The financial situation of 2008-09 was the kind of disaster that instilled in a lot of people serious jitters, whether they were lifelong investors or simply beginners. Many still have deep fears of the market crashing. But there are far more concrete things to worry about financially.

Inflation

“There are a number of people I meet who are 50 and 60 that think that what they need to be most terrified of is the stock market crashing, but no, the biggest risk you face to retirement is your debit card,” says portfolio manager Darren Coleman, senior vice president of private client services at Raymond James in Toronto. “Your greatest challenge to retirement is the fact that everything will cost more next year. Milk will cost twice as much 15 years from now, so what are you doing about that? Everything will be more expensive, and that’s relentless.  Read More…

10 Comments

  1. There are always going to be worries even if you max out your RRSP, have a rainy day bank account that is in a liquid GIC and no mortgage (home is fully paid). One can only reduce the worries never eliminate them.

    Have i begun teaching my kids the value of financial responsibility? Absolutely. Sure i can’t keep them safe 100% but i can sure make them aware of the problems to come since it is always the same no matter the generation.

  2. Here’s an idea: invest into real estate, especially on the west coast and almost guarantee you will never have issues again 🙂

  3. I get the sense after reading this article that most of the 5 could be grouped together since they are similar and not quite distinct enough 🙂

    In ways most are just common sense worries.

  4. Honestly, i never knew much about inflation until i read this. So to be clear over the years everything cost more which is obvious but i thought this was more from corporate greed. So then what this is saying then is it is bad to leave most of your money in the bank because each year it is worth less than the previous year?

    Do i have that right?

  5. I have to respectfully disagree @fairydairy. Banks historically have never paid much in interest. Sure there was that time back in 2007 where it was common for online banks and credit unions paying 4% but that is rare.

    Over time GICs outperform savings accounts.

  6. If people just saved $100/month while young from work pay they’d be in good shape. Because of easy access to credit cards that makes things difficult. People want to enjoy their lives now and think they are invicible.

  7. GICs (equivalent to the US’s CDs) hasn’t had great returns in years and so arguably there are better returns in savings accounts (at least at credit unions). So if one doesn’t want to go into the markets then probably sticking with bank accounts is better.

  8. Most people just don’t save for retirement here in Canada. That is the real danger. I can’t recall that thing we all pay into in each of our paycheques that CRA takes out that serves as a small amount of money we get when we retire but that is a good idea.

  9. Nana, my issue with doing such a thing is trying to figure out the best winning combination for such a portfolio. Everyone has their picks. Which to go with?

  10. Infation is indeed the biggest problem because most of us don’t fully see it. It comes gradually over the years. The best known way to coutner inflation is the stock market. Just invest in a diversified portfolio and you should be able to weather things nicely.

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