Blog Posts
Canadian Housing: Buy the Dip or Dead Cat Bounce?
In an interview to a Quebec investment club, the Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklim reaffirmed our central bank’s official stance that they were pretty much done with interest rate hikes, at least for now. Canadian economists breathed a collective sigh of relief, as it looked like the damage to our housing market caused by rapidly rising interest rates was coming to an end. If new data are broadly in line with our forecast and inflation comes down as predicted, then we won’t need to raise rates further,” Macklem said in a speech to financial analysts in Quebec City. “Inflation […]
Is ChatGPT Coming to Take Your Job?
Back in 2006, when we were about to graduate from engineering school, our biggest fear was having our tech jobs outsourced to India. Which, as it turns out, wasn’t unfounded considering how many jobs in my last company did get outsourced to Indian developers. I mean, how are you supposed to compete when they can work remotely for a measly $5/hour? And not only that, one of them even willingly missed the birth of their own child because he was on call for an “urgent production issue.” He never complained. But now, there’s an even bigger threat. A threat […]
Can The Bank Take Your House Even If You Pay Your Mortgage?
It’s every home-owner’s worst nightmare. Already drowning in debt, and with a rampaging cost of living crisis causing many families to barely be able to make ends meet, they get a notice from their mortgage company that says something to the effect of: You have 30 days to pay back your entire mortgage balance in full, or we’re taking your house. Have a great day! Sound like a bad dream? Like something that would never happen here in Canada? Well, I got bad news for you: There are early signs of rough times ahead in the GTA real estate market, […]
Let’s Go Exploring! Zagreb, Croatia: Quirky Museums and Eye-Opening History
Most travellers use the capital city of Croatia, Zagreb as a stop-over on the way to more exciting destinations like Split, Dubrovnik, Hvar or Plitzvice. But that’s a mistake, because even though it’s not as popular as cities along the Dalmation coast made famous by Game of Thrones, it wins for its quirkiness, history, large variety of food and craft beer. Plus, the cost of living in Zagreb is only a 3rd compared to the tourist-mobbed places. In Dubrovnik, you’ll be paying through the nose. In Zagreb, you simply live like a local. I also enjoyed the quirkiness of Zagreb. […]
Reader Case: How do I Squeeze More Income From my Portfolio?
When most people think about early retirement, they picture themselves flipping off their boss at work, strolling out the door, and retiring to a life of full-time leisure or travel, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s the narrative that most of the FIRE bloggers (including us) depict. However, that’s just one flavour of FIRE that may not be for everyone. Over the years, FIRE has grown from a loose collection of bloggers into a global movement, and with it more and more voices have been added to the conversation (which is great), and more and more variants of FIRE […]
