Welcome to the "Personal Finance" Category

How and Why to Calculate Your Marginal Tax Rate

Taxes.  Yawn.  Right? Wrong. For many Canadians, taxes form the largest expense in their budget.  And for many employee-Canadians (vs. self-employed Canadians), you’re going to pay close to whatever your company’s tax slip says you’re going to pay.  And because tax is often withdrawn right from your paycheque, you might not even notice how much […]

How and Why to Calculate Your Savings Rate

In late October I had the opportunity speak about how early retirement is more achievable than you might think, provided you take appropriate actions and make wise financial choices. Specifically, on slide 28, I provided a simple example of how healthy spending and savings patterns can open up many life choices. You could stop work […]

There’s Something to Be Said About Dividends

Some of you probably care immensely about dividends. Some of you probably don’t even know what dividends are (except for free money in Monopoly). And some of you are probably like me: you know the basics and the concepts, but could stand to learn a bunch more to really take advantage of them. Well, a […]

Do You Bargain at the Big Box?

Did you know that you can successfully bargain with many different retailers, including those big box chains? But before I get going on how and when to pull it off, I would like to make a case for why you should not bargain with a retailer. I remember discussing these ideas with others at a […]

How Will You Spend Your $1765 Tax Refund?

It’s tax time. Call me a dork, but I love tax time. For some 17 million Canadians, tax time means a big tax refund. In fact, according to the Canadian government, that many tax returns last year resulted in a combined $30 billion of refunds. That’s $1765 on average. So are what you gonna spend […]

Why Not Reframe What Your Money is Worth?

How much is a dollar worth? More specifically, how much is a dollar worth to you? This could quickly lead to a conversation about inflation and purchasing power, or to a comparison to other currencies, or to an even more philosophical discussion about value. But why not reframe the question and use “real” things to […]