Personal Finance

Opinion

Summer school for RESPs

Summer school for RESPs

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Jun. 27, 2026

If you’ve been saving for years for your child’s post-secondary education, and they are now ready to pursue higher learning in the fall, it’s not unusual to feel a little lost regarding how best to use that money.

That’s because the main savings vehicle for post-secondary learning, the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP), is often complicated to unwind.

“There are definitely some unique aspects to taking out money from a RESP,” says Anthony Maros, senior private banker at BMO Private Wealth in Winnipeg.

Unlike a RRSP (Registered Retirement Savings Plan) where every withdrawal is taxable because all contributions are made with after tax money (hence the deduction on contributions), RESPs involve taxable and non-taxable withdrawals.

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Opinion

Magnific A 2019 study says axing drug costs for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory conditions would result in 90,000 fewer hospital stays and $1.2 billion in cost savings a year.

Pill, bills, budgetary aches

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Pill, bills, budgetary aches

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Jun. 20, 2026

We’re a nation of drug users. Well, not those drugs.

Rather, many Canadians have their health supported by pharmaceutical medications prescribed by a physician.

In our universal health-care system, medication can come with a big additional cost.

The federal government introduced a national pharmacare program in 2024. Manitoba was among the first to sign on, partly leading to its Enhanced Pharmacare Program, which now offers birth control, diabetes and a few other medications at no cost to Manitobans.

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Saturday, Jun. 20, 2026

Opinion

Magnific The K-shaped economy is ‘basically the worst ... because a good chunk of the population is unaffected by inflation, while a growing demographic is violently affected by higher prices.’

Inflation hitting Canadians where it hurts

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Inflation hitting Canadians where it hurts

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Jun. 13, 2026

Inflation bites. That’s especially true for a key element of a budget that’s challenging to go without: food.

Higher prices always eat away at spending power, but food price increases have devoured household budgets in recent years, Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) data show.

Food cost increases may have peaked in Manitoba in 2022 at nearly 14 per cent, year over year. But even recent data shows prices rising 4.8 per cent, among the highest in Canada.

Households have little choice but to endure higher food costs, given they cannot go without, or they are increasingly turning to food banks and other community supports. Since 2020, the province’s food banks have logged a 150 per cent increase in use, a 2025 Harvest Manitoba report found.

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Saturday, Jun. 13, 2026

Opinion

Magnific The challenge for intrigued investors is separating scientific fact from fiction, says Kenneth Lamont, principal researcher at Morningstar specializing in emerging technologies, based in London. ‘You may be completely correct on the importance of a new technology, but the horse you bet on could just fizzle out for the wrong reasons.’

Investors can roll dice on emerging technologies that may or may not shape future, portfolios’ net worth

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Investors can roll dice on emerging technologies that may or may not shape future, portfolios’ net worth

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, May. 30, 2026

We live in hyperstitious times.

A philosopher named Nick Land coined the word hyperstition in the 1990s, describing the sense of living today in science fiction of the past.

Investors may have that same sensation, given the dominance of artificial intelligence in their portfolios.

Yet AI is arguably more than an advanced chat-bot/search engine. It is “the fabric that’s binding” together a lot of other science fiction-like technologies, moving them closer to viable commercialization, says Mickey Ganguly, associate portfolio manager for the CIBC Technology Innovation Fund.

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Saturday, May. 30, 2026

Opinion

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS REITs hold portfolios of commercial real estate properties focused on specific types like multifamily rental, industrial, retail, office and even seniors residences.

REIT idea

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Preview

REIT idea

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Real estate is often on Manitobans’ minds. It’s close to home, literally.

We must either pay rent for shelter or own a home. Both can stretch budgets these days. Yet ownership is a cornerstone of wealth because the principal residence exemption allows for long-term growth in home values tax-free.

It’s been a heck of an investment if you were lucky enough to get on board before prices soared. Consider the aggregate benchmark (typical dwelling) price of a home was about $199,000 in 2006 in Winnipeg. Today, it’s nearly $395,000.

That’s an increase of nearly 100 per cent.

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Saturday, May. 16, 2026

Opinion

MAGNIFICA ‘Maestros’ are often more focused on a company’s fundamentals. They invest based on the quality of the business and the prospects for future growth and profitability.

New book examines how leading stock pickers only right half the time, still get exceptional returns

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

New book examines how leading stock pickers only right half the time, still get exceptional returns

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, May. 9, 2026

The world’s best, most successful investors are not market wizards. They’re maestros, argues a former top fund manager turned successful financial writer.

To Lee Freeman-Shor, wizards are traders, speculating on price movements, and the successful ones are indeed skilled, making money by trading frequently based on pricing data.

Maestros, in contrast, are often more focused on a company’s fundamentals. They invest based on the quality of the business and the prospects for future growth and profitability.

A few years ago, Freeman-Shor — a former, award-winning money manager with a master’s degree in psychology and neuroscience — authored The Art of Execution: How the World’s Best Investors Get it Wrong and Still Make Millions.

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Saturday, May. 9, 2026

Opinion

Financial literacy’s blind spot

Winnipeg, U.K. economic experts team up to better understand poverty trap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg, U.K. economic experts team up to better understand poverty trap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, May. 2, 2026

Money know-how is essential to survival no matter where you live in the world. Without adequate financial literacy, it’s difficult to achieve what many experts in the field call “financial well-being.”

A growing field of research suggests one reason financial literacy initiatives have failed to make in-roads, especially for low-income individuals, is because they do not address the many facets of financial well-being, says one of the leading experts in the field.

“Financial well-being for most people is about a balance, and what you see quite strongly is that it really has a social component,” says Adele Atkinson, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Atkinson, who will be in Winnipeg this week, is a member of the university’s well-respected Centre on Household Assets and Savings Management (CHASM). She says financial well- being goes beyond long-term financial security.

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Saturday, May. 2, 2026

Opinion

Freepik

ESG, ru OK?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

ESG, ru OK?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Apr. 18, 2026

It’s been a rough year, depending on your viewpoint, for the world.

That’s especially true for folks who believe in climate change science, as they watch the largest economic power in the world make statements like: “We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.”

That’s a March 2025 statement by Lee Zeldin, head of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States.

Since then, the Trump administration hasn’t just embraced climate scepticism, it’s seemingly tried to accelerate climate change, repealing protections while rapidly expanding oil and gas, and even coal development.

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Saturday, Apr. 18, 2026

Opinion

NASA The Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun.

Lunar voyage coincides with heated anticipation of SpaceX going public

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Lunar voyage coincides with heated anticipation of SpaceX going public

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Apr. 11, 2026

Space is arguably the final frontier of capitalism. While the recent NASA Artemis II mission captures our imagination, another event has stirred investors’ imaginations.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk’s space company, reportedly filed initial paperwork this month for its initial public offering.

Likely the most anticipated and valuable privately held company to list on a stock exchange, SpaceX Technologies has targeted a market value as high as US$2 trillion, according to Bloomberg News.

Speculation aside, investors have reason to be enthusiastic, says Eva Ados, chief investment strategist at ERShares, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider. SpaceX “is very well-diversified: space, telecom, and AI (artificial intelligence).”

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Saturday, Apr. 11, 2026

Opinion

Freepik Target sales. Clients attraction accuracy, shopping list, consumerism idea. Retail service customer, shopper with trolley cartoon character. Vector isolated concept metaphor illustration

Consume, at what cost?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Consume, at what cost?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Mar. 28, 2026

Consumers are the kings, queens, servants and paupers of the market economy, increasingly relied upon to drive growth.

A recent study points to many struggling to keep up — a sign of growing income inequality post-COVID-19 pandemic.

The report from RBC highlights wealth growing faster for those at the top, while others are experiencing their share declining.

“There’s a lot of questions regarding consumption in the (United) States … with this narrative about the K-shaped economy,” says Rachel Battaglia, an RBC economist and co-author of Affordability: Decoding Canada’s uneven household realities.

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Saturday, Mar. 28, 2026

Opinion

Freepik While some DIYers invest to save for retirement, many are already retired, have good pensions and invest as a hobby rather than for financial need.

Winnipeg retiree recounts making contrarian trade of buying shares of big bank hit by scandal

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Winnipeg retiree recounts making contrarian trade of buying shares of big bank hit by scandal

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026

Jim has been retired for more than 20 years from a managerial role in the private sector. He and his wife live comfortably off their pensions; their adult children are leading productive, independent lives; and he has no financial need to take investment risk.

For the Winnipeg man in his eighth decade, investing is a hobby, and the big Canadian banks — RBC, BMO, CIBC, TD and Scotiabank — have long piqued his capitalist curiosity.

“TD Bank has always been my favourite investment,” he says, adding it is the couple’s largest holding.

Jim likes it was a leader in moving into the United States, a highly fragmented financial market.

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Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026

Opinion

Freepik Recession of money value on finance market. Price increase, business risk, coins and percentage rate flat vector illustration. Economy, inflation concept for banner, website design or landing web page

Grim yield to reap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Grim yield to reap

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026

Inflation may be less of a concern with the post-COVID-19 pandemic price jump a little more in the rear-view mirror each month.

However, the scars remain. Inflation of the recent past is now the new normal of everyday prices — be it groceries, vacation or borrowing to buy a home.

The bout of recent high inflation has also left investors with a new sense of uncertainty.

Bonds still offer portfolio protection against declining stocks after a negative economic “surprise,” says Robert Wilson, portfolio strategist and head of innovation at PICTON Investments.

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Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026

Opinion

Sandra Monaco photo ‘If you say, “I want to have a better financial life,” but your self-talk is, “My family didn’t have any money; I grew up poor, and who am I really to save?” it will be very hard to change,’ says personal finance author Kelley Keehn.

Money mind-shift New book from renowned Canadian financial author aims to help you ‘Save Yourself’

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Money mind-shift New book from renowned Canadian financial author aims to help you ‘Save Yourself’

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026

If your goal for 2026 is getting into better financial shape, one of Canada’s most renowned personal finance experts is throwing you a self-rescue line.

Kelley Keehn has recently published her 12th personal finance book in the last 20 years, Save Yourself: a New Approach to Thinking About Money and Taking Control of Your Financial Future. She spoke with the Free Press about taking a different tact to helping Canadians to make positive financial change.

Her new book comes at the right time, released in January when many make resolutions about being better with money.

As with past efforts, Keehn has sought to provide advice on the behavioural aspects of finance. But with Save Yourself, she upped the ante with neuroscience to help readers understand how human brains handle the subject of money. “My first book was over 20 years ago on the psychology of money, but it was anecdotal because there was little research on the psychology of money.”

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Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026

Opinion

Ready, set, invest!

If you’re among many Canadians not investing but looking to start, consider these tips

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

If you’re among many Canadians not investing but looking to start, consider these tips

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026

If you’d call yourself an “investor,” give yourself a pat on the back.

Despite this personal finance activity almost being a requirement to achieve financial milestones — notably retirement, especially amid the quality decline in workplace pensions — it’s likely millions of Canadian adults aren’t investing much, if at all.

One recent survey by the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (recently featured in a Money Matters column) found 43 per cent of women and 56 per cent of men consider themselves investors.

Even though more men report being investors, there is still arguably a significant portion who don’t. Seeing yourself as not being an investor does not mean you don’t actually have investments.

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Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026

Opinion

Antoni Shkraba Studio / Pexels

Acclimatizing to new normal

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

Acclimatizing to new normal

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025

The start of 2025 was a Rorschach test for investors.

Some saw the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House as beneficial; others expressed concern he’d tear up trade deals, impose tariffs and spark more inflation.

The past year saw a mix of both.

The United States did unleash a storm of trade strife and inflation, while down from its 2022-23 peak, did not fade entirely.

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Saturday, Dec. 27, 2025

Opinion

It’s all funds, games until …

Regulators up surveillance of ‘gamification’ techniques used to game investors (potentially) of their money

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Preview

Regulators up surveillance of ‘gamification’ techniques used to game investors (potentially) of their money

Joel Schlesinger 5 minute read Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

Fun and games aren’t just for children this holiday season. Turns out, investing is increasingly gamified.

However, it’s more of a year-round thing, as online investment platforms use “gamification” techniques, which can make the business of dollars and cents a little more fun.

In essence, gamification involves leveraging powerful behavioural psychology tools that nudge, through video game-like design, consumers toward engaging in certain behaviours — for better and for worse.

Canada’s largest investment regulator — the Ontario Securities Commission — has conducted a few studies examining gamification to understand its potential for benefiting and harming investors.

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Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

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