Posts by Robb Engen
Why You Should Avoid Group RESPs
Most parents should know that contributing to an RESP is a great way to save for your child’s education. But there’s one type of plan that gives RESPs a bad name. Group RESPs, or group scholarship trusts, are heavily marketed to new parents and immigrants at doctor’s offices and trade shows. These RESP dealers employ…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: August Long Edition
My wife and I are spending this August long weekend planning our dream trip to the U.K. next summer. So far we’ve booked flights to Edinburgh, Scotland and found an Airbnb for our two-week stay in Kilkenny, Ireland. We’re trying to fill in the rest of the details, including travelling to Inverness, flying to Dublin,…
Read MoreDon’t Let Slow Wage Growth Derail Financial Freedom
When I worked in the hotel industry our management liked to use a phrase called ‘manage the gap’. The goal was to maintain a 2 percent gap between revenue growth and expense growth. So if expenses were forecast to rise by 3 percent, we’d want to see revenues grow by 5 percent. Managing the gap…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Tangerine $250 Winner Edition
One downside to driving an 11-year-old car is the lack of technology and features that come standard in today’s vehicles. My ’07 Tucson has a CD player, for example, but I haven’t bought or burned a CD in years. I prefer to stream music via Google Play. So my options were to listen to local…
Read MoreOne Stock For 25 Years
Let’s say you had to pick one stock to hold for the next 25 years – which one would it be? Would you select one of the most valuable companies in the world today, such as Apple or Amazon, with the idea that they’ll still be on top a quarter-century from now? Maybe you’d take…
Read MoreIt’s Your Money, Plain And Simple
Being married to a personal finance blogger can’t be easy. My better half must feel like every spending decision will be scrutinized and every transaction put under the microscope. Adding to her money anxiety is the fact that, as a stay-at-home partner, she doesn’t have her own income to spend on whatever she wants. Even…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Incompetent Banking Edition
Banks are staying open longer to meet the needs of their busy customers, offering extended weekday hours and opening on weekends. You’d like to think they’d be able to deliver the same level of service during those off-peak hours, but my experience suggested otherwise. My daughter and I walked into a TD branch Saturday afternoon…
Read MoreIs A Sweet Offer Enticing You To Switch Banks? Think Again
Canada’s big banks are trying to lure new customers to switch banks this summer by offering juicy incentives such as free iPads or hundreds of dollars in cash back. Don’t take the bait. To get the sweet bonus you’ll have to sign up for an expensive monthly plan, and/or apply for other products such as…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Back To The Grind Edition
Holiday’s over. Back to the grind. We spent an amazing 10 days exploring the wilderness on Vancouver Island. It was a much needed break, both for the family and for me personally to recharge my batteries and get the creative juices flowing again. I’m coming back full of ideas to share on this blog and…
Read MoreWeekend Reading: Summer Vacation Edition
I’m typing this edition of weekend reading on the deck of our summer vacation rental in Port Renfrew, taking in this breathtaking view of Port San Juan. Yesterday we watched two bald eagles dive from the tree tops towards the water to dine on fish, spotted a family of hummingbirds sipping nectar from nearby flowers,…
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