Help me spend my loonies wisely.

February 21, 2007 6:09 AM

Help me learn about personal finances... Canadian style.

I'll admit it: I know very little about personal finances, beyond "save for retirement now!"

So, I googled, and found a few good blogs, mostly thanks to get rich slowly, but I am craving more.

So: can you suggest any Canadian personal finance books, blogs, and websites?

Bonus points if they are of the "hello, idiot, welcome to the world of money" genre!

posted by flibbertigibbet to work & money (13 comments total)

As an example: there is little doubt in my mind that this is a good Canadian finance blog.

I just also happen to not get it. My general reaction to it is: Yes. Of course. That's very nice. Excuse me, I need to smile, nod my head and step over to the other side of the room now.

So, honestly: something like get rich slowly (which I read anyways), but with a Canadian tint.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 6:22 AM on February 21, 2007

I recommend this primer, though it assumes you have a grasp of the basics of bonds, stocks, mutual funds, etc. I would read this document closely and fill in the gaps in your knowledge using Investopedia.
posted by Succa at 6:31 AM on February 21, 2007

Here's the Amazon link, but The Wealthy Barber would be on the shelves of any Canadian bookstore. Easy to read but provides quite a good grounding in personal financial fundamentals.
posted by hangashore at 6:32 AM on February 21, 2007

Money Sense magazine is very good for extra information. It's not a primer, so you won't get the full picture in one issue, but it covers issues and changes in financial regulations that may affect you, and trends in investment products and such.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:33 AM on February 21, 2007

I've found Canadian capitalist useful.
posted by racingjs at 8:59 AM on February 21, 2007

I hate to admit it, but Personal Finance For Candians For Dummies isn't bad for the "Hello, Idiot" genre.

Note that the fellow on the cover is wearing a lumberjack shirt -- that's how you can tell it's filled with extra Canuck goodness!
posted by kmennie at 9:27 AM on February 21, 2007

Hey! I just asked this question! Really recently! A "i'm canadian and don't know anything about personal finance" question! Where are all the "do a search first" responses?
posted by Kololo at 11:05 AM on February 21, 2007

Another vote for The Wealthy Barber by Dave Chilton. It's awesome!
posted by blue_beetle at 11:21 AM on February 21, 2007

Kololo: I searched (googled in general--which is how I came upon the one specific getrichslowly post, come to think of it; googled ask.me; yahooed ask.me), and used the tags (money+canada, finances+canada, all sorts of things +canada... and since your post definitely doesn't have Canada in the tags, I probably missed it that way).

I guess I just really suck.

Oddly enough, I ALSO have a chartered accountant father. You and me, we're like twins. Well, you're snarkier, perhaps. :P
posted by flibbertigibbet at 3:19 PM on February 21, 2007

Oh, and I marked you as best answer, cause hey, despite the snark, your post is pretty good and pretty useless.

Yay you, for bringing it to my attention!
posted by flibbertigibbet at 3:30 PM on February 21, 2007

Yes, you're right flibbertigibbet. I am pretty snarky. But in a friendly, smiley way, I swear.

I find it really odd that we both have the CA dads, there must really be something to the theory that they do everything and we end up ignorant. Hmm!

(Also, I'd always thought that the searches looked at tags and text. You learn something new everyday!)
posted by Kololo at 11:04 AM on February 22, 2007

oh, and I'm assume you meant pretty usefull. ;-)
posted by Kololo at 11:04 AM on February 22, 2007

Eep! Yes, useful. And I did search through text, but I also searched by tag (clicked on a random tag, inputted the tags I wanted. so finances+canada).
posted by flibbertigibbet at 1:57 PM on February 28, 2007