Based on my understanding of them, the Baby Steps have two main problems. One, the Baby Steps encourage people to work longer than they might otherwise wish. Two, people will pay higher than necessary management expense ratios (MERs). One of the more controversial figures in the personal finance section of the Internet is Dave Ramsey. […]
The deadline to contribute to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan for the 2020 tax year is March 1, 2021. I would strongly suggest that you contribute a little something to your RRSP because the money will grow on a tax-deferred basis. Tax-deferred just means that the money will not be taxed by the Canada Revenue […]
Being bright isn’t a requirement to being successful with personal finance and investing. I speak from personal experience as I don’t consider myself to be overly bright. There are many people in my circle who are much smarter than me and who learn things much faster than I do. Their net worths are not necessarily […]
When I was growing up, my parents always encouraged to be a professional. I was told to aim for dentistry, medicine, and law. My parents wanted me to be a professional so that I could always create a job for myself. They knew, and wanted me to understand, that working for someone else meant that […]
This summer, I was lucky enough to have a socially-distanced visit with some friends. As we enjoyed our cheesecake, the host mentioned that he was worried about what would happen when his boss retired. My friend explained that his boss’ child would likely take over the company. This likelihood was causing a good deal of […]
Per Diem… it’s a phrase that means “an amount of money paid per day.” In the world of personal finance, it’s a phrase that is not used nearly enough. I want you to commit to a per diem. That’s right. I want you to pay yourself some amount of money every single day. I’ve written […]
House-hacking can be an amazing tool for building wealth. You know how sometimes you’re on YouTube watching one thing and then a suggestion pops up on the side of the screen? And you decide to hit play instead of scrolling past it? Well, this week held one of those so I indulged my curiosity and […]
Not a single one among us is born knowing how to use money perfectly. Our skill with money comes from making mistakes and learning from them. For my part, I’ve made several notable mistakes with money over the years. I’ve written before about how I failed to take action with my investment plan for 5 […]
In a perfect world, you would have started saving with the first dollar that you ever received, i.e. birthday money, paper route money, graduation money. You would have gone to the bank – or your parent would have taken you – to the bank and you would have opened an account. Then you would have […]
I don’t use a budget. I’ve been in charge of my own money since I got my first part-time job, in a grocery store, at the age of 15. Not once since that time have I ever written out a budget in order to allocate a certain amount towards food, towards clothing, towards entertainment, towards […]