Build Wealth Canada Podcast

Sean Cooper, licensed mortgage broker and bestselling author of Burn Your Mortgage, breaks down 2026 mortgage rule shifts and what they mean for Canadian homeowners. He explains how stress test changes make switching lenders easier. He compares fixed vs variable choices, when breaking a mortgage can pay off, and how re-advanceable strategies let you invest while managing risk.

Thuy Lam, Certified Financial Planner with 20+ years building retirement and cashflow plans. She talks about why the 4% rule can mislead. She explains bucketing for short, mid and long-term needs. She covers stress testing plans with Monte Carlo and modeling what-if spending ceilings. She outlines timing drawdown actions, tax-aware withdrawals, and when to adjust spending after market shocks.

Danielle Nuzzel, an ETF educator at BMO ETFs, shares her expertise on common mistakes made by Canadian DIY investors. She cautions against relying on a single performance metric when analyzing ETFs. The discussion includes linking investments to personal goals and risk profiles, understanding fees, and uncovering hidden costs. Danielle highlights essential steps for comparing funds and the importance of examining underlying index track records. She also advises on how to avoid emotional biases in investing and stresses the need for thorough due diligence.

David Chilton, the renowned Canadian financial author behind The Wealthy Barber and a familiar face from Dragon's Den, shares insights on finding financial independence. He discusses the updates in his book, especially new tools like TFSAs, and emphasizes the importance of relatable storytelling in finance. David reflects on achieving work-life balance post-fame and the keys to happiness, revealing how helping others fuels his purpose. He critiques traditional safe withdrawal rates and recommends detailed retirement planning, making complex concepts accessible and engaging.

In this engaging discussion, Kyle Prevost, a Canadian personal finance podcaster and early retiree who has conducted over 400 interviews with finance experts, shares valuable insights on financial independence. He delves into the recurring advice he's gathered, emphasizing the importance of behavior over math. Kyle also discusses the 4% safe withdrawal rate and offers savvy travel tips to save money. He reveals what truly accelerated his net worth and how he maintains motivation after achieving financial freedom.

Join ETF strategist Aaron Allen from BMO ETFs as he delves into the essentials of index investing for Canadians. He highlights the advantages of passive investments over actively managed ones, underscored by robust research. Discover various DIY methods for building a portfolio and the nuances of asset allocation ETFs. Aaron also explores different fixed-income options, including bond ETFs, tailored to individual stability or growth goals. Tune in for strategies to optimize your investments across different accounts!

Alanna Abramsky, a seasoned financial coach with 30 years of experience, and Thuy Lam, a Certified Financial Planner with over 20 years in the field, share invaluable insights into achieving financial independence. They emphasize the crucial habit of tracking spending effectively, distinguishing between essential and discretionary expenses. The guests discuss personalized budgeting techniques, emotional challenges linked to spending, and innovative tools for financial management. Their practical advice encourages listeners to adapt financial practices to align with personal values and life goals.

Marc Beavis, a seasoned investor in his 60s with decades of experience and a popular YouTube channel, shares valuable insights on navigating the stock market's turbulence. He discusses his personal journey through major crashes like the 2000 tech bust and 2008 crisis, emphasizing the importance of having a solid investment policy to combat emotional responses. Listeners will learn strategies for maintaining calm amidst volatility, the benefits of diversification, and the value of journaling to reflect on past recoveries—tools that can empower investors to thrive in uncertain times.

Jessica Moorhouse, an accredited financial counselor with over a decade of experience, dives into the emotional and psychological barriers to financial freedom. She discusses common patterns like overspending and financial fears, emphasizing the importance of addressing these issues to create lasting change. Moorhouse also shares insights from her book, focusing on how upbringing shapes financial beliefs. Additionally, she offers practical advice for couples managing finances, highlighting the balance between joint and personal money for healthier relationships.

Today I'm excited to have a panel discussion with some of the largest personal finance and investing personalities, here in Canada. Together they have over 46 million views on YouTube (that's more than the entire population of Canada), and in this episode, I thought it would be great to pick their brains on how they actually invest their own money, what types of investments do they actually buy? what specific ETFs do they buy and what type of investing style have they found to work best for them? They also ask me the same questions so you'll get a pretty diverse view of the different options out there, for us Canadians, when it comes to investing. You'll notice too that while some of our styles overlap, we do also diverge in a few areas, and so we also tackle what are the pros and cons of the different styles, allowing you to make an informed and more educated decision, on what is the best fit for you. Saily Discount Link Mentioned in the Episode: Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Go to saily.com/buildwealth or download the Saily app on your phone and use the code "buildwealth" at checkout. Questions Covered: Let's start by introducing the panel. Brandon, can you start by telling us a bit about yourself, your area of expertise, roughly how much you currently invest in ETFs, and tell us about the investing style or strategy that you've chosen for yourself. To kick things off, I thought it would be good to start with what I consider, one of the easiest investing styles to implement and get started with, while also being extremely effective, very passive, and low cost. Brandon, as you can probably guess, I'm of course talking about asset allocation ETFs which you mentioned is your preferred investing style. For anybody new to this, can you explain what asset allocation ETFs are, and then go into why you chose this as your primary investing style, along with the ETFs that you actually buy and why. Let's open it up to the panel: Does anybody else here buy asset allocation ETFs? Why or why not? And if you do, what specific asset allocation ETF do you buy? Adrian, you like to buy the underlying ETFs, instead of just one asset allocation ETF. For anybody new to this, can you explain what that actually means, why you choose to invest in this way, and can you share specifically which ETFs you like to buy as part of this investing style. Let's open it up to the panel: Does anybody else invest in this way, and if so, what are your favourite ETFs, and give us some explanation on why you chose them and this style of investing. Are there any negatives that you think are worth mentioning when it comes to this investment style of buying the underlying ETFs? Marc, so far our conversation has been dominated a bit by equities (the stock portion of the portfolio), but of course, fixed income is also something that most investors find to be a good fit, especially since not everyone can stomach having a 100% equity portfolio and dealing with those occasional 30% or 40% drops and just riding those out and not panic selling. You have some focus on fixed income in your portfolio which can help reduce that volatility. Can you take us through your thought process on having these types of investments, along with which ones you like and why? Thanks Marc. Would anybody from the panel like to add anything to the fixed income discussion? Are there any fixed income ETFs that you like to buy? Adriano, let's talk about your investing style now. Yours is a bit different from the vanilla, total market, index investing strategy that most of us on this panel use. Can you speak to why you chose your particular investing style, the pros, the cons, who is it for, and do you have any favourite ETFs or other investments that you like to use as part of it? Let's open it up to the panel: Do you have any questions, concerns or comments?