A Conversation About Gen Y Money
The plight of Gen Y is a hot topic around the personal finance blogosphere these days, and for good reason. Millennials continue to face strong headwinds from an economy that has been stuck in neutral since the global financial crisis of 2008. Meanwhile, the cost of higher education is soaring and new graduates are entering a…
Read MoreFinancial Management By The Decade: Teen Years
When I was about thirteen, I started earning extra money by babysitting the neighbourhood kids. My 35-cents-an-hour earnings were then promptly spent – probably on chocolate. Teens are a lot savvier these days. Younger teens are babysitting, dog walking, doing yard work, setting-up computers and software (for people like me) and the like. Older teens…
Read MoreThe Worst Financial Advice Ever Given To Millennials
It’s okay to spend money on life’s indulgences once in a while. If a daily latte or weekly visit to the spa floats your boat, I say go for it. When you design your budget around the things that are important to you – while cutting out the things that aren’t – then your splurging actually…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Succession Planning Edition
Earlier this week, Million Dollar Journey blogger Frugal Trader wrote a letter to his wife explaining how their finances work in case he passes away and she needs to succeed him as the household CFO. It’s an interesting topic, and one that former Boomer & Echo correspondent Sandi Martin covered here last year. Although his wife has little-to-no…
Read MoreUnderstanding Your Retirement Benefits: Part 3 – Private Pension Plans
According to Statistics Canada, in 2012 38.4 percent of employees were enrolled in a Registered Pension Plan. The most common types of pension plans are defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC). Of those employees, 71.5 percent were in a defined benefit plan. Defined contribution plans accounted for 16.7 percent. (The remainder belong to some…
Read MoreWealthsimple: An Easy, Yet Sophisticated Way To Invest
This article is a review of the Wealthsimple robo-advisor platform and includes positive testimony from a real-life Wealthsimple investor. I started investing at 19 without really understanding what I was doing. A bank advisor set me up with a portfolio of mutual funds, and for several years I paid a handsome fee for what amounted…
Read MoreDon’t Invest In GICs, Unless You’re One Of These Investors
GICs get a bad rap in today’s low interest rate environment, but when stock markets are reeling, like they were this summer, investors often seek save havens to wait out the storm. Cash is king for those who don’t have the stomach to watch their portfolio plunge in value, and GICs at least offer the…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Flash Boys Giveaway Edition
Michael Lewis is one of my favourite financial authors. He has a unique blend of on-the-ground experience (he was a bond trader on Wall Street before resigning to write Liar’s Poker), plus the talent and ability to turn a complex story into a compelling narrative. His best work, in my opinion, was The Big Short, which…
Read MoreWhy I Simplified My Investment Portfolio
For five years I attempted to beat the market with a portfolio of Canadian dividend stocks. As my investments grew, I began measuring my returns and comparing the results to a benchmark – an exchange traded fund from iShares called CDZ, which tracks Canadian dividend stocks. I wanted to know if my judgement as a portfolio…
Read MoreThe Real Cost Of Getting Married
We’re not getting married as much any more. Of people 30 to 44 years old, only 60% were married in 2008. In 1970, 84% were married. Also, the age of people getting married for the first time is rising. In the 1970’s it was roughly 23 for women and 25 for men. In 2008 it…
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