Posts Tagged ‘Personal Finance’
Financing A Vehicle? Here Are Some Pitfalls To Avoid
Information asymmetry occurs when one party in a transaction has more or better information than the other. I can’t think of a situation where this imbalance of power is more often on display than when it comes to buying a car. Think about it. The salesperson shows you a couple of vehicles, you take one…
Read MoreShould An Allowance Be Tied To Chores?
Raising financially savvy children is important to me and I’ve found that the best way for my kids to learn about money is to give them an allowance. One of the first questions my wife and I asked each other – after determining how much to give and how often – was whether the allowance should…
Read More5 Ways To Avoid Monthly Bank Fees
I’ve banked with TD my whole life but while I consider myself to be a fairly loyal customer that doesn’t mean I’ll blindly accept blatant fee grabs without fighting back. That’s exactly what happened two years ago when the big green bank announced changes to its chequing account fees and minimum balances. Their basic chequing…
Read More7 Money Mistakes To Avoid This Year
I’m on a mission to help people get a better handle on their money. Of course, you may be someone who doesn’t make mistakes. However, in the thirty plus years I’ve worked in the financial services industry, I’ve seen lots of things that people do wrong when it comes to their money. This is a…
Read MoreFrom The Boomer & Echo Mailbag: Help! I Overspent My Christmas Budget
Q. Once again, I spent way over my Christmas budget. How can I prevent that from happening next year? The financial hangover left by Christmas spending is all too familiar. Every year you resolve to stick to your holiday budget and every year you find yourself caught up in a marathon of spontaneous and extravagant…
Read MoreThe Steady March Of Inflation
What were you doing in 2006? Maybe you were humming the latest Beyonce hit Check on It, or standing in line with your kids to see Ice Age: The Meltdown. Or, maybe you were discovering the newest social media craze and opening a Facebook account. Conservative Stephen Harper became our new Prime Minister, defeating Liberal…
Read MoreI Want To Buy A House In 3 Years. Should I Invest My Down Payment?
Interest rates on savings accounts and GICs are abysmal these days, so it can be tempting to put your hard earned savings into the stock market for a chance to juice your returns. But how and where you save and invest depends a lot on your time horizon – when do you need the money?…
Read MoreWhy Are Canadians So Loyal To Their Bank?
I have been dealing with my bank for decades and most of my financial products are held there. Yes, I know that I could get a higher interest rate on my savings account, or a lower trading fee on my discount brokerage if I switched. I think about it for a minute or two, and…
Read MoreSharing My Top Financial Wins
Talking about money can often feel a lot like the movie Fight Club. You know, the first rule of money is: You do not talk about money. The second rule of money is: You do not talk about money. Indeed, money is a taboo topic in many households and cultures. As a financial blogger, my…
Read MoreWhen Do You Stop Helping Your Adult Children?
Rodney and Carol retired in their early sixties. A few years later their youngest child, Greg, lost his graphic arts job and decided to start a small manufacturing business. To start the company, he got his parents to invest $50,000. They wanted to help their son succeed in his dream, so they made the investment.…
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