Regret has no place in your financial plan. You’re not perfect and you will make mistakes with your money. Once you’ve identified a money mistake, don’t spend your time regretting it. Simply make a course correction to stop making that mistake and move forward. The past cannot be changed so learn from your mistakes and […]
I am not certified by any governing body to tell you how to spend your money. My words of advice were earned at the School of Life, a place where all of us are students. I’m telling you this so that you realize that I’m not an expert, but I’ve still learned a thing or […]
When I first delved into the world of personal finance, I came across the idea that savers have trouble spending their money. Basically, the belief is that those who have saved all their lives are incapable of reversing their behaviour and spending their savings once they retire. I pooh-poohed that point-of-view. After all, how could […]
This question recently came up, and I’ve been noodling on it ever since. My whole adult life, I’ve been following the habit of maxing out my RRSP, my TFSA, and saving another chunk of my paycheque in my non-registered investment account. However, yesterday, someone asked me what I was saving it all for and whether […]
As I’ve mentioned a time or two, I’ve made many mistakes with my money. One of my biggest money mistakes involved how I went about finding my community. When I first started to learn about financial independence, early retirement and investing, I made two mistakes based on arrogance. First, I mistakenly assumed that everyone was […]
One of things that I’ve always understood about investing is that money works harder than people are able to. Money never gets tired, sick, distracted, or unmotivated. It literally works around the clock once it has been invested. People can’t do that. People need food, rejuvenation, sleep and time with loved ones. Those items are […]
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 […]
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 […]
One of the eternal questions that’s raised in the personal finance world is whether one should be investing or paying of a mortgage. I made my choice 15 years ago. In hindsight, my choice could qualify as a mistake but, if so, it’s not the worst one I’ve ever made. As I’ve said before, personal […]