Must Read

This is a collection of articles that are considered important first reads on personal finance. It’s a great place to start for DIY savings, investing, and more.

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How To Crush Your RRSP Contributions Next Year

*Updated for October 2025* If you’re a high-income earner staring at a mountain of unused RRSP room, you’re not alone. Many Canadians with strong salaries struggle to come up with…

So You’re About to Retire: The First-Year Financial Timeline (With Real Numbers)

You’ve handed in your notice and circled your retirement date on the calendar. Congratulations! Now what? The three months or so before retirement and the first six to nine months…

A Young Adult’s Smart Guide to Money

(What I wish I’d known at 18, 24, and 30 – from parents and grandparents who’ve been there, and a financial planner who can translate those experiences into actionable advice…

How I Invest My Own Money

*Updated for Nov 1, 2025* Regular blog readers know that I’m a big proponent of passive investing with low cost, globally diversified index funds and ETFs. Why? Low fees are…

Why We Stopped Saving So Much and Started Living

One lesson I’ve learned from my retired clients is that it’s human nature to feel anxious about spending money – especially when the paycheque stops and you’re drawing down your…

Mental Accounting: When Your Money Mind Plays Tricks on You

We like to think we make rational decisions with our money. But time and again, we fall into predictable traps—especially when it comes to how we frame our finances. One…

A Smarter Way to Spend Without Stress in Retirement

A few years ago, I shared a simple yet powerful idea for managing your portfolio in retirement: hold a low-cost, globally diversified equity ETF for long-term growth, and pair it…

Spend the Money: Tackling the Emotional Side of Retirement Planning

I’ve spent a lot of time helping people figure out if they can retire. But what surprises many is that the harder part often comes after that: convincing them it’s…

Navigating Retirement and Advice-Only Financial Planning on The Wealthy Barber Podcast

It was my tremendous honour and privilege to speak with the one and only David Chilton (aka The Wealthy Barber) on his latest podcast episode. We spent over an hour…

OAS Payments: How Much Will You Receive From Old Age Security

Old Age Security (OAS) is a government program in Canada that provides a basic income to eligible seniors who have reached the age of 65. It is one of the…