How to Save Money on Your Mortgage + 2024 Housing & Interest Rate Update
Release Date: 03/05/2024
How to Retire Early in Canada: How Stephanie Did It and Now Travels the World
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
When we first start our do-it-yourself investing journey here in Canada, almost all of our focus is understandably on the accumulation phase. We are diligently saving, maximizing our TFSA and RRSP contributions, and figuring out the right asset allocation of low-cost index ETFs to grow our wealth. But what happens when you actually hit your number? What happens the day after you reach financial independence, and you can finally quit your job to design the exact life you want? People often think that it is all pure bliss, but for many of us, a whole new wave of anxiety sets in. Suddenly, you...
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Essential Money Lessons from the Doctor Who Wrote the Curriculum
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
What are the most critical personal finance pillars that have the greatest impact on our financial wellbeing? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Steph Zhou, the creator of the mandatory financial literacy curriculum for medical students at the University of Toronto. Dr. Steph shares the core components she identified through her research that have the greatest impact on our financial well-being. What You Will Learn in This Episode The Core Pillars of Personal Finance: Discover the critical components of financial literacy that we should all focus on mastering. The Power of Expense...
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What Every DIY Investor Should Know Before Buying ETFs in Canada
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
Today’s episode is going to be especially useful if you’re a Canadian DIY investor and you want to build an optimized, passive, low-cost portfolio, but you still have questions about some of the practical details. For example, should you just buy one all-in-one asset allocation ETF, or is there a benefit to buying the underlying ETFs individually? How much should you care about ETF trading volume? What does liquidity actually mean when we’re talking about ETFs? Should you use market orders or limit orders when buying ETFs? And if you’re an income-focused investor, what are the pros and...
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Is Your Portfolio Safe? The Security Checklist Every Canadian Investor Needs
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
As the markets hit all-time highs again, one of the things that has become top of mind for me personally is how to make sure that our investments are actually secure. If you're a long-term passive, total market index investor like me, then you've definitely seen your portfolio grow quite substantially over the years. With this, one begins to wonder: What can be done to ensure the security of those investments? In this case, I'm not talking about the volatility of the investments themselves, but rather how to ensure that our investment and other financial accounts do not get hacked, that...
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4 Mortgage Rule Changes That Give You More Power in 2026: Fixed vs Variable, Stress Test Changes, Should You Break Your Mortgage?
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
In 2026, it is estimated that nearly half of all Canadian mortgages will be up for renewal. This involves over 1 million households here in Canada. Because of the change in interest rates, some of these households could see their monthly payments jump by 15% to 20% on average—and in extreme cases, even higher. That’s the bad news. The good news is that if your mortgage is coming up for renewal, the stress test requirements have likely changed since the last time you took out a mortgage years ago. You actually have more power than ever to leave your current mortgage provider if you find a...
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Inside My Financial Plan: Safe Withdrawal Rates & Strategies
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
One of the most common questions I get, and honestly one of the biggest sources of anxiety for anyone nearing financial independence is: "How much can I spend without running out of money once I quit my job and start living off my investments?" It’s one thing to see a big number in your investment account; it’s another thing entirely to hit the "withdraw" button and start taking money out. Research, and my own experience shows that many Canadians end up underspending. They live a smaller life than they need to simply because they don't have a structured process they can trust. Some blindly...
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Top Investing Mistakes: Common Analytical Errors Canadian DIY Investors Make
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
With the new year kicking off, investing is top of mind for many of us, especially with all the new contribution room that many of us just received in our different registered accounts here in Canada (TFSA, RRSP, RESP, FHSA). Now before we decide what to invest in with our contributions this year, I thought it would be wise to look into: -What are some of the major and common mistakes that Canadian investors make when they do their own analysis on which investment to buy? -When we are looking to compare two investments, whether it’s a mutual fund, or an ETF, what is the process that we...
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David Chilton: Safe Withdrawal Rates, ETFs, & Finding Purpose Before and After Financial Independence
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
One of my favourite types of interviews is when I get to interview someone who has hit their financial independence or retirement number early, and then picking their brain on how they got there, what worked well for them, what didn’t, what mistakes they could have avoided, and learning what makes them feel happy and fulfilled both before and after hitting financial independence. Well this time, I got to do this with one of the most famous personal finance experts in Canada, David Chilton, who, as you may know, was also one of the dragons on Dragon’s Den. Dave’s bestselling book, The...
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Lessons From 400+ Interviews on Canadian Financial Independence & How to Achieve and Protect Your Early Retirement
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
Today, we have a Canadian guest who has literally done over 400 interviews with different personal finance experts over the years, many of which were specifically for Canadians. Today, I pick his brain on the common conclusions, best practices, and recurring advice he's heard after interviewing so many personal finance experts. My guest, Kyle Prevost, is also part of the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement and was able to hit his financial independence number at a very early age. I pick his brain on what safe withdrawal rate he has settled on and why, based on his extensive...
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The Canadian Guide to Index Investing & Rethinking Your "Safe" Money
Build Wealth Canada Podcast
In this episode, my goal was to make it relevant for both types of listeners: First, for those who are just getting started in do-it-yourself investing or are looking to transition to becoming passive index investors instead of trying to beat the market by stock picking or owning expensive actively managed funds. We’re going to build a strong foundation for you here to help you get started, such as discussing what it actually means to be a total market index investor, and what the research says about passive index investing versus actively trying to pick investments that will beat the...
info_outlineWith inflation slowing down here in Canada, we are starting to hear talks about the Bank of Canada no longer planning to increase our interest rates, or maybe even lowering them.
This can have an impact on your investment portfolio, particularly if you hold bonds, because remember there is that inverse relationship between interest rates and bonds, where increases in the interest rate tend to lower the value of the bonds that you hold in your portfolio. On the flip side, if the Bank of Canada lowers our rates, you can expect your bonds to increase in value.
Apart from your investments, the interest rate can of course have a substantial impact on your month-to-month cashflow, when it comes to things like mortgages as well as the real estate market in general.
So, with Spring just around the corner and the real estate buying and selling season about to kick-off, I thought it would be great to have our Resident Mortgage Expert, Sean Cooper back on the show to discuss:
-What Canadians should be thinking about when it comes to their mortgages right now.
-Should you do a fixed rate or variable rate mortgage if you’re buying a home or have a mortgage coming up for renewal?
-What if you’re considering locking in your mortgage to a fixed rate?
The optimum answer for all of this can change for you depending on what is happening in the market right now and your own situation, so Sean takes us through the different things you should consider.
You’ll also learn, what your options are if you find a better mortgage than what you have right now. What if the rates do drop and you’re now able to get a less expensive mortgage? Can you switch? What can the penalties be? And, can it be worth it to pay those penalties if you find a better mortgage?
About Our Expert Guest:
In case this is your first time hearing Sean on the show, he is the show’s Resident Mortgage Expert and who I go to and who I send friends and family to for any mortgage related questions.
Sean is the bestselling author of the book, Burn Your Mortgage: The Simple, Powerful Path to Financial Freedom for Canadians.
He is also an independent mortgage broker and has made himself available to help answer mortgage related questions to listeners of the Build Wealth Canada Show.
If you have any questions, or are just looking to get a shortlist of the best mortgages that he’s been able to find in Canada (since he’s constantly on the lookout for the best mortgages), you can reach out to him over at buildwealthcanada.ca/sean.
And now, let’s get into the interview.