Archive for September 2018
Weekend Reading: Rational Reminder Edition
This week I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Rational Reminder podcast with PWL Capital’s Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore. We discussed how I built the blog, my switch from dividend investing to indexing, my thriving fee-only financial planning business, and simplicity versus optimization in your investment portfolio. Check out the Rational…
Read MoreEbates.ca vs. Great Canadian Rebates: Two Cash Back Sites Compared
Whether you’re clipping coupons, shopping at thrift stores, or lining up at Costco to save on gas, the mark of a good saver is someone who is willing to go the extra mile to save a buck or two. While some frugality traits can border on the extreme, others require less effort than you might…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Investing Podcast Edition
No, I’m not starting my own podcast. But I have started listening to a few good investing podcasts lately and I wanted to share three of them with you. I like these podcasts because they’re smart, quick-hitting, 30-minute talks about investing, personal finance, and current market trends. The first one, which you’ve likely heard of,…
Read MoreVanguard vs. Horizons: Your One-Ticket Investment Solution
For most Canadians, mutual funds are still the mainstay of their investment portfolios. However, many investors are fed up with high fees that are being charged on mutual funds that rarely match, let alone outperform, the market. Investing in lower cost exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, seems like a good alternative. The knock on ETFs is…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Toothless Investor Protection Edition
Earlier this summer the Canadian Securities Administrators disappointed investor advocates and did a disservice to Canadian investors when it announced watered-down reforms that failed to address conflicted investment advice and a best interest standard of care. Instead of much needed reform, investors got three paltry concessions from regulators: Banning the deferred sales charge option (DSC)…
Read MoreIs Every Day A Saturday In Retirement?
Is every day a Saturday in retirement? That’s what behavioural scientists Dan Ariely and Aline Holzwarth claimed in a recent study about retirement income. The premise being that when you’re no longer working 40 hours a week (or more) all of a sudden you have 40 hours a week available to spend money. Every day…
Read MoreBeat The Bank: Simply Successful Investing
If there’s anyone who knows how to beat the bank at its own game, it’s 35-year banking industry veteran turned investor advocate Larry Bates. His new book, Beat the Bank: The Canadian Guide to Simply Successful Investing, just hit the shelves and in it he reveals the winning formula to turn the tables on Bay…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Scanning Code of Practice Edition
I picked up three pints of ice cream from Save On Foods today, not because I’m a glutton but because they were on sale and I plan on eating one of them after I run 12 miles tomorrow (okay, so I AM a glutton. What of it?). At the check-out I noticed the items rang…
Read More3 Tips To Maximize Your Credit Card Rewards For Travel
Years ago when I first began collecting credit card rewards, cash back was king. I liked getting back something tangible to help subsidize our budget. Plus, I didn’t even want to think about getting on an airplane with a baby or a couple of toddlers. Travel rewards could wait. But now that our kids are…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Financial Facelift Edition
I enjoy reading the Globe & Mail’s Financial Facelift every weekend, if only just to goof on the idea that a couple earning $200,000+ per year with $3 million in the bank can be worried about their financial future. The tipping point of absurdity came when the Globe profiled Eric and Ilsa, the Vancouver couple…
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