Bank reputations are “in the toilet” The recent CBC Marketplace story on the sales culture inside the banks has proven to be a cautionary tale when it comes to using the banks for transacting in your financial business. As for the topic of this blog post,...
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Introduction Concrete financial milestones can serve as checkpoints on your path to financial stability. From paying off student loans to leaving a financial legacy for the next generation or a charity, each milestone represents a significant achievement along your financial journey. In this blog post, I...
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Meet John and Jane Jane and John are a couple in their early thirties. They own a townhouse in a suburb outside of Toronto. Although the commute is a bit of a burden, their jobs as an architect and software developer, respectively, allow them to work...
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In light of the recent story by CBC’s Marketplace (video, article) about the pressures bank employees face to meet sales targets, Canadians must become more vigilant when navigating financial products and services. I offer the following suggestions to help you protect your interests and ensure...
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“Decumulation” (I don’t really like this word, but I suspect I lack sufficient influence to change things) is the spending down of assets that have been accumulated in preparation for retirement. It is the conversion of pension plans, RRSPs, TFSAs, and other financial assets into...
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Retirement typically marks a major life transition, but the path to retirement isn't always smooth. The challenges of downsizing, both financially and emotionally, can be overwhelming. For example, after decades of relatively stable prices, inflation has returned with a vengeance. While retirees benefit from the...
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Retirement marks a momentous transition, a time to reap the rewards of years of hard work and dedication. However, with increased life expectancy, retirees are faced with the challenge of longevity risk – the risk of outliving their financial resources. In this blog post, I...
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It is no secret that a significant part of the Canadian population is finding it exceedingly difficult to make ends meet. Debt is extremely high per household, primarily as a consequence of large mortgages and more recently, high interest rates. While inflation is slowly diminishing,...
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A couple we’ll call David and Marie are on the verge of age 65. They managed to pay off their mortgage back in 2008, but they haven’t saved much of anything since. Neither had employers who provided pensions or group Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs)....
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For years, I was an avid subscriber to the old print version of MoneySense magazine. Like many other print periodicals, however, it went exclusively online several years ago. One of the most fascinating articles I read during the print era was The All-Canadian Wealth Test,...
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