Education Savings: Start Early

A new baby in the family brings many hopes, dreams and expectations. This can often include thoughts about how their lives can be better than that of their parents. And that often includes hopes about careers and the education that goes with them. It is also the time to start planning how to finance the education needed to fulfill those hopes and dreams.

Statistics Canada¹ estimates the total Canadian average tuition cost today - of a four-year Canadian undergraduate degree - is about $30,000 for students living at home. Parents of newborns can expect those costs to increase to over $50,000 by the time...

What is Insurance?

Insurance surrounds each of us every day: When you get in your car, when you come home to your residence, and while you work. Insurance is always in the background discreetly doing its job. Most of us, however, do not think about it much or realize the very important function that all types of insurance provide. In fact, the role of insurance is so important that it is the focal point of a wise financial strategy.

Risk Transfer:

So, what is insurance? Technically, it is the process of risk transfer. When someone wants to be protected from a certain risk, they buy an insurance policy to reimburse them in the event the risk occurs.

On the insurer’s side, they calculate a fee (the premium) to coincide with the likelihood of the event occurring. Auto accidents are more likely than earthquakes...

The Safe Investing Dilemma

As John nears retirement, he is becoming concerned about covering his future living costs with income from only interest-bearing investments. Along with many other investors globally who have poured trillions of dollars into government bonds over the past decade, John wants to feel safe and have his money guaranteed. But the price of safety in a low interest rate world is higher than you may realize.

For example, the best five-year GIC rate in Canada is currently about 5.0%. The after-tax return is between 3.0% - 4.0%. But if we include current inflation figures the net return is almost zero.

Legendary investor Warren Buffet once observed that many fixed income investors continually "miss the party" as equity investments have continued to outperform fixed income investments over the long term. "I don’t know what I would do if I..."