Whether you're single or spoken for, chances are you're fairly comfortable with your routine each year, your yearly love affair....with RRSPs. STOP! Think it oh-oh-ver....

A retirement projection can be the basis for your own "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.  Should I take some nice vacations with my kids now? Should I buy that sports car? Will I have enough when I am 65 to travel? The only way to really answer these questions is to take a look at your finances NOW and how they project out to the FUTURE. 

One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is to get in better physical shape but let’s be honest, it is also one of the most failed New Year’s resolutions. How about in 2019, you resolve to get your finances into better shape? Here are 5 tips:

We are almost in 2019! Here are 5 financial planning tips as we head towards the end of the year to help optimize your situation. While some actions should be done by the end of the year in order to qualify for this year’s taxes, there are some actions that are good practice to do once a year. The end of the year (and the beginning of next year) is a great time to look at it.

As with many couples, one person (in this case me) takes care most of the household finances and investments. My hope is that this letter can help alleviate some of the stress on my wife if she was left alone (with our 3 kids) should something happen to me.

TFSAs are greatly overshadowed by the RRSP as a retirement account. The RRSP program has long been the default retirement program for most Canadians but is it the best retirement solution? Although it has been around since 2009, the TFSA program, with a 2019 limit of $63,500, is sizeable enough to be given serious thought as a retirement or long-term savings plan.

October 2018 ended in the RED…….

The S&P 500 ended down 6.9% and the TSX finished lower by 6.5%.

Here is a letter to investors:

Investing can be stressful. What stock do I pick? Should I sell now? Should I buy now? What’s my strategy? Is my portfolio beating the market? How much am I paying in fees? Here are three index investing solutions that can help take the stress out of investing

According to the Canadian Medical Association, Canadians are losing sleep over money stress. See how these passive investment strategies and tools can help you get the rest you need.

One of the greatest downfalls to an investment portfolio is the human who owns it. We all know that the best way to ensure your assets grow is to "Buy low; Sell high". So why are we still struggling to see decent returns over the long run? Emotions

The RRSP program has long been the default retirement program for most Canadians but is it the best retirement solution? Although it has been around since 2009, the TFSA program, with a 2018 limit of $57,500, is sizeable enough to be given serious thought as a retirement or long-term savings plan.

Your superstar player doesn't wait for their team to start winning before they start warming up. They play the whole game. Similarly, your investment portfolio needs to spend time in the market, rather than depend on timing the market.  

Winter is finally over and you're safe to crawl out of your hibernation cave into the warm spring sun. Tax season is also over, so you can finally to do fun things like assess your portfolio!

The phrase "Financial Independence" has been gaining popularity as it does not carry the same baggage as the word "Retirement". Financial Independence gives you the freedom to choose how your time is spent (paid or not) and for some, can be reached in their 30s and 40s. Read this article to see what are the key pillars to FIRE. 

There are only an estimated 300 Fee-for-Service Financial Planners in Canada, compared to over 100,000 other financial advisors - the majority working for financial institutions that sell commissioned products.  Even the best of these will be confined to their company's objectives. A Fee-for-Service Financial Planner is hired by you, the client, to create a Financial Plan and to help coach you towards your life goals without the pressure of product sales. 

In Canada, married couples have the opportunity to use income splitting strategies. The idea is to minimize taxes your family pays by moving income from one spouse (who is at a higher tax rate) to the other spouse (who is at a lower rate).These audit-friendly strategies can help you achieve success as epic as Jean-Claude's split.

In this article, I offer some tips on how training your mind can actually help you save money in the new year. Making changes to your mindset will really help change some habits and produce  positive results. It might not be as dramatic as taking the red pill in the Matrix, but are you ready to learn about the reality behind spending?

Now that it's 2018, here are 5 warm-up exercises to help get your finances back on track:

2017 was the first year of VAVE's Monday Money Meme. We had a lot of fun coming up with different ideas. Here are my top ten favorites: 

In the film Rounders, Matt Damon’s character, Mike McDermott, is quoted: “Listen, here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.”   If you're an amateur do-it-yourself investor buying stocks on your own, consider yourself the sucker. Read about why you should just walk away from the table instead of trying your luck against the professionals.