So much of the investment industry is focused on the “how” - how to get enhanced returns, how to build a portfolio, how to save tax, or how to capture the “next big thing”. Very few companies emphasize the “Why” but given the increased commoditization of investment products and the pressure on many advisors to sell proprietary funds, it’s never been so important for individual investors to find their “Why”.
Intergenerational wealth, on our TV screens at least, conjures images of Succession’s Logan Roy dismissing one of his weasel kids with a sneer and expletive. In the real world, there is a monumental wealth shift happening, with US$30 trillion expected to be passed over to 90 million millennials in the next decade alone.
Canada’s benchmark interest rate hit an all-time high of 16% in 1991 – and here investors are in 2022, freaking out over projections it’ll touch 1% by June. But there’s a reason for the current unease. Despite rate increases being forecast the minute governments and central banks opened the floodgates on trillions of dollars of stimulus, things have now “got real”.
Between the pandemic, inflation, and geopolitical tensions, market uncertainty reigns right now. You might have heard some disturbing words, like shares “plunging”, prices “soaring”, and investment “volatility”. Many people, therefore, are asking themselves: should I take money out of the market and get back in when skies are clearer?
As Canadians locked their doors to avoid the freezing temperatures this winter, many settled back and watched the action unfold in China. But, at times, it was difficult to tell the bigger story. Was it which athletes made the podium, how many times Xi Jinping cozied up to Vladimir Putin, or was it the growing number of reports explaining the slowing Chinese economy?
It’s that time of year again. The Christmas tree has come down, you’ve dived into your new year’s resolutions, and … now it’s RRSP time.
