Around the Blogosphere

One big decision I need to make as I transition from salaried employee to entrepreneur is whether to take a salary from my business or pay myself dividends. I set up a corporation for my online business back in 2012. My wife and I are 50/50 owners of the small business, and we’ve used the…

I publish my financial goals here every year to share my priorities with readers and to hold myself accountable to achieve them. The simple act of writing down your goals and reviewing them periodically can significantly increase your chance of success. My 2019 financial goals were fairly straightforward. Here’s a recap, along with the progress…

Well, that escalated quickly! Mere weeks after musing about quitting my day job to become a financially independent entrepreneur, I did just that – handing in my notice last week. I’m going to focus full-time on blogging, freelance writing, and growing my fee-only financial planning service. My wife and I did a lot of soul…

My approach to credit card spending has evolved over the years. Once I got out of debt and got my spending under control, I quickly realized (if you paid off your card in full each month) that using a rewards credit card was much more advantageous than paying with cash or debit. I started out…

One concept Couch Potato investors need to accept is that their portfolio will move up and down with the market(s). Since the essence of passive investing means tracking a particular index, or set of indices, an investor’s returns must closely mirror those of the index (minus a small fee). That notion can be downright scary…

A personal finance workshop held just outside of Toronto last month attracted a group of 75 financial independence seeking Canadians and Americans. This ‘Camp Mustache’ gathering was borne out of the F.I.R.E. (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement made famous by Mr. Money Mustache and has attracted followers from around the world. The Globe and Mail’s…

I’ve written before about my modified pursuit of FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). The twist is that I’m striving for FIE – to be a Financially Independent Entrepreneur. It’s an idea that I haven’t been able to get out of my head lately. Here’s why: For as long as I’ve been writing this blog I’ve…

It seemed like I was everywhere but here this week. The Canadian Financial Summit launched on Thursday and my 30-minute retirement readiness interview with host Kyle Prevost was included in Friday’s line-up. There’s still time to catch Saturday’s sessions and/or get the All Access Pass for instant lifetime access to all three days (25+ sessions)…

Home country bias is when investors overweight domestic stocks relative to their weight in the global market. Canadian investors tend to suffer from home bias, but this is also true of investors in most countries. It’s particularly troubling in Canada where our stock market is highly concentrated in the financial and energy sectors. A related…

I’m on record saying that every Canadian retiree and soon-to-be retiree should read Retirement Income For Life by Fred Vettese. It offers five clear strategies for making the most of your accumulated savings and turning it into predictable, sustainable retirement income. In the book, Mr. Vettese refers to an online calculator to help Canadians take…