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How much fixed income should you hold? A financial planner based in Saskatoon reviews Q3 performance and what the data means for your retirement investing strategy.

The third quarter brought unique challenges for investors, particularly regarding the role of bonds and inflation protection. We break down some history of bond performance against inflation to help you determine if your current strategy aligns with your long-term objectives.

Effective financial planning requires more than just picking assets; it demands a clear understanding of how interest rates and market volatility impact your wealth. We analyze the numbers to provide clarity on your portfolio allocation and what adjustments, if any, you should consider to maintain your peace of mind.

Subscribe for financial planning breakdowns, and comment below on how you are currently viewing your bond exposure.

00:00 Q3 review
00:25 Q3 Market Performance
01:14 How Bonds Work
02:21 Bonds vs. Inflation: The Data
04:23 S&P 500 Comparison
05:41 What This Means for You

https://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar...

https://www.bls.gov/cpi/

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How do you know when you've saved enough? And what happens when your habit of saving starts getting in the way of enjoying your money?

In this episode, Tré and Sierra explore financial goal setting and why a good financial plan needs to start with something more meaningful than an investment target or retirement number.

Using a practical goal-setting exercise, they discuss how to identify what matters most, distinguish between financial security and financial independence, and prioritize what you actually want from life.

They also explore the difficulty some people have spending money, even when they're financially secure, and share a real-world planning example involving a couple with over $1 million in net worth who were questioning whether they needed to keep saving as aggressively.

Topics covered:

• How to discover your financial and personal goals
• Why money is a tool rather than an end goal
• Financial security versus financial independence
• The psychology of saving and spending
• Identifying critical, important and nice-to-have goals
• Finding the balance between enjoying today and preparing for tomorrow
• How financial goals inform investment and retirement planning

An exercise to try:

1. Write down as many personal and financial goals as you can.
2. Challenge yourself to double that list.
3. Think about relationships, experiences, security, health and your ideal lifestyle.
4. Rank your goals by priority.
5. Identify what is critical, important and simply nice to have.

About Tré

Tré Bynoe, CFP®, CIM®, is a financial planner based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He shares practical financial education to help Canadians understand their options, evaluate trade-offs and make informed financial decisions.

Website: https://trebynoe.ca

This podcast provides general financial education, not personalized financial advice.

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How much investment risk can you really handle?

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Tré and Sierra go through a risk tolerance questionnaire together and use it as a way to talk about the psychology behind investing, how advisors measure risk, and why risk tolerance is only one part of the picture.

Tré explains that risk tolerance is more about the emotional and behavioural side of investing, while risk capacity is more about the objective ability to handle market ups and downs. That means someone can have the financial ability to take more risk, while still feeling uncomfortable with it emotionally.

In this episode, we discuss:

- What a risk tolerance questionnaire is trying to measure
- Why risk tolerance and risk capacity are different
- Why some questionnaires feel vague or frustrating
- How financial psychology affects investing decisions
- Why it may matter when and how the questionnaire is presented
- Why advisor influence can affect client responses
- Whether people answer differently once they know more about investing
- Why market experience can shape risk tolerance better than theory
- Why some people have higher risk capacity than risk tolerance
- Why education may help close that gap
- Why personalized questionnaire insights may or may not feel accurate
- How emotions, values, guilt, stress, and safety beliefs can affect money decisions

A good investment recommendation should not be based only on how someone feels about risk. It should also consider whether they can actually afford to take risk.
That is why risk tolerance and risk capacity need to be looked at together.

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How do you know if a financial planner is actually the right fit for you?

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Tré and Sierra talk through what it is like to work with Tré, who he does his best work with, who may not be a good fit, and what he believes a financial planner is supposed to do.

This episode is designed to help potential clients understand the way Tré thinks, how he approaches financial planning, and whether his process fits the way they want to make decisions.

Tré explains that he tends to work best with people who want a system, want evidence, ask questions, and do not want major financial decisions made based on feelings. He also talks about why engineers, corporation owners, and analytical clients often fit well with his process because they want to understand the assumptions, the logic, and the evidence behind the plan.  

In this episode, we discuss:
- Who Tré does his best work with
- Why evidence, systems, and repeatable decision-making matter
- Why analytical clients and engineers often ask the right questions
- Who probably should not work with Tré
- Why stock picking, speculation, and “vibes-based” decisions are not the focus
- Why a financial planner should tie everything together
- How retirement, tax, investments, insurance, and estate planning interact
- Why compensation and conflicts of interest matter
- What working with Tré can feel like
- Why some people may find the process overwhelming
- Why others may find it relieving to finally have a clear system
- What happens when Tré disagrees with a client
- Why he will not simply agree with a client to keep the relationship
- What the financial industry gets wrong
- How Tré thinks about investments and assigning each dollar a job
- Why underperformance is one of the biggest risks investors face
- How he approaches uncertainty when there is no perfect answer
- What his planning process looks like from the first meeting onward

A good financial planning relationship is not just about credentials or investment products, but also about the personal fit.

If you want someone to simply validate what you already believe, this may not be the right fit.

If you want a clear process, evidence-based thinking, direct conversations, and a planner who is willing to challenge assumptions, this episode will give you a better idea of what working with Tré feels like.

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Cash feels safe, but too much cash can become a problem.

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Tré and Sierra discuss why successful savers often end up hoarding cash in savings accounts or short-term GICs instead of putting their money to work. The issue is not that cash is bad. The issue is that cash needs a clear job, a clear ceiling, and a system that keeps the rest of your money moving toward something useful. The episode argues that money not needed within the next year should usually have a better purpose than sitting indefinitely in a savings account. 

Tré explains his preferred system: keep a defined amount of safe, accessible money available as a war chest, then invest or deliberately spend the rest. The goal is not to eliminate cash completely. The goal is to avoid letting fear, uncertainty, or “what if” thinking turn into years of idle money losing purchasing power. 

In this episode, we discuss:

•  Why people keep too much cash 
•  Why money in a savings account should have a cap 
•  The difference between actually needed cash and “maybe someday” cash 
•  How to think about an emergency fund or war chest 
•  Why a portfolio can sometimes fund major spending before cash does 
•  Why lines of credit can be useful before you need them 
•  Why high-income savers can still get stuck hoarding cash 
•  Why repeated short-term GIC decisions can become a long-term problem 
•  Why having no purpose for money leads to inaction 
•  Why cash can feel safer than it really is 
•  How inflation quietly reduces purchasing power 
•  Why assets often adjust better to inflation than idle cash 
•  Why successful savers need a system after the mortgage is paid off 
•  Why investing gradually can prevent the fear of lump-sum decisions

Learn more about working with Tré Bynoe, CFP®, CIM®:
TreBynoe.ca

This podcast is provided as a general source of information and should not be considered personal investment, tax, legal, credit, or financial planning advice. Consult your financial, legal, tax, and credit professionals before making changes to your financial plan.

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Should you contribute to your RRSP just because tax season is coming?

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Tré and Sierra discuss how to think about RRSP contributions more deliberately, especially if your goal is wealth creation rather than simply retirement savings. An RRSP can be a useful tool, but it is not automatically the right place for every available dollar.

The key idea is that an RRSP moves income from one year into another. That can be valuable when you are contributing in a high-income year and withdrawing in a lower-income year. But if you are still building your career, starting a business, saving for real estate, or trying to keep capital available for opportunity, locking too much money inside an RRSP may create a real opportunity cost. 

In this episode, we discuss:

•  Why people often rush RRSP contributions during tax season 
•  Why an RRSP refund should not be the whole reason you contribute 
•  How RRSPs move income from one year to another 
•  Why your current and future tax brackets matter 
•  Why wealth creation may require access to capital 
•  Why TFSA and non-registered accounts may be better in lower-income years 
•  Why low taxable income may reduce the value of RRSP contributions 
•  Why business owners and entrepreneurs should think differently about accessible cash 
•  Why corporation owners may have more flexibility with retained earnings 
•  Why saving for opportunity can matter more than saving for retirement alone 
•  Why “I can contribute, so I should contribute” is weak planning 
•  Why the word “retirement” can cause people to under-save for nearer-term goals

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If you are making financial decisions for someone else, the bar is higher.

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Tré and Sierra discuss what it means to manage other people’s money responsibly. This can show up when you are acting as power of attorney, sitting on a condo board, serving on a not-for-profit board, or acting as executor of an estate. The common issue is simple: the money is not yours, but your decisions can still create serious consequences for someone else. 

The episode focuses on the idea of a defensible decision. It is not enough to avoid making a decision because you are uncomfortable, scared, or unsure. If you have accepted responsibility for someone else’s financial affairs, you need a reasonable process, proper information, and professional help when the situation is outside your ability. 

In this episode, we discuss:

•  Why managing someone else’s money creates a higher standard 
•  Why power of attorney decisions need to be taken seriously 
•  Why “that’s what they would have done” may not be good enough 
•  How poor money management can lead to someone running out of money 
•  Why condo boards and not-for-profit boards need a real cash management strategy 
•  How poorly managed reserve funds can lead to cash calls 
•  Why holding long-term money in cash or GICs may not be defensible 
•  Why ignorance is not a good excuse when you accept responsibility 
•  Why executors can become personally liable for estate mistakes 
•  Why probate can protect an executor in Saskatchewan 
•  Why money and estates often bring out conflict 
•  Why asking for help is part of the responsibility, not a sign of failure 

When the money belongs to someone else, avoiding the decision is still a decision.

Whether you are helping a parent, serving on a board, or settling an estate, you need a process. You do not need to know everything yourself, but you do need to know when to get help.

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You cannot judge the quality of a decision based only on the outcome.

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Tré and Sierra discuss how to make better financial decisions by focusing on the information you had, the range of possible outcomes, and whether the decision would still make sense if you repeated it many times under similar circumstances. The episode starts with a simple illustration: one person drinks and drives but gets home safely, while another takes a taxi and gets into an accident. The outcome looks backwards, but the taxi was still the better decision because it reduced unnecessary risk. 

The same idea applies to personal finance. A bad investment decision can occasionally work out. A good financial decision can still lead to an uncomfortable result. That does not mean the decision was wrong. It means decisions should be judged by process, not hindsight. 

In this episode, we discuss:

•  Why outcomes alone do not tell you whether a decision was good 
•  Why likely outcomes matter more than perfect hindsight 
•  Why a good decision should improve your odds, not guarantee success 
•  Why bad decisions can sometimes lead to good outcomes 
•  How to think about decisions you would repeat 1,000 times 
•  Why too much information can lead to decision paralysis 
•  How to decide what information actually matters 
•  Why people often get stuck on small financial details 
•  Why every decision has a downside 
•  Why “safe” options can still carry risk 
•  How to compare real alternatives instead of imaginary risk-free choices 
•  Why worst-case scenarios matter 
•  Why a financial plan should focus on avoiding unacceptable outcomes 
•  When to revisit a decision after it has been made

Good decisions do not guarantee good outcomes. They improve the odds, protect you from avoidable mistakes, and give you a defensible reason for acting when certainty is impossible. 

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Why do couples keep having the same money arguments?

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Sierra and Tré talk about the money conversations couples avoid and why many financial arguments are not really about the dollars. They're often about safety, security, freedom, control, fairness, guilt, or feeling unheard. 

The conversation touches on money scripts, financial infidelity, hidden accounts, different upbringings, perpetual relationship problems, and why couples can share the same financial goal but still disagree about how to get there. Sierra also connects the conversation to relationship research around recurring conflict, while Tré explains how these patterns often show up in financial planning conversations with couples. 

In this episode, we discuss:

•  Why money fights are often about deeper emotional needs 
•  What “money scripts” are and why they matter 
•  Why couples can see money through completely different lenses 
•  How safety, security, control, freedom, fairness, and guilt show up in money decisions 
•  Why hidden savings accounts can sometimes be tied to fear or insecurity 
•  Why some money conflicts become recurring “perpetual problems” 
•  Why couples often stay stuck arguing about the surface issue 
•  How to reframe money arguments by asking what the real concern is 
•  Why outside guidance can help when couples are gridlocked 
•  How Tré and Sierra use systems to reduce daily money friction 
•  Why separate spending accounts can reduce unnecessary conflict 
•  Why check-ins still matter even when systems are in place 
•  Why curiosity usually works better than criticism

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What is it actually like to be married to a financial planner?

In this episode of the Plain English Finance Podcast, Sierra and Tré talk about the pros, cons, myths, and awkward social dynamics that come with being married to someone who works in financial planning. The conversation covers financial literacy, complacency, money mistakes, judgment, family expectations, lending money, and the pressure people sometimes feel when money comes up socially. 

One of the biggest benefits is having someone deeply invested in the family’s financial picture. But one of the biggest risks is becoming too dependent on that person and not developing your own financial knowledge. Sierra talks about the temptation to default to Tré, while Tré explains why he still wants her involved in day-to-day financial decisions. 

In this episode, we discuss:

•  The obvious pros of being married to a financial planner 
•  Why financial knowledge can create complacency 
•  Why both spouses still need to understand the family finances 
•  Why financial planners are still human and make mistakes 
•  A real example involving property taxes early in marriage 
•  Why people sometimes over-explain their spending around financial professionals 
•  Whether financial planners are silently judging your choices 
•  Why social money conversations can feel awkward 
•  Why one-off financial decisions usually lack enough context to judge 
•  The pressure to appear successful when people know what you do 
•  Driving an older car while working in wealth management 
•  First-generation wealth and family expectations 
•  The difference between helping and enabling 
•  Why lending money to friends or family can damage relationships 
•  Why gifts and loans should be treated very differently

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