It’s likely a bit risky for me to suggest that now is the time to start planning your winter vacation or your sojourn to warmer climates. Summer is short enough…
But the mailers I have received from Snowbird Medi-Quote and Medi-Pac Insurance this week have reminded me that there are early bird specials available, with deadlines [...]

Every day we see and hear about house, apartment and garage fires, house break-ins and accidents across our town, and floods and disasters around the world.Â
I personally know two local families who have lost their houses and all their contents to fire in the last two years, and we regularly sail past three cottages which [...]

This spring’s floods, fires and tornados have reminded us that we all face risks in our everyday lives. Sometimes we choose to “self-insure” these risks, other times we pay a premium to an insurance company, who takes on the risk and shares it by spreading it over a number of people.
In personal finance, we always [...]

Financial planning groups come together to protect consumers
It was a big week in the financial planning profession.  Currently, there are five organizations in the country which have established – and enforce – professional standards for financial planning.
This week, those five organizations formed the Coalition for Professional Standards for Financial Planners.  The goal is to serve [...]

In the past two weeks, I have received 11 e-mail requests from various banks, asking me to either help them with their security or confirm no one has hacked into my online banking accounts.  And these are just the ones that snuck through the spam filter.
Most of them want me to log onto a website [...]

Mortgage rules tightening, life insurance rates rising, IIROC arbitration limits increasing.
Over the past couple of weeks, there have been a number of small and large changes to rules and rates that could affect your personal financial planning. Today we will look at mortgage rules, rising life insurance rates and a big change to the maximum [...]

This column is about life.
And, inevitably, about death.
In the near future, we will provide more valuable financial advice, but today, though, I have to talk about grief and celebration.
The financial planning advice here is to put your affairs in order, no matter what your current age, so that your wishes are carried out and taxes, [...]

In January, 2007, Ralph invested $90,000 into a mutual fund at his favourite bank.  In March, 2009, after the stock market correction, the fund was worth $63,453.
Ralph wasn’t worried, as he assumed (incorrectly) that he had $100,000 of deposit insurance guarantee on that money, and asked the bank for his $90,000 back.
I won’t say they [...]

We recently reviewed our home insurance, which includes not only the protection on our house for damage from fire or other disasters, but also coverage on the contents, and personal liability protection, in the event that someone should be hurt on our property or we are found negligent for third party property or bodily injury [...]