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We write & record frequently on issues related to wealth protection, preservation and estate planning. For a quick weekly read, subscribe to “WealthSmarts” by clicking the following button.

Diversify Properly
Diversification is critical to any wealth-building strategy. In this episode, Richard and Matt discuss why diversification is important, how we should think about it, and

A Comprehensive Financial Plan: You Need One to be On Track
Financial plans are important to reach your goals. The problem is that many Canadians do not have one, or they don’t know if their plan

Protect Your Most Valuable Assets First
We insure everything around us, our cars, our televisions, our phones, etc. Rarely do we insure our most valuable asset – ourselves and our human

Personal Pension Plans w/JP Laporte
Incorporated business owners are often not aware that they can access higher tax deductions than are available through traditional RRSPs. They can also gain greater

Pay Yourself First
Often people save for their future based on what’s left at the end of the month. This amount usually ends up being an afterthought compared

Start Now With What You Have
Many people are stuck with the following questions when it comes to their finance, “Am I too old or young to start? Is it too

Start A Financial Plan
Many Canadians do not achieve the financial goals that matter to them. Worse than that, they never know if they are on track. In this

After the Storm
With everything beginning to open up, it is important to reflect and learn as much as we can from this difficult time. In this episode,

Building Financial Confidence
Financial confidence is the key to achieving the goals that matter to us. There is a process to developing financial confidence. In this episode, Richard
Goals That Matter
Goals that matter. Many people work for goals that don’t actually matter to them. In many cases, society tells us what is important and we

Who Is Day Trading Your Attention
Who is day trading your attention? There is so much noise and misinformation in every form of media. It is so difficult to know where

Why people don’t trust RRSPs
Why people don’t trust RRSPs. The RRSP was a tool created by the federal government in 1957 to help people put aside money for their

The Importance Of A Properly Structured Insurance Plan
There are unfortunate circumstances that can destroy our financial futures. In this episode, Richard and Matt discuss the importance of having a properly structured insurance

The Power of Proper Estate Planning
Without a proper estate plan, everything you’ve built is at risk of being torn apart by taxes and fighting within the family. In this episode,

The Retirement Puzzle
When planning for retirement there are so many puzzle pieces that makes it difficult to know how much income you will be getting. In this

The Retirement Conundrum
Too many people are running out of money in retirement and needing to compromise their lifestyle. No one envisions this. In this episode, Matt and

The Launch Episode
In this episode, Matt and Richard discuss why they created this podcast and how it is an answer to the noise and confusion that is

Why financial planning needs to change in 2021
12,000 years ago, our hunter-gatherer ancestors began to think differently. Hunting and gathering was a painstaking and dangerous process that yielded short term results and

Who do you trust?
As published in The Richmond News. We are born to trust. Without trust, we would never have learned to walk, talk, take care of ourselves

Be a Truth Teller
On April 30, 2009, near the bottom of the massive global credit crisis, Chrysler LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to renegotiate its debt

What Gratitude Means to Us
There is a phrase that we use a lot in our family: “We stand on the shoulder of giants.” To us it means that so

Don’t Let Your Fear Outweigh Your Faith
We spend our lives either pursuing pleasure or avoiding pain. Obviously, pleasure is a far more desirable outcome than pain but I would like to

Always Create More Than You Consume
While listening to a podcast by Robin Sharma on “Why So Few Succeed,” one passage profoundly struck me: We live in a civilization of consumers.

The Power of Volunteering
A good friend of mine once told me that most people are not born volunteers. However, we are hard wired to help others when asked.

The Mortgage vs. Savings Dilemma
After all the bills are paid, we sometimes find ourselves with a surplus of cash and wondering how best to use it. Your options for

Do Nothing With Your Inheritance – for Now.
Occasionally, we may receive a windfall – a large, unexpected sum of money. In most cases, these windfalls come from inheritances, usually from parents or

5 Ways to Be Smart When the Markets Drop
We all love market volatility – as long as it is on the upside!. Unfortunately, history has shown us that every bull market is often

A Financial Plan – the Missing Piece of the Puzzle?
Doesn’t it drive you crazy when you get to the end of a jigsaw puzzle and it’s ruined because you’re missing one final piece of

Making Your Mark
The work is almost done. You’ve accumulated a nest egg that will assure the retirement lifestyle you planned for. The golf course beckons, as does that year-long world cruise. You are happy –

Pay Down Mortgage or Top Up TFSA?
The problem with accumulating more wealth is in deciding what to do with your excess cash. The biggest question has always been: “contribute to investments

The Relationship Between Health and Wealth
“A man who has his health has a thousand dreams. The man who doesn’t have his health has but one” Author unknown Tweet As many

The Financial Procrastination Breakthrough
Everybody procrastinates about something You are not alone. We all think that others have it together, but the truth is that we are all financial

The 6D Tax Planning Approach
I am told that the full version of our Federal Income Tax Act is more than 3,000 pages. I don’t believe it. If you’ve ever

Will Someone Please Teach the Kids About Money?
Over the years spent teaching financial planning courses, I could count on two common comments: I should have taken this course years ago. My children

Dollar-Cost Averaging – the Right Thing to Do
Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) is a simple systematic approach to buying investments. DCA tempers the volatility of your investment portfolio by breaking down large investments

The Transformational and Annoying Power of “Why”?
Most of us have forgotten life’s shortest and most transformational question: “Why?” As children we’ve learned important life lessons by asking “why?” almost nonstop until

Can failure really lead to financial success?
A necessary feature of any article posted online is the feature image. For this post, I searched using the key words “Failure and Success.” The

Financial Education in the Workplace
Financial education in the workplace is more important than you may think. The most valuable resource most companies have is their employees. If financial stress

Financial literacy, the answer to your problems?
Financial problems are the leading cause of personal stress. This affects our physical and mental health, our family relationships and our productivity at work. I

Shaken or Stirred?
This line has belonged to Sean Connery since first spoken in Ian Fleming’s 1962 production, “Dr. No.” Since that time, many of us have only

Lemmings & Wall Street
The lemming gets a bad rap! Common error says that these arctic rodents mindlessly jump off cliffs to drown in the ocean below. We further