Around the Blogosphere

My inbox has been flooded with emails from companies telling me “we are here for you” during these difficult times. Banks, credit card companies, airlines, restaurants, Galen Weston Jr., that retailer you bought a shirt from three years ago. They’re all here for you.  What does it mean? For some, it’s public relations and a…

Last week felt like a year. It began Monday with one of the largest one-day stock market declines in history (S&P500 -7.6%) before Thursday said, “hold my beer”, and stocks fell an incredible -9.51% that day. Then markets rallied on Friday with one of the largest one-day gains in history (S&P500 +9.29%) to cap-off a…

The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate by 0.50 percent on Wednesday in a response to a global economic threat caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. The decision followed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut on Tuesday. It’s the first interest rate cut in four years. Here’s what it means for Canadians: Interest…

Let’s talk about last week. Unless you were living under a rock, which in hindsight might not have been a bad idea, you couldn’t help but notice that North American stock markets suffered their worst week of losses since the financial crisis. Global economic fears triggered by the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused the…

For several years the federal government has tightened mortgage rules with the goal of slowing down rising home prices in booming markets like Toronto and Vancouver, and ensuring home owners weren’t getting in over their heads by taking on too much debt. The mortgage stress test, first introduced in 2016 and then expanded in 2018,…

Aloha! We’ve spent the past week in Maui escaping the cold winter back home and taking a much needed break. The past few months have been stressful and anxiety-ridden as I transitioned from a day job + side hustle to full-time entrepreneur. I’m happy to say that life as an online entrepreneur is going better…

One of the biggest decisions retirees face is when to take their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits. There’s a case to be made for deferring CPP until age 70, or taking CPP at 60, or somewhere in between (like the standard age 65).  You can view your estimated monthly CPP benefits online using your My…

Savers rejoice! We’re in the midst of a high interest savings war. The battle for your business isn’t being fought by the big banks, but by upstart FinTech companies looking to build up deposits. Indeed, the big five have mostly ignored the high interest savings account market. Why bother, when they’re hauling in record profits…

2019 was a terrific year for stock market returns. This bull market has gone on for so long now that investors can’t help but wonder, are we due for a correction this year or in the near future?  It’s a question I get a lot from my clients these days, especially the soon-to-be-retired and the…

What are your worst financial planning fears? Some answers may include longevity risk (outliving your money), sequence of returns risk (the impact that negative stock market returns has on your withdrawal strategy), or poor investment performance (earning a lower rate of return than you expected).  A recent discussion on Twitter teased out more answers from…