This winter we witnessed coping with foggy economic conditions in various parts of the world, from China to the Middle East, Ukraine, and North America. Not to say things were dire per se, but we waited for economic clarity on…
Category: Tax
Commentary April 2024 – Getting through Indigestion
Posted in Financial Planning, Investment, Risk Management, Tax, Uncategorized Tagged with: bonds, canadian dollar, equities, exchange rate, investment
Commentary January 2024 – A Tale of Two Sectors
The Autumn season in the markets was punctuated by concerns over the Israeli-Hamas fighting and its geopolitical impacts, watching with bated breath about how consumers would digest the insidious impact of interest rates, and in China a property market decline…
Posted in Investment, Risk Management, Tax, Uncategorized Tagged with: bonds, canadian dollar, equities, exchange rate
Commentary October 2023 – Ready for a Turn
This summer into fall, markets have been fixated on the economic “soft landing” narrative and the notion of rates being higher for longer. It is true that circumstances have made it tougher than in past cycles to slow down the…
Posted in Financial Planning, Investment, Risk Management, Tax, Uncategorized Tagged with: bonds, canadian dollar, currencies, equities, exchange rate
Commentary April 2022 – Inflation Goes Into Overdrive
As the developed world navigated past the Omicron virus wave, various factors lengthened and/or accelerated the inflation we once hoped would be transitory. On the economic demand-growth side, various economies saw increased consumer activity, especially in leisure spending. On the…
Posted in Financial Planning, Investment, Risk Management, Tax, Uncategorized Tagged with: bonds, canadian dollar, covid19, currencies, equities, exchange rate, pandemic
Commentary January 2022 – Digesting Omicron and Persistent Inflation Impact
Commentary January 2022 – Digesting Omicron and Persistent Inflation Impact There were many winds washing through the markets in the months leading up to the New Year. Hence it was a tumultuous time. To name a few: The Delta variant…
Posted in Financial Planning, Investment, Risk Management, Tax, Uncategorized Tagged with: bonds, canadian dollar, covid19, embridge, equities, exchange rate, fairfax financial, pandemic, preferred shares
Commentary July 2021 – Assessing Economic Progress
With the gradual reopening of businesses post-Covid, we are seeing glimmers of hope regarding the economic recovery. Still, the pandemic created chaos that continues to settle out bit by bit. There were changed buying habits, pent up demand, supply chain…
Posted in Financial Planning, Investment, Risk Management, Tax, Uncategorized Tagged with: bonds, canadian dollar, covid19, enbridge, equities, exchange rate, fairfax financial, pandemic, preferred shares
Is 4% an Unsustainable Withdrawal Rate
Historically, 4% was thought to be the withdrawal rate the average portfolio could withstand on a long term basis without eating into capital. Recent research indicates that in today’s lower investment return environment, maybe that’s no longer sustainable. We all…