One of the main benefits of RESP accounts is the federal Canadian Educational Savings Grant (CESG). This grant is 20% of any eligible contributions in an RESP account. How the RESP Grant System Works Let’s say you open an RESP account for your bouncing new baby and contribute $1,000 intoContinue Reading

Some time ago there were a string of posts on various blogs about clearing out “stuff” from your life. At around the same time, my favourite essayist Paul Graham posted an aptly titled essay “Stuff” on his site. Taken together, the general consensus seems to be that we are allContinue Reading

I recently did a review of ShareOwner discount brokerage, which promotes regular dividend stock purchases.  One thing that came out of that review, is that regardless of how cheap the trading costs are – regular purchases of stocks are quite expensive. In this post, I’m going to discuss some strategiesContinue Reading

There are a few books that are beloved and can be a bit dangerous to review.  YMOYL is the bible to a number of people, so I’ll start with saying that I think there’s a lot of good stuff in there, it’s a solid book and just about everyone shouldContinue Reading

As I’ve articulated before, I’m not a big fan of timing the stock market, and everything I’ve read about the efficient market hypothesis (that stocks are rationally priced at all times based on the sum of everyone’s understanding of the market) makes sense. That being said, there also seems toContinue Reading

Quite a few people have been expressing their admiration for my frugality to me, so I thought it was time to rein in the enthusiasm and talk a bit about the downsides of frugal living. 1. The most obvious downside, and what I don’t actually consider a downside, is frugalityContinue Reading

I’m often struck by how rude people in customer service positions are.  I understand when people say “they have a tough job and they get fed up with it just like anyone else”, but ultimately if it’s the ENTIRE point of someone’s job to interact with the public, shouldn’t theyContinue Reading

I’m a feminist (of the Cathy Young brand of equality feminism, not the cuckoo-for-coco-puffs Andrea Dworkin or difference feminism brands of feminism).  Sometimes I’ve grappled with the best way to divide expenses within a romantic relationship.  As an ideal, splitting the costs evenly seems to make sense, but I’m certainlyContinue Reading