Category Archives: Appearances

I sure was making the podcast rounds this spring! Check out these recent appearances:

Canadian Couch Potato

Jessica Moorehouse

Alain Guillot

Preet Banerjee also invited me down to his place to record, but the episode isn’t up yet, so that link just points to his podcast on Stitcher so you can listen to some of his other excellent episodes.

Over on the blog, I had a post on how complex asset location decisions can get. Justin Bender also covered the same topic.

I’m happy to say that I’ve been invited back to the Toronto Public Library to give a talk about planning and investing. If you attended one of our talks before, the material is going to be very similar, but the title has been updated. The main change this time is that Sandi won’t be joining me, it will be a solo gig (Sandi was invited too, but can’t make it this time).

Details: Monday, February 22, 6:30-8pm at the Maria A. Shchuka branch in Toronto.

Simple Do-It-Yourself Planning and Investing

Have you learned the basics of saving and want to learn more, like investing?

Personal finance coach and author John Robertson will cover the basics of long-term planning and investing, with a focus on index funds and doing it yourself. The session will look at how to create a long-term plan and how to assess one’s risk tolerance. Other items to be briefly discussed include portfolio rebalancing, analysis paralysis, TFSAs and RRSPs, and suggested reading. This workshop is intended for non-professionals who are interested in learning more about planning, investing, and how to take control themselves.

For those who attended, I mentioned that a previous version of the talk was up on YouTube, click here for that.

I’m happy to say that I recently was invited to join a pair of great podcasts that were recently posted. I sat down with Jessica of the Mo Money podcast to talk about the book and some of the story behind it.

I was also a guest on Because Money recently, where we talked more generally about who should be do-it-yourself investors. Interestingly, after we recorded that (but before it went live), Dan Bortolotti (of Canadian Couch Potato) gave the final talk of the Canadian Personal Finance Conference, where a major theme was the failings of investor behaviour, and how he’s grown more pessimistic over the years as to how many people should be taking a DIY route to investing. I agree that behaviour is a major factor in success, but am more optimistic that with good processes and education investors can be successful (but Dan has seen more cases than I have so my optimism may not be as rooted in reality).

Just a quick post to let you know that I was a guest on the Build Wealth Canada podcast with Kornel Szrejber, and part 1 is now live on his site. We chatted about the book and index investing, mistakes investors make, and more! Be sure to check it out for a chance to win a copy of the Value of Simple as well!

Also, Sandi Martin and I have been invited back to TPL to give our Money 201 presentation at the Agincourt branch on May 4th. Click for directions and details!

And of course, the 2015 Federal budget has changed the TFSA contribution limits (you now get $10,000 of new contribution room each year, with no inflation adjustments to come), so a note about that has been added to the errata page.

Sandi Martin & John Robertson will be hosting Money 201: Planning and Investing at the Toronto Public Library Port Union branch on February 24, 2015. The session will run about an hour and a half, with plenty of time afterwards for questions. TPL has told us that the room should hold about 40.

Once you have already mastered the basics of paying off debt and saving, what are the next steps to take in your financial life? We will walk through long-term planning and investing. Planning provides the context for investing, fitting the financial pieces into your life. A long-term plan that takes into account your individual needs and goals will help you make sensible investing decisions. The workshop will then cover basic investment options with a focus on index funds and doing it yourself. Other items to be briefly discussed include portfolio rebalancing, analysis paralysis, TFSAs and RRSPs, and suggested reading. This workshop is intended for non-professionals who are interested in learning more about planning, investing, and how to take control themselves.

I will be hosting a book launch for The Value of Simple on Saturday November 29! The event will feature a short talk by me (and I have forsworn PowerPoint to ensure it stays short) on the importance of investing and the book in general, followed by a Q&A. Please sign up and find more details here. If you ask any questions you may have in the form I can prepare in advance, but I’ll also answer any that come up at the event.

See you then!

I’ll be appearing on the Because Money video podcast on Wednesday October 8 — episode 23 if you’re looking for it in the archives. In addition to the book, we’ll be talking about anonymous internet advice.

Update: the show and a transcript are now up on the Because Money site!