Personal Finance

The gap between wage growth and cost of living continues to be an issue as inflation reached 2.3 percent in May, led by higher gas and energy prices. The latest Stats Canada data revealed that wages grew 1.4 percent year-over-year.  That means there’s a decline in real wages when you adjust for inflation. How have…

We’ve all experienced a moment in our lives when we decided it was time to get serious about our finances.  Some call it an “a-ha” moment, or a financial awakening.  What triggers this feeling is different for everyone, but it’s common to hit rock bottom – deep in debt and down to your last dime…

We’ve finally taken the plunge and sold our house and will be moving to another province.  There are a lot of changes in store and details to think about, but luckily I’m a list maker and I have every eventuality covered. One issue I’ve been contemplating is whether to make a clean break with my…

Everyone has heard of the latte factor – how your daily vice can become a long-term financial burden if you don’t keep it in check.  The concept got a bad rap for concentrating on small behavioural changes instead of looking at the big picture. Related: Does your spending need tending? The latte factor concept isn’t…

We’re taught to value experiences over material things but unless you plan to never leave the house you’re going to need a whole lot of willpower to avoid buying stuff today. Have you been out window shopping lately?  There are some seriously amazing products and innovations on the market – things that weren’t even around…

Back in 1913, the assembly line workers at the Ford Model-T plant in Detroit were paid the princely sum of $5 a day. Henry Ford wanted reliable workers, but he also assumed they would want to buy the Model-T themselves, rather than taking the streetcar to work. It would still take some serious saving to…

When we last checked in with ING Direct CEO Peter Aceto he said the company had until May 2014 to shed the ING name and rebrand itself.  The online bank was purchased by Scotiabank in November 2012 and recently announced its new name – Tangerine – which is ready to officially launch on April 8th,…

Whether it’s healthy or not, we all make comparisons in many aspects of our lives – where we live, what we do for a living, what kind of car we drive, even how we raise our kids.  But society doesn’t talk openly about money and so we look to the experts to set benchmarks and…

Canada is widely considered to have one of the safest banking systems in the world.  The “Big 5” banks have proven to be safe and stable companies, both for depositors and stockholders, and neither have any worries about their money. Related: How Baby Boomers Changed The Banking Industry However, the 1980’s saw one of the…

In the 18th century, French philosopher Denis Diderot received a gift of a beautiful scarlet dressing gown.  I know it’s not something your typical guy today would get too excited about, but remember this was the 1700’s.  In any case, he was delighted with his gift and promptly discarded his old dressing gown. Within a…