So...did Chris get disability insurance since episode 4, or did he write a letter to Aunt Beatrice? Do you want to know how long it took and what happened? US TOO! Plus,friend of the show Julia Chung, who you may remember from An American in Paris (Ontario) returns to drop some insider insurance knowledge on us, including who to call when you need to make a claim, the nasty shock that might be hiding in your group policy, and how to get over fEeLiNgS and just get insured already. 7:25 -...

If you’ve never met Shannon Lee Simmons before, hold onto your hat, because there’s no one else like her. Founder of The New School of Finance, and author of the book Worry Free Money, Shannon joins Sandi and Chris to talk about how her family talked about money growing up, what the birds and the bees have to do with spending decisions, and why that Ikea Story had to open the book. You - for real - do not want to miss this. 2:15 - How did Shannon grow up talking about money 10:13 - How to...

Sandi and Seth talk about money a lot, and it's interesting to hear about how they manage that. Of course Sandi lives in the world of personal finance and they spend a lot of time together, so we have to grade that one on a curve. And just to underscore how much there is no single right answer, we'll hear how their money systems have changed over the years to suit their lives (like having kids) and as technology evolves (like YNAB). Time Stamps: 7:23 - How do you guys do money? 10:57 -...

None of us are ready to imagine a future without our parents in it. Full stop, fingers crossed, wood knocked, etc, etc. We’d all prefer to have our parents around until we die, thankyouverymuch, with no inheritance to speak of because they spent every last red cent on living long, healthy lives. But - since this is the darkest timeline and our parents won’t be around forever - should we be accounting for their money in our financial plans? Is it silly to pretend that there will be nothing...

You might remember from our episode on robo-advisors in Season Three that Sandi and John have spent abnormal amounts of time thinking about robo-advisors, to the point where they built a calculator to compare all of the ones available in Canada. Well, they’ve sold the calculator (to our Season 2 host, Kyle and his partner in crime Justin), and in this episode we talk about what the robos have done right in the last three years and what they can still improve on. Time Stamps: 5:28 - What...

What does Chris need but doesn’t want, Seth doesn’t need but Sandi wants, and John’s family want and need but couldn’t have? (It’s not Nanny MacPhee, in case you’re wondering, although that would be the Best Episode Ever). No, it’s...disability insurance! YAAAAAYYYY! Turns out, nobody here has enough or the right kind or even the right person insured...so...BoOoOo, I guess. 2:17 - John makes things get real… real fast 4:02 - Why don’t we talk about Disability Insurance? 8:07 - Sandi...

You don’t want to miss the story of how David O’Leary started out as an English Literature major, got into the market as a newbie leveraged investor just before the 2000 tech bubble burst, went bankrupt and became a fund analyst at Morningstar, met his wife, decided to change the world, and started a financial planning company. You really, really don’t. Trust us. 1: 20 - David’s Origin Story 7:55 - What David learned by being going bankrupt at 22 10: 51 How to protect yourself against a...

If you’re an opera fan (and who’s not?), you probably know Mireille Asselin, and if you don’t, you should. She’s also Chris’ Number One Favourite Person, and she’s on the show this week so we can have a real conversation about how they manage their money and how they decide who pays for what. Plus, we learn all about the lifecycle of an opera career, why Mimi likes real estate, and what it’s like to get a regular economy lecture on the way to ballet class. Time Stamps: 3:15 - the long...

It’s Season FOUR of Because Money, can you believe it? Even more surprising: all three of us were in the same room together to record this episode, and the world didn’t explode (because of us...that we know of...so far) This season is all about conversations...real ones. We’re going to have some guests, we’re going to do some deep dives into concepts, but through it all, it’s going to be real. We won’t always tie things up in a nice tidy bow (have we ever?), so you’re going to have a...

It's the last episode of Season Three, and because we don't want to see you fall victim to the summer slide, we're talking to Preet Banerjee about enough interesting stuff to keep you thinking until Season Four drops this fall, like: 0.33 - Why are there so many mutual funds? 1.36 - Preet explains everything (including why there are so many coffee shops on the same corner) 7.06 - Does investor literacy affect prices? 8.52 - Do advisors or investors drive poor investing decisions? 10.56 -...

Chris knows all the buttons to push to get John, our resident housing bear, to pull out his rent vs. buy calculator: 1:37 - How should we start thinking about real estate 6:30 - Is renting just a phase of life 10:24 - Is there an equation for rent vs buy 15:33 - What is ‘pride of ownership’ worth? 19:25 - How to live in a housing bubble 24:24 - Rent vs Buy when you’re not living in Toronto or Vancouver 27:25 - John breaks down the rent vs buy math 33:07 - Is a house a tool for forced...

This episode has everything: a quiz that Sandi spectacularly loses, a guest that digs into the nitty gritty of communal living, and a fight with a (housing) bear. Join us and our guest Rob Bancroft if you're at all interested in the idea of living in a community. Highlights include: -Rob talks about his communal living experience - 12:14 -Housing as a social phenomenon VS an economic term - 15:47 -Creating community when you’re far from home - 23:25 -The cold economics -...

It's the one, the only Avraham Byers, Personal Financial Trainer, here to ring your doorbell every morning with $150, make awesome beard jokes, and talk about his recent (and fabulously simple) ebook Your Magic Number. Highlights include: 2:14 - Avraham's Chewbacca Story 7:20 - What's a financial trainer 8:59 - Will more money solve all my problems? 11:15 - What's your magic number? 15:12 - John says eight words 16:15 - Finding your magic number 24:08 - How to become the kind of person who...

Can Regulation Make Advice Better? "How can you be certain that the advice you're getting from a professional (an accountant, a lawyer, a doctor...a financial planner) is trustworthy? Is it enough to judge the advice based on how well you know and like the person giving it? You might think that the regulation of ""trust"" industries, is somewhat of an inside baseball topic for Because Money, but we think that equipping yourself with an understanding of what's going on beneath the surface...

In a departure from our normal format, Chris and Sandi spend this episode talking through their thoughts about RRSP Loans…twice. Why twice? Turns out we had more to say. Why audio-only? Chris wanted to test his show-editing skills. Why no John? Why this weird question and answer format? Why don’t you just listen and find out? For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep-9-chris-and-sandi-think-through-rrsp-loans

Change is hard, and since it’s just about time for all those resolutions to start making you feel guilty, we’ve put together an episode that includes what we’ll all look back on and remember as the single best piece of financial change advice in 2017. (Also: John is an evil genius.) For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep8-how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-maria

Starting a New Business with Jessica Oman We're back after our holiday hiatus (so good!) with an episode designed to answer one question for all those aspiring entrepreneurs out there: what's stopping you? Join us as we pepper Renegade Planner Jessica Oman with questions about how she turns emerging entrepreneurs into confident owners, like: Why she doesn't need to take any Four Tendencies Quiz to know she's a dyed-in-the-wool rebel [02:30] How she kicks entrepreneurs out of the nest and...

So everyone agrees that financial literacy in Canada could get better… but how? Now that’s something that people don’t always agree on, and that’s why Kyle Prevost is the most interesting man in Canada when it comes to financial literacy. For years people have talked about how we should ‘really be teaching this stuff in school’ but he’s the only guy we know personally that’s actually doing it! Join us for a rousing edition of Chris’ new game, Financial Literacy Trivia, and to find out how...

Sandi and John built a cool tool to compare robo-advisors across Canada, and in this show Chris asks us all sorts of questions about it. We're all pretty excited about the calculator and the fintech revolution in general, so if you've been hearing about places like Justwealth, Wealthsimple, or one of the many other companies who offer portfolio management at a fraction of the price of average Canadian mutual funds, but don't know where to start comparing them, this episode is for...

We've managed to convince Season One co-host Robb Engen of Boomer and Echo (and Rewards Cards Canada) to hang out and talk about what he's been up to and draft a fantasy portfolio. No, really: we could have spent an entire episode just talking about it. Fortunately for you, our dear listeners, we did not. We thought Alberta, with its recent and rapid transition from boom to bust, might be an interesting case study at as we explore the concept of total capacity and how the choices we make to...

An American in Paris (Ontario) with Julia Chung We're delighted to be joined this week by Julia Chung, CFP extraordinaire at JYC Financial, cross-border planning enthusiast, and all-round cool person. In this episode we start with a rousing game of Financial False Equivalents (spoiler alert: the IRS is always the IRS), and then start peppering Julia with questions, including: -The difference between residency and citizenship for Americans in Canada (and who decides which applies) -What you...

Dungeons and Ratios We’re joined by erstwhile co-host Jackson Middleton for a quest deep into the dark heart of determining someone’s financial health, aided by only a few trusty ratios. We may not have a twenty-sided die, but we are going to fight over whether net worth, credit score, and the total debt service ratio can tell someone’s whole money story, or if we need to expand the questions a little. In this episode, we find out what Jackson’s been up to (hint, he recently had to decide...

It’s a brand new season, and in our first episode we’re introducing our new co-host (Chris Enns), new on-air producer (John Robertson), and new format. That’s right, the wait is almost over: Because Money Season Three, plus all 38 episodes from Seasons One and Two, are going to be available on iTunes soon thanks to our new off-air producer MuhammadYasir Dewji. For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep1-welcome-to-season-three/

On this final episode of Because Money Season Two, we thought we’d spice it up and talk about something we don’t necessarily agree on: advertising, brand partnerships, and advertorials on personal finance blogs, and – bonus – we’re joined by Season One co-host Robb Engen. For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/1003-2/

The Journey Towards Minimalism How do you deal with “stuff”? You know… the “stuff” that surrounds you… all the time. Do you have boxes of “stuff” that you haven’t looked in for 27 years but simply can’t bring yourself to get rid of? This episode is for you. This week on the Because Money podcast we are joined by the incomparable Cait Flanders as she shares her journey towards minimalism. This episode is packed with golden tidbits… you might learn how to know when it’s time to purge, or when...