Today I’m excited to have one of the top personal finance bloggers in Canada on the show.

Tom Drake is the president of Drake Media Inc. and the owner and manager of dozens of personal finance sites, including his primary site: MapleMoney where you can learn more about the best credit cards in Canada, as well as other personal finance best practices.

He has been called the godfather of personal finance, and today I’m thrilled to have him on the show to talk all about the best practices when it comes to using credit cards, as well as the top credit cards that he recommends.

Links and Resources

• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments.
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest
• Tom's site: MapleMoney (formerly Canadian Finance Blog)

Questions Covered:

1. What are some best practices when it comes to credit card use?
2. Some credit cards have perks like extended warranty on purchases or travel insurance. How do you take advantage of these benefits? Is it a hassle to claim them?
3. Many credit cards are free while others have a fee but have better rewards. Is there an easy way of determining whether it’s worth to get the paid option?
4. What if you can’t pay off your entire balance at the end of the month? What are some options you’d recommend if you actually need to borrow some money (i.e. HELOC, secured loan, unsecured loan).
5. Your thoughts on saving for an emergency fund vs paying off credit card debt.
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having credit cards?
7. Should we be concerned about credit limit utilization? (ex. keeping credit limit utilization under 30%)
8. What are the top credit cards in Canada that you’d recommend?

Today I’m really excited to have Bruce Sellery on the show from MoneySense Magazine and Moolala.ca, to tell you all about how to save and invest for your retirement.

Bruce is a bestselling author, and you might have seen him on TV as he’s been on CTV, CNN, BNN, MSNBC, as well as the Lang & O’Leary Exchange with Kevin O’Leary from Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank.

He is also the author of the book “The Moolala Guide to Rockin’ your RRSP” which is a fantastic book that I’d recommend to everyone.

In it, he actually does a great job of inspiring you to take action when it comes to planning and saving for your retirement (which is great if you know this is something you should be doing but just aren’t feeling motivated to do it). He also provides a great step-by-step guide that you can actually implement to pull it all off.

Links and Resources

• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments. 
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest
• Bruce’s Latest Book: Moolala Guide to Rockin’ Your RRSP: Start Rockin’ in Five Easy Steps
• Bruce First Book: Moolala: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things with Their Money – and What You Can Do About It
• Bruce’s Articles at: www.Moneysense.ca
• Bruce’s Site: www.Moolala.ca

Questions Covered

1. Why should Canadians even care about saving for retirement through their RRSPs and TFSAs?.

2. What are the top mistakes Canadians make when it comes to their RRSPs, and retirement planning in general?

3. Tell us about the 5 steps in your book that listeners can use to retire early.

4. For someone that is looking to buy their first home: They may want to save money for a down payment inside their RRSP since they can withdraw it when they’re ready to buy using the Home Buyers Plan.

In this case, what should they put their money into? (i.e. bonds, bond ETFs, GICs?) Especially considering interest rates are low and Canadians are worried about getting hurt on bonds if rates go up.

GIC rates are very low too so it doesn’t seem very appealing for most.

What about those Canadians that are getting very close to retirement? Is the strategy different for them?

In other words, what are the best safe options in the current low interest rate environment?

5. RRSP loans: What are they and when is it a good option?

6. How to factor in inflation when doing retirement planning calculations? (i.e. Would you just use the anticipated rate of return and subtract out inflation? Or use some other method?)

7. Is there a way to be able to take some of your spouse’s RRSP contribution room if you’re in a higher tax bracket?

8. Your thoughts on using annuities for retirement? (please define annuities first)

9. Your thoughts on using broad market index funds or ETFs vs buying smaller indexes like small cap stocks or different bond ETFs?

This is part 2 of the interview on How to Retire Early, with MoneySense Senior Editor Julie Cazzin.

In Part 1 we covered the beginner level questions. In part 2, we take it up a notch and get into the more intermediate and advanced level questions.

If you missed part 1, it's the episode right before this one.

Links and Resources

• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments.
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest
• Julie’s Articles on MoneySense

Questions Covered:

1. What are some top tips you can give to Canadians that want to retire early?

2. How can we figure out if we have enough to retire early?

3. What are some top mistakes someone can make if they want to retire early?

4. What are some top mistakes someone can do if they are already retired? (whether it was early retirement or not)

5. While saving for an early retirement, would you recommend index investing by purchasing broad market ETFs or funds, or do you recommend a different strategy? (ex. dividend investing)

6. While saving for an early retirement, would your asset allocation be different compared to someone that is planning on retiring early?

7. What are some of the unique challenges that we have to worry about if we are planning to retire early vs doing the more traditional retirement at age 65. (i.e. Impact of CPP, OAS, and pensions come to mind).

8. Once we manage to retire early, what suggestions can you make in terms of asset allocation?

9. Your thoughts on a safe withdraw rate?

10. How would you suggest using TFSA, RRSP, and unregistered accounts while saving?

11. How would you suggest using TFSA, RRSP, and unregistered accounts while retired early?
12. What are annuities and is it possible to purchase annuities here in Canada if we are a young retiree?

Today I am REALLY excited to have none other than Julie Cazzin on the show, who is going to tell us all about how we can retire early.

Julie is a national award winning business and personal finance journalist. She is a founding member and Senior Editor at MoneySense.

While she consistently writes some of the most popular columns for MoneySense, she’s also written for Readers Digest, Canadian Business, Maclean’s, and many others.

Julie has also appeared as a television guest on CityTV, Rogers and CTV as well as several radio shows throughout the years, speaking on a wide range of personal finance topics.

Links and Resources

• Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): Sign up anywhere on www.BuildWealthCanada.ca for a free guide on all the top tools and sites that I’ve personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They’re also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we’re paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments.
• Kornel's investing course with free sample lessons at www.BuildWealthCanada.ca/invest
• Julie’s Articles on MoneySense

Questions Covered:

1. What are some top tips you can give to Canadians that want to retire early?
2. How can we figure out if we have enough to retire early?
3. What are some top mistakes someone can make if they want to retire early?
4. What are some top mistakes someone can do if they are already retired? (whether it was early retirement or not)
5. While saving for an early retirement, would you recommend index investing by purchasing broad market ETFs or funds, or do you recommend a different strategy? (ex. dividend investing)
6. While saving for an early retirement, would your asset allocation be different compared to someone that is planning on retiring early?
7. What are some of the unique challenges that we have to worry about if we are planning to retire early vs doing the more traditional retirement at age 65. (i.e. Impact of CPP, OAS, and pensions come to mind).
8. Once we manage to retire early, what suggestions can you make in terms of asset allocation?
9. Your thoughts on a safe withdraw rate?
10. How would you suggest using TFSA, RRSP, and unregistered accounts while saving?
11. How would you suggest using TFSA, RRSP, and unregistered accounts while retired early?
12. What are annuities and is it possible to purchase annuities here in Canada if we are a young retiree?