Before the weather improves and we all want to be outside for the summer, get out the snacks because it’s time for one more personal finance movie night.

First of all, we feature the ever-engaging Bridget Casey from Money after Graduation. She explains why even in Calgary where public transportation is poor, she prefers to manage without a car. She says it saves her over $10,000/year and she is much healthier because she walks almost everywhere.

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TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, tech and creativity. Below we present videos of four excellent personal finance TED talks that are posted on YouTube.

Alexa von Tobel is the founder and CEO of LearnVest.com, the leading personal finance and lifestyle website that brings financial literacy to women. Since launching LearnVest, Alexa has been widely quoted as a personal finance expert and entrepreneur.

She takes you through the life of a very average new college grad, Jessica, and explains the pitfalls in each of the poor financial decisions Jessica makes and the way in which they affect her future.

Economist Shlomo Benartzi is a behavioral economist interested in combining the insights of psychology and economics to solve big societal problems. He talks about how we tend to want to spend money instead of saving which is fun in the present but causes major problems in retirement. In his talk, he asks: “How do we turn this behavioral challenge into a behavioral solution?”

The way people speak affects the way they save money. So many people view the future as a distant thing so they end up not saving for it right now. However, futureless language leads to the view that to get the future, it is important to think about the now. Saving money for the future is only possible if the money is managed properly right now. Keith Chen covers the whole topic extremely well. He explains just how those who use futureless language view the present and future as the same thing. It helps them take control of their finances right away.

So many parents give their children allowances, but it doesn’t really help them with their finances. This teaches children to think about a job, rather than expand their business ideas and build on their entrepreneurialism. Skills gained in younger years serve adults well when they’re looking into managing their finances.

Cameron Herald covers  how parents can help children become better entrepreneurs. He says that instead of expecting a set amount of money each week, it’s time to teach kids to start looking for the jobs that need doing around the house. The more they manage to do, the more they will make. They also get to negotiate the pay for doing the certain jobs.

*** 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.

Welcome to a wonderful New Year. Most of the country has spent the last few weeks in a deep freeze with Saskatoon temperatures dipping below -30 C. It’s even -21 C in Toronto!

Nevertheless, residents of Spy Hill, Saskatchewan where the temperature was -43 with the wind chill on Christmas morning displayed their very warm hearts when they sprang to action on Christmas Day to help passengers on a frozen train.

Here is what a few of our favourite personal finance writers have been writing about during the holidays.

Jonathan Chevreau on the Financial Independence Hub reviewed the New York Times best seller Younger Next Year – Live Strong, Fit and Sexy Until You’re 80 and Beyond. Chevreau said, “The book is all about taking control of your personal longevity, chiefly  through proper nutrition but first and foremost by engaging in daily exercise: aerobic activity at least four days a week and weight training for another two days a week — week in and week out, for the rest of your life.”

Boomer & Echo’s Robb Engen wrote Save More Tomorrow: The Procrastinator’s Guide To Saving Money. He discussed behavioural economists Shlomo Benartzi and Richard Thaler’s Save More Tomorrow program which not only suggests that monthly savings be automated but that savings rates be automatically increased when individuals get raises or earn more money from side hacks or freelance gigs.

Bridget Casey from Money After Graduation encouraged readers to see through their financial blind spots. “Reducing your spending and increasing your income by any amount is always good for your net worth, but if you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck, your efforts should be directed towards major wins ahead of small victories. A good exercise is to identify the three largest expenses in your budget and try to reduce them by 15% each or more,” she suggests.

Barry Choi explained on Money We Have why he is changing careers after 18 years. It was hard to walk away from a well-paid job in television but with a young baby, working the 3 PM to midnight shift was no longer sustainable. He got a part-time position as an editor for RateHub three days a week and he plans to continue writing for a variety of travel and other publications. Although he took a pay cut to leave his full-time position, his financial advisor helped him to realize he doesn’t need to make nearly as much as he thought to maintain the family’s lifestyle.

And finally, Globe and Mail personal finance columnist Rob Carrick offers the following  eight dos and don’ts for your personal finances in 2018:

• DO brace for higher borrowing costs.
• DON’T expect much improvement on savings rates.
• DO expect more hysteria about cryptocurrencies
• DON’T buy in unless you have the right mindset
• DO be cautious with your investment portfolio
• DON’T forget bonds or GICs
• DO emphasize fees as a controllable factor in your investing
• DON’T forget the value proposition

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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.