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If bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain have you feeling confused, THIS podcast episode is for you. 

There is a strong correlation between bitcoin cheerleading and bitcoin’s price. Whenever the cryptocurrency has seen a rapid increase in price, mainstream media coverage rises and social media goes crazy like it always does. But… how many people really know what they are talking about? 

Is this another case of return-chasing behaviour combined with “a little knowledge being a dangerous thing”? My guest on today’s podcast is one of the few people who can help answer a lot of questions about cryptocurrencies. Dr. Andreas Park is a professor at the University of Toronto and his research and interests have been focused on financial market structure, financial technology, and studying innovations in cryptocurrency and blockchain. 

And don’t worry, whether you already know a bit about cryptocurrencies or are starting from scratch, I think we hit a nice balance between explaining the basics and diving a bit deeper into the actual economics to explain how you can judge for yourself if the space is suffering from too much hype or not. 

Resources and Links for this episode:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/financeUTM

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/parkandreas/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/andreaspark2812/

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Some people love car shopping… Others dread it. But like any industry, technological advancements have changed the landscape. When trading in an old vehicle, it used to be hard to really know what a good price might be. But for years now, you could look up comparable cars on the market, controlling for trim level, mileage, condition, and more. Some online services tell you what the dealer’s costs might be for a new car to help you negotiate with more confidence. But many people just don’t like to negotiate, and at the same time they certainly don’t want to feel like they are leaving money on the table. I had a very interesting conversation with Chris Pfaff, the CEO of Pfaff Automotive Partners who operate almost 20 locations in most major cities in Canada, selling a wide variety of cars, from McLaren and Pagani, to Porsche, Toyota, Volkswagen, and more. His company launched what they called The Future Retail Model of buying cars in late 2019. No haggling. Their best price is offered first. Take it or leave it. And it’s been very successful. Chris explains the reason for the new model, whether his competitors like it or not, how his sales team reacted, and provides some thoughtful insights into the world of buying and selling cars.

I need to point out that this interview was originally recorded BEFORE COVID-19, back in January of 2020. I had delayed publishing the podcast as it was originally scheduled for March 2020, but large parts of the country were being locked down at the time. Anything not Coronavirus related was just not on people’s minds. Well, we’re hopefully starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. And perhaps more people will be in the market for a vehicle in the near future, so now seems like a better time to release this episode.

Links:

Pfaff Auto website
Facebook Page
YouTube Channel
Instagram 

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Michael Meyer is the founder of Obolx.com - an app that helps you visualize your personal goals alongside your financial and health milestones for your entire family. Powered by AI, and using a stacked timeline visualization, it promises to help you conceptualize your life and your most valuable asset: time.

Website: https://www.obolx.com/

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Darin Diehl has a long history of working in the financial services as an educator and marketer. But in late 2019, he was laid off from his job. Then, in early 2020, he had a heart attack. While being diagnosed and treated for that, doctors also found out that he had advanced lung cancer. Darin thought it would be helpful to share his story, not only from a health perspective, but from a financial and emotional perspective. From what emergency funds they had in place, benefits coverage and insurance, and how his medication for lung cancer has a price tag of $130,000 per year (and he explains how those costs are subsidized).

With a recent positive assessment, he now has another set of unique financial considerations: what is the balance to be found between spending more aggressively now in case his life expectancy is much shorter than his financial plan called for, versus what if he has more runway than the doctors originally predicted?

Darin is sharing his story because his passion for financial education hasn't dwindled. There are many lessons and thought provoking subjects we touch on in this episode. 

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Alyssa Davies joins the show to talk about how couples can talk about money. Our wide ranging conversation covers the "breadwinner mentality" and how that can cause problems in the dynamics of a relationship, how and when to start talking seriously about money with a significant other, and much more. 

Alyssa is one of the most popular personal finance personalities in Canada. She is the creator behind the Mixed Up Money community which has a huge Instagram following on top of a blog, YouTube channel, and TikTok account. She is a content specialist for Zolo and a published author living in Calgary, Alberta. Two-time award-winning Canadian Personal Finance Blog of the Year Mixed Up Money has over 30,000 followers across social media. Her first book, The 100 Day Financial Goal Journal, was published in 2020.

Links:

100-Day Financial Goal Journal: https://mixedupmoney.com/book

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mixedupmoney/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MixedUpMoney

Website: https://mixedupmoney.com/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mixedupmoney

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnqAoFeB_QAklk2yAMyVx0w

Column: https://www.zolo.ca/blog/author/alyssa-davies 

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There is a BIG difference between End Of Life Planning and Serious Illness Planning.

If you think estate planning is getting your wills and powers of attorney or healthcare directives set up for taking care of things when you die or are about to die, you might be making a big mistake.

If you end up in an ER, the doctors aren't going to look at any end of life planning you might have in place if they think they can still save your life. This requires a whole different way of thinking about planning for serious medical illnesses.

On the show today I speak with critical care physician, Dr. Daren Heyland, who is going to give us a look behind the scenes at what really happens when people and their loved ones are making decisions about their medical care when they are seriously ill, or terminal. We’ve talked a bit about estate planning on the podcast before, and my guest recently attended a financial planning seminar where the positioning of how and when certain parts of an estate plan come into place could have used some fine tuning.  He’s also going to discuss an initiative he’s been spearheading, called the Plan Well Guide, Plan Well Guide is a FREE tool to help people learn about medical treatments and prepare them for decision-making during a serious illness, like COVID-19 pneumonia for example. 

 Find out more here:

Company: https://planwellguide.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/darenheyland

Facebook: @planwellguide

Twitter: @plan_well_guide

Instagram: @plan_well_guide

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daren-heyland-2b674a185/

Guest Bio:

 Dr. Daren Heyland is a critical care doctor at Kingston General Hospital and a Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at Queen’s University. He currently serves as the Director of the Clinical Evaluation Research Unit (CERU) at the Kingston General Hospital.  For over a decade he chaired the Canadian Researchers at the End of Life Network (CARENET), which has a focus on developing and evaluating strategies to improve communication and decision-making at the end of life

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In this episode I speak with the president of BMO InvestorLine, Silvio Stroescu, to get his response to the long wait times for clients calling in for customer service that all discount brokerages seem to be experiencing. 

Silvio provides some shocking numbers showing the absolute explosion in new account openings and trading activity. Year-over-Year increases in trading activity have reached +200% in some recent months. The first nine days of 2021, which is really only five trading days, saw more transactions than all of January 2020.

Why the surge? And what are they doing to reduce wait times. Silvio candidly answers these questions and more. 

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Erica Ehm was one of the first MuchMusic VJs, shaping and influencing an entire generation of Canadians. Her career has seen a series of reinventions. After defining the role of music television host, she became a successful songwriter winning multiple Canadian Country Music Awards, SOCAN awards, and Juno awards. But the reinvention didn't stop there. She has launched two companies, including the the first influencer agency that was born out of YummyMummyClub.ca, and Ehm & Co (EhmCo.com), a digital agency focused on connecting brands with Canadian mothers.

She recently launched the "Reinvention of the VJ" podcast which not only reminisces about that golden era of Canadian music television, but what happened to much of the on-air talent after the disruptive effect of on-demand music streaming services on the industry.

With so many people facing personal and professional reinvention (COVID-related or otherwise), Erica brings her experience as a reinvention expert to the podcast and shares what worked for her, and what can work for you.

Mentioned in the show:

THAT Kurt Cobain interview that helped defined Erica's career: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CTsGievjMU

Erica Ehm's blog post about her thoughts on the behind the scenes of that interview: https://www.ericaehm.com/erica-ehm-insights/2019/2/5/kurt-cobain-erica-ehm

Reinvention of the Vj Podcast: https://www.ericaehm.com/podcast

YummyMummyClub.ca
EhmCo.com

Erica Ehm on Twitter: @EricaEhm, Instagram: @EricaEhm

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Erin Bury is the co-founder and CEO at Willful, an online estate planning platform that makes it easy for Canadians to create a will in less than 20 minutes.

Topics covered:

Estate planning 101: basic definitions and concepts to help educate the audience

Can you leave your debt to someone in your will?

The stats on who doesn’t have wills/POAs,etc.

What are the biggest reasons people don’t get their estate planning documents set up?

What don’t people know about estate planning that they should?

What happens to your social media accounts when you die?

Company: https://www.willful.co/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/erinbury

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David Pride was sponsored into a multi-level marketing organization at the tender age of just 15 years old. By the time he was 16, they realized he was a naturally gifted speaker on stage. Over the next three years he would recruit over 150 people into the company. He would spend a total of 13 years dedicating all his spare time to his new family before he realized he needed to get out. It took him an additional three years of therapy to de-program his brain after he left. For the first time ever, he shares his story. How he got in. How much he made (it will shock you). And how he got out.