Spring almost sprung over Easter weekend, but as I write this blog it is the day after high winds and power outages. Today we woke up to snowdrops peeping through the snow on the ground. I think T.S. Eliot was on to something when he wrote in The Wasteland, that “April is the cruelest month.”

This week we preview a selection of blogs from a series of well-known Canadian personal finance writers.

Alan Whitton, aka BigCajunMan writes about Serial Refinancers. Serial refinancers just keep going back to the well and refinancing their debts with consolidation loans or similar debt vehicles. Much like serial murder (or murder in general), he says this is very bad! Consolidation or refinancing of a debt is supposed to be something you do once (if ever), not every 2 years.

In Paying Off Debt: An Effective Budgeting Approach, Doris Belland (Your Financial Launchpad) discusses two families to illustrate that cutting back sports activities in one family to save money is not necessarily the appropriate solution for the other household. According to Belland, two things are necessary to slay the debt monster: an understanding of why you got into debt in the first place, and knowledge of what you value.

What Happens If You Die Without a Will?  Your will reflects how you want your estate to be distributed upon your death. However, when you die intestate, the distribution is decided by a formula laid down by the Provincial Government—not you—and this formula can vary from province to province. “When you die intestate, an estate administrator will be appointed to wind up your estate and make any distributions to your beneficiaries,” Robin Taub explains. “Dying intestate may mean higher costs and delays in distributing assets to beneficiaries, compared to having a will appointing an executor of your choice.”

Once you stop working, your objective shifts from growing your investment portfolio to generating income from it. Many retirees obsess over generating enough retirement cash flow from their investments. They prefer a predictable stream of income to partially replace their previous salary income. Marie Engen explores some strategies for Generating Retirement cash flow from your Investments on the Financial Independence Hub. For example, you can withdraw only income (interest or dividend income); reinvest income, dividend and capital gains, take the amount you need for their annual living expenses and then rebalance; or purchase an annuity.

Planning a train trip? Money We Have’s Barry Choi offers 10 Train Travel Hacks You Need to Know . He suggests that you book early, use all available discounts, pack some food and don’t forget to bring your portable charger to avoid running out of juice. If you’re on an overnight train, earplugs and a sleeping mask can be helpful. Having your phone or tablet fully loaded with music and videos will keep you entertained.

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.

This week we feature content from old friends and new dealing with a range of interesting issues.

On You and Your Money, Ed Rempel writes about Understanding the Differences Between Financial Advisors and Brokers. He says, “I do think everyday investors are much better off if they have someone in their corner who is recommending a particular investment product because it actually is the best product for them, given their circumstances and life stage. Not because there’s a commission on the sale at the end of the day.”

Doris Belland on Your Financial Launchpad tackles How to deal with multiple requests for donations and money. According to Doris, “The key is to run your financial life deliberately and consciously. Instead of barrelling through life with your nose to the grindstone, dealing with a plethora of urgent matters, spending on an ad hoc basis depending on which squeaky wheel is acting up, I suggest you make a plan and decide ahead of time which items are worthy of your valuable monthly cash.”

If you are spending a lot on Uber, should you buy a car? Desirae Odjick addresses this question on her blog half/BANKED. If you are laying out a large sum (say $1,000) every month on Uber, she agrees that a car makes sense. But if it’s a seasonal thing in really cold weather when you cannot easily walk, bike or take public transit she nixes the idea.

Mark Seed at My Own Advisor interviews Doug Runchey about the perennial question, Should you defer your Canada Pension to age 65 or 70? Runchey suggests that the main reasons for taking CPP and OAS as late as possible are:

• You don’t necessarily need the money to live on now.
• You have good reason to believe that you have a longer-than-average life expectancy.
• You don’t have a reliable defined pension with full indexing, and the CPP and OAS are integral to your inflation-protected, fixed-income financial well-being.
• You are concerned about market risk to your savings portfolio.
• You aren’t concerned about leaving a large estate – so you use up some or all personal assets before taking government benefits.

And finally, Maple Money’s Tom Drake puts the spotlight on Canada’s best no annual fee credit cards and the perks they offer. His list includes the:

• Tangerine Money-Back Credit Card
• President’s Choice Financial Mastercard
• MBNA Rewards Mastercard
• SimplyCash Card from American Express.

The features of each of these cards and a link to the relevant website are included in Drake’s blog.

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.

Well it’s that time again. We have a bright shiny New Year ahead of us and an opportunity to set goals and resolutions to make it the best possible year ever. Whether you are just starting out in your career, you are close to retirement or you have been retired for some time, it is helpful to think about what you want to accomplish and how you are going to meet these objectives.

My resolutions are to make more time to appreciate and enjoy every day as I ease into retirement. I also want to take more risks and develop new interests. Two of the retirement projects I have already embarked on are joining a community choir and serving on the board; and, taking courses in the Life Institute at Ryerson University. After all, as one of my good friends recently reminded me, most people do not run out of money, but they do run out of time!

Here in alphabetical order, are resolutions shared with me by eight blogger/writers who have either been interviewed for savewithspp.com or featured in our weekly Best from the Blogosphere plus two Saskatchewan Pension Plan team members.

1. Doris Belland has a blog on her website Your Financial Launchpad . She is also the author of Protect Your Purse which includes lessons for women about how to avoid financial messes, stop emotional bankruptcies and take charge of their money. Belland has two resolutions for 2018. She explains:

• I’m a voracious reader of finance books, but because of the sheer number that interest me, I go through them quickly. In 2018, I plan to slow down and implement more of the good ideas.
• I will also reinforce good habits: monthly date nights with my husband to review our finances (with wine!), and weekly time-outs to review goals/results and pivot as needed. Habits are critical to success.

2. Barry Choi is a Toronto-based personal finance and travel expert who frequently makes media appearances and blogs at Money We Have. He says, “My goal is to work less in 2018. I know this doesn’t sound like a resolution but over the last few years I’ve been working some insane hours and it’s time to cut back. The money has been great, but spending time with my family is more important.”

3. Chris Enns who blogs at From Rags to Reasonable describes himself as an “opera-singing-financial-planning-farmboy.” In 2017 he struggled with balance. “Splitting my time (and money) between a growing financial planning practice and an opera career (not to mention all the other life stuff) can prove a little tricky,” he says. In 2018 he is hoping to really focus on efficiency. “How do I do what I do but better? How do I use my time and money in best possible way to maximize impact, enjoyment and sanity?”

4. Lorne Marr is Director of Business Development at LSM Insurance. Marr has both financial and personal fitness goals. “I plan to max out my TFSAs, RRSPs and RESPs and review my investment mix every few days in the New Year,” he notes. “I also intend to get more sleep, workout 20 times in a month with a workout intensity of 8.5 out of 10 or higher and take two family vacations.”

5. Avery Mrack is an Administrative Assistant at SPP. She and her husband both work full time and their boys are very busy in sports which means they often eat “on the run” or end up making something quick and eating on the couch.  “One of our resolutions for next year is to make at least one really good homemade dinner a week and ensure that every one must turn off their electronic devices and sit down to eat at the table together,” says Mrack.

6. Stephen Neiszner is a Network Technician at SPP and he writes the monthly members’ bulletin. He is also a member of the executive board of Special Olympics (Kindersley and district). Neiszner’s New Year’s financial goals are to stop spending so much on nothing, to grow his savings account, and to help out more community charities and service groups by donating or volunteering. He would also like to put some extra money away for household expenses such as renovations and repairs.

7. Kyle Prevost teaches high school business classes and blogs at Young and Thrifty. Prevost is not a big believer in making resolutions on January 1. He prefers to continuously adapt his goals throughout the year to live a healthier life, embrace professional development and save more. “If I had to pick a singular focus for 2018, I think my side business really stands out as an area for potential growth. The online world is full of opportunities and I need to find the right ones,” he says.

8. Janine Rogan is a financial educator, CPA and blogger. Her two financial New Year’s resolutions are to rebalance her portfolio and digitize more of it. “My life is so hectic that I’m feeling that automating as much as I can will be helpful,” she says. “In addition, I’d like to increase the amount I’m giving back monetarily. I donate a lot of my time so I feel like it’s time to increase my charitable giving.”

9. Ed Rempel is a CFP professional and a financial blogger at Unconventional Wisdom. He says on a personal finance level, his resolution are boring as he has been following a plan for years and is on track for all of his goals. His only goal is to invest the amount required by the plan. Professionally, he says, “I want 2018 be the year I hire a financial planner with the potential to be a future partner for my planning practice. I have hired a couple over the years, but not yet found the right person with the right fit and long-term vision.”

10. Actuary Promod Sharma’s resolutions cover off five areas. He says:
    

• For health, I’ll continue using the 7 Minute Workout app from Simple Design.
• For wealth, I’ll start using a robo advisor (WealthBar). I’m not ready for ETFs.
• For learning, I’ll get my Family Enterprise Advisor (FEA) designation to collaborate better in teams.
• For sharing, I’ll make more videos.
• For giving, I’ll continue volunteering.

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.

Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.

Today I’m pleased to be interviewing Doris Belland, author of the new book Protect Your Purse which includes lessons for women about how to avoid financial messes, stop emotional bankruptcies and take charge of their money.

Belland has been digging into women’s financial literacy ever since she ended up nearly $400,000 in debt after her first husband’s death, when she was 32. Persistence, determination, and a singular focus on results led her to climb out of debt in two years and develop a substantial real estate portfolio over the following ten years.

Since then she been president of a local real estate investors’ organization, developed a successful Rent to Own company, and published her first book. Belland also has a blog on her website Your Financial Launchpad and she is using her hard-won financial literacy to help other women rock their finances.

Thanks for talking to me today Doris. It’s my pleasure Sheryl.

Q: Your first husband, Malcolm died after a prolonged illness and you were left with a $400,000 debt. How did that debt accumulate and when did you become aware of the full extent of how much you owed?
A: I’m happy to say that it was not credit card debt. It was acquired as a result of growing our business. Also, a year and a half before Malcolm died, we bought a house. I was aware of the individual amounts owing but I’d never sat down to actually do the math until after Malcolm died. One day I had a moment of clarity and that’s when I tried to figure out the big number and it was a bit of a shock for me.

Q: You were able to climb out of debt in two years. Tell me how you managed to do this so quickly?
A: What we sold at the time were designs that my husband created. I realized after he died he was the engine of the business. I had, at best, a two year runway in order to make sales. That’s how long the existing designs would last.

The only way that I could conceive of paying off $400,000 was by maximizing the sales of the product. I approached our suppliers who I owed a lot of money and I said to them, “Listen, I’m going to pay off every dime that I owe you, but in order for me to do that I need to actually borrow even more. I’m going to take a very aggressive approach and sell everywhere I possibly can.” I called their stores. I offered them preferential pricing. I gave them incentives for higher sales.

I also sold off as many of our other assets as I could. I went through my entire house and said, “If I haven’t used it in two years I’m going to sell it.” The big things along with all of the small things helped me pay that off that debt just over two years.

Q: With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done differently during your marriage to Malcolm to protect yourself and the family finances?
A: Oh boy! The very first thing, for me, I think is that I would have participated actively in all of the finances, so talk openly about where we were at, what our financial situation was. I walked away from a fully funded PhD to help Malcolm in his business when he became ill. What I should have done is stop and actually analyze the consequences for me, if I walked away from my doctoral program because that was my golden future.

What I say to people now is that they should build thinking time into their lives to look at all of the financial components that come into play and ask themselves, “What if something happens to me, what if something happens to my spouse? What would the consequences be?”

Q: Why did you decide to write a book about your experience?
A: Well, I didn’t. It didn’t come from me. I’m happily remarried and I was sharing some of my stories with my husband Mark and he said, “You have got to write this down. You’ve got to share this with people.” I started with a blog and then realized I wanted to help women avoid what I went through. That became the basis for the book.

Q: One of your first pieces of advice is about the importance of having a will. Why is having a will important even if there are few assets and no children?
A: It makes everything so much easier to transfer assets after death. I really strongly recommend a will for, frankly, absolutely everybody. Even if you don’t have any dependants and if you’re not married, you still have things in your life that you care deeply about. Whatever it is, the will allows you to say, “Here is what I want done with the things that are most valuable to me.” If you are married or you do have a partner it will help protect them and make it so much easier should something happen to you.

Q: Now, you alluded to a joint and survivor ownership of assets. What does that mean and why is that an important thing for women to do?
A: Basically, if your husband dies and you are on title for a property, for example, or your name is on an asset or you’re listed as a beneficiary for an investment, it just means that you immediately still have access to these things. It avoids the costly and sometimes lengthy process of court applications. It just means that now you have far greater control, and again, I go back to the ease of transition. You’re dealing with enough and legal issues are the last thing you need.

Q: I would suggest to you though that retaining bank accounts in one person’s name, particularly the woman’s name could be something that throughout a marriage might be a form of protection, as opposed to having everything in joint ownership.
A: Right. We’re talking about two different things, so the question you posed is, what’s the advantage of having assets in both names? The challenge, of course, is in the event of divorce. In my book, I talk about two different scenarios, one is a scenario where there’s death and one scenario where there is divorce and the woman absolutely needs protection. So having most of the assets in joint ownership for estate purposes doesn’t preclude each partner having their own assets and their own money.

Q: You interviewed over 300 women and told many of their stories in the book which makes it very readable. How did you find your interview subjects and why did you decide to incorporate their stories into your book?
A: Very simply, for me, my story is one data point, I’m one person. But as I thought about it and I started talking to other people I realized a lot of people are going through deaths and divorces and I got curious.

I put out the word through social media and through my own networks. I said, “I’m  interested in talking to any widows or divorcees who would be willing to confidentially speak with me.” Then the floodgates opened up. Friends told friends and next thing I knew I had perfect strangers from other countries reaching out to me.

Q: That’s fascinating. Briefly, what are the top five insights you would like readers to gain from reading your book?
A: Here are the top 5 takeaways I hope my readers come away with:

1. Don’t assume it can never happen to you.
2. Build time for thinking in your life.
3. Ask yourself, what if something happens to me or my spouse?
4. Sit down regularly to talk to your spouse about money.
5. Put the key documents in place, i.e. insurance policies, wills etc.
   

Q: You’ve remarried, you now have two daughters. How difficult was it to reinvest yourself and create a whole new life?
A: I guess the easiest way is if you imagine that you’re traveling at 120 miles per hour and hit a brick wall. That’s pretty much what it felt like. It was very difficult because I had envisioned myself as an academic from the time I was a teenager and then my life changed 180 degrees. It was exceedingly difficult. It took the better part of a decade to reinvest myself; to start over, to get a point where I felt, “Okay, I’m good.”

Q: What’s next for you? What other irons do you have in the fire?
A: Well, I have been a real estate investor for a decade and I thought that really was going to be my future. But this whole process over the last five years, of digging into women’s financial literacy has made me realize that is where my passion is.

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Thank you very much, Doris. It was really a pleasure to chat with you today. Thank you so much, Sheryl. I appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

You can purchase Protect Your Purse, Shared Lessons for Women: Avoid Financial Messes, Stop Emotional Bankruptcies and Take Charge of Your Money on Amazon for CDN $19.95

Written by Sheryl Smolkin
	Sheryl Smolkin LLB., LLM is a retired pension lawyer and President of Sheryl Smolkin & Associates Ltd. For over a decade, she has enjoyed a successful encore career as a freelance writer specializing in retirement, employee benefits and workplace issues. Sheryl and her husband Joel are empty-nesters, residing in Toronto with their cockapoo Rufus.

By Sheryl Smolkin

This week we present an eclectic mix of posts from Canadian money bloggers, some of whom have been posting for years but have not previously been cited in this space.

On HowToSaveMoney.ca, Heather Clarke offers 7 Ways To Declutter Without Spending A Fortune, Instead of buying costly clear lucite boxes, monogrammed fabric bins, or classic wooden divided trays, she says that using a little creativity and a few basic craft supplies you can make attractive, low cost storage solutions. But I’m not very crafty, so I think the two year rule is the best way to minimize clutter — if I haven’t used an item in 24 months, it’s time to get rid of it.

Recently governments in British Columbia and Ontario have enacted new laws to try and cap runaway house prices in some markets. Firecracker and her husband Wanderer who blog on Millenial Revolution are typically in favour of a laissez faire approach. But as reported in Your Thoughts on Government Intervention, the majority of their readers disagree. Of 356 readers who responded to a survey they conducted, 198 believe the government should intervene. And about one-third believe a tax on speculators is the most effective strategy.

Does your financial advisor really ‘deserve’ to be paid? Doris Belland tackles this thorny issue in a recent post on Your Financial Launchpad. She notes that the financial advice industry is undergoing a profound shift in which several economists plus some of the worlds’ most successful investors and Nobel Laureates argue persuasively that the higher fees associated with traditional investment products have a negative effect on investors’ results.

Ed Rempel explains Why he will never own an ETF or index fund. He says that the average fund manager can’t beat the market, but superior fund managers clearly can. Based on his research and investment returns, he believes he has selected All Star Fund Managers who have consistently exceeded the relevant indices. “Performance fee models with a very low base fee give you the low fee advantage of an ETF or index fund – plus a good chance of above index returns,” Rempel concludes.

And finally, on Financial Uproar, Nelson introduces The Too Much House Equation. “We constantly rag on people who buy too many video games or finance vacations, but we cheer people who make a similar mistake with their houses,” he writes. “The fact is the easiest way for the average person with only a small net worth to save more is to cut their fixed expenses, starting with housing.”

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Do you follow blogs with terrific ideas for saving money that haven’t been mentioned in our weekly “Best from the blogosphere?” Share the information on http://wp.me/P1YR2T-JR and your name will be entered in a quarterly draw for a gift card.