The 2025 investment return for my overall portfolio measured in Canadian dollars was 13.7%, which is below my 2025 benchmark return of 16.0%.  There are two main reasons for this difference.  The first is that we made a large financial gift, and the timing of our stock sale to raise cash for this gift was unlucky.   The second reason is my decision a few years ago to shift gradually away from stocks when stock prices are high as measured by the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings ratio (CAPE) of world stocks.  This shift is tied to my rebalancing plan that is automated in a spreadsheet.  My benchmark doesn’t do any automated shifting away from expensive stocks. This year, stock prices were high but they gave good returns anyway, and my slightly lower than usual allocation to stocks cost me money.  This has happened two years in a row now.  But I’m content with this outcome.  By shifting modestly away from stocks when they’re expensive, my p...

Long time reader Garth asked for my opinion on Wade D. Pfau’s essay Eight core ideas to guide retirement income planning .  Pfau is a smart guy and it’s no surprise that his article is excellent.  I do have some thoughts around the edges, though. “Play the long game” Pfau starts with an important point: “A retirement income plan should be based on planning to live, rather than planning to die.” This means that making sure you have enough money in old age is more important than trying to squeeze out as much money as you can in early retirement.  But we’re not asking you to sacrifice now.  By taking reasonable steps to protect your much older self, you’re freed up to spend a reasonable amount early in retirement without fear of running out of money.  Pfau lists six steps toward playing the long game which I’ll translate into the Canadian context. Delaying starting CPP and OAS As long as you have some savings to live on and you’re in reasonable health, delaying the...