Sean A. Straughan

The average respondent also indicated that his or her retirement goals can be reached only if their investments gain in value by 9.3 per cent on average each year – over and above inflation. “They must lower their expectations, or they are going to have to assume more risk. There is no free lunch,”  read […]

social concerns have become more mainstream. Investing ethically isn’t a fringe strategy. Environmental and social issues are risks that all companies must address, many say.  Read more..

Retirees with a financial advisor are happier than those managing their finances alone, finds a Fidelity Retirement survey.  Read more..

We sit in the office of a financial planner or investment adviser, barely following along, particularly when the topic is such arcana as trailing commissions and MERs (management expense ratios). Yet this is exactly the stuff we need to understand most. Read More…

Just because a person missed out on the contribution for this year doesn’t mean that that contribution room has gone read more

For most, hitting your 50s is a period marked by expanding waistlines, mounting aches and pains and the first genuine bouts of nostalgia. It is also the time to get serious about establishing a retirement nest egg. Unfortunately, not everyone makes the necessary adjustments to their investing strategy at this milestone      Read more…..

Would you eat at a restaurant where the chefs didn’t eat their own cooking? Would you have joined the Hair Club if the president weren’t also a client? Then why would you invest in a mutual fund where the managers don’t put their own money alongside yours? That’s what a growing number of managers are

While RESPs have been around for many years, and really took off in 1998 with the introduction of the matching 20% Canada Education Savings Grants (CESGs), my experience is that parents are not using them in the most strategic or optimal manner possible.

Two investors in the same mutual fund can receive drastically different value even though they are paying exactly the same fees. One client will get incredible service and comprehensive financial planning. The other will get a confirmation of their purchase and little more. Industry participants are well aware of this discrepancy in how clients are