The Personal Finance Show

Janine Rogan wants you to know that no one is born with an understanding of personal finance.

Janine got pretty good at making money early. Queen of the side hustle, they called her.

But somehow her bank account was always empty and her credit cards were always maxed.

This is, unfortunately, not uncommon in our society.

Making good money, but somehow the money disappears. Some people tell me this like it’s some kind of unsolveable mystery.

Luckily for Janine, she had a friend who pointed her to the world of personal finance books and blogs, and she was hooked after that.

Today you can find Janine’s personal finance writing all over the internet.

Janine joined me from Calgary, Alberta to share her personal finance story.

82 - Sandi Martin

Michael Kruse wants you to not be afraid of changing your career.

We usually go to school for one thing. One field of study. One industry. Then we work hard to find jobs and build experience in that industry. We become experts. After 10 or 15 years we become well known for doing one thing very well.

Maybe you’ve been in the same job or industry for that long and you’re totally fine. You’re paid well, you enjoy the work - there’s no reason to move on.

After 10 years working as a lighting designer in the world of Canadian theatre, Michael Kruse wasn’t fine. Among other issues, he couldn’t see himself ever reaching a comfortable retirement or financial independence making the money he was making.

So in his early thirties, Michael left his long career in theatre and decided he was going to pursue something completely different...he was going to become a paramedic.

Michael joined me in the studio in Hamilton to share his personal finance story.

81 - Janine Rogan

Ellen Roseman has been sticking up for Canadians as an advocate for consumer rights for the past 35 years.

If you’re interested in Canadian personal finance, there’s a pretty good chance you’ve already read something written by Ellen Roseman.

Ellen’s been a personal finance and consumer advocacy columnist at the Toronto Star for over 20 years and though she officially retired from the Star in 2015, Ellen agreed to stay on in a freelance capacity to write a weekly column, featuring consumer issues she believes will have the most impact for Canadians.

Ellen has written 8 books, including Money 101, Money 201 and her latest book Fight Back: 81 ways to help you save money and protect yourself from corporate trickery.

Ellen also teaches investing and personal finance courses at the University of Toronto Continuing Studies and currently sits on the board as co-chair of the Canadian Foundation for Advancement of Investor Rights, which we talk more about in the episode.

Ellen joined me in the studio in Hamilton to tell her personal finance story.

80 - Michael Kruse

Owen Winkelmolen wants you to talk to someone...anyone...before you make any investment decisions.

Ideally it would be someone in the personal finance realm. A coach like me, or a financial planner or advisor.

But please just talk to someone, because if you do, you might save yourself from making the huge financial mistake Owen made in his late twenties.

You’ll have to listen to the episode to find out exactly what happened, but let’s just say it was a bad enough experience that Owen decided to start learning as much as he could about personal finance which ultimately led to the creation of his company PlanEasy.ca.

Owen joined me in the studio in Hamilton to tell his personal finance story.

79 - Ellen Roseman

Saijal Patel wants you to know that women are 80% more likely to live in poverty in retirement than men.

This is a terrible statistic. Seriously, why is anyone living in poverty in retirement.

If someone is retired, that means they have either worked at a job or a business their whole life, or have supported someone else who worked, in one way or another.

And this person now gets to live in poverty? Why is this acceptable?

Saijal doesn’t think it’s acceptable. She started a company called Saij Elle where she helps women build the right money mindset and skills so they can own their financial independence and achieve true financial wellness.

And the thing about Saijal is that she comes from the business world, and knows how to talk to businesses as well as individuals. She knows that the system itself needs to be changed, and one of her mandates is to encourage businesses to build effective financial wellness programs.

Financial wellness takes a village and everyone has to be on board: individuals, companies, the media and the financial industry.

There is a shift in the way personal finance is being delivered to the public and Saijal is leading the way by helping reduce the money stigma and shame many women feel every day.

Saijal joined me in the studio in Hamilton to tell her personal finance story.

78 - Owen Winkelmolen

For this episode, the host becomes the guest and my wife becomes the host!

I decided that after 75 episodes it was time to become the guest and tell my story.

I’ve talked a lot on the show about my history with addiction but just bits and pieces here and there.

I asked my wife, Kaila, if she would take over as the host for an episode and she agreed!

We talked about how I got into my gambling addiction, how I got out of it, and what I learned about personal finance, and life in general, along the way.

It all started with a Super Nintendo…

77 - Saijal Patel

For my 75th episode I decided to record a 75 minute episode with 74 1-minute (or less) segments, one for each of the 74 shows published so far (leaving 30 seconds for the introduction and whatever is left for the sign-off).

Each segment has an introduction/commentary and a short clip of the show.

So if you want to experience the evolution of The Personal Finance Show without spending 75 hours, now you can get a taste of the first 74 episodes in only 75 minutes.

76 - Beau Humphreys (Yes, I'm the guest next week!)

Larry Bates want you to Beat The Bank.

That’s the title of his new book and it’s all about challenging the status quo of Canadians paying the highest investment fees in the world and believing that the financial industry has their best interests at heart.

You see Larry spent his whole career on the business side of the banking and investment worlds. One day he was sitting up in his ivory tower and a phone call from his sister changed everything.

That’s when he decided to use his knowledge about the financial industry to become an advocate for Canadian investors. Larry is all about transparency and making sure you don’t pay high investment fees and he proves in his book that you don’t need to be an expert to be an investor. You just need to know the basics.

Larry joined me in the studio in Hamilton, to share his personal finance story.

75 - Recap of Episodes 1-74

John Lanza wants to help families raise money-smart, money-empowered kids so that they can live happier, more fulfilled lives.

John is the creator of the Money Mammals and the author of The Art of Allowance.

I want to tell you everything about the Money Mammals because I like them so much, but it’s probably best that you listen to the interview and then go to Youtube and search for the Money Mammals. Describing them as puppets who are in a band and sing and play songs about money, just doesn’t feel like I’m doing them justice.

There is a Money Mammals DVD, 3 books for kids and now for parents the new book The Art of Allowance, which provides an allowance framework to find the right way for you to set up an allowance system for your kids. There is also a companion Art of Allowance podcast where John interviews parents about their allowance systems and what’s working, or not working, for them.

The thing I noticed most about all of John’s money resources for kids is how well designed and produced everything is. From the websites to the videos,songs, interactive games, and books, it’s just an amazing collection.

John joined me from Los Angeles to tell his personal finance story.

74 - Larry Bates

The Loonie Doctor wants to keep new doctors from falling into the lifestyle inflation trap.

The Loonie Doctor prefers to remain anonymous so all I can tell you is that he is a doctor and he lives somewhere in Southern Ontario.

As you may have heard, doctors are always the best at managing their own personal finances and it’s not surprising. I want my doctor to be really good at being a doctor. They have tons of information in their brains and for many, there is no more room for finances.

And it may seem like doctors don’t need help because they make so much money, but the sad truth is that the more money you make, the more debt and subsequent trouble you can get into.

The path to getting your medical licence is often very long. You get your undergrad, then 3 to 4 years of medical school, and then 3 or more years of residency, before you start making what you and I would consider to be real doctor money.

So the shift from the student/resident lifestyle to the doctor lifestyle can be shocking for some and can lead them on a path of spending money they think they have, but really don’t, not tackling their debts right away and not thinking about saving money at all. Often they end up working longer than they need to, and burning out as a result.

The Loonie Doctor decided to start a blog to try to help new doctors get a handle on things as early as possible in their careers.

He joined me in the studio to tell his personal finance story.

73 - John Lanza