Because Money Podcast

Hey, fellow money nerds: how do you talk to people who don’t know or don’t care quite as much as you do? Kate Smalley is our guest this week because A) as a maker and marketer with lots of financial services clients and a paraplanner at Spring, she’s really interested in how people talk about money and B) we really like her. You will too, trust us. 14:13 - The power of vulnerability 19:40 - Why you don’t need to know all the things to help people 23:41 - How do you start a money conversation with people who have no interest in talking about money? 24:00 - How the personal finance world is kind of like a fandom, and can be inaccessible to non-fans 32:50 - How Kate has connected social media coaching with personal finance 38:08 - Does the work have to happy one-on-one? 44:39 - Should you tell your friends if they’re eating raw chicken? 58:55 - Chris rants so hard he gets a foot cramp

We’ve been angling to get our friend MYD on the show for a long time. If you don’t remember, he’s the nice guy who offered to convert the show to audio and list it in all the podcast places before Season Three, Well, we still haven’t managed to get him on the show, but here’s the next best thing: we asked him what he wanted us to talk about, and he sent us a long list of questions to answer about RESPs. There are a few 101 questions, lots of 201 questions, and even a few 301 and graduate level ones. Thankfully, we got the list before we recorded the show! 2:14 - Family Plan vs Individual Plan 5:28 - RESPs Basics and Terminology 14:09 - Why Scholarship Trust Funds are the absolute worst 20:02 - For gifted children is there a lower age limit to RESP withdrawals? 22:02 - What happens if you want to open an RESP later in life? 26:00 - What’s the best way to set up an RESP for a child that isn’t related to you? 31:08 - What if there’s a falling out between the subscriber and beneficiary? 34:54 - What happen

While smack-dab in the middle of an emergency is kind of the worst time to start preparing for one, for most of us it’s the upheaval and chaos of just such an event that opens our eyes to the value of marshalling our resources before the next one hits... In this episode we talk about practicing for an emergency (kind of like a fire drill), what happens when an emergency hits after you’ve started preparing for it but before you’ve finished, and speculate wildly about how many people view withdrawing from their emergency fund as an event almost as bad as the emergency itself. TL;DR emergency preparedness is good 3:23 When you’re preparing for an emergency that arrives too soon 4:46 What Sandi did automatically when Seth’s boss stopped paying him 9:26 What constitutes and emergency, anyway? 17:11 The most stressful life events 18:46 Giving yourself permission to respond however you can 33:23 The rules are great until they’re not 36:10 What John did automatically when Kelly got sick 43:06 Playing the stress

Listen, somebody is going to cry over socks in this episode, just so you’re prepared. We’re talking about how to have the conversations we need to have to make sure our parents are safe and happy as they age, and in the course of a short thirtyish minutes have at least three Eureka! Moments about youthful hubris, parental wisdom, and socks. You don’t want to miss this one, but definitely bring tissues. 4:56 - The gang gets real about talking to their parents about money 11:36 - What are the important things for you to know about your parents money? 17:30 - What are the expectations around longterm care? 21:40 - Separating the money from the feelings 26:20 - Using technology as an excuse to start the conversation 29:33 - Sandi figures out something huge 38:04 - We make resolutions … and Sandi cries

So...did Chris get disability insurance since episode 4, or did he write a letter to Aunt Beatrice? Do you want to know how long it took and what happened? US TOO! Plus,friend of the show Julia Chung, who you may remember from An American in Paris (Ontario) returns to drop some insider insurance knowledge on us, including who to call when you need to make a claim, the nasty shock that might be hiding in your group policy, and how to get over fEeLiNgS and just get insured already. 7:25 - Debunking disability excuse #1 - “I could do my job with broken arms and broken legs” 15:56 - Do you have short term disability insurance 18:54 - Horror story #1 - Why you have to understand your policy 26:40 - What’s a non-evidence limit (and why does it matter)? 29:15 - What does your spouse need to know about your insurance? 36:16 - Reframing why you should get disability insurance right now (and the story of how Chris did just that) 43:26 - What happens to your employer disability insurance when you leave your job? 4

If you’ve never met Shannon Lee Simmons before, hold onto your hat, because there’s no one else like her. Founder of The New School of Finance, and author of the book Worry Free Money, Shannon joins Sandi and Chris to talk about how her family talked about money growing up, what the birds and the bees have to do with spending decisions, and why that Ikea Story had to open the book. You - for real - do not want to miss this. 2:15 - How did Shannon grow up talking about money 10:13 - How to tell your friends you don’t want to spend $80 on dinner 14:24 - The words that matter in finance - safe and happy 20:40 - How to build habits of self reflection 32:15 - Curing the problem of financial struggle… instead of just treating it 35:10 - Professional vulnerability… how to be an expert while baring your soul. 42:31 - Letting go of past mistakes

Sandi and Seth talk about money a lot, and it's interesting to hear about how they manage that. Of course Sandi lives in the world of personal finance and they spend a lot of time together, so we have to grade that one on a curve. And just to underscore how much there is no single right answer, we'll hear how their money systems have changed over the years to suit their lives (like having kids) and as technology evolves (like YNAB). Time Stamps: 7:23 - How do you guys do money? 10:57 - Who does what in the Sandi/Seth money system? 16:09 - How often do you talk about money? 18:01 - How do you talk about buying big stuff? 24:57 - How do you talk about longterm financial planning? 28:35 - When do you want to retire? If ever? 30:29 - How do you guys invest? 32:37 - How do you guys talk about money with your kids? 40:35 - The Seth and Sandi dream vacation

None of us are ready to imagine a future without our parents in it. Full stop, fingers crossed, wood knocked, etc, etc. We’d all prefer to have our parents around until we die, thankyouverymuch, with no inheritance to speak of because they spent every last red cent on living long, healthy lives. But - since this is the darkest timeline and our parents won’t be around forever - should we be accounting for their money in our financial plans? Is it silly to pretend that there will be nothing (unless there really will be nothing)? In this episode, we’re talking inheritances: who expects one, who doesn’t, whether we should incorporate them into our financial plans today, and the difference is between expecting an inheritance and expecting an inheritance. 6:58: Should we be considering our parents money when doing retirement planning? 8:56: Can factoring in your parents money get you kicked out of the will 12:11: What assets are necessary for my parents to use in their later life? 13:53: Considering the fami

You might remember from our episode on robo-advisors in Season Three that Sandi and John have spent abnormal amounts of time thinking about robo-advisors, to the point where they built a calculator to compare all of the ones available in Canada. Well, they’ve sold the calculator (to our Season 2 host, Kyle and his partner in crime Justin), and in this episode we talk about what the robos have done right in the last three years and what they can still improve on. Time Stamps: 5:28 - What are robo advisors doing wrong 9:10 - Why ‘time on device’ is not a great metric 13:19 - Is it a robo advisor’s job to educate their users? 20:03 - A rant against being ‘better than nothing' 23: 53 - Do robo advisor’s really provide advice? 28:58 - How do we want to see robos grow in the future? 32:31 - Debunking the idea of ‘transparent fees’ with robo advisors 39:53 - The responsibilities of an industry that bills themselves as a disruptor 47:55 - Portfolio complexity leads to fee complexity

What does Chris need but doesn’t want, Seth doesn’t need but Sandi wants, and John’s family want and need but couldn’t have? (It’s not Nanny MacPhee, in case you’re wondering, although that would be the Best Episode Ever). No, it’s...disability insurance! YAAAAAYYYY! Turns out, nobody here has enough or the right kind or even the right person insured...so...BoOoOo, I guess. 2:17 - John makes things get real… real fast 4:02 - Why don’t we talk about Disability Insurance? 8:07 - Sandi explains to Chris why he doesn’t have disability insurance yet 16:34 - John breaks down his thought process on both life and disability insurance 18: 23 - John talks about why this issue is so real for him 20: 53 - A quick note on emergency funds 21:45 - The difference between long and short term disability insurance 25:28 - What do self-employed people need to prove income when applying? 27: 35 - What do you do if you can’t qualify for disability insurance? 29:32 - Chris makes more excuses 31:06 - What non-insurance stuff ca

You don’t want to miss the story of how David O’Leary started out as an English Literature major, got into the market as a newbie leveraged investor just before the 2000 tech bubble burst, went bankrupt and became a fund analyst at Morningstar, met his wife, decided to change the world, and started a financial planning company. You really, really don’t. Trust us. 1: 20 - David’s Origin Story 7:55 - What David learned by being going bankrupt at 22 10: 51 How to protect yourself against a market crash 17:25 - Chris talks about his therapist 24:50 - Why John from Burlington won’t beat the market 29:49 - Is the bad advice that come from banks the employee’s fault? 39:50 - How to financially plan based on the causes and values you support 48:00 - What is impact investing?

If you’re an opera fan (and who’s not?), you probably know Mireille Asselin, and if you don’t, you should. She’s also Chris’ Number One Favourite Person, and she’s on the show this week so we can have a real conversation about how they manage their money and how they decide who pays for what. Plus, we learn all about the lifecycle of an opera career, why Mimi likes real estate, and what it’s like to get a regular economy lecture on the way to ballet class. Time Stamps: 3:15 - the long (and stupidly complicated story) of why Mimi pays more rent than Chris 9:38 - Managing money with a partner who makes a bunch more money than you do 14:24 - Why it bothers Chris to not be able contribute as much as Mimi… 16:31 - Digging into how we grew up financially… 20:02- How dating Chris helped Mimi become a better saver 26:13 - Do we give each other advice? 29:07 - Planning for career transition and what’s ‘retirement’ for a couple of opera singers? 35:20 - The stuff that we don’t have to talk about 37:09 - We t

It’s Season FOUR of Because Money, can you believe it? Even more surprising: all three of us were in the same room together to record this episode, and the world didn’t explode (because of us...that we know of...so far) This season is all about conversations...real ones. We’re going to have some guests, we’re going to do some deep dives into concepts, but through it all, it’s going to be real. We won’t always tie things up in a nice tidy bow (have we ever?), so you’re going to have a front-row seat to hear (or watch, up to you) how an opera singer, a financial planner, and a scientist think about all things money. 3:18 - Chris talks about submarines 5:15 - Sandi explains why she always does things the hard way 8:26 - the whole point of Season 4 10:18 - The first mention of Star Trek (but not the last) 13:10 - John explains why humans are not robots 15: 21 - Why there’s value in every kind of conversation 17:38 - How to play “Would you rather” Finance edition 31:40 - The difference between goals and directio

It's the last episode of Season Three, and because we don't want to see you fall victim to the summer slide, we're talking to Preet Banerjee about enough interesting stuff to keep you thinking until Season Four drops this fall, like: 0.33 - Why are there so many mutual funds? 1.36 - Preet explains everything (including why there are so many coffee shops on the same corner) 7.06 - Does investor literacy affect prices? 8.52 - Do advisors or investors drive poor investing decisions? 10.56 - Is ‘financial advising’ a real profession? 14.00 - How do you measure the value of financial advice? 21.10 - Can you measure ‘qualitative’ results? 23.00 - What’s the difference between Phenomenon and Data? 26.00 - Financial literacy… what is it good for? 31.00 - Decision fatigue - chocolate cake or fruit? 42.24 - Cash flow management - the foundation of it all For full show notes please visit: https://becausemoney.ca/s3-ep14-season-finale-with-preet-banerjee/

Chris knows all the buttons to push to get John, our resident housing bear, to pull out his rent vs. buy calculator: 1:37 - How should we start thinking about real estate 6:30 - Is renting just a phase of life 10:24 - Is there an equation for rent vs buy 15:33 - What is ‘pride of ownership’ worth? 19:25 - How to live in a housing bubble 24:24 - Rent vs Buy when you’re not living in Toronto or Vancouver 27:25 - John breaks down the rent vs buy math 33:07 - Is a house a tool for forced savings? 38:21 - The social pressure to own a home as a Canadian 43:51 - How does longterm renting work? 54:18 - Defining Step Zero For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep-13-chris-and-john-talk-rent-vs-buy

This episode has everything: a quiz that Sandi spectacularly loses, a guest that digs into the nitty gritty of communal living, and a fight with a (housing) bear. Join us and our guest Rob Bancroft if you're at all interested in the idea of living in a community. Highlights include: -Rob talks about his communal living experience - 12:14 -Housing as a social phenomenon VS an economic term - 15:47 -Creating community when you’re far from home - 23:25 -The cold economics - 25:39 -Communication logistics (how do you make sure people don’t kill each other) - 27:44 -What happens if you own a house communally? - 33:15 For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep-12-communal-living-with-rob-bancroft/

It's the one, the only Avraham Byers, Personal Financial Trainer, here to ring your doorbell every morning with $150, make awesome beard jokes, and talk about his recent (and fabulously simple) ebook Your Magic Number. Highlights include: 2:14 - Avraham's Chewbacca Story 7:20 - What's a financial trainer 8:59 - Will more money solve all my problems? 11:15 - What's your magic number? 15:12 - John says eight words 16:15 - Finding your magic number 24:08 - How to become the kind of person who actually follows through 28:41 - Six more words from John 30:26 - What to do when (not if) you fail For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep-11-your-magic-number-with-avraham-byers

Can Regulation Make Advice Better? "How can you be certain that the advice you're getting from a professional (an accountant, a lawyer, a doctor...a financial planner) is trustworthy? Is it enough to judge the advice based on how well you know and like the person giving it? You might think that the regulation of ""trust"" industries, is somewhat of an inside baseball topic for Because Money, but we think that equipping yourself with an understanding of what's going on beneath the surface while you're sitting across the desk from your advisor can only make you a better, savvier consumer. Be warned: we get a little...er...passionate in this episode, so there's some slightly salty language ahead. Plus, we put together a good set of contrasting articles to broaden your understanding of some of the issues we're talking about, just in case you're interested in further reading." For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep10-can-regulation-make-advice-better

In a departure from our normal format, Chris and Sandi spend this episode talking through their thoughts about RRSP Loans…twice. Why twice? Turns out we had more to say. Why audio-only? Chris wanted to test his show-editing skills. Why no John? Why this weird question and answer format? Why don’t you just listen and find out? For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep-9-chris-and-sandi-think-through-rrsp-loans

Change is hard, and since it’s just about time for all those resolutions to start making you feel guilty, we’ve put together an episode that includes what we’ll all look back on and remember as the single best piece of financial change advice in 2017. (Also: John is an evil genius.) For full show notes please visit: http://www.becausemoney.ca/s3-ep8-how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-maria