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DECEMBER 2020
Bimonthly Newsletter from VM Pensions Management
Your Best Gift for You This Season
We thought it might be a good time for you to think about a gift for our favourite person – you!
NEW YEAR PLANNING WITH YOUR FUTURE SELVES: The choices you make today will impact your future lifestyle.
Your Best Gift for You this Season As thoughts turn to giving at this time of year, we thought it might be a good time for you to think about a gift for our favourite person – your future self. In case you hadn’t thought about it, an investment is a great gift for your future self since it can grow quite a bit over time. We might be biased, but we can’t think of a better investment than your very own Approved Retirement Scheme (ARS) with VM Pensions Management. With four options for a range of risk appetites, You’re sure to find something that fits you in our ARS suite. »
PRIME ACCUMULATOR – A great idea if you’re more interested in retaining your initial investment. Principally invested in short-term money market instruments to minimize the risk of capital loss, this portfolio might be a fit for you if you’re starting with a lump sum and are relatively close to retirement.
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PRIME ADVANTAGE – If you’re a conservative investor, with an interest in USD-based returns, this option invests in USD fixed income instruments and JMD bonds. The result is a diversified investment portfolio with some amount of mitigation against movements between both currencies.
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PRIME ACCELERATOR – Principally invested in local equities, this is an ideal choice for you if you’ve just started your first job or you’re still a few decades away
from retiring. Investments in equities benefit from long time horizons, which allow for time to recover from temporary dips in the market. An allocation to both US dollar investments and Jamaican dollar fixed income instruments provides some amount of diversification. »
THE PRIME SUPER – A similar mix of asset classes to the Prime Accelerator, but with a more balanced approach. This portfolio has a lower ratio of equities to the fixed income instruments, which are in Jamaican dollar and US dollar. This balance combines potential attractive returns from the stock investments with the relative stability of diversification.
While a retirement lifestyle with all the bells and whistles can be attractive; your risk factor should be a major consideration when deciding how you want to invest. You can invest up to 20% of your income tax-free in the ARS you choose, and you’ll be in it for the long haul. So it’s a good idea to go with a plan that falls right in that sweet spot between what you want to achieve and the amount of risk you’re willing to take. An investment in your own ARS with VM Pensions Management is more than a gift, it shows your future self you care. You’ll both be happy you did it.
The choices you make today will impact the lifestyle your future self will enjoy. Will future you be a globe traveller, collecting new experiences across the globe; or a happy entrepreneur enjoying the activities of a hobby-turned-business? Think about the life you want for your future self and let that vision guide the choices you make today. If you’re in your first job, you have a lot of time for your investments to work for you. Although your future self might be the last person on your mind at this point, this is the best time to get your retirement plan started. The long timeline potentially gives you the most options for the lifestyle you want in retirement. If you’re a lot closer to retirement to retirement age and haven’t started yet, your future self might need you to look at ways to create new income streams to make that plan a reality. The key is to use the vision you have for your future self to decide what you need to do today.
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The end of one year is always a good time to look forward to the next. This year we look ahead to a new decade. So, as you dream big and make resolutions, it might be a good idea to think of your future selves instead of one future self. Looking back at the personal and financial choices you made this past year, you might see opportunities that inspire more than one idea about the way ahead. And in looking forward, you should have contingency plans, or at least think about what you might need to do along the way if the road to your dream turns out to have a fork in it.
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New Year Planning with Your Future Selves
When faced with choices as you look ahead at the start of a new decade, put yourself in the shoes of those future selves that would be living with the outcomes. It may help to make tough decisions easier while keeping you on track with your vision. It should also provide some solace for any sacrifices you need to make today, knowing you’ll reap the rewards on the flip side.
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While this approach is good for planning, it will also help you stick to the plan when it comes to daily decisions. Foregoing a vanity purchase should be easier when you picture your future self being able to afford family time or the beach as the day’s agenda. It’s easier to choose a less flashy phone knowing the money you’re not spending will benefit from the power of compound interest if you invest it instead.
MEET THE TEAM H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S
5 Healthy Eating Tips for the Holidays Here’s your recipe for staying on track no matter what’s cooking. 1. Holiday-Proof Your Plan You may not be able to control what food you’re served, and you’re going to see other people eating tempting treats. Meet the challenges armed with a plan.
Mr. Davie Martin MANAGER – ASSET MANAGEMENT VICTORIA MUTUAL PENSION MANAGEMENT
Davie Martin assumed his management role at VMPM in May 2019. Prior to this, he was a Manager of Trading at NCB Capital Markets limited. Davie is a strategic leader who is responsible for optimizing the risk adjusted returns on the various investment portfolios to maximize customer value. He is an Alumni of Kingston College and frequently participates in some of the school’s charitable activities. He is married with two children and hopes that his kids will value people over thing and actively involve themselves in giving back to their community and that they will follow their passion. He enjoys playing and watching football. He is also an avid reader and enjoys going to the beach and spending time with his family.
2. Outsmart the Buffet When you face a spread of delicious holiday food, make healthy choices easier. 3. Fit in Favorites No food is on the naughty list. Choose the dishes you really love and can’t get any other time of year. 4. Keep Moving Being active is your secret holiday weapon; it can help make up for eating more than usual and reduce stress during this most stressful time of year. 5. Get Your Zzz’s Going out more and staying out later often means cutting back on sleep. Aim for 7 to 8 hours per night to guard against mindless eating.
TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Most of all, remember what the season is about—celebrating and connecting with the people you care about. When you focus more on the fun, it’s easier to focus less on the food. Original article: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/ library/features/holidays-healthy-eating.html
VM Pensions Management Ltd 73-75 Half Way Tree Road Kingston 10, Jamaica
Tel: 876-754-7265 Fax: 876-754-8359 Email: pensions.info@myvmgroup.com
ASSET ALLOCATION This is when an employer or sponsor company divides client’s funds across different investment choices. Let’s say John is an ARS client of Victoria Mutual Pension Management (VMPM) and VMPM, the sponsor company, decides to put J$7million of John’s retirement funds into Bonds and J$3million in equities. This means that 70% of John’s retirement portfolio is allocation in Bond Assets while 30% of the portfolio is allocated in Stock Assets.