Articles

Are you one of the extremely fortunate investors sitting on significant accrued gains generated during the market run-up over the last few years? Nvidia is a common name which has skyrocketed over 750% in the past 2 years alone. Are your gains from stocks such as Apple, that you have fortunately held for many years? Couple these returns with the currency gains, and you are even further ahead.

Canada is rumbling with construction equipment. In downtown Toronto, dozens of tower cranes pierce the skyline, lifting buckets of concrete and other building materials off trucks far below that seem to block every major street. Outside Toronto, bulldozers and backhoes rumble across fields, building new highways and turning farms into subdivisions.

Over the past few years, it has become increasingly challenging for Canadians to buy new homes, and maintain payments on homes they have already purchased. The cost of living, higher interest rates, and the tight housing supply in certain Canadian cities have all contributed to the challenge. Further, according to a report1 from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), more than 1.2 million mortgages are coming due in 2025, meaning many Canadians will be renewing mortgages, potentially at higher rates than when they first qualified for them.

The markets were exceptionally kind to investors in 2024. Nvidia (154%), Palantir, (344%) MicroStrategy (500%+), and Bitcoin (all-time high of USD $73,000+) are just a few examples. Recency bias leads us to believe the good times will roll into 2025 and beyond. On the surface, things look rosy. The interest rate regime is dovish with regular quarter-to-half-point drops. A more business-friendly stance and a looser regulatory environment from the U.S. government are likely to give small-to-midsize companies the boost they’ve been waiting for, and possibly pull up the other 493 companies in the S&P 500 that missed the capital bonanza. What could go wrong in these halcyon days?

Last summer I interviewed more than 50 leaders (male and female) in the global finance industry across 31 cities and 25 countries in research commissioned by Kensington Capital Partners. The focus was on alternative investments as a class, and the alt subsectors that appealed the most to women investors.

It wasn’t a surprise to me that although women also prefer to invest in causes and concerns that matter to them, their main focus is to make money!

The Canadian housing market has been a hot topic of conversation for years, with booming house prices, gyrating interest rates, and a broader concern over affordability. In this article, in addition to pointing out the general topics of unaffordability and rising house prices, we also want to study past levels of affordability compared to today, and how generational buying waves have played an important role. In the sections following, we will be examining a series of charts that analyze housing growth rates, inflation-adjusted affordability levels, generational buying cycles, and a shift in debt priorities.

The United States has had income tax expatriation rules for many years, which may apply taxes when individuals give up their U.S. citizenship, or properly surrender their green cards. The rules are a bit like the taxes that can apply to Canadians moving out of Canada as far as a deemed disposition of assets is concerned.

When many people think of prenuptial agreements (prenups), they might envision them as a safeguard for the wealthy, an uncomfortable formality that presupposes the end of a marriage before it even begins. However, prenups offer far more than just financial protection—they can be a powerful tool for preserving the integrity of marriage by creating a clear, mutual understanding of expectations and providing both partners with the freedom to navigate their relationship honestly and openly.

Let’s be real: money is one of the top reasons couples call it quits (second only to infidelity, yikes). But what makes financial disagreements hit so much harder than fights about chores or parenting? Money isn’t just numbers—income in, expenses out; it’s tied to some of our deepest values, security, freedom, and even control. This is why the weight loss industry, as of 2024, is worth over USD$160 billion, because we know weight loss is so much more than the basic equation of calories in, calories out, the deeper-seated emotions and societal norms make for a very complicated formula, and the same can be said about personal finances.