Frugal Summer Fun For Canada’s 150th Birthday
Since moving to Kelowna a couple of years ago we’ve experienced the heaviest snowfall in 50 years, raging forest fires that were three times the 10-year average and, now, major flooding with the highest water levels since the 1940’s. My brother claims I’m a disaster magnet (I think he’s just getting back at me for…
Read MoreAn Unhealthy Obsession With Saving Money
I sometimes worry that I’m not saving enough money. It’s a silly obsession, given that we don’t have any consumer debt, we save more than one-third of our income, and I have a defined benefit pension plan at work. I try to strike a balance between saving and spending money, but I’ll admit that I mostly prefer…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: May Long Edition
Welcome to another edition of weekend reading and I hope you’re all having a terrific May long weekend. Grab a coffee or tea and take some time to enjoy the finest hand-curated selection of Canadian personal finance and investing articles from around the web this week. If you’re looking for even more of a weekend reading experience, join…
Read MorePlanning to Borrow Money? Know the Five C’s of Creditworthiness
When I worked in banking, personal and small business lending was a major part of my duties. Customers were often nervous about applying for credit – unnecessarily in most cases. But, sometimes people had really no idea of what we required before we could consider the application. I had people applying for a mortgage with…
Read MoreInvesting For Income In Your Accumulation Years
When I sold my dividend stocks in 2015 my portfolio was worth $100,000 and generated about $4,000 a year in dividend income. I’ll admit it was motivating to watch the dividends grow each year as I added new money to my portfolio and companies increased their payouts. I regularly tracked my progress and projected out…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Kids Birthday Edition
At least once a month for the past few years our kids have attended (or have been invited to) a birthday party where the host parents rent out a facility for the kids to run around and then move to a ‘party room’ to open presents and eat birthday cake. For years we resisted this…
Read MoreThe Pitfalls Of Naming Your Children Co-Executors
I was named executor on both my father- and mother-in-law’s wills. I had copies of the wills and other documentation I might need. So, imagine my surprise when I just recently found out that I am a co-executor on my own parents’ wills. These wills were prepared in 1992 and I was thinking – “When…
Read MoreKnow Your Client: The Importance of an Accurate KYC
According to IIROC (Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada), more than half of the complaints they receive are about investment issues – in particular, unsuitable investments. Many of these problems can be avoided with an accurate “Know Your Client” (KYC) document in place. This document is not just another piece of administrative paperwork. It is…
Read MoreHow CDIC Would Protect Your Deposits If Home Capital Goes Bankrupt
Canada has not seen a bank failure since Security Home Mortgage Corporation, a Calgary-based company, went bankrupt in 1996, putting $42 million in bank deposits at risk. Two decades later we have another mortgage company, Home Capital Group, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Deposits at Home Capital were expected to fall to $192 million this week,…
Read MoreForget the Excuses. Here’s a Brain-Dead Easy Way to Start Investing
Many people know they should invest for the future but for one reason or another the investing can gets kicked down the road. Maybe they’re living paycheque to paycheque and can’t free up enough cash to invest, or they simply don’t have time to make an appointment with an advisor to draw up an investment…
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