Like many retired or semi-retired investors—even those with a traditional 60/40 allocation—I found 2022 especially difficult. Despite our family portfolio being well diversified across asset classes and geographies, we suffered significant losses, largely from SPACs and recent electric-vehicle IPOs such as Lordstown Motors, Lucid and Rivian, along with a crypto-related holding in Coinbase. It’s embarrassing to admit, but these speculative names hurt performance more than I expected.
Be careful what you read and which investing newsletters you follow
Looking back, most of those speculative ideas came from investment newsletters I had signed up for—many published by U.S.-based pundits, some self-styled. I won’t single any out, but it became clear that the recommendations pushing the most volatile names were the ones that did the most damage.
For example, Lordstown (RIDE) is now effectively wiped out in my account following its bankruptcy—down about 100%—a painful reminder of how a glowing newsletter feature can lead you astray. I resisted the temptation to “average down” as prices fell, which at least spared me deeper exposure.
Another newsletter I dropped had recommended a number of high-risk picks that cratered: Matterport (MTTR) plunged about 83% from its peak after being touted, while Zoom (ZM) and Coinbase (COIN) fell roughly 80% and 78% respectively. The original analyst left that publication in 2022; the newsletter continues under new management, but I moved on.
Speculative ideas are tempting for Canadian investors
How did I end up subscribing? Often through unsolicited email pitches promising a few special reports and ticker symbols for a modest fee—typically around US$49 a year. It sounds like a bargain, especially if you’re hunting for a 10-bagger, but those promotions usually point to highly speculative names that can ravage a portfolio.
Even as some quality stocks began recovering in 2023, many of the speculative picks I held remained deep in the red, often 80% or more below their highs. From a risk-management standpoint, I had deliberately allocated only a small portion of my assets to such bets, preferring blue-chip stocks, broadly diversified ETFs and laddered GICs. But even a few $1,000 losses accumulate and erode returns.
I was fortunate to hold many of these positions in non-registered accounts, allowing for tax-loss harvesting. Unfortunately, a few wound up inside my RRSP and TFSA—accounts where losses don’t offer the same tax relief and where contribution room matters. That’s a costly lesson: losing capital is bad enough, but losing valuable registered contribution room compounds the pain.
Why take unnecessary risk in retirement?
Some investors argue that 5% to 10% of a portfolio can be allocated to speculative “fun money.” That approach makes more sense for younger investors with long time horizons who can recover from setbacks. At age 70, I’ve decided to stop taking risks I don’t need to take.
For people in the “retirement risk zone”—roughly five years before or after retirement—avoiding large, concentrated losses is crucial. My first step was simple: stop opening the pitch emails. They’re easy to spot—subject lines like “The top 5 AI stocks you must buy now.” The real danger isn’t the subscription fee; it’s the persuasive, high-risk ideas these newsletters promote. I also noticed a psychological trap: feeling obliged to act on a tip to justify the fee.
Stop responding to initial pitches and don’t renew
Most newsletters bill yearly and rely on auto-renewals, so I’ve let many subscriptions lapse. Check your credit-card statements and account settings; if you didn’t receive a renewal notice, call customer service. It can take persistence to cancel auto-renewal, since some publishers count on inattention.
To be fair, many newsletters provide useful macroeconomic commentary and market context. But when it comes to specific stock recommendations, they often favor obscure, high-risk names. It’s hard to build a reputation for stock-picking brilliance by recommending safe, well-known companies or diversified ETFs—so the copywriters craft stories around speculative sectors and niche stocks instead.
Those niche bets can also include sector or regional ETFs that carry concentrated risk. (I’ll never forget putting a Russia-focused ETF into my RRSP weeks before the invasion of Ukraine—an unfortunate timing error that had nothing to do with a newsletter.)
A few exceptions: newsletters that may still be useful
I don’t want to dismiss all newsletters. Some are cautious and conservative in their recommendations. For example, I’ve followed Patrick McKeough’s work—The Successful Investor and publications like Wall Street Forecaster and Canadian Wealth Advisor—for years. His picks tend to favour known, well-capitalized companies, and when he highlights riskier small caps, he labels them as suitable only for aggressive investors. Personal trust in an analyst’s judgment matters.
Reduce media and market noise in your inbox
Newsletters are just one source of market noise. I also had a habit of keeping TV muted with the market crawl on screen—CNN for me, though others might watch CNBC or BNN. That constant feed of red and green arrows fuels emotional reactions. After a particularly partisan TV event, I switched from CNN to the BBC, which doesn’t display stock tickers. When I need prices, I check them online—deliberately spending far less time than I used to in front of the muted “electronic hearth.”
Social media influence: X, Mastodon and other platforms
Social media is another source of investment noise. I’ve stepped back from Elon Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) and now split my time across X, Mastodon and Threads, mostly for work and to maintain a curated feed. I use a custom Twitter list of trusted financial sources rather than relying on algorithmic “For you” recommendations. Even so, social platforms often amplify short-term hype and speculative ideas, so I try to tune those signals out when managing long-term retirement assets.
As a long-time financial journalist, disengaging from market drama isn’t easy, but I feel more at ease holding broadly diversified, low-cost global and U.S. equity ETFs plus laddered GICs. That approach gives you exposure to thousands of companies—meaning you already own a sliver of the market’s biggest winners without concentrating risk in a few volatile stocks. It’s a practical way to avoid catastrophic losses and sleep better at night.
Read more Retired Money columns:
- The best ETFs for retirement income
- Is semi-retirement stressful? You bet—here’s what to do about it
- Should retirees in their early 70s partly annuitize?
- Is now the time for retirees to sell stocks and buy GICs?
- The five factors of retirement for Canadians