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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DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH TO RETIRE?
If financial projections and retirement readiness are what you are after, we using some professional financial software (software that we are using for our own plans in fact), and making it available to you in our affordable and value-packed membership options. With this powerful software, we provide a detailed report(s) that answers questions specific to your financial situation and assumptions such as:
- Do I have enough to retire?
- When can I retire?
- Will I run out of money in retirement?
- What is the most I can spend in retirement?
- How much of a financial legacy can I leave behind?
- Should I take CPP at age 65 or 70?
- How do I minimize OAS clawback?
- Which account (and when) should I withdraw from for the highest tax efficiency and estate value?
Featured articles
The Best ETFs in Canada for Building Wealth
New investors (or even established investors) may want to consider investing in broad market Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to build wealth. To learn about the best ETFs in Canada for building wealth, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve reviewed dozens upon dozens of low-cost ETFs so you don’t have to! Listed in the sections below, we’ve assembled what we consider some of the best…
What Asset Class Returns are Expected in the Future?
Winners among asset classes keep rotating, in terms of the best returns delivered to investors in any given year, but we were curious to find out what asset class returns you could expect in the future. Read on in our latest post to learn about some market history and what headwinds might be in store for expected asset class returns. History doesn’t always repeat, but…
Does the 4% Retirement Withdrawal Rule Work with Higher Inflation?
The cost of living continues to rise – at the fastest pace in decades. If you want to retire in the coming years, you might be wondering about the impact of inflation on the longevity of your portfolio. Can your portfolio survive higher inflation? When it comes to the 4% rule, a reader wonders, does the 4% rule work with higher inflation (like what’s happening…
Latest articles
Bonds vs. GICs – Which is Better?
Even for seasoned investors, during times of market volatility, there is a tendency for investors to shift their mindset from capital growth to capital preservation. So, for capital preservation, are bonds or GICs better? Which is better, when? We’ll unpack that a bit in today’s post and offer our take on how we manage our portfolios, along with insights from clients too! Bonds 101 What are…
The Best ETFs in Canada for Building Wealth
New investors (or even established investors) may want to consider investing in broad market Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to build wealth. To learn about the best ETFs in Canada for building wealth, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve reviewed dozens upon dozens of low-cost ETFs so you don’t have to! Listed in the sections below, we’ve assembled what we consider some of the best…
What Asset Class Returns are Expected in the Future?
Winners among asset classes keep rotating, in terms of the best returns delivered to investors in any given year, but we were curious to find out what asset class returns you could expect in the future. Read on in our latest post to learn about some market history and what headwinds might be in store for expected asset class returns. History doesn’t always repeat, but…
Does the 4% Retirement Withdrawal Rule Work with Higher Inflation?
The cost of living continues to rise – at the fastest pace in decades. If you want to retire in the coming years, you might be wondering about the impact of inflation on the longevity of your portfolio. Can your portfolio survive higher inflation? When it comes to the 4% rule, a reader wonders, does the 4% rule work with higher inflation (like what’s happening…
Do you need an RRSP if you have a Defined Benefit Pension?
Whether or not you have a defined benefit pension plan, the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) offers two huge benefits in our book: A tax deduction from RRSP contributions made today, and Tax-deferred growth as long as assets stay inside the RRSP account. These are very helpful benefits and tools in your retirement planning toolbox. However, for some Canadians, they might want to consider avoiding…
How You Can Take Advantage of Inflation
For years, after the Great Financial Crisis (GFC), inflation stayed low – until now. Are there ways to take advantage of inflation? Is some inflation good? How might you invest as inflation roars ahead? Read on to learn about our takes, what we’re doing, and why. Understanding inflation and inflation in context Generally speaking, inflation is the general rise in prices over a specific period…
Best GIC Rates in Canada
As you well know, to build wealth, it takes more than savings to compound away to grow your portfolio into something meaningful. That said, keeping cash savings secure or guaranteed in some cases can be very smart. What are GICs? What are the best GICs to consider and why? What are the best GIC rates in Canada and those providers? Read on to learn more about…
How a Part-Time Job Can Save Your Retirement
As you well know from this site, we love case studies! We believe retirement or semi-retirement drawdown case studies can help people see themselves in such examples – offering investors guidance, time for reflection, and new opportunities to explore. This case study today is about how a part-time job can save your retirement. We believe such a post is very timely since we know many…
Find your Balance with Andrew Hallam
Thanks to years of frugal living and disciplined investing, speaker and author Andrew Hallam is now helping you find your Balance. Years ago, while working as a schoolteacher, Andrew published Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learned in School, a guide to achieving financial independence. It remains (in our opinion), one of the best personal finance books published and a must-read…
When the RRSP actually beats the TFSA
In a recent post, we told you many reasons why the TFSA “wins” over the RRSP. Well, there are some cases in our opinion when the RRSP actually beats the TFSA as an investment account. Read on why the RRSP actually beats the TFSA for a few reasons in this updated edition of the TFSA vs. RRSP debate. The TFSA wins over the RRSP for…