Two of my favourite writers teamed up for a new book called Invest Your Way To Financial Freedom. A Wealth of Common Sense blogger Ben Carlson and The Evidence-Based Investor Robin Powell offer a simple guide that explains how to set yourself up for financial success.

The chapters are short and engaging, written like a series of excellent blog posts on how to save and invest your money. I finished the 170 odd pages in a weekend.

The book is aimed at Generation Z – those born in the mid-to-late 1990s and onward. Carlson and Powell begin with a sober reality: defined benefit pension plans disappearing and being replaced with less generous defined contribution plans; asset prices for housing and stocks have boomed since the Great Financial Crisis; and salaries are falling in real terms.

With the bad news out of the way, Invest Your Way To Financial Freedom lays out a blue-print for young investors to still get ahead today. That starts with developing good habits and focusing on what you can control – like your savings rate rather than the rate of return on your investments. 

I’ve read a lot of personal finance books that all say some version of the same thing. That’s why I can appreciate when the authors share new or interesting nuggets of wisdom throughout the book. Here are a few of my favourites:

Simple vs. Complex

“It’s human nature to think there must be a clever way to outperform other traders and investors systematically, if only we could discover what it is. But investors would be much better off looking for simplicity”

• It’s easier to be fooled by randomness and complexity
• Complexity is about tactics; simplicity is about systems
• Simple is harder
• Complexity can lead to unanticipated consequences
• Complexity can give you an illusion of control
• Complex problems don’t require complex solutions
• Simple is easier to understand

Stock Picking

One of the secrets to successful investing is that stock-picking isn’t nearly as important as people in the financial media would have you believe. Here’s a shortlist of things that are more important:

• Your savings rate
• Your asset allocation
• Your investment plan

“Instead of looking for needles in a haystack, just buy the whole haystack.”

Investor’s Lifecycle

Your risk profile as an investor is determined by some combination of your ability, willingness and need to take risk. These three forces are rarely in a state of equilibrium so there will always have to be some trade-offs:

1. Your ability to take risk
2. Your willingness to take risk
3. Your need to take risk

“There’s an old saying that the stock market is the only business where the product goes on sale and all of the customers run out of the store.”

Working with an Advisor

The right advisor is well worth paying for. But a poor advisor can do more harm than good. Do your research carefully and ask the right questions. Here are some examples:

• Do you have an evidence-based investment philosophy?
• Do you understand the value of behavioural coaching?
• Do you offer cashflow modelling so I can see for myself that I can afford the lifestyle I want?
• Do you provide proper, holistic financial planning, or just advice on investments?

“The priority for young investors is simply to get started. You also need to develop good habits, to control your spending and to invest what you can every month in a low-cost index fund. You don’t really need an advisor for any of those things.”

When the authors discuss how much you should save, they say, “10% is a nice goal, while 15% to 20% would be even better.” This is my only quibble with an otherwise excellent book. While I agree that saving more is better, the book is aimed at Generation Z who are likely to be struggling with many competing financial priorities such as housing, childcare, and student loans.

It would have been nice to acknowledge this struggle, that saving for retirement to the detriment of having a life in your 20s and 30s is not exactly going to build a healthy relationship with money.

Invest Your Way to Financial Freedom is a terrific book for young investors to help them get started on their financial journey by building the right habits early and avoiding dangerous pitfalls. Canadians can pick up an e-Book version from Harriman House, or from Amazon.com.

This Week’s Recap:

Mike Drak posted the second part of his three part series on retirement lifestyle design. This one was about embracing your ikigai.

In case you missed it, here’s part one on how it starts with purpose.

From the archives: Investing in retirement – how much should you keep in stocks?

Promo of the Week:

I’ve booked flights to Italy and to London next year in hopes to recreate our cancelled trips from 2020. The flights are dirt cheap, thanks to using Aeroplan miles. I’ve built up a bank of travel miles over the past few years and decided to splurge on business class tickets on the way to Italy and also on the way home from London. 

This wouldn’t be possible without taking advantage of the generous welcome bonuses from American Express cards. The Amex Platinum and Amex Aeroplan Reserve cards may be off your radar due to their high annual fees, but the points and perks available in the first year are undeniably good. 

Right now the American Express Platinum Card is offering a welcome bonus of 80,000 Membership Rewards points when you charge $6,000 in purchases to your card within the first three months. 

With this card you’ll get:

• A $200 annual travel credit 
• 3 points per dollar spent on dining
• 2 points per dollar spent on travel
• Transfer points 1:1 to several frequent flyer and loyalty programs, including Aeroplan)
• Free airport lounge access
• A $100 NEXUS card statement credit
• Gold status at Hilton, Marriott, and Radisson hotels

I value Aeroplan miles at an average of 2 cents per mile, so if you earn approximately 90,000 Membership Rewards (bonus points plus the earn rate on minimum spend) and then transfer them to Aeroplan that could be worth $1,800 in flight rewards. Add in the $200 annual travel credit and you’ve got $2,000 in travel rewards.

Alternatively, you can try my new favourite card – the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card. With this card you can earn up to 90,000 Aeroplan miles plus a Buddy Pass for an eligible round-trip flight within North America.

Here’s how it works:

Earn 30,000 Aeroplan miles and a bonus Buddy Pass after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

Plus, earn 5,000 Aeroplan miles for each monthly billing period in which you spend $1,000 in purchases on your Card for the first twelve months. That could add up to 60,000 Aeroplan miles.

American Express says this is worth up to $2,900 or more in value within your first year! 

Weekend Reading:

Our friends at Credit Card Genius have the latest on the huge changes coming to the Air Miles program over the next few months.

Although RRSP withdrawals can be deferred no later than age 72, it may be necessary or advisable to make withdrawals before then.

In praise of what can’t be measured. Christine Benz on why there’s more to investing than just risk and return.

Here’s Robin Powell explaining why financial planning helps you roll with the punches.

With rates so low today, investors can no longer rely solely on fixed income to generate a portfolio with good returns. Nick Maggiulli asks if we’re craving risk or losing reward?

Ben Carlson says that while investing is a wonderful thing it can also become an unhealthy obsession if you view every financial decision through that lens.

Ben Felix’s latest Common Sense Investing video looks at climate risk and whether it makes sense to hedge against worsening climate outcomes by holding “green” firms or “brown” firms:

Eugene Fama, the father of modern finance, explains the theory behind index funds in five words.

Wealthsimple now has 1.5 million clients. Here’s how they grew by 200% in the pandemic.

The Blunt Bean Counter takes a look at the implications of receiving an inheritance:

“Inheritances typically come on the heels of emotional distress and in many cases, significant changes in your financial situation. The good news is that in almost all circumstances the cash or capital property inherited is tax-paid money and you have no additional tax concerns.”

Erica Alini at Global News shares why the pandemic is prompting more women to be their own boss.

On the flip side of legit entrepreneurship we have the predatory MLM business model that is also thriving during these tough times. 

Bill Thompson explains how he became a best-selling novelist during the second act of his career.

Finally, when do you no longer need life insurance? Mark Walhout answers this question in a 13 minute podcast episode.

Enjoy your holiday Monday, everyone!

In our first article we discussed the importance of finding a good sense of purpose and how many retirees are finding it through paid or volunteer work.  

I’m a big fan of working part time as there is mounting evidence that working at something helps people live a longer, healthier and happier life. I’ve read many studies done on centenarians, revealing that an astonishingly high percentage of them worked for money or volunteered in some fashion until late in life.

During the pandemic I’ve started browsing the obituaries and was attracted to reading the stories about people who managed to live a long life. What I discovered is that most of them who worked didn’t do it for the money. They did it because it gave them a sense of purpose. As highlighted in the first article, we shared how important it is to have a strong sense of purpose in our lives.

If that doesn’t convince you that working is good for you here are some other benefits of working in retirement:

• It keeps you young
• It keeps you mentally sharp by forcing you to solve problems and learn new things
• It gets you off the couch and out of the house, keeping you physically fit
• It gives you an opportunity to socialize which is a key contributor to happiness and longevity
• It gives you a good reason to get out of bed in the morning and it lessens the risk of you running out of money in retirement

The big difference is that before retirement we did work that we had to do, but now we are doing work that we want to do. That makes a huge difference. 

Using “Ikigai” To Find The Right Work For You

Below is the simple diagram I use with my coaching clients to find suitable paid or volunteer work and it’s the process I went through to find my own calling.

You need to find somewhere quiet where you can focus and go deep within yourself and answer the following four questions.

What you will learn from going through the process, like I happily discovered, is that you already know the answers to these questions. The diagram just helps pull them out of you.

1) What do you love to do? 

What gives you energy? What makes you come alive and lights you up? What makes you feel good? What do you have passion for? What puts you in a state of flow?

Flow, for those of you who don’t know, is a state of intense absorption in which we forget our surroundings and ourselves. It’s a powerful source of well-being. 

Taking care of your garden can put you in a state of flow, so can solving a problem, creating a piece of art, or playing a sport. 

I’m in flow when, I fish, write, or give presentations.

2) What are you good at? What are your superpowers?

What skills, talents, and abilities do you have? What things come easily to you? What are you really good at, better than most people?

3) What do people like you need?

What problems do people like you have that you can help solve? How will it help improve/change their life? What are people struggling with? How can you help them?

What hard-won wisdom have you gained from your own struggles or life experiences that you can use to help others with their own?

4) What kind of work could you do and be paid for?

What value can you create that others would be willing to pay for?

The first time I used the diagram it led me to considering taking a job at Bass Pro Shop working in the fishing department. My answers to the four questions were as follows.

1. What do you love to do? I love fishing. It’s my Zen moment and puts me in a state of flow. I go on a number of fishing adventures each year and I dream about my next fishing trip all the time.
2. What are you good at? I’m very knowledgeable about fishing having read countless books on the subject and I can’t tell you how many fishing shows I’ve watched over the years. Let’s just say it’s something I’m really good at.
3. What problems do people have that I can help solve? Because of my vast fishing knowledge and experience I felt confident that I could help shoppers find what they needed when they visited the store. 
4. What kind of work could you do and be paid for? Because of my passion for the sport plus the fact that I love talking to people about fishing, I knew I would be a top salesperson in the fishing department. It was pretty much a no-brainer.

In the end though, I decided against the job. I didn’t want to work for someone else again, nor did I want to be told what hours I had to work. I was tired of working like that. I knew I could come up with something better so I used the diagram again and this is what I came up with.

1. What do you love to do? After leaving my banking job I learned that I love to write and give presentations. These are new skills that I developed and what I discovered is that both writing and presenting put me in a state of flow. I also love helping and educating people and when I get a chance to do that it makes me feel real good inside.
2. What are you good at? Because of my personal experience, the research I’ve done and the books I’ve written, I have become an expert of retirement transition.
3. What problems do people have that I can help solve? I knew a lot of people would struggle with the transition to retirement and many would fail at it.
4. What kind of work could you do and be paid for? I knew people would buy my books and pay me to coach them so they wouldn’t end up in retirement hell like I did.

If you give this process the time and focus required, at some point your answers to these four questions will line up. The epiphany you may experience is like getting hit by lightning. You will finally achieve clarity and know what you need to do to enjoy a great life.

Doing the work you’re meant to do is one of the most satisfying, remarkable experiences that a retiree can have, and it leads to a retirement fully lived.

Using Ikigai to find suitable volunteer work

Now let’s use the Ikigai diagram to find suitable volunteer work, if that is what you are after. We do that by simply taking the money part out of the equation. 

Before we start one word of warning; it’s important to pick the right kind of volunteer work to do. The work you choose needs to be engaging and you want to be able to see and feel the good you are producing. 

A story about Wayne and how using Ikigai changed his life for the better

Wayne works up in cottage country. He is the guy you call when you need to have a new septic tank installed or have a well dug. By using the ikigai diagram he realized he could use his skills to help villagers in Africa.    

Each winter he travels with some of his church group to Africa and using his expertise to drill water wells, providing access to a basic human necessity. He loves the volunteer work that he does. He told me that the trips have changed him and he now has a greater appreciation for life.

The lesson here is to not undervalue the skills you have acquired. Think about the problems you can solve and the needs you can satisfy.

Reach out to your friends and professional contacts for help and guidance

Many times, others can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation. You’re just too close to your own situation to judge effectively. Just make sure they give you the straight goods and not sugar coat things to protect your feelings. If they know you well, they will know what your capabilities are and what you would be good at. It’s hard to make yourself vulnerable and ask, but believe me, the guidance they can give is priceless.

You may also want to look into spending some money on a retirement coach to help you figure this thing out because what you choose to do is going to impact the quality of the next 30+ years of your life. I always say the best investment you will ever make is in yourself.

Find yourself some good role models

Learn from others who have done what you want to do. Learn and copy how they did it and you will save yourself a lot of time and speed up your progress.

Don’t be shy about reaching out to them for advice, direction, and encouragement. You will find out, like I did, that many role models are happy to lend a helping hand. And don’t be surprised if some turn into mentors for you.

Ageism and being afraid

A lot of people in their fifties and sixties think employers won’t hire them due to their age and they are right. Age discrimination is a fact of life in this country.

Just remember your chosen role models were once afraid too. They had their own doubts about whether what they were attempting would work or not. They were afraid, but they were excited as well and look what they were able to accomplish. They did it and so can you.

It’s a big mistake to allow a fear of being rejected, of not being good enough, to hold us back. There are a lot of stories about people like us, who have succeeded at what we are trying to do.

Don’t use ageism as an excuse before you even start. I’ve hired a lot of older people in my day, and the reason I did was that they had a proven track record of being able to do the job.

What I know for sure is that age does not determine how well someone can do a job. In fact, many times age helps. By using the ikigai diagram you will be playing to your strengths and fuelled by your passion for the work you do. An employer would be making a big mistake not hiring you.

Best Way To Fight Age Discrimination – Create Your Own Work

Today, boomers are not starting businesses in retirement just because they need the income. A 2015 Gallop Poll showed that 8 out of 10 boomer entrepreneurs started businesses for lifestyle reasons rather than financial ones.

For boomer women, the top reason for going into business for themselves was the desire to pursue their passion, while boomer men were happy to finally be their own boss and to not have to take orders from someone else.

The good news is that things are working out for these new business owners. The average boomer business owner ranks their happiness at 8 on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the happiest imaginable.

And remember what I shared – happy retirees live longer than unhappy retirees.

Be sure to come back and read my next and final article where I introduce you to the retirement lifestyle design process. We will take your chosen sources of purpose that you have identified and then build a lifestyle around that using the nine retirement principles as the foundation.  

Mike Drak is an author, public speaker and recognized authority on the non-financial aspects of retirement. After having spent 38-years in the financial services industry, Mike retired and personally faced what he called “retirement shock”. During this time, Mike found himself on a journey of self discovery and authored two best selling books on retirement; Victory Lap Retirement and Retirement Heaven or Hell: Which Will You Choose?. Mike is a Senior Contributor at Booming Encore and dedicates his time to helping other retirees design a fulfilling, meaningful retirement lifestyle for themselves.

It’s generally a good idea to max out the available contribution room inside your RRSP and TFSA first before moving on to other investment opportunities. Those “other” opportunities may include accelerating your mortgage payments if you own a home, or buying a rental property, or opening a non-registered (taxable) investment account.

It’s a topic I get asked about frequently, so I thought I’d share my answer below. This question comes from a reader named Allen, who focuses more specifically on opening a non-registered account to invest. Take it away, Allen:

“Good day Mr. Engen,

I’m a regular reader of your weekly newsletter and have noticed that you use VEQT across your TFSA and RRSP accounts. I’m wondering what to do when those two accounts are maxed out. I rent, have no kids and no debt. So I see nothing to do with my money besides investing it.

Is it worth it to open a taxable account and start investing my ‘extra’ money, or is there something more valuable to do with those savings?

Also, if I go the taxable account route do I have to pay tax every single year the money is invested, and added — presuming the returns are positive — or is it only when I sell the securities inside the taxable account?”

Hi Allen, congrats on maxing out your RRSP and TFSA! Besides encouraging you to spend a bit more, I think it does make sense for you to open a non-registered investment account.

It’s all about creating a priority sequence for your savings. Priority one might be to max out your RRSP for the year, priority two is to max out your TFSA, and then if you don’t have a priority three (this could be extra mortgage payments if you had a mortgage, or money for travel, or furniture, or a new car, something more short-term in nature) then investing in a non-registered account makes logical sense.

Investing in a non-registered (taxable) account does typically create some taxable income for you. If you invest in ETFs then you’d likely receive quarterly distributions of dividends and/or interest.

For example, VGRO pays quarterly distributions of about 15 cents per unit. Here’s what that looked like in 2020:

This income is taxable to you. Using a quick example, if you had 1,000 units of VGRO then you’d receive about 60 cents per unit from the distributions each year. That’s $600 will be made up of eligible dividends, capital gains, interest, foreign income, and return of capital. You’ll receive a T3 slip from your financial institution at tax time breaking this down for you.

VEQT pays an annual distribution rather than paying it quarterly. Same idea applies, although since it doesn’t hold bonds the income would all come from Canadian and foreign dividends, plus some return of capital.

Finally, there are some ETFs that don’t pay any distributions. These are called “swap-based” or synthetic ETFs.

Horizons is famous for these and they have an all-in-one ETF called HGRO that uses this structure. Basically they don’t hold the underlying stocks directly but they use a counter-party (BMO, National Bank) to hold the securities and receive the dividends directly. The counter-party then “swaps” the total return over to Horizons.

The premise is that investing in HGRO won’t attract any annual investment income – it’s all deferred capital gains until you sell the ETF. This could be attractive if you’re in a high tax bracket now versus when you plan to sell.

But there are risks associated with these types of swap-based ETFs, including regulatory (the federal government could disallow this structure in the future). Horizons’ all-in-one ETFs are also not as diversified as traditional asset allocation ETFs from Vanguard, iShares, and BMO.

Allen, I invest in a non-registered account, it’s just inside my corporation rather than on my personal side. I hold VEQT in that account, just like I do in my registered accounts. It’s perfectly sensible to hold the same investment across all account types.

Finally, an off-the-beaten path answer to your initial question is to consider the Coast FIRE approach to savings.

I spent several years catching up on unused RRSP and TFSA room so my savings rate was abnormally high throughout my late 30s and into my 40s.

Now that I’ve maxed out my RRSP and TFSA, and got a good start on my corporate investing account, my plan is to dial down my savings rate in the future so I can work less and/or spend more on travel.

Life’s not about accumulating the biggest pile of money. We need to identify a purpose for our money so we can design the type of lifestyle that we truly desire.

This Week’s Recap:

This week we kicked-off the first of a three-part retirement series by author Mike Drak – this one on designing your ideal retirement lifestyle.

Over on Young & Thrifty I wrote about the best all-in-one ETFs in Canada.

I also reviewed the CIBC Investor’s Edge platform.

Promo of the Week:

American Express is going all out again with sign-up bonuses and perks that rival their best offers ever from this summer.

The American Express Platinum Card is offering a welcome bonus of 80,000 Membership Rewards points when you charge $6,000 in purchases to your card within the first three months. 

Here’s why you might want to pay a $699 fee to hold the Amex Platinum Card:

• Get a $200 annual travel credit 
• Earn 3 points per dollar spent on dining
• Earn 2 points per dollar spent on travel
• Transfer points 1:1 to several frequent flyer and loyalty programs, including Aeroplan)

Not only that, you’ll get free airport lounge access, a $100 NEXUS card statement credit, plus gold status at Hilton, Marriott, and Radisson hotels.

Alternatively, you can try my new favourite – the American Express Aeroplan Reserve Card. With this card you can earn up to 90,000 Aeroplan miles plus a Buddy Pass for an eligible round-trip flight within North America.

Here’s how it works:

Earn 30,000 Aeroplan points and a bonus Buddy Pass after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months.

Plus, earn 5,000 Aeroplan points for each monthly billing period in which you spend $1,000 in purchases on your Card for the first twelve months. That could add up to 60,000 Aeroplan points.

American Express says this is worth up to $2,900 or more in value within your first year! All of this for an annual fee of $599.

Weekend Reading:

Our friends at Credit Card Genius launched Genius Cash earlier this year and are giving away $10,000 cash or a Tesla Model 3.

A Wealth of Common Sense blogger Ben Carlson addresses the buy now, pay later phenomenon.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad author and noted investing seminar scammer Robert Kiyosaki predicted a giant market crash in October. This lines up with at least eight other “predictions” he made over the past 10 years. The problem is that even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Professor Moshe Milevsky explains why the 4% rule is too simplistic for modern retirement planning:

“There’s something odd about a rule that’s one-dimensional, Mr. Milevsky said. Four per cent regardless of tomorrow? I think decumulation plans must be multidimensional.”

Here’s Millionaire Teacher Andrew Hallam on how to beat the investment returns of almost everyone you know.

The Evidence Based Investor explains why the outcome of your investment decisions should be based more on evidence than on speculation, superstition or guesswork.

Gen Y Money breaks down the locked in retirement account and decodes the LIRA vs. RRSP rules.

Why retirees should start planning now to age in place if they want to avoid living in a seniors’ home.

Michael James on Money reviews The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton. 

Finally, just a terrific interview in The New Yorker with Rick Steves about holding onto your travel dreams.

“For me, Europe is the wading pool for world exploration. My favorite countries may be elsewhere. I like Indonesia and India and Japan and Central America just as much when it comes to travel, but I’ve got a calling in life. And that is to inspire Americans to venture beyond Orlando. The practical goal is to get people who have been to Disney World four or five times to try Portugal. It won’t bite you.”

Who isn’t dreaming of a trip to Europe after reading that?

Have a great weekend, everyone!