Money Club for Young Adults
Welcome to the Money Club for Young Canadians
​​How can you build great wealth and
live the life of your dreams?
You need to learn how to do three simple things:
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How to acquire money.
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Save a minimum of 10% of everything you earn.
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How to keep your money.
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Invest wisely - use broad based ETF/index funds.
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How to make your money earn you more money.
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Let compounding and time work its magic.
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But learning what to do is not enough. You also need to take action - you need to make a plan and then execute the plan. If you can do this, one day you will likely be very wealthy.
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Yes, this sounds pretty simplistic. But when it comes to building wealth, keeping things simple is very important.
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Note: the web site is a work in progress - it is about 70% completed. Please refresh your browser to get the updates.
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The website is best viewed using a tablet or desktop computer.
Young Canadians have never had a better opportunity to become financially independent
by investing in financial assets than they have today. Why?
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Tax free growth: Taxes are a person’s biggest lifetime expense. Canadians now have a wide selection of options to grow their wealth tax-free: TFSA, FHSA, RRSP and RESP.
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Low fee accounts: High fees are a wealth destroyer. Self-directed investing accounts have very low fees.
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Low fee, high performance investing options: Broad based ETF/index funds will outperform 80% of professional money managers over a 10 year period. Simple and requires minimal work from you.
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Education: With the internet, there are lots of great resources available to help as you take each step of your journey to financial independence. This website can help.
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Age: Your age is your biggest advantage - by far. Time is what unleashes the power of compounding and exponential growth. Starting early helps a lot.
The first four benefits listed above were not available to most Canadians fifteen short years ago. What was already a very good thing - building wealth by investing in financial assets - has gotten much, much better in recent years. ​​
OK... Let's get into what you all want to know... drum roll...
How can you become wealthy / rich / financially independent by investing in financial assets?
Your $1 Million Asset
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The truth is you are ALREADY RICH! Yes, I know... shocker. You already own an asset that is worth a minimum of $1 million.
That asset is you. ​​
Financial Boot Camp
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As you get started on your journey it will help if you do a small amount of pre-work:
If learning about personal finance is such
a good idea why isn't everyone doing it?
Lack of education: This is the root cause of most problems in life. The good news is the opportunities to learn about personal finance have never been better or easier for Canadians.
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Not interested​: Of course, this is your choice. The cool thing about being an adult is you now get to make your own choices. But remember, you also get to live with the consequences of your choices. Choose wisely.
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Lack of time: If something is important, you will be able to find the time. Saying you don't have time is usually just another way of saying that it is not important to you.
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Too old: It is never too late to get started on your journey to financial independence. Even people in their 50's have another 30 (or more) years ahead of them.
Interested? Want to learn more? Below are some longer YouTube videos you might find helpful.
A Personal Finance Primer for Average Canadians
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JL Collins is the author of The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life
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Is personal finance a topic you are interested in? If no, then this video is for you. JL Collins does a wonderful job succinctly explaining why you should be interested in personal finance.
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He lays out a framework - a way for the average person to think about and approach the topic. Many of concepts he discusses are contained in this web site (as they are universal ideas). Ignore the part of the video when he discusses US registered accounts.
Morgan Housel - What You Need to Master
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Morgan Housel is the author of the bestselling personal finance book, The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
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The YouTube interview is long. If you are time constrained:
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9:02 - The one trait you need to build wealth
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12:54 - Housel's capital allocation strategy (index funds)
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18:51 - Your house: asset or liability?
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28:46 - How to avoid the status game
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46:24 - On risk
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01:10:30 - The magic of compounding
​Important: this website has been built for my kids​
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This website has been built as a tool to help my kids (who are in their early to mid 20's) on their journey to reach financial independence. As a result, the information is quite specific - it is a step by step guide for them. It is not intended to be financial advice for you. Everyone's personal situation and emotional makeup is different. Therefore, you need to make choices that are the right fit for you. Please consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
Beware of the Doomers
It is amazing all the doom and gloom on social media - especially that being directed at young people. About how bad young people have it today. And how much worse it is going to get for them in the future. Not surprisingly it is mostly being spewed by older people.
Of course, it is complete crap. A kid being born today is going to have the highest quality of life of any Canadian born in history. Now their life will be different. But different does not mean worse.
And 'different' is the key. The problem with old people is their world is continually getting disrupted - what they know is disappearing. At the same time, old people don't see/understand all of the great new stuff that is happening. So from their perspective, things are getting 'worse'. How do I know? Old people were saying pretty much the same thing when I was growing up back in the 1980's. ​It was completely wrong then. And it is completely wrong today.
Make sure you don't start drinking the 'crazy uncle' Kool-Aid.
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“Whenever you think that some situation or some person is ruining your life, it is actually you who are ruining your life… Feeling like a victim is a perfectly disastrous way to go through life.” Charlie Munger