One of the perennial questions in the sphere of personal finance is whether it is better to invest or pay off debt. The answer is nuanced and there is no one right answer for anyone. Money has to be invested in the stock market for as long as possible. Time is required so that capital […]
You need not make every mistake yourself. There’s always the option of learning from my mistakes, or others’ mistakes, and doing better. It’s one of the better aspects of being a sentient being who can learn from the world around them. Back in 2008/2009, there was a recession. I got scared and I stopped contributing […]
Tempus fungit. It’s a Latin phrase that means “time flies”. Truer words have never been spoken, in any language. It’s already the middle of 2022. How is your money doing? Are you on track to meet your financial goals? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, then it’s time for a mid-year check-up. […]
Look… I’m not an expert on the economy. I don’t have crystal ball, nor can I tell the future. I’m in the same boat that you are – inflation is way up, house prices are crashing, mortgage rates are increasing, stock markets are wildly volatile. What does all this mean from one day to the […]
I am an amateur gardener. Essentially, this means that I don’t know what I’m doing but I do it with enthusiasm. Each year, I pick my tried and true favourite annual – petunias – and then I buy new plants that I want to try. My winters are spent watching various gardening channels on YouTube […]
Way back in 2011, I started to invest in dividend funds. I started with a bank’s mutual fund, then moved my money into an index fund with an investment company, and I’ve now finally settled on a couple of exchange traded funds.*** I had a goal of creating a steady stream of passive income. What […]
Spring has finally sprung! We are nearly halfway through 2022, so it’s time to start doing some financial forecasting for 2023. What big expenses do you have to pay for in first six months of next year? And have you set up your sinking funds to pay for them? While it’s important to live in […]
When it comes to your money, you want to get good advice. The problem is that it’s very hard to know if you’re getting good advice, or whether you’re being scammed. For my part, I’ve built my portfolio by myself and I started when I was a young adult. All told, it took me more […]
There’s no doubt about it. We’re in a period of volatility in the stock market. For the first time, in a long time, there’s been a run of “down” days. The stock market has been in the red and the market has closed lower than the day before. I do not claim to be any […]
When it comes to mortgages, you never want to be underwater. Repeat after me – living underwater is for fish, not people! A person is underwater on their mortgage when the mortgage amount owing is higher than the value of the house. For example, if you have a $450,000 mortgage but you would only be […]