Welcome
Cashflows & Portfolios is a free resource providing a beginning-to-end guide for Do-It-Yourself investors. The journey begins with how to budget and generate cash flow; how best to invest that cashflow; onto using the nest egg to fund the next phase of life – retirement.
We (Mark and Joe) are personal finance bloggers with a combined experience of over 25 years in helping Canadians with their finances. Using this experience, we created this site to provide you with actionable steps towards your financial goals. Both of us are in our 40’s, and like many of you, we started from scratch. Using the steps and strategies outlined in this site has allowed us to build significant 7-figure portfolios that are leading the way to financial independence (more about us here).
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Featured articles
What is Old Age Security (OAS) and What is OAS Clawback?
Subscribers to our site will know we’re still many years away from taking our Old Age Security (OAS) benefits. That said, just like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS) can be a modest retirement income source. So, it’s good to get to know the ins and outs of this benefit to use this income stream effectively and efficiently. What is OAS? How…
What is Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and How Does it Work?
Readers of our site will know we’re many years away from taking our Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits. That said, for many Canadians, CPP is a major retirement income source and one we’re planning on using effectively and efficiently. What is CPP? How does the program work? How much income can you expect from CPP? We’ve got those questions above covered and much more in…
Latest articles
What is Old Age Security (OAS) and What is OAS Clawback?
Subscribers to our site will know we’re still many years away from taking our Old Age Security (OAS) benefits. That said, just like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS) can be a modest retirement income source. So, it’s good to get to know the ins and outs of this benefit to use this income stream effectively and efficiently. What is OAS? How…
What is Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and How Does it Work?
Readers of our site will know we’re many years away from taking our Canada Pension Plan (CPP) benefits. That said, for many Canadians, CPP is a major retirement income source and one we’re planning on using effectively and efficiently. What is CPP? How does the program work? How much income can you expect from CPP? We’ve got those questions above covered and much more in…
Investing in Index Funds and/or ETFs – What is Index Investing and Why it Matters
There are a lot of ways to invest. Yet one of our favourite ways to invest for long-term wealth building is via investing in index funds and/or ETFs. What is indexing investing? More importantly, why might investing in index funds/ETFs matter to you? Read on – to learn why index investing is important and why it’s an effective solution for your get wealthy eventually plan!…
How to Automatically Reinvest Dividends
Since writing the article on the basics of dividend investing, we’ve read a few questions about the dividend strategy, but one question, in particular, stands out – how to automatically reinvest dividends. Today’s post will unpack that question a bit and offer our personal perspectives about how we reinvest our dividends. What is dividend investing? In case you missed it, dividends are a way for…
Best High-Interest Savings Accounts in Canada
Looking for the best high-interest savings accounts in Canada? We’ve got you covered with this comprehensive post that focused on the best rates available with no service fees. Why cash savings when you could be investing? Generally speaking, cash will typically earn less than bonds/fixed income, and bonds will typically earn less than equities with longer-term investment timelines in mind, say anything over five years….
Is Dividend Investing Right for You?
If you’re already investing in some of the low-cost ETFs we’ve highlighted on our site, chances are, you’re already invested in some dividend-paying stocks. A reminder you can find some of the best diversified ETFs to own for your portfolio here. But what if you wanted to own a few individual stocks along with your ETFs? Is that wrong from an investing perspective? Are there…
What is a RRIF? How Does a RRIF Work?
Synopsis: In this article, we’ll dig deep into RRIFs answering questions like: what is a RRIF? How does a RRIF work? Then we’ll dig into the details like the pros/cons, and the important withdrawal rules. If you’re not comfortable with relying on just government benefits like Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Old Age Security (OAS) for your retirement, then join the club. Neither are we!…
The Best Free Retirement Calculators
If there is one predominant concern from our readers here at Cashflows & Portfolios, it’s about sound retirement cash flow planning. That’s probably not too surprising. These are some of the top retirement planning questions out there today: How long will my money last? Did I save enough? How much can I spend before I run out of money? I’m currently saving $X. Am I…
How Much Do I Need to Save to Retire by 60?
How much do you need to save to retire by age 60? Can retirement occur at all despite not really saving for retirement until age 45? Waiting to save for retirement certainly has risks. Read on to learn more including how our latest case study shows you it’s possible to retire by age 60 despite starting a little later in the game. Financial independence facts…
How Much Do I Need to Save to Retire by 50?
How much do you need to save to retire by age 50? Could early retirement by age 50 occur using the appreciated value of your home? Is that an option for you? It’s absolutely an option for some given how hot real estate has been in Canada. Read on to learn more and why using the appreciated value of your home could work wonders for…