Around the Blogosphere
Weekend Reading: Banning Mutual Fund Commissions Edition
The Canadian Securities Administrators has for several years debated whether or not to ban embedded commissions from the sale of mutual funds. Activity ramped-up last year with the release of two reports from the Brondesbury Group and Dr. Douglas Cumming that looked at the nature of financial advice and whether commissions influence mutual fund sales. The conclusion was clear:…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Credit Card Trickery Edition
It’s rarely a good idea for a business to outsource its sales and promotional activities. Loblaws found this out the hard way when customers complained about the aggressive and sometimes shady tactics used by employees to coax them into signing up for PC Financial credit cards. The employees actually work for SDI Marketing, a firm hired…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: You Know What Really Grinds My Gears Edition
Two Globe and Mail articles got my personal finance blood boiling this week. First up, a seemingly innocent article suggesting an advisor can help investors make sound decisions and stick to their plan. Nothing wrong with that. But read on and you’ll find this piece, which reads like a bad ad for money coaches, makes some baffling…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: More Books To Give Away Edition
We had such an incredible response to our Victory Lap Retirement book giveaway last week that I thought we should run another book giveaway contest! This one is easy. We’re using Rafflecopter once again to collect entries and the winner will receive his or her choice of books from the bookshelf of my own personal finance home library…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Happy New Year Edition
A new year means new resolutions and goals, many of which will surely be related to improving our finances. So whether it’s paying off that credit card balance, starting to save for retirement, finding the courage to ask for a raise, or circling your retirement date on the 2017 calendar, my mom and I would…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Christmas Edition
With Christmas around the corner we’d like to send a thank-you to all of our readers for supporting the Boomer & Echo blog this year. It’s been an amazing year, starting with a long overdue re-design of the blog (thanks to Justin Bouchard at Top Shelf Web Solutions), plus a commitment to add more photos and visual elements…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: More Banks Behaving Badly Edition
BMO will pay back almost $50 million to clients who were overcharged on their mutual funds and investment accounts. The settlement was worked out by the Ontario Securities Commission, which said BMO “self-reported” the problem and there was no evidence of dishonest conduct by BMO. But something fishy is going on when the OSC has already…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Amazon Go Edition
Amazon turned heads this week when it announced a new grocery store shopping experience with no check-outs or line-ups. The online retail giant recently opened an 1,800 square foot retail space in Seattle as a pilot project for its employees, with hopes to open Amazon Go to the public in early 2017. The company explains its vision…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: CBC Marketplace Edition
I had the honour and privilege to work with the CBC Marketplace team in Toronto last month to put together a story about Air Miles and its unpopular expiry policy. But then, just a day before the episode was to go live, Air Miles backed down and cancelled its expiry policy effective immediately. The CBC…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Fake News Edition
One of the biggest post-election stories has been how the proliferation of ‘fake news’, particularly on Facebook, may have influenced voter behaviour. The Washington Post interviewed a fake news writer who actually believed Donald Trump is in the White House because of his online hoaxes. Gullibility of the masses meant this writer was earning upwards…
Read More