Are you concerned with reaching your retirement goals? Tired of seeing your hard-earned dollars grow and then seemingly disappear, (especially in these unprecedented times?) Are you looking for the security of knowing that money will be there when you need it, without sacrificing growth and returns out pacing inflation? Did you know that there are funds available that will lock in the market gains in the good times and ensure that your money is there for you, how and when you think you need it? In today’s turbulent market where values can drop more than 10% in a single week, are you looking for the peace of mind knowing that your portfolio will be safe when you need it?
Typically, there are two goals to investing; 1) to turn into income at a future date (to fund a child’s education or our own retirement) or 2) to create a legacy for future generations. When we can predict the future, such as the date that our children will start college or university or when we can reasonably expect to retire, (age 65 or later), we can assign maturity dates and guarantees to coincide with these predictable events. The maturity guarantees ensure that a significant portion, or all, of the money invested will be available on that date no matter if we are in an up or downturn in the market cycle. Depending on the length of time until the maturity date, we can also automatically lock in the increased value in the early years, thereby guaranteeing a positive return on your investment.
For instance, take John, a 40-year old with $100 000 to invest for retirement at age 65. John invests going into a bull market and in the first 15 years his investments climb to a maximum market value of $140 000. Each and every month the increased market value is automatically locked in, but at age 65, just before John plans to retire, the value of his portfolio is well below this number, say $75 000. (Given what happened during the financial crisis in 2008 and the pandemic of 2020, this is not extraordinary). On the maturity date John’s portfolio, despite the market value of $75 000, is automatically topped up to its market high value of $140 000. John would have the peace of mind knowing that he has 86% more money at the start of his retirement than without the guarantee.
In addition to the peace of mind, having a maturity guarantee in place allows John to keep more of his portfolio exposed to the equity market as he near retirement. By not defensively changing his asset mix to more fixed income assets, John can safely participate more fully in bull markets.
In addition, should john be concerned that market fluctuations may result in his savings running out in retirement, John can guarantee his income stream. Unlike a guaranteed income from annuity where you are giving up all access to the principal, or income from GIC’s that result in a negative real return, John can set up his retirement income a be assured exactly what his retirement paycheck will be throughout his retirement no matter what the market does.
If you would like more information, or to chat about whether or not maturity guarantees are right for you, you can set up a complimentary, 30-minute phone consultation at calendly.com/mjhfinancial OR email me at michael@mjhfinancial.ca.
After all, wouldn’t it be nice having the peace of mind knowing that your hard-earned savings will be there for you when you need it?