Being a good judge of character is a unique and valuable skill.  One that will advance your career, increase your net worth, give you more personal friends, as well as make you more money.  If you can be a good judge of character, you will be able to avoid hiring mistakes, size up first impressions with your new boss and correctly focus on what matters to potential decision makers.  Judging someone on their skill and accomplishments is relatively objective and straightforward, but gauging their attitude is much harder and it [...]

I often have people ask me whether they should include preferred shares in their portfolio and although I am not a great fan of this investment product, I have many peers who use them exclusively in their client’s portfolios.  So, today let’s talk about all the different types that are available and you can see for yourself if this is an investment style you would like to entertain. What are they?  Preferred shares are corporate shares that are not classified as common or restricted.  Preferred shares usually receive a fixed [...]

You are not alone.  Many Canadians put off getting a Will because they either don’t want to spend the money or they don’t want to think about the possibility of dying.  This however is a big mistake.  Dying without a Will, means you will have absolutely no say about any of your assets or care for your children or pets once you die. Let’s just look at some of the immediate issues that will arise should you die without a Will.  First, the Canadian Government will immediately become the Executor of [...]

Dear Money Lady readers:  I wanted to share this quote with you “The things you do can cost you... but the things you don’t do, can cost you everything !”  I was at a fantastic women’s event recently and was inspired to share with you the insights of this event.  One of the many speakers had a profound message: “You can’t quantify how much business you’re not getting through your non-efforts.”  Wow – isn’t that the truth! The real money you lose in life is the money you fail to [...]

I am often asked to discuss annuities, so today I want to delve a little deeper into this strategy, often used to create a lifelong income in retirement.  Life annuities are designed for clients who have insufficient savings and/or a very low risk tolerance to investing in the market.  There are four main types of annuities: straight life, joint life, term-certain and deferred.  We will discuss each one plus some of the added features you can opt for.  Straight life annuities are the simplest.  This annuity guarantees a periodic income [...]

I was overwhelmed with the response from readers about the previous column I wrote on reverse mortgages.  There seems to be many Canadians considering this product as a way to inject the much needed funds into their later years of retirement.  Many of you had questions about other alternatives so I wanted to provide you with one that I believe would indeed be a better option: a collateral charge.  The problem with a reverse mortgage is, you will often receive a portion of your home equity as a lump-sum to [...]

I love the latest TV commercial with actor Tom Sellick about reverse mortgages.  It must be his fabulous moustache and soothing voice.  Okay, all joking aside, it is almost impossible to escape the cadre of aging male actors and athletes who’ve found a second career as pitch-men for reverse mortgages.  Kurt Browning is the front man for Canada’s CHIP reverse mortgage product.  So, should you consider it?  Reverse mortgages have their place as a viable equity product and there are only two lenders in Canada that offer them: Home [...]

I recently went to a friend’s home and had the pleasure of reading a book to her 4-year-old granddaughter and I had forgotten how wise these children’s books are.  Written by adults for children, but with a message in the story for us all.  The book was called “Days with Frog and Toad,” written by Arnold Lobel.  The story starts with Toad waking up one morning and complaining about his messy house and how many jobs he had to do.  He exclaims to Frog that he is going back [...]

Did you know that according to Stats Canada there are approximately 7.3 million women between the ages of 51 to 62 in Canada?  That’s a lot of ladies.  I love to be in the company of so many Canadian women.  Women born in the late 50’s or 60’s were told they should grow up to be secretaries, grocery cashiers or better yet just be a good mother.  Now I am not saying this is bad, if you did this and have been happy – that is fabulous.  But, most [...]