There are very passionate views on both sides of the debate as to whether it is better for individual investors to use active investment managers versus using an index approach, with its main selling feature being lower fees.
Let us discuss a scenario that faces a high number of retirees and soon-to-be-retirees all over the country. You have spent years saving for your retirement and you have made smart decisions about using the power of RRSPs to accumulate a significant nest egg.
But now you’re unsure about how best to get income from your investment portfolio as your retirement day comes ever closer. In terms of your RRSP investments, as a decision must be made before the last day of the year during which the account holder turns 71.
The media in general has a tendency to take an idea or story and run with it until the original context or point is lost in a wave of misinformation, taking a form of its own. At that point, the idea can become very dangerous to you as an individual working to build your own financial wealth and assets.
While we have covered the role of your behavior in contributing to your investment success in past articles, let us explore this idea that selling all of your investments as a tactic, in more depth.
Imagine one of the following scenarios. Suppose you have suddenly come into a significant sum of money. For the interest of this example, we will imagine that it is one million dollars. This might have come to you by way of a lottery win, an estate inherited after the death of a family member, or some other event that may have been either expected or unexpected. You now find yourself in an entirely unique financial situation from anything you have experienced before, whereas previously you were living paycheck to paycheck, you could now actually consider early retirement.
In an historic development, U.K. citizens voted in favour of their country leaving the European Union (EU) by a slim margin of 52% to 48%. The news triggered a dramatic reaction on global financial markets on June 24, with share prices declining sharply and prices for bonds and gold increasing. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was up against most currencies, while the euro and British pound dropped. Many professional investment managers took advantage of the sharp declines to buy quality companies at attractive prices. Just a few days later, the markets had fully rebounded.
Imagine the following scenario for a moment. You and your partner have opened a business, and are feeling extremely confident about your current success. Your primary competition across the street cannot keep up after one of their co-owners passes away, eventually closing down. Their entire customer base eventually comes your way, and business has never been better. This might be a positive scenario strictly as far as your business is concerned, but a wise businessman or woman should be thinking one thing at a time like this—what if our positions were reversed?
