Invest

The FIRE Guide to the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account (FHSA)
- Let’s Go Exploring: Cusco and the Lost City of Machu Picchu - May 29, 2023
- Reader Case: Can I Move to Spain? - May 15, 2023
- Big Tech Is Laying Off Workers: Is Your Job Next? - May 1, 2023
In 2022, Canada’s federal government introduced a new tax-free savings vehicle known as the Tax-Free First Home Savings Account, or FHSA, and as of this month, it’s actually here! Well, technically April 1st is when the law creating the FHSA comes into effect. Most of the big banks aren’t ready to start opening accounts yet, but at least one that I’m aware of has their act together (which we’ll reveal at the end), so it’s now possibly to actually start using this thing as of today. But what is it? How does it work? And does it only help people […]

Dude, Where’s My Yield?
- Let’s Go Exploring: Cusco and the Lost City of Machu Picchu - May 29, 2023
- Reader Case: Can I Move to Spain? - May 15, 2023
- Big Tech Is Laying Off Workers: Is Your Job Next? - May 1, 2023
A few weeks ago, I received an interesting email. Hello FireCracker & Wanderer, I’m an investment workshop alumni and longtime blog follower, but I’m struggling to understand yield – specifically, the unpredictability and inconsistency of my actual portfolio yield. As I review your posts at the beginning of each year, inevitably your projected yield from the previous year comes very close to matching your actual yield realized. Clearly, that is reassuring since this is your expense covering income source. I began trying to simulate the same projection process to track my own portfolio yields against expectations. Granted, I am still in the accumulating phase, so I’m still adding new […]

Is Your Money Safe If Your Bank Fails?
- Let’s Go Exploring: Cusco and the Lost City of Machu Picchu - May 29, 2023
- Reader Case: Can I Move to Spain? - May 15, 2023
- Big Tech Is Laying Off Workers: Is Your Job Next? - May 1, 2023
Bank failures are kind of like hurricanes. When the weather’s nice and people are out barbecuing, they’re the last thing on your mind. But when one appears out of nowhere and starts bearing down on your neighbourhood, the ones who prepared for it are the ones that turn out OK while everyone else will get their homes destroyed. Well, with the recent failure of Silicon Valley Bank, followed by First Republic and Credit Suisse teetering on the edge of disaster, hurricane season is now upon us. How prepared will you be if your bank suddenly fails? Fortunately, being prepared for […]

Silicon Valley Bank Just Failed – Are We All Screwed?
- Let’s Go Exploring: Cusco and the Lost City of Machu Picchu - May 29, 2023
- Reader Case: Can I Move to Spain? - May 15, 2023
- Big Tech Is Laying Off Workers: Is Your Job Next? - May 1, 2023
After a relatively mild start to 2023, it was starting to seem that all the talking heads predictions of an imminent recession were way overblown. Until Friday, that is. That’s when this happened. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed Friday morning after a stunning 48 hours in which a bank run and a capital crisis led to the second-largest failure of a financial institution in US history. California regulators closed down the tech lender and put it under the control of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The FDIC is acting as a receiver, which typically means it will liquidate the bank’s assets to […]

Crypto Staking: Passive Income Generator or Scam?
- Let’s Go Exploring: Cusco and the Lost City of Machu Picchu - May 29, 2023
- Reader Case: Can I Move to Spain? - May 15, 2023
- Big Tech Is Laying Off Workers: Is Your Job Next? - May 1, 2023
You’d think that after Bitcoin’s stunning fall from grace, plummeting from $50,000 USD per BTC all the way down to $16,000 USD at the beginning of the year, we’d stop getting questions about cryptocurrencies. But as the price of BTC has recovered somewhat ($23,884 USD right now), interest is starting to return to the beleaguered crypto space. And with it, the questions. I’ve been reading about crypto staking, and apparently I can make 10%+ in interest just by holding my money in crypto, like a savings account! Why would I invest when I can make this much guaranteed? Anonymous reader […]