Build Wealth Canada Podcast

Written by: Kornel Szrejber: Investor
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  • Summary

  • As one of Canada's youngest retirees at the age of 32, and after becoming mortgage-free at 29, Kornel interviews the top financial experts in Canada to help you optimize your investments, reduce your taxes, and help you accelerate your journey towards financial independence and early retirement. He also shares his own experiences and lessons learned in investing and as an early retiree and member of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement to help you optimize your finances, specifically here in Canada.
    Copyright 2024 - Build Wealth Canada Inc. - All Rights Reserved
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Economics Personal Finance
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Episodes
  • Planning Your Own Retirement: A Rare Peek into a Canadian Financial Planner’s Playbook

    Planning Your Own Retirement: A Rare Peek into a Canadian Financial Planner’s Playbook
    Jan 30 2025

    Have you ever wondered how financial planners in Canada plan their own retirement once they decide to retire?

    Our guest today is a recurring guest that we’ve had on the show many times. He’s a fee-for-service financial planner with decades of experience in the industry, and while he’s not retired yet, he’s gotten to that age where he’s getting really close, and so it makes sense for him to do a more thorough financial plan for himself, for his own retirement.

    And so, I thought it would be useful for us to look under the hood, and hear his thought process when planning his own retirement as a Canadian, as surely there are nuggets of wisdom, best practices, strategies, tactics and insights that he’s applying when planning his own retirement, that we can then use ourselves, in our own finances.

    Enjoy the episode!

    Links from the Episode:

    A big thanks to John for offering a free 30 minutes consultation to Build Wealth Canada listeners. You can speak to John for free by going to: BuildWealthCanada.ca/john
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    59 mins
  • How to Optimize Your Investments and Taxes for 2025 (for Canadians)

    How to Optimize Your Investments and Taxes for 2025 (for Canadians)
    Dec 29 2024

    With the end of the year arriving and the new year starting shortly, there are certain deadlines that you should be aware of every year, from an investment and tax optimization perspective.

    There are also some elements to keep top of mind as the new year begins. These happen every year, so even if you are listening to this episode years from now, it will still be relevant to you, as these are things to think about and reevaluate every year.

    Think of this episode as a checklist that you can use every year to help ensure that you aren’t missing anything from an investment, tax, and government benefit optimization standpoint.

    Enjoy the episode!

    Links from the Episode:

    My ETF Guide: What I invest in and why (free)

    My "How to Invest for Canadians Course"

    What DIY Passive Investing Style is Optimum for You? (video presentation)

    RESP Guide (Registered Education Savings Plan)

    Asset Allocation ETFs

    ZEQT - BMO All-Equity ETF

    ZGRO - BMO Growth ETF

    ZBAL - BMO Balanced ETF

    Active vs. Passive Investing: Interview with S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P 500) & How to Choose the Right ETFs

    How to do Nobert's Gambit Guide
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    1 hr and 23 mins
  • The Complexities of Transitioning Your Savings Into Income in Retirement (For Canadians)

    The Complexities of Transitioning Your Savings Into Income in Retirement (For Canadians)
    Nov 21 2024
    Today, we tackle one of the most intricate financial puzzles faced by Canadians: transitioning from accumulating wealth for retirement to effectively managing it during the decumulation phase—when you’re actually living off your investments. In this episode, we’ll explore why this shift can be so complex, even for seasoned savers and investors. You’ll gain insights into balancing financial security with enjoying your retirement lifestyle and sustainably spending the wealth you’ve worked so hard to accumulate. We’ll also discuss both hands-on and passive approaches to managing retirement funds and share strategies to help maintain your financial stability while still enjoying life. Whether you’re nearing retirement or planning ahead, this episode offers valuable strategies for navigating the decumulation puzzle with confidence and peace of mind. Our Expert Guest: Joining me today is Eric Monteiro. Eric helps lead Canada’s largest provider of workplace savings and retirement platforms, covering over 1.3 million Canadians and managing more than $125 billion in assets. He does this at Sun Life, where he has worked since 2016 as the Senior Vice-President of Group Retirement Services. Eric also serves on the Board of Directors for The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, one of the world’s leading cancer research and care organizations. And now, let's get into the interview. Questions Covered: Easily one of the most complicated financial puzzles that I’ve ever had to solve, was how to transition from the accumulation stage where we’re just adding to our investments for retirement, to the decumulation stage where we are now living off our portfolio, and now have to worry about not running out of money. For those of us who haven’t fully gone through this challenge yet, can you shed some light on why transitioning to this new stage in life is so much more complicated? and why should we all care about it now, even for those that are still in the accumulation stage? When it comes to Canadians managing their finances while living off their portfolio, there are several different approaches available to them. Some are very hands-on, more time consuming, and can get very complex. They do however have the benefit of generally having low fees and potentially being very tax optimized if managed correctly. On the other end of the spectrum, we have very hands-off, passive solutions, but those tend to have larger fees associated with them (at least from what I’ve seen here in Canada). Can you take us through the different decumulation solutions or strategies available to us, as Canadians, and what are the pros and cons of each? I’m a passive index investor, and I don’t mind micromanaging the investments and withdrawals myself to save extra money on fees and taxes. But, one thing that I worry about and that I believe all Canadians should consider, is: Who is going to manage the decumulation for your aging parents? Especially if they are not as financially savvy, and when they eventually go through cognitive decline as they reach those later years. And, what happens if you die before your partner, or go through some form of cognitive decline yourself? How can you transition what you currently do, to a partner that maybe is not willing or able to micromanage your investments to the same degree as you? Can you speak to which options you have found to work best for Canadians in these situations? One of the challenges that we all face, especially as we start to live off our portfolios, is how to balance the need for security where we don’t run out of money in our retirement, while still enjoying the fruits of our labour, especially while we are still healthy. In other words, ensuring that not only do we not overspend, but also that we don’t underspend and end up passing away with an enormous portfolio that we regret not fully utilizing. Do you have any practical strategies, tactics, or ways of thinking to help us find the balance so that we don’t end up on either extreme end of this spectrum? One solution that you mentioned earlier that could potentially be used to help automate and simplify our finances in the decumulation phase was the ‘MyRetirement Income’ product. This is something that’s new, that I’m not too familiar with. Can you tell us more about it, how it works, and what are the fees associated with it? Thanks so much Eric, I’m always on the lookout for what is available out there, particularly for solutions that I can maybe suggest to my parents, or that I can transition to my wife if something was to happen to me. Can you tell us where we can learn more, and are there any other educational resources that you can direct us to when it comes to helping solve that decumulation puzzle here in Canada?
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    36 mins

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