The main reason people try to keep up with the Joneses is the status games we all play. Humans are social animals, and across our evolutionary history it has been vital to know where we stand in the tribe. Status could affect access to food, mates, safety, and resources. In modern life it also determines … Read more

What caught my eye this week. When former Chancellor George Osborne announced increases to stamp duty and reductions in mortgage interest tax relief for landlords, many dismissed the move with a shrug. “They’ll just raise the rents!” some scoffed. “Generation Rent can pick up the tab.” But it turns out that having ridden one of … Read more

You and I are often advised to put our money into simple portfolios and to invest in shares for the long term for retirement. That advice is sound for most of us. But once preserving capital becomes more important than growing it, different approaches come to the fore. For the very wealthy, the preservation of … Read more

Personal Finance Highlights: Cottages, Back-to-School, Pennies, Pensions and Insurance This roundup covers several consumer finance topics that matter to many Canadians: the financial implications of cottage ownership, early back-to-school shopping, the fate of the penny, recent pension performance, and how online reviews influence insurance decisions. Each section summarizes key findings and offers practical considerations to … Read more

The life expectancy for a couple is significantly longer than for each partner individually — often by more than a decade. If you’re responsible for a retirement plan that must support two people, you need to understand the odds that one or both of you will live to an advanced age. Long lives can drain … Read more

Few numbers matter more to investors than the rate of return on their portfolio. Despite its apparent simplicity, calculating a portfolio’s return can be complicated, especially when you add contributions or withdrawals during the measurement period. Multiple calculation methods exist, and they can produce notably different results. Each approach has strengths and weaknesses, which is … Read more

In the competitive and often chaotic world of cryptocurrencies, two lighthearted digital coins have stood out for their playful branding: Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. Their humorous names reflect their origin as memecoins—a class of cryptocurrencies inspired by internet jokes, memes and viral trends rather than by traditional financial or technical utility. Industry trackers estimate that … Read more

Highlights that caught my eye this week. I spent Friday hopping between Zoom calls and navigating the awkward choreography of a socially distanced furniture delivery. Have you ever tried to hold one end of a half-assembled, five-foot bookshelf while standing six feet apart from the other holder? It’s a surprisingly delicate operation. Anyway — on … Read more

How Much of Your Pre-Retirement Income Do You Really Need? For years financial planners and fund companies have often recommended replacing roughly 60% to 80% of pre-retirement income to maintain your standard of living after you stop working. New analysis from human resource consultants Morneau Shepell, however, suggests the reality may be quite different for … Read more

Reality Check: What the C.D. Howe Study Means for Retirement Savings Following a recent blog on the risks of “saving too much,” a new study from the C.D. Howe Institute offers a clear-eyed reality check for retirement savers and pension administrators. The core message is simple: using past investment returns as a guide to future … Read more