Last week, in my 224th blog post, I introduced Gregory (Greg) and Olivia, a young married couple who had bought a house in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). They considered two common ways to reduce the interest they would pay over the life of their...
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The Current Situation A young married couple, Gregory and Olivia, live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). They bought a home two years ago for $1 million. With a 20% down payment, they borrowed $800,000 to enable the house purchase. The terms of the mortgage are as...
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The Dilemma: What Should She Do with Her Money? Marie, 67 years old, was widowed three years ago after forty years of marriage. Together, she and her husband Robert had raised their family of three children and created thousands of memories together in the house that...
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Recently, I’ve been thinking about saving versus investing or the idea of engaging in “risky” investments versus “safe” interest-bearing deposit products. This idea came to mind again because of the findings presented in my last blog post that financial planners in Japan did not tend...
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The Scenario When your child was born, you and your spouse vowed to assist with his post-secondary education costs. In the year he was born, you contributed $1,250 to his Registered Education Savings Plan) RESP, which attracted a Canadian Education Savings Grant (CESG) of $250 (equal...
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On July 4, 2022, I posted my 154th blog, on the topic of bonds and GICs. Coming off a long-term situation when the returns from these fixed-income products left many investors with little interest in buying something other than equities (individual stocks, equity mutual funds...
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Being Cautious With Your Money For years your friends have been telling you to invest in the stock market. You resisted, insisting that High-Interest Savings Accounts (HISAs) and Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs) were all you needed. Besides, you already had some money in the stock market...
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Emily Emily sat at her kitchen table, staring at the third credit card bill. It was maxed out, just like the other two. Overwhelmed and angry at herself, panic started to creep in. How did she end up in this situation? She used to pay off...
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Ten percent per year! That’s a nice round number and what many investors think is a realistic annual investment return. At that rate, following the “Rule of 72,” you will double your account value in 7.2 years – without adding an extra dollar! Let’s imagine that...
Read MoreAmong the biggest items of financial news this month, March 2023, has been the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) followed by Signature Bank. This has Canadians wondering about the security of their deposits at our banks. Deposits at banks that are members of the...
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