Posts by Ed Rempel
Understanding Your Full Compensation Package: It’s More Than Just Your Salary
Your salary is only the starting point. The real value is everything working around it. When I sit down with clients and we start talking about income, almost everyone leads with one number: their salary. And that makes sense. It is the most visible part of what you earn. But once we look a little…
Read MoreYour FREE Tickets to the 2026 Canadian Financial Summit – Watch My 3 Talks
The online Canadian Financial Summit is coming up October 21–24, 2026. It’s Canada’s top personal finance event of the year! As a reader of the Unconventional Wisdom blog, here are your FREE tickets to the Summit. With your FREE ticket, you can watch talks from some of Canada’s leading personal finance and investing experts, with…
Read MoreUnderstanding Your Borrowing Options: Student Loans, Car Loans, Credit Cards, Lines of Credit & More
A practical Canadian guide to choosing debt intentionally before you sign. Borrowing Is a Tool – Context Is What Matters At 18-25, borrowing decisions can arrive quickly: a first credit card, a car you need for work, tuition that is due before your summer income arrives, or a line of credit that promises flexibility. The…
Read MoreEarly Diagnosis – How I Beat Cancer
Here’s my story. On July 30th I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Intermediate aggressive. Gleason score 7. Not the slow kind you watch. Not the slow growing kind that most men eventually get. The kind that is growing somewhat aggressively. 19 days later — August 18th — I had surgery. I am now 100% cancer…
Read MoreBuilding Wealth for the Next Generation: A Guide to Bare Trusts and Informal “In-Trust For” Accounts in Canada
Simple can be powerful. The key is knowing who really owns the money, who pays the tax, and when control changes hands. When most Canadians hear the word “trust,” they picture complicated legal structures, expensive lawyers, and wealthy families moving millions of dollars behind the scenes. But trusts are not only for the ultra-wealthy. For…
Read MoreEntrepreneursBreak article: Ed Rempel on Why Free Markets and the Stock Market Build True Wealth
I was recently featured in EntrepreneursBreak discussing why I believe free markets and the stock market have been such powerful drivers of prosperity and long-term wealth. In the article, I look at: One thing I’ve seen repeatedly after looking at the complete finances of thousands of Canadians: people who build significant wealth usually own productive…
Read MoreHow to Make Financial Decisions When You Don’t Feel Ready
A practical guide to making your first big money choices without waiting for perfect confidence. THE CORE IDEA Readiness is not a feeling you have to wait for. A good financial decision is one where you understand the trade-offs, can afford the downside, and have room to adjust if life changes. Some of the biggest…
Read MoreNational Post article: Could an RRSP/RRIF meltdown reduce Liam’s GIS clawback without triggering a big tax bill?
Liam thinks he is in a 19% tax bracket. He isn’t. He is effectively in a 50% tax bracket because he pays 0% income tax, but loses 50% of additional taxable income through the GIS clawback. His situation is interesting because: In my latest article for the National Post, I look at why withdrawing more…
Read MoreProtecting What Matters Most: Trust Planning for Children, Dependents, and Vulnerable Beneficiaries in Canada
A practical guide to creating structure, continuity, and protection for the people who may need extra care. Estate planning is not only about who receives what. It is about how the people you love are cared for when you are no longer able to guide the decisions yourself. This becomes especially important when you are…
Read MoreShould You Pay Off Your Mortgage Early or Invest Instead?
For many Canadians, becoming mortgage-free as quickly as possible feels like an obvious financial goal. But I think there’s a more important question to ask first: Once your mortgage is paid off, what percentage of that former mortgage payment will you actually invest? I call this the 95% test. If you pay off your mortgage…
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