This is a special episode of the show as we are adding a new series of episodes specifically for investors.

The show will continue to go on just like it has, but in addition to the types of episodes that you're used to, I'm going to publish another new episode every month which will benefit you in two ways:

First, it's going to keep you informed on what is currently going on in the markets with your investments, and the investing world in general.  

We hear a lot of doom and gloom in the media, there's a lot of misinformation, and it's very easy to become worried about your investments when you hear all the negativity and speculation. Without the right information, it's easy to become emotional, and maybe make a rash decision based on some news we hear, only to regret it later.

Therefore in this episode series, the goal is to be the voice of reason and tell you what you need to know, with no biases or conflicts of interest (we're not selling any investments here), so that you can make an informed, rational decision that serves you best.

The 2nd purpose of this new series of episodes, is to answer listener and reader questions from Canadian investors.

I know I get more questions than I can possibly get to from the show, and as you may know I partner with 5i Research and they've literally been asked  thousands of questions over the years and so I thought it would be great for us to answer some of the listener and reader questions that we receive on both our sides.

If you'd like to ask a question, just go to buildwealthcanada.ca and sign up for the email newsletter right on the main page. You'll get a free gift when you do this, you'll be informed when new episodes are released, and when you sign up you'll get an automated email from me so all you have to do is reply to that email with your question and we'll do our best to have it on the show.

Now I do want to set the expectation with this new series, that despite us talking about the markets, and about the topics that are currently on the minds of investors, and answering questions, this isn't going to be a series about timing the markets, or day trading, or completely speculative get-rich-quick investing. Instead, it's meant to keep you educated and informed on what is happening in the markets, so that you can be an educated and informed investor, with a long-term outlook on your investments, while hopefully getting some of your investments questions answered too.

My co-host for this series is Ryan Modesto. He is the CEO of 5i Research which is an investment research company that provides unbiased research on Canadian stocks and ETFs. Ryan holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA) and is frequently featured on The Globe and Mail, the Financial Post, and you've probably seen him on TV as he's frequently a guest on BNN too, providing his latest research and insights. Ryan and his team have also answered over 75,000 investing questions from Canadians across the country, through their Q&A service, and I'm thrilled to have his expertise on the show.

As a listener of the build wealth show, you can get full access to all of Ryan's and his team's research for free, for an entire month.

You’ll get full access to all the stock and ETF recommendations, all their model portfolios, as well as their database of over 75,000 answered investing questions. I definitely encourage you to check it out as at the very least you’ll learn a ton and it’s all free anyway.

And if for some strange reason that’s not enough, I’ve also arranged for build wealth Canada listeners to get two extra bonuses:

The first, is that when you sign up for the free trial, you’ll also get a 1 year, paid digital subscription to Canadian Moneysaver Magazine, absolutely free.

This is the exact same magazine that you see at Chapters and other stores all over Canada, it's the largest personal finance and investing magazine in Canada, I actually write for it too, and you get the entire subscription, for free, for an entire year, no strings attached, just for signing up for the free 30 day access to 5i.

The 2nd bonus, is that you’ll also get 1 questions credit for free, on the 5i Research site, so you can actually ask 5i’s Research Team your most pressing investment question and they’ll answer it for you, using the knowledge and investment tools that you and I simply don’t have access to.  

Enjoy, it’s all free, you’ll learn an absolute ton, and you can get it all by going to http://www.buildwealthcanada.ca/research.

I also have some exciting news as my favourite bank that I've been using and recommending for years has agreed to sponsor the show, and you can now get one of the highest savings rates in Canada for free, by going tobuildwealthcanada.ca/eq.

So the reasons that I've been recommending EQ Bank to anybody that's asked me is because over the time that I've been with them (which is ever since they first started in 2016 in Canada), they have consistently had one of the highest interest savings rates compared to all the other banks. It’s also totally free to join with no monthly fees, and as an extra perk, EQ Bank will give you 5 free Interac e-transfers every month.

And just to put things in perspective, at the time of this recording, their Savings Plus Account automatically gives you 2.30% interest while the online banks in Canada are offering a maximum of 1.25% and if you're still banking with one of the larger banks, then you're getting less than 1%. In other words, by using the bank that I use, you're going to almost double the interest you get from your chequing and savings accounts, for free, and this is why I've been using and recommending them for years to anybody that's asked, and even before they became a sponsor on the show.

Now even if you love your current bank just for regular day-to-day use, why wouldn't you at least keep your emergency fund and any extra cash that you're not investing in your savings account over at EQ? That way you're at least earning over double the interest on your chequing and savings accounts compared to your current bank. And that's actually what I did when I first started with them years ago, and since then, I've actually transitioned to them now being our primary bank.

So, I definitely recommend that you sign up and take advantage of this for free by going to buildwealthcanada.ca/eq. You'll get one of the highest interest rates in Canada, and have my sincere gratitude for helping support the show, at no cost to you. So that link again is buildwealthcanada.ca/eq.

And just as an aside, they've also recently launched their own GICs where you can actually get up to 3.52% interest, which at the time of this recording is also one of highest rates available in Canada for GICs. So if you're willing to lock-in your money for a bit, you can actually get that even higher rate of up to 3.52%. And to learn more about that, go to buildwealthcanada.ca/gic. 

Today’s guest is Alex Grodnik from Wall Street Oasis which easily one of the largest and best sites out there, for anybody looking to have a career on Bay Street or Wall Street.

Alex also hosts their podcast which is called “Moving Up”, but what’s also really interesting about him is he actually quit his really well-paying job on Wall Street to start his own business, so I thought this would also be a great episode for anybody who's maybe a little dissatisfied with their job, and is considering a career transition.

We talk about why he decided to quit, his top advice for somebody looking to earn some money on the side through their own business, how he’s learned to handle rejection really well and use that to propel his career, and much more.

It was an absolute blast to talk to Alex, the interview went great, and I’m sure you’ll like it.

In other news, I wanted to tell you about something that’s actually pretty time sensitive, and that is that I’ve been asked to speak again, at the Canadian Financial Summit and I have free tickets for you!

This is a fully online personal finance and investing conference, so you don’t have to travel anywhere or buy anything. You can just watch the speakers in your pyjamas if you want and stream the talks right from your computer, tablet or phone.

This is the biggest conference of its kind in Canada, and has just about every big hitter in the Canadian personal finance space speaking at it. For example, there will be Rob Carrick from the Globe and Mail, Preet Banerjee from CBC’s The National, Ellen Roseman from the Toronto Star, Robb Engen from Boomer and Echo, and many more.

It’s a real honour to be included again in this group of top experts, and for a limited time I have free tickets for you! To get your free tickets, go to buildwealthcanada.ca/tickets, and there you will find the link to the free tickets.

Now what they’re going to be doing soon, is transitioning to regular paid tickets so if you’re even a little bit interested in attending any of the talks, then go to buildwealthcanada.ca/tickets right now, and secure your tickets. I have absolutely no control over how long they’ll be letting me give you free access to the tickets so jump on your phone or computer right now to do it so you don’t miss out. All they need is your name and email to send you the tickets so it’ll literally take you maybe 20 seconds to do.

My talk will be on the three pillars that my wife and I used to become financially independent at 32, so I’ll be sharing lots of tips and strategies that have worked well for us in the areas of reducing our spending, increasing our income, and how we optimized our investments to pay the lowest fees and tax which let us reach that financial independence number a lot faster.

I hope you will join me, and that link again to get your free tickets for a very limited time is buildwealthcanada.ca/tickets.

See you there!

Kornel