Posts Tagged ‘Commentary’

A recent CBC the fifth estate report featured the current high cost of prescription drugs in Canada. A growing number of advocates (including CARP) would like to see a national drug program become a reality. Canada is the only country in the world that has a universal health care system that doesn’t include universal drug…

Financial author David Bach introduced the Latte Factor as a metaphor for all the small indulgences we regularly treat ourselves to that add up over time. It wasn’t meant to single-out Starbucks as the main culprit for our financial woes, but somehow millennials feel the need to stand up for their beloved coffeehouse and defend…

Finance Ministers from across the country meet today in Vancouver to discuss CPP expansion. At stake is not just about whether we should expand the Canada Pension Plan, but how it should be phased-in and who will benefit. One proposal will see sweeping changes across the board both in terms of higher benefits and premiums paid…

Five years ago, financial blowhard advisor Kurt Rosentreter published a newsletter with the daunting title, “Canadian 30 Year Olds Are Screwed.” The author displayed the kind of “get off my lawn” finger wagging attitude all too common in generational wars; using ridiculous and patronizing claims like, “people spend more time on the Internet than their finances,”…

Sean Cooper didn’t just pay off his $255,000 mortgage in three years; he taught us all a lesson in personal branding. Mr. Cooper, a pension analyst by day, mild-mannered blogger by night, took an almost Machiavellian-like approach by achieving fame through mortgage freedom. Buying a home in one of Canada’s most expensive cities at the…

So here I am, sidelined by a miserable summer flu that still has a strong grip on me even at the end of week two. My head is so foggy that I’m reduced to watching TV’s inane summer programming, the Mike Duffy trial, election promises, and talking heads explaining our current economy. With this in…

No homeowner appreciates unsolicited visits from companies selling door-to-door. In fact, a survey conducted by the Trading Standards Institute (U.K.) found that 96% of the 9,000 people questioned were opposed to uninvited door-to-door sellers. As I write this, home alarm companies, such as Vivint, and energy companies, such as Just Energy and Direct Energy, have…

Loving parents will occasionally help their children in a financial crisis and/or pay outright for certain expenses: University tuition and expenses – either through funding RESPs or directly when they are due. Help with the down payment on their first home. Wedding costs. Provide a place to stay when unemployed, divorced, etc. We also often…