Around the Blogosphere

Home country bias is when investors overweight domestic stocks relative to their weight in the global market. Canadian investors tend to suffer from home bias, but this is also true of investors in most countries. It’s particularly troubling in Canada where our stock market is highly concentrated in the financial and energy sectors. A related…

I’m on record saying that every Canadian retiree and soon-to-be retiree should read Retirement Income For Life by Fred Vettese. It offers five clear strategies for making the most of your accumulated savings and turning it into predictable, sustainable retirement income. In the book, Mr. Vettese refers to an online calculator to help Canadians take…

For the past two years, hundreds of you signed up to watch me and dozens of personal finance and investing experts speak at the Canadian Financial Summit. Well, we’re back again with a fresh new line-up of information designed to make you better savers, investors, and take control of your financial future. Get your free…

I enjoy listening to Dan Bortolotti’s Canadian Couch Potato podcast. One of the best parts is a regular segment he calls, “bad investment advice”, which takes aim at myths and misunderstandings about the markets. It’s not hard to find an article in mainstream media where the author is spinning half-truths, conflicted advice, and downright dangerous…

One of the great joys of running this blog is that I’ve been able to help so many Canadians take control of their finances and gain a greater understanding of their relationship with money. The blog comments, emails, and daily interactions on social media is what ultimately led to the start of my own fee-only…

I write a lot about seeking financial independence rather than early retirement. That’s intentional. I don’t necessarily want to retire – not anytime soon – but what fires me up is the idea of working on my own terms. My goal is to be financially free by age 45. That means I’d be free to…

“Shipping and delivery comes to $160? Forget it!” That was my reaction to the idea of placing an online order for Ikea furniture to be delivered to our home in Lethbridge. Besides the high price tag, the items would also take weeks to arrive. I had to find another option. You see, we don’t have…

In a normal interest rate environment, fixed rate mortgage tend to be more expensive than variable rate mortgages. Borrowers pay a premium for predictability – knowing exactly what their interest rate and mortgage payment will be for a five-year period. For that reason, a common strategy for saving money on your mortgage has been to…

A study published in the Canadian Tax Journal raised doubts about the effectiveness of Tax Free Savings Accounts and whether TFSAs really help Canadians save more. The study showed that one-third of TFSA contributions would have otherwise gone into RRSPs – something the authors called a displacement effect. Furthermore, the remaining 66 percent of contributions…

Greetings from Ireland! We’re on day 11 of our two-week stay on a beautiful farm in Kilkenny, Ireland. Our trip has been amazing so far, with stays in Edinburgh and Inverness, a day trip to the Isle of Skye, and an overnight road-trip to Killarney National Park. Along the way we’ve visited castles and cathedrals,…