If you open a TFSA and put some money in there, is it invested? Is the money you put into that account guaranteed to grow? Can you simply pull money out of your RRSP to use it for other purposes, like paying down debt, without any issues? Is that possible? I’ve just had several conversations […]
How To Get Your Credit Score For Free – And What The Catch Is
A venture capitalist, doubling as a professor during a week of mini university for high school students, told my daughter the following: When you get something for free, you are the product. They were looking into free apps and how companies make money when they give their products away for free. There’s always a catch. […]
Financial Lessons From a Taxi Driver
I don’t know what it is about me and taxi drivers. Whenever I’m in a car alone with them – something that happens infrequently – they tell me their life story. Four years ago, I was told by a driver that he was too old to succeed and that I am really old. Well, that […]
Two Words for Women: Be Bold (A Rant)
Warning: Bold language ahead. Proceed at own risk. When I was in Grade 12, I was obliged to have a meeting with our school’s guidance counsellor about my future. I was applying to universities and his task was to help me make wise choices regarding my career. The results of my aptitude test (I did […]
When It Makes Sense To Rent a Home Instead of Buying
When I published my last blog post on the fact that it does not always make sense to keep the matrimonial home in a divorce, I received emails from people heading into a divorce for whom that issue was timely. Should they rent or buy another home, they wanted to know? Then I heard from a […]
Not All Dollars are Equal in Divorce Settlements
Tim and Connie decided to call it quits after more than a decade of marriage. There wasn’t a big crisis; it’s just that they grew apart. While one of them wasn’t entirely happy with the decision, they both came to accept that separation, and ultimately divorce, was inevitable. There was just one problem: they both […]
Paying Off Debt: An Effective Budgeting Approach
If a woman is trying to pay off debt, should she let the cleaning lady go? Is that a superfluous cost? What about expensive hockey team fees and equipment costs for her son? Are you tempted to say yes in both cases? If so, consider this: Years ago, two women, Gwen and Jean*, approached me […]
Where do you cheap out?
Have you ever done this: You sit down for a restaurant meal and the waiter hands you the menu, asking if you’d like something to drink. “Water would be great, thank you,” you respond. Then you look over the food offerings with one eye on the items and the other on the price. Your choice […]
Tackling Debt: The Step Many People Omit
Joe and Sally are a couple in their early thirties. They have university degrees and each have good, professional jobs. As a family, they have a strong, six-figure income and no dependants. Despite their income, they are awash in debt, much of it corrosive: credit card and line of credit debt. When I first met them, they had […]
A Place for “Stupid” Financial Questions: Women’s Money Group
Last fall, I talked to a heap of women from coast to coast about their challenges with money: What questions did they have? Where did they feel they need support or answers? What’s working financially and what isn’t? It turns out that one of the most common issues for women is the fact that they […]
