Rick Evans from West Kelowna, B.C., is a long-time do-it-yourself investor who enjoys researching companies and following the markets.Aaron Hemens/The Globe and Mail
Rick Evans became a do-it-yourself investor when he was 50, shortly after launching his own business. Almost 25 years later, including five years into retirement, the West Kelowna, B.C. resident still manages his own portfolio of mostly dividend-paying stocks, with no regrets.
“It was a big transition, I’ll admit, but I think it was a good one,” says Mr. Evans, 74, who has an MBA from Queen’s University and worked in various management roles at Canadian Pacific Railway before launching his own railway operations consulting company.
“Because of my background, self-directed investing seemed like a good use of that knowledge,” says Mr. Evans, who retired at 70.
DIY investing is also a good way to pass the time in retirement, he says, and he enjoys researching companies and following the markets almost daily.
“I don’t use a financial advisor because they can be restrictive, expensive, and they have their own agenda, which is not always aligned with mine,” he says.
“At this point, we have very little need to buy and sell holdings; rather, we simply make changes to manage our cash flow or risk. The beauty of this type of investing with these accounts is that you can generally control your income and timing.”
Mr. Evans is one of many seniors who have either maintained or shifted to DIY investing in retirement. Although not all retirees have the interest or experience to manage their own money, two prominent financial planners say those who do should understand the potential risks, including the tax treatment of different accounts, emotion-driven buy-and-sell decisions and cognitive issues that could lead to investment mistakes.
Jason Heath, a fee-for-service certified financial planner and managing director of Objective Financial Partners Inc. in Markham, Ont., warns of the dangers of panic-selling when stock markets fall, especially early in retirement.
“It can turn a temporary loss into a permanent one,” he says, and can cause retirement savings to run out too quickly.
Mr. Heath says another issue is when a DIY investor’s risk tolerance suddenly decreases in retirement.
“I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve been very confident, aggressive investors during their accumulation years and all of a sudden – when they’re not saving anymore and they’re drawing down on their savings – sometimes their risk tolerance changes,” he says.
That can minimize returns over time and increase a retiree’s chances of running out of money later in life.
The complexities of decumulation
Owen Winkelmolen, an advice-only financial planner and founder of financial planning firm PlanEasy.ca in London, Ont., says some retired DIY investors are surprised by how complex the decumulation stage of life is after decades of focusing on accumulating assets. A big issue is the tax implications of withdrawing money from various registered and non-registered accounts.
“When you take money out for retirement, it becomes very challenging because you need to consider which accounts to use, how much to withdraw and how that all fits with everything else in your plan,” he says, such as the timing of Canada Pension Plan and Old Age Security benefits.
Mr. Winkelmolen says retirement is when some self-directed investors turn to financial planning professionals or retirement planning software to help them navigate the tax treatments of their investment income.
“The nice thing is there are more options now, so somebody can start on their own, realize it’s more complicated and then get help along the way,” says Mr. Winkelmolen, who’s also behind Adviice.ca, a retirement planning platform for individuals and advisors.
The impact of cognitive decline
Another risk for DIY investors in retirement is cognitive decline, which can affect how they manage their portfolios.
“At some point, if you’re a DIY investor, you need to think about what happens if you’re no longer able to manage your portfolio and may need to shift that to a spouse, a partner, a power of attorney or a trusted advisor,” Mr. Winkelmolen says. “It doesn’t get talked about enough. But that’s one of the big risks of DIY investing in retirement.”
Retirees considering going it alone with their investments should do a gut check to make sure it’s for the right reasons, Mr. Heath says.
“Oftentimes, people are trying to do it themselves to keep their fees down. They don’t want to pay an accountant or 1 per cent of their assets to a portfolio manager. There can be some merit to that, but if the trade-off is that you end up paying more in taxes, or you end up losing more by selling at the wrong time, these are legitimate risks,” he says.
“It’s not to say that everybody should work with a professional or everyone should be DIY. There are benefits to both,” he adds. “It’s important for all of us to not let our egos get in the way of what we should and should not do ourselves, especially as we get older.”