Money is still a taboo topic in many cultures. Well, that's not exactly true. We love to complain about money – about the price of gas, the cost of groceries, the rise and fall of lumber prices, our empty bank account, our credit card debt.
But we rarely talk about the value of money and the role it plays in our lives. What it means to us. Why we make certain decisions about money. How we see money supporting our future goals.
Author Ramit Sethi says the way we feel about money today often stems from our childhood experiences. He calls these our invisible money scripts:
“Invisible scripts are truths so ubiquitous and deeply embedded in society that we don’t even realize they’re guiding our attitudes and behaviour.”
The University of Chicago's Financial Education Initiative came up with Talking Cents cards to spark conversations about money with your kids and help them develop a positive relationship with money.
I ordered a deck of cards last year to try them out. Each night after dinner we drew a handful of cards and went around the table discussing the questions and our answers.
The deck contains 108 cards, plus a link to a discussion guide for each card. The discussion guide is a great addition to encourage a richer discussion with prompts and follow up questions. For example, one of the cards included this quote from Albert Einstein:
“If you want to have a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.” Do you agree or disagree?
The discussion guide for this card said that it may be interesting to share a little bit about Albert Einstein. He was born in Germany in 1879 and later immigrated to the United States. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. Extend this discussion by having others explain why they agree or disagree with the quote.
I bought the deck of cards directly from the University of Chicago website. It cost $20 USD plus $13 shipping – so just over $40 CAD. Not cheap.
Thankfully, the Rational Reminder team of Ben Felix and Cameron Passmore, who have made Talking Cents a regular feature in their podcast, have brought the cards to Canada and now sell them for $30 CAD plus tax (free shipping).
If you want to do your part to encourage more rich conversations about money you can pick up your deck of Talking Cents cards at the Rational Reminder online store.
Finally, I'll leave you with another question from the Talking Cents deck. I'm curious about your answers so please leave a comment below:
“What is something you could buy for yourself but haven't because you think it would be too extravagant?”
For me, I've always wanted to fly business class on a long flight. Even though I have plenty of points to support our (eventual) travel, I've always thought it was best to conserve them for more economy redemptions.
But, that changed recently when I re-booked our trip to Italy for 2022 and found business class seats available for 70,000 Aeroplan points (Calgary to Rome). I've never been more excited for an 11-hour flight in my life!
This Week's Recap:
On Friday I updated my post on whether you should defer OAS to age 70 or take it at 65.
Over on Young & Thrifty I took a look at BMO InvestorLine's self-directed trading platform.
Many thanks to Erica Alini at Global News for including my OAS analysis in her latest Money123 newsletter <–you should subscribe to this.
Promo of the Week:
I'm still baffled why so many Canadians still keep high cash balances in their chequing account or in a big bank savings account that pays next to nothing in interest.
Yes, interest rates are still pitifully low. But that doesn't mean accepting zero or next to zero percent interest on your cash savings.
That's why I promote EQ Bank's high interest savings account which pays 1.25% interest and offers some chequing account functionality like free e-Transfers and bill payments.
I also like that EQ doesn't play the promotional interest game – giving you a high rate for just a short period of time. Instead, EQ Bank typically sits in the top 5 of all high interest savings account rates across the country.
Sure, you're not going to get rich stashing your money in high interest savings. But you can literally get 125x the interest by moving your cash from a big bank to a high interest online bank like EQ.
Weekend Reading:
A look at some excellent free Amazon Gift Card offers on select new credit card applications, from our friends at Credit Card Genius.
National Bank's discount brokerage arm just eliminated commissions for ETF and stock trades. Rob Carrick writes, should you move your brokerage account to benefit from zero commissions? (<–subscribers)
My take:
I did this in 2020 – moving my RRSP and TFSA from TD Direct to WS Trade to save $10/trade while I added new money regularly. WS Trade is not nearly as robust of a platform as TD Direct but it served the purpose. Nice to see the big bank brokerages adopting zero-commission now. https://t.co/afYQujPHxy
— Boomer and Echo (@BoomerandEcho) August 27, 2021
Millionaire Teacher Andrew Hallam asks young investors, would you pass the wizard's test?
At the Toronto Star, improving your investment portfolio requires facing some sneaky biases.
A must read for investors who feel compelled to tilt their portfolio towards or away from specific countries or regions. Stock returns are random. Stop trying to predict winners and just hold a globally diversified portfolio.
Ramit Sethi explains how to automate your finances using technology and psychology:
“Using automation to reduce choices sets you up for success with money, without even having to think about it on a daily basis.”
Turning to the election, here's why experts say inflation won't be solved on the campaign trail.
And, here's a detailed look at the three major political parties' proposals on childcare and what they could mean for your finances.
Morningstar's Christine Benz says to forget income replacement, focus on supplying cash flow needs in retirement.
PWL Capital's Ben Felix argues that our money decisions should be anchored in the objective of living a happy life:
Morningstar takes a closer look at popular retirement savings estimates and asks if you really need to save that much for retirement.
Here's Kiplinger with six retirement killers to avoid at all costs.
Michael James on Money has mixed feelings about Daryl Diamond's new book, Retirement for the Record.
Mortgage broker David Larock looks at the current case for variable rate mortgages.
Jason Heath answers a reader question about whether to maximize the down payment on a house or to keep some money to invest.
Of Dollars and Data blogger Nick Magguilli looks at whether we're in a “melt-up” for investment returns.
Finally, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger famously have three boxes for investment ideas: In, Out, and Too Hard. Here's why you don't have to invest in everything.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone!
