One of the sneakiest expenses to account for is gifts.
Especially wedding gifts. More so than with presents for birthdays and holidays, there are expectations attached to wedding gifts. But what are those expectations? Is there a socially acceptable amount to spend? What if you don’t attend the ceremony, or you’ll incur a big cost just to attend the ceremony?
Let’s get some hard numbers to answer these and other questions related to wedding gifts. Just below is a quick, anonymous survey. Provide your answers and then check back in a week or two to see what the your fellow newsletter readers are saying.
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Rob’s personal finance reading list
Losing $163 a day – in the housing market?
A look at cities across Canada where average home prices have fallen the most in the past year. The decline in Burlington, Ont., was $59,583, or $163 per day. The housing market looks surprisingly resilient these days. Could rebounding prices be coming soon?
What’s new in auto insurance
If you drive, give this review of recent trends in auto insurance a look. Something I learned is that insurers may apply a $500 surcharge on coverage of certain vehicles at high risk of being stolen. You can get the money back if you install an anti-theft device.
The best way to reheat fries
Leftover french fries are just sad and maybe you end up throwing them out. Stop the waste! Here’s one take on the best way to revive soggy leftover fries, or you can follow the advice a waitress at a pub once gave me and my wife. Just put the fries in a frying pan and heat them up. Back to crispy in under five minutes.
Wealth for non-homeowners
Rules to follow for building wealth if you don’t own a home, including some provocative takes on when it’s good to splurge.
Ask Rob
Q: When will the two-minute portfolio update for 2024 be available?
A: The 2MP, an ongoing experiment in simple dividend-focused stock-picking, was updated a couple of weeks ago. The past year was a good one for the 2MP.
Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I can't answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.
Tools, Explainers, Guides and Charts
A primer on life insurance and medically assisted death.
The Money-Free Zone
Well-strummed melodic rock with just the right amount of shredding on the song Diamond Mine, by New Zealander David Kilgour and his band, The Heavy Eights. My other favourite song named Diamond Mine is by Blue Rodeo.
Listen to this
On the Burn Your Mortgage podcast, mortgage broker Sean Cooper and I talk about housing affordability.
On social media
A post on X comparing the after-inflation price of Canadian housing in recent years. We rock.
What I’ve been working on
– Retiring early – or late? Here’s how your CPP benefits could be affected
– In defence of RRSPs, as their popularity falls ever further behind TFSAs
– ‘Should I hang on to my utility stocks? They’ve taken such a beating’
More Rob Carrick and money coverage
Subscribe to Stress Test on Apple podcasts or Spotify. For more money stories, follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and join the discussion on my Facebook page. Millennial readers, join our Gen Y Money Facebook group.
Even more coverage from Rob Carrick:
- 🎧 Catch up on Stress Test: Why millennials and Gen Z are Alberta-bound for a more affordable life • Rising interest rates brought pain for new homeowners – and opportunity for house hunters • Why more Canadians are choosing to be childfree or delay parenthood • Love in the time of inflation: How to manage rising costs when dating • You're not bad at money – you're suffering from money shame • Retirement might look different for Gen Z and millennials. Here's how to plan for it • Recession-beating tips for the job market, housing, investing and the cost of life • Is the middle class dead for millennials and Gen Z?
- ✔️ The housing file: A house isn’t special. Get your head straight about the reality of home ownership • The good, the sad and the unaffordable: Saving for a home downpayment in Canada’s big cities • Property taxes are popping in some cities – how worried should you be about other tax hikes? • Our other real-estate problem – people have too much wealth tied up in houses • Borrowers and savers, here’s how to time the eventual rollback of interest rates
- 📈 Investing: Canada's top digital broker is TD Direct Investing, with an assist from the TD Easy Trade app • 2023 Globe and Mail ETF buyer's guide part one: Canadian equity ETFs • For the ultimate in cheap investing, check out the Freedom .08 ETF Portfolio • Yes, there is risk in Canadian bank deposits for the unwary and complacent • CDIC covers bank deposits, but who protects your investments if your broker goes bust? • Answers to your questions about the low-risk ETF paying almost 5% • Happy fifth birthday to one of the all-time best investing products for everyday people • An investing strategy that wins cleanly over the long term by outperforming in bad years like 2022
- 💰 Your money: Mortgage holders, savers and GIC investors, it’s time to change your thinking on interest rates • How much debt is each generation of Canadians carrying, and how do you compare? • For the sake of their financial futures, young people should leave Toronto and Vancouver • This practical new spin on a savings account might just peel you away from your big bank • Rental fraud grows amid rise in fake, falsified tenant applications • Are Canadians worse off financially now than in the 1980s? • From groceries to auto loans, here’s how much more it costs to live right now • When saving for retirement, should you change your asset mix over the course of your career? • Do retirement income needs always rise alongside inflation? Not necessarily • When the bank suggests you lock in your variable rate mortgage, it has an angle
Rob Carrick