Build Wealth Canada Podcast

• The One Habit Every Financially Independent Person Shares

  Links to speak to today's guests: Thuy Lam: buildwealthcanada.ca/plan Alanna Abramsky: broadmoney.ca After conducting hundreds of interviews over the past 10 years with different financial experts and those who have been able to hit their financial independence number early, one of the common themes and best practices that I’ve noticed emerge time and time again is that those who are wealthy actually track their spending. At the end of the day, knowing what you spend every year on essential expenses versus discretionary expenses like vacations and fun activities lets you actually forecast with pretty good accuracy how much you need to become financially independent so that you can retire early if you wish. It’s also one of the key, critical ingredients that you need to be able to know whether you can sustainably live off your portfolio, and for how long. Now, I will admit, tracking expenses is not something that I personally find fun. It’s one more thing to do, and we’re all busy enough as it is. But literally every single financial planner that I have ever worked with over the years who knew what they were doing, and every single person that I’ve talked to who was able to retire early or reach financial independence early, had expenses as one of the key components that they managed and that they needed to know to be able to determine with accuracy when it is safe to stop working and live off your investments forever. It really is a skill and process worth developing that you will literally be using your whole life. My wife and I have now been either fully retired or semi-retired for the past 9 years here in Canada, and I can tell you that knowing our expenses year to year has been critical in making sure that we don’t overspend and have to go back to work. And, as I’ve mentioned in the past, knowing this has also been a huge financial anxiety reducer for me personally, since you actually know how much you have and how much you need, and so you aren’t in a state of anxiety every time that the credit card bill comes in, hoping that you and your family didn’t overspend this month. In this episode, I invited 2 highly experienced financial coaches here in Canada to discuss how we should be tracking our expenses, whether we actually need a traditional budget, the different processes that we can follow to properly manage this key component of our financial lives as efficiently as possible, and what tools we can use here in Canada to make this whole process less tedious and more automated and productive. Our first guest is Thuy Lam. Thuy is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) with over 20 years in financial planning, financial coaching, wealth management, and business consulting experience. She enjoys working with clients who value financial advice conveyed in an easy-to-understand fashion, and especially those looking for help with cash flow planning while going through a life change, such as a new job or career, marriage, divorce, or retirement. I've worked with Thuy personally, and she's been amazing at helping my wife and I plan out our finances in our early retirement. Our second guest is Alanna Abramsky. She has been financial coaching for over 10 years and has helped more than 1,000 Canadians over this time. She has over 30 years of experience in the personal finance field, and she started Broad Money with the mission of empowering Canadians to take control of their financial futures, offering support and guidance every step of the way.

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• Surviving Stock Market Crashes: Real-World Experiences and Strategies for Canadians

  Have you ever felt that knot in your stomach watching the stock market tumble, especially after you’ve just invested some of your hard earned money? Have you ever wondered how seasoned investors with large amounts invested handle those gut-wrenching portfolio drops?  Well in this episode, we're tackling market volatility head-on. Our guest Marc Beavis is a seasoned investor who’s lived through multiple major crashes over the decades, and he shares powerful mindset shifts and actionable strategies to help you stay calm, stay invested, and stay on track—even when the headlines scream chaos. I also share my own strategies that have helped me stay calm, anxiety-free, and stay invested after nearly two decades of investing which has played a huge impact in helping us achieve financial independence in our early thirties.  Discount Link Mentioned in the Episode: Saily Discount Link for 15% Off their Data Plans: https://saily.com/buildwealth About Our Guest: One of the reasons that I really wanted to have Marc on the show is that: He’s been in the industry for decades working with clients, so he’s got not only wisdom on what has helped him stay the course over the decades with multiple stock market drops, but also what has worked well for others that he’s worked with; Canadians with different personalities and temperaments.  He’s retired and in his 60's so he actually has real life experience going through the crashes with a significant amount of his own money invested, like in the 2008 financial crisis and the tech crash in the 2000s, just to name a few. He also runs one of the largest Canadian investing YouTube channels in Canada, called Beavis Wealth, so despite retiring, he’s still very much on top of what’s been happening and what we can do to better handle declines in our own portfolios. Thanks to Marc’s help, you'll learn the mindset shifts needed to endure significant declines, and discover proven strategies for staying calm and confident when your investments plummet.

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• The Hidden Barriers Between You and Financial Freedom

  Today’s episode is a must-listen for anyone who’s ever felt confused, anxious, or just plain stuck when it comes to money. We're diving deep into the emotional and psychological side of personal finance with Jessica Moorhouse, an accredited financial counsellor who's spent over a decade helping Canadians untangle their money struggles. In this conversation, Jess reveals the most common patterns she's seen over the years—from overspending traps to financial fears we rarely talk about—and the simple, practical strategies that can truly make a difference. We’ll also unpack powerful insights from her new book, “The Hidden Barriers Between You and Financial Freedom”, including why even those who are financially secure can still feel stressed about money. You’ll learn how to spot the invisible forces that keep you stuck, and more importantly, how to move past them. Plus, if you're in a relationship, this episode is packed with real-world advice on managing money as a couple—without the fights and resentment. By the end of this episode, you’ll walk away with actionable tips and the clarity you need to take control of your financial future—without losing your peace of mind. A Big Thanks to Our Sponsors: Incogni: Get 60% off Incogni by using the link: https://incogni.com/buildwealth ETF Market Insights and BMO ETFs: Catch the latest episodes on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/@ETFMarketInsights Sun Life MyRetirement Income: To learn more about if Sun Life MyRetirement Income is right for you, visit https://buildwealthcanada.ca/myretirementincome. BMO Asset Allocation ETFs: I use these ETFs a lot, and they are the largest Canadian ETF provider. You can see them and learn more here: http://www.bmoetfs.com/

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• How Canada’s Top Finance Creators Actually Invest Their Own Money

  Today I’m excited to have a panel discussion with some of the largest personal finance and investing personalities, here in Canada. Together they have over 46 million views on YouTube (that’s more than the entire population of Canada), and in this episode, I thought it would be great to pick their brains on how they actually invest their own money, what types of investments do they actually buy? what specific ETFs do they buy and what type of investing style have they found to work best for them? They also ask me the same questions so you’ll get a pretty diverse view of the different options out there, for us Canadians, when it comes to investing. You’ll notice too that while some of our styles overlap, we do also diverge in a few areas, and so we also tackle what are the pros and cons of the different styles, allowing you to make an informed and more educated decision, on what is the best fit for you. Saily Discount Link Mentioned in the Episode: Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Go to saily.com/buildwealth or download the Saily app on your phone and use the code “buildwealth” at checkout. Questions Covered: Let’s start by introducing the panel. Brandon, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself, your area of expertise, roughly how much you currently invest in ETFs, and tell us about the investing style or strategy that you’ve chosen for yourself. To kick things off, I thought it would be good to start with what I consider, one of the easiest investing styles to implement and get started with, while also being extremely effective, very passive, and low cost. Brandon, as you can probably guess, I’m of course talking about asset allocation ETFs which you mentioned is your preferred investing style. For anybody new to this, can you explain what asset allocation ETFs are, and then go into why you chose this as your primary investing style, along with the ETFs that you actually buy and why. Let’s open it up to the panel: Does anybody else here buy asset allocation ETFs? Why or why not? And if you do, what specific asset allocation ETF do you buy? Adrian, you like to buy the underlying ETFs, instead of just one asset allocation ETF. For anybody new to this, can you explain what that actually means, why you choose to invest in this way, and can you share specifically which ETFs you like to buy as part of this investing style. Let’s open it up to the panel: Does anybody else invest in this way, and if so, what are your favourite ETFs, and give us some explanation on why you chose them and this style of investing. Are there any negatives that you think are worth mentioning when it comes to this investment style of buying the underlying ETFs? Marc, so far our conversation has been dominated a bit by equities (the stock portion of the portfolio), but of course, fixed income is also something that most investors find to be a good fit, especially since not everyone can stomach having a 100% equity portfolio and dealing with those occasional 30% or 40% drops and just riding those out and not panic selling. You have some focus on fixed income in your portfolio which can help reduce that volatility. Can you take us through your thought process on having these types of investments, along with which ones you like and why? Thanks Marc. Would anybody from the panel like to add anything to the fixed income discussion? Are there any fixed income ETFs that you like to buy? Adriano, let’s talk about your investing style now. Yours is a bit different from the vanilla, total market, index investing strategy that most of us on this panel use. Can you speak to why you chose your particular investing style, the pros, the cons, who is it for, and do you have any favourite ETFs or other investments that you like to use as part of it? Let’s open it up to the panel: Do you have any questions, concerns or comments?

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• Important Tax & Investing Changes for 2025 (for Canadians)

  Today, we’re going to cover what you need to know from a tax, investing, and financial planning perspective as all our taxes become due here in Canada on April 30th, 2025, and as we get well underway with 2025 in general. As you know, the government makes changes every year in these areas. The implications of these changes can have a pretty substantial impact on how much you pay in taxes, your net worth, and what government benefits you are eligible to get, and how much you get. These can easily affect your net worth in the thousands of dollars every single year, so it’s definitely in your and my best interest to know about these changes and get a bit of a refresher, so that we can all better prepare, and also take advantage of any opportunities that arise, like any benefits that we might become eligible for. A Big Thanks to Our Sponsors: Incogni: Get 60% off Incogni by using the link https://incogni.com/buildwealth PolicyMe Life Insurance: Proudly Canadian, get a no obligation quote at buildwealthcanada.ca/policyme ETF Market Insights and BMO ETFs: Catch the latest episodes on YouTube Here. BMO Asset Allocation ETFs: I use these ETFs a lot, and they are the largest Canadian ETF provider. Why wouldn't you want to buy from a Canadian provider with your ETFs? You can see them and learn more here: BMOETFs.com  About Our Guests: To help me with this episode, I have Certified Financial Planners Jason Heath and Paul McVean on the show. Jason is a popular returning guest on the show, definitely one of the more well-known and respected financial planners, here in Canada. Jason has been providing fee-only, advice-only financial planning since 2002, so over two decades. He is also a personal finance columnist for the Financial Post, MoneySense, and Canadian MoneySaver. He has a Bachelor of Economics degree from York University and holds the Certified Financial Planner designation. In addition to being a Certified Financial Planner, our 2nd guest, Paul McVean is also a Senior Tax Accountant, he is a CPA, and he’s a Trust and Estate Practitioner (a TEP), so definitely very knowledgeable, especially on the tax, and how to save you tax side of things where he has over 25 years of experience. Jason and Paul are both fee-only financial planners here in Canada, which means they don’t sell any investments so there isn’t that potential conflict-of-interest that you see a lot of here in Canada where someone calls themselves a financial planner or a financial advisor, you think you’re getting a good financial plan and that they have your best interests at heart, but really they are just trying to get you to buy the investments that their firm sells so that they can earn a hefty commission. None of that here, we’re going for purely unbiased financial education in this episode with Jason and Paul. If you want to speak to Jason, Paul or someone from their team, you can reach them at buildwealthcanada.ca/jason. Jason and his team have been increadible educational contributors to the Build Wealth Canada Podcast for multiple years now, their episodes are consistently some of the most popular on show, and I did want to give a big thanks to Jason as he has once again agreed to continue giving Build Wealth Canada listeners a discount, if you do decide to work with them when it comes to your financial planning, optimizing your taxes, etc. A big thanks to Jason for that, and that link again to speak to them to see if you are a good fit for each other, and to get a discount if you do decide to work together is buildwealthcanada.ca/jason.  And now let’s get into the show. Questions: To kick things off, can you take us through any significant changes and things to keep in mind for 2025 when it comes to investing, taxes, and financial planning in general, here in Canada? One other thing that I wonder about is the importance of tax planning. I get the impression most accountants are tax preparers, not tax planners. Can you talk about the difference and why it matters? Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: The changes to the capital gains inclusion rate. This could have a major financial impact for many of us here in Canada, but I think there are also a lot of misconceptions of who this applies to and in what situations.  One very attractive headline that I see here in Canada from time to time, is that for 2025 for example, Canadians can receive up to $53,375 in eligible Canadian dividends tax free, if the investments are in their taxable investment accounts (and if they have no other sources of income).  Some retired couples, and aspiring early retirees will then reason that combined with their spouse, they can each earn that $53,375 tax free every year, so $106,750 together. They can then just live off their dividends in retirement, pay no income tax, and never have to sell anything.  This strategy has a lot of different caveats and very easy mistakes to fall into. Can you unpack this for us so that we are all aware of this strategy, but also understand its risks and limitations. While on the subject of dividends, one big consideration for Canadians is that when we receive Canadian dividends in our taxable accounts, those dividends can increase the speed at which we start getting clawed back on our government benefits like the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) and Old Age Security (OAS) for example (i.e. the gross up).  One potential solution for this, is to use corporate class ETFs like HXCN from Global X for example (previously Global X was under the brand Horizons). What are your thoughts on these ETFs and can you give us your thoughts on the extra risk that we are taking on by using this type of structure where our dividends are essentially being turned into capital gains so that we don’t have to worry about these clawbacks as much?  For anybody new to this world of Canadian financial planning and optimization, can you take us through what an advice-only financial planner is (what you are), compared to a more traditional financial advisor title/role here in Canada?

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