Personal Finance

It’s okay to spend money on life’s indulgences once in a while. If a daily latte or weekly visit to the spa floats your boat, I say go for it. When you design your budget around the things that are important to you – while cutting out the things that aren’t – then your splurging actually…

We’re not getting married as much any more. Of people 30 to 44 years old, only 60% were married in 2008. In 1970, 84% were married. Also, the age of people getting married for the first time is rising. In the 1970’s it was roughly 23 for women and 25 for men. In 2008 it…

A small business, as defined by the Canadian Revenue Agency, has an annual revenue stream between $30,000 and $5 Million. Of all the individual Canadians that filed tax returns more than 99.98% fell into that same income bracket. However, unlike individuals, small businesses account for their income and expenditures on a consistent and regular basis.…

Comedian Louis C.K. closed his 2013 comedy special Oh My God with a hilarious (albeit crude) bit called, “Of course . . . but maybe.” I thought it would be fun to apply the same thinking to personal finance and some of the situations we run into every day. On sense of entitlement Of course…

Everyone makes a few financial mistakes in their life. Maybe you took investment advice from your favourite barista and lost a bundle on a “hot” new stock. Or you said, “No thank you” to your employer’s pension plan, which matched your own contributions 100%, and now you’re retiring pensionless. Perhaps you have your potential wealth…

We shop at Costco about once a month or so. It’s about a 40-minute drive across the bridge and into Kelowna. One day, after we returned from our shopping trip, I noticed that we had been charged twice for one of our purchases – $18.99. The thought of going back over the bridge in rush…

There’s been a lot of talk recently about commissions (especially embedded fees) paid to financial professionals. In the past it was often hard to pin down just what financial advisers were making off their clients and how fees were calculated. Public pressure has made the fee collecting process more transparent, but there are still questions…

Grocery bills are on the rise and I’m always looking for ways to save money. I was recently intrigued when I read about a $5 a day meal planning program until I realized the writer was American. I don’t think it’s possible to shop the same way in Canada. Our food prices are a lot higher, and…

Millennials need to develop an entrepreneurial spirit in order to succeed in today’s economy. Gone are the days when you could graduate debt-free, get a job with a stable employer, work there for three decades, and retire with a healthy pension. Today’s workers change jobs every four to five years, and they’re no stranger to…

There’s a popular story told by banks and financial authors to encourage people to start saving for retirement at an early age. It’s called the Parable of the Twins and it goes something like this: One twin puts aside $3,000 every year into his tax free savings account starting at age 22, and stops at 32 –…