Today Canada is dominated by five large banks, that now control 91% of the entire Canadian financial service industry, with approximately $4 Trillion in assets. The Royal Bank’s recent purchase of HSBC only amplifies this fact. Many may think that there are larger industries in Canada, however as of 2021 the financial sector is now the largest industry in terms of employment in Canada. There now is so much information out there, it’s hard to know if someone is trying to truly help you or sell you something that is necessary for them to meet their sales quota. Because of this, I want to provide my readers with a basic financial plan strategy. One that every Canadian can fit into their life and we will break it into four stages. Use it as a guideline - something to work towards. Guaranteed, if done as presented, it will reduce the [...]

You are so right – the cost of groceries has gone up 12.4% according to Stats Canada since January 2022 and with the continued trend that we are to experience a “mild recession” this year, we can expect the costs to rise a little more. Let’s go through five quick tips that will help lower your food expenses. 1. Go back to the old way of shopping – clip those coupons. There are many coupons on-line that you can print off and use from retailers or product manufacturers. I just went on-line to: “Kellogg’s Coupons Canada” and found many printable coupons for all their products. Why not try this with other items you always buy. It’s like getting free money with a few clicks on your laptop. 2. Use points cards to redeem cash towards your next grocery bill. A lot of grocery stores these days have incentives to [...]

My eldest son recently declared he was moving in with his girlfriend after 14 months of dating to save money together for their future – without a ring or proposal.  I was quite surprised by this announcement since I am definitely an old school mum who believes you should be married or at least engaged to be living together.  But, trying to be more worldly, I have adjusted my archaic dinosaur ways to now realize that this is happening all the time with millennials, (all over the world).  A marriage certificate these days; to some of our younger Canadians, is just a piece of paper.  But as a life longer banker, I am inclined to get my two cents in there with my son since a new “living together relationship” still needs a transparent plan between both parties; and a detailed discussion to deal with the new set of [...]