depends. LET’S BEND SOME RULES: THE 4% WITHDRAWAL RATE RULE & THE 70% PRE-RETIREMENT INCOME RULE

Real Life Investment Strategies #1: Will Geopolitics Ruin My Financial Plans?

Post published:February 9, 2024

Timeless financial tips are well and good - but how do they apply to my investment decisions in real life? To address that question, I’m launching Lowrie Financial’s “Real Life Investment Strategies.” Each post in this new series will use case studies to illustrate the choices real people are making, as they contemplate money management concerns in real time. Many have active concerns around geopolitical events and their impact on their financial futures - clear theme emerges: • worrying thoughts about current events, • what the geopolitical climate may mean to your money, and • what investment strategies to avert setbacks for your financial future So, let’s address some of the more worrisome flash points looming large at this time: the world, its politics, and its politicians.

2023 Financial Year in Review | 2024 Investment Market Outlook

Post published:January 11, 2024

You might assume, the more experienced a financial professional is, the more accurate they can be with their year-end forecasts. Personally, I’ve never tried to predict which hot or cold stocks, bonds, sectors, or market sentiments to chase or flee each year. Instead, the more experience I’ve gained, the more firmly I believe in the Timeless Financial Tips I shared throughout 2023. For me, they serve as the best guide for “predicting” what investors should expect in 2024. So, considering everything I’ve learned in 2023 (plus the quarter-century prior), I predict … We cannot possibly predict how 2024 markets will perform. That’s my expert forecast, and I’m sticking to it. I will, however, add one more prediction, about which I am nearly as certain … Over time (think multiple years), capital markets WILL deliver positive returns to those who consistently participate in their expected growth.

Timeless Financial Tips from 2023 As We Turn to 2024

Post published:December 8, 2023

Yet another year has gone by. With 2023 behind us and 2024 on the horizon, it’s important to take stock, set goals, and make plans – keep steadfast in your quest for long-term financial planning and wealth management success. In 2023, I shifted my focus to keep some core financial planning principles at the forefront of your mind. These principles are timeless and are a good touchpoint for whenever your financial resolve starts to soften. Let’s look back at these timeless financial tips from 2023…

Play It Again, Steve – Timeless Financial Tips #2: Rising Above the Noisy News

Post published:March 2, 2023

In investing and life, information overload, aka “noisy news,” has long been a thing. In fact, before the Internet came along, I used to publish a hardcopy newsletter called “Rising Above the Noise.” Because even then, investors seemed awash in TMI (too much information). If media noise was a problem back then, imagine the implications today. Which brings me to today’s Play It Again, Steve – Timeless Financial Tip #2. To be a successful investor, it’s as important as ever to dial down all the noisy news you invite into your head.

2023 New Year Insights from an Independent Financial Advisor

Post published:January 18, 2023

After years of focused financial planning, 2022 (and the previous few years) may feel like it’s upended your financial future. Although 2022 gave us unwelcome results, weathering these market storms does take some dedicated resolve to stay on course to meet your long-term financial goals. So, with this new year upon us, let’s round up some of the best blogs from 2022 to help support your 2023 financial planning decisions.

Opportunity Cost Impact of Your Daily Financial Decisions on Your Retirement Plans

Post published:September 26, 2022

As my husband and I approached our late 40s/early 50s, we decided it was time to solidify our previous hastily sketched plans for early retirement. We had worked hard for many years and skimped in places and were confident that we had done everything right to retire early and live our best early retirement lives. However, when we sat down with the numbers, we realized our dreams of an early retirement with travel and adventure were farther from reach than we thought. We both had well paying careers and didn’t feel that we had splurged so much that we should be this far behind. What happened? And, more importantly… How do we get back on track? Once panic-mode subsided, we sat down with some spreadsheets to see what had gone awry and figure out how (and if?) we could still retire early and be able to comfortably afford the things we wanted from retirement. Here’s what we did to right the (sinking?) ship...

Mid-Year Observations – 2022: The Impact of World Events on Investments

Post published:August 15, 2022

There is no denying that this year – 2022 – has been a roller coaster for investors. With the geopolitical climate impacting markets, interest rates rising, unexpected high inflation and a possible recession looming… there is a lot to navigate. It’s mid-2022 and a perfect time to revisit what’s happened so far and how best to cope with the intimidating financial markets. Let’s start with the big action items that have impacted the markets in 2022…

Time to Go on a Financial Media Diet

Post published:July 21, 2022

Stock and bond markets plummeting in tandem, the war in the Ukraine, rises in interest rates, threats of a looming recession … You’re probably already well aware of the volume of news wearing us down. As I wrote to my clients, “the financial press has gone on a feeding frenzy in response, serving up heaping helpings of negativity upon negativity.” On many fronts, times are indeed disheartening, and we’re as worn out as you are by the weight of the world. That said, there are already way too many outlets cramming worst-case scenarios down our throats and crushing investment resolve. To offset a bitter pill overdose, following are a few more nutritious news sources to reinforce why we remain confident that capital markets will continue to prevail over time, and that long-term investors should just stick to their plan.

Six Ways a Recession Resembles a Bad Mood

Post published:June 20, 2022

There’s been a lot of talk about recessions lately: Whether one is near, far, or perhaps already here. Whether we can or should try to avoid it. What it even means to be in a recession, and how it’s related to current market turmoil. To put market and recessionary concerns in perspective, it might help to describe six ways a recession resembles a bad mood. There are some intriguing similarities!