Addition By Subscription Subtraction
Anyone born before 1990 should remember Columbia House – the “world’s largest record club” – whose claim to fame was offering dirt-cheap music upfront to members who joined its mail-order subscription service. The company made billions by using something called ‘negative option billing’, a process by which the customer agrees to have goods or services…
Read MoreGive It Away Now (A Modern Potlatch)
Long before Marie Kondo had us magically tidying up our homes, keeping only the items that ‘spark joy’, the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast were giving it all away through an elaborate ceremony called a potlatch. The literal word “potlatch” means “to give away,” and it was the desire of every chief to…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Happy Go Money Edition
Want to know if money can truly buy happiness? How about a brutally honest and refreshing look at money and happiness? That’s what author Melissa Leong has in store with her new book called, Happy Go Money. Melissa takes readers along her journey, from frugal beginnings growing up in Winnipeg, to covering the personal finance…
Read MoreLife Insurance Made Easy and Affordable
I moved from Calgary to Lethbridge when I was 18 years old. I can’t recall exactly how many times I’ve made the trip down Highway 2, but before I had kids I remember spending much of the two-hour trip in the passing lane driving a good 20-25 km/h above the speed limit. We think we’re…
Read MoreHow My Wife Will Save Money With A Wealthsimple RRSP
We like to tackle our taxes early in the year, which means assessing last year’s tax situation quickly so we can take advantage of RRSP contributions in the first 60 days of the New Year. Here’s the quick and dirty tax situation for our household: Since I earn a salary at my day job we’ve…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Canada’s Housing Correction Edition
Maclean’s author Jason Kirby wrote this week about Canada’s housing correction, saying, “Canadians are finally getting a taste of what a world with rising interest rates will look like, and one thing is painfully clear: we’re not ready for what happens next.” National home sales are projected to post a double-digit decline when the final…
Read MoreWhere Does My CPP Money Go After It Gets Deducted From My Paycheque?
If you’re like many Canadians, you don’t spend a lot of time thinking about this whole pension thing we have going on. You know/hope it will be there when you turn 65. You know that a decent chunk gets taken off of your cheque each month (along with a bunch of other acronyms and taxes).…
Read MoreNet Worth Update: 2018 Year-End Review
I started the year with high aspirations. I wanted our household net worth to reach $750,000 and to get there I needed markets to continue chugging along at 8-10 percent. Well, that didn’t happen. When it comes to market expectations, straight-line goals won’t cut it. Even though it’s reasonable to expect 8 percent growth over…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: 2018 Year End Edition
This year was a challenging one for investors. We’ve been so used to seeing positive gains in our portfolios it’s a shock when markets don’t cooperate! The TSX is down 12.26 percent on the year. The S&P 500 is down 7.03 percent. International markets, as measured by MSCI EAFE, are down 13.94 percent. With seemingly…
Read MoreStop Giving Markets Your Attention
When I got an activity tracker several years ago I was horrified to learn just how sedentary my lifestyle had become. I’d drive to work, park my butt at a desk for eight hours, drive home, park my butt on the couch for a few more hours, and go to bed. It was mindless laziness.…
Read More