by Sandi Martin | Jun 26, 2013 | Banning Embedded Commissions in Mutual Funds, Blog, Fee Only Financial Planning, Fiduciary Standard
The point: I stand to benefit if embedded commissions in mutual funds are banned, and if a fiduciary standard for advisors is enacted. I don’t think it invalidates my argument, but – unlike some of the voices clamouring against the increased safety for...
by Sandi Martin | Jun 24, 2013 | Blog, Budgets, Retirement, Series: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan
The point: planning for your retirement isn’t just about your investments, although you can be forgiven for thinking it is. It involves exactly the same activities as planning for tomorrow, next week, and next month: active budgeting, debt elimination, robust...
by Sandi Martin | Jun 20, 2013 | Blog, Retirement, Retirement Calculators, Series: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan
The point: retirement calculators are only as good as the information you put in them and the underlying assumptions of the calculator itself, and are useful only to model the future, not predict it. The lure of the retirement calculator is that it will tell you your...
by Sandi Martin | Jun 11, 2013 | Blog, Budgets, Canadian Housing Crash, Debt Management, Inside the Bank
The point: there are two things you can do if there’s going to be a housing market crash, and worrying isn’t one of them. You’re here, so I’m going to take a long shot and guess that you read about money online, unless you’re here for the...
by Sandi Martin | Jun 5, 2013 | Blog, Retirement, Series: Avoiding the Useless Retirement Plan
The point: Retirement planning using general assumptions about your future income is just retirement guessing. And – surprise – it’s useless. Seriously? Three posts into a retirement series and we haven’t even answered the question “how...
