The Accredited Canadian's Toolkit

Yesterday's experience preventing the waste of several thousand dollars in plumbing costs reminded me of a book I thoroughly enjoyed. It's Sam Zell’s book “Am I Being Too Subtle?”

There is a wealth of wisdom here, from a man who narrowly escaped execution at the hands of nazis while his mother was pregnant with him, and who went on to build a real estate empire in America, and later a business empire worth Billions.

I love ...

Today I is my birthday, and this has caused me pause for reflection over the year it has been.  The pandemic has disrupted life to a degree no one thought possible, and has provided an opportunity to test for personal resilience and adaptive ability. The K shaped recovery is real, with many people doing very well, and many people suffering. My observations have been that those with the proclivity to learn have quickly acquired the ...

Today I’ll be answering a question from Heidi who asks "Can I have some advice on how to rent out a basement for my in-laws' home?   We just bought a second house in town here and we are renovating it to turn it into a rental. We will have a legal suite downstairs and the plan is to try and move my husbands parents into the upstairs. My dad rightfully suggested I get in touch with you to see what advice you might have on be...

Yesterday I talked about the insurance crisis in Canada, and how it’s tied to the bond market.  Today I’ll be answering a question from Dean. Dean has a second home located at a ski hill that he also rents out on a short term basis as a vacation rental. Dean called me to ask about a request he had for a family to live in his vacation rental while they were building a house. This was looking like a good arrangement, because he cou...

Yesterday I shared how low interest rates and low bond yields create counter-party risk. What is good for borrowers is bad for lenders. Today I’ll discuss how lenders pass that pain off to everyday Canadians, with some sad stories about rising insurance causing real suffering to normal people. 

I owned 4 rental townhomes in a 59 unit self-managed strata that has some aluminum wiring. They have been a good investments for the past...

Too few people understand the bond market, or how critical a bond market is to financial systems. It’s the next most important thing to the rule of law.  I’ve emphasized the importance of the bond market in ACT 8 when I reviewed Jim Rickard’s book “The New Great Depression - Winners and Losers Post Covid World”. The bond market is critical, and today’s show examines how it impacts Canadians in massive ways without them even reali...

Yesterday we reviewed Jim Rickard’s book “the new great depression” and today we will turn to Jeff Booth’s work - “The Price of Tomorrow - Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future”  

Vancouver based Jeff Booth is the author of the “Price of Tomorrow” and he offers a fascinating analysis and argument for deflation in the long term due to technology.  

The premise of Jeff’ book is summed up by his analogy: 

Engineers in Canada ...

Yesterday I covered part 2 of Life after Globalization. Today I’m going to introduce James aka Jim Rickards. Who makes predictions for the rest of 2021.

The amount of new debt being created all over the world being and purchased with printed dollars seems alarming. Will this debt shake up the world order? ie. Will the U.S.’ 1974 Petrodollar system survive? Will the US’ world reserve currency status remain & will subsequent as...

Yesterday I began to summarize Peter Zeihan’s recent speech called Life After Globalization, and discussed how Americans are abandoning their role as world police. Today we will summarize what that looks for the coming decade, and how Accredited Canadians can position themselves to benefit from this trend. 

In his 2021 Land Investment Expo speech given on Jan 25th, Peter reiterates For an economy to grow, you need consumption led...

Geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan is one of the thought leaders I watch carefully.  His books tell the story (in real time) of the U.S.A.’s withdrawal from the world, and what that means for Americans and their closest allies (Canada being on this short list). Peter’s regular updates are free, but serve as teasers for his $1000/seat webinars where the really good stuff is, so I really enjoy it when conferences he is hired to a s...

A friend I met back in 2003 while playing in the CJFL called me today to ask a me a real estate related question, let's call him Dave.  Dave explained he runs his practice out of a rented space, and told me that his landlord recently increased his rent by 40%, citing an increase in costs. This has Dave thinking about purchasing an existing building and renovating, or building a new building and moving his practice there. 

I k...

Last episode I explained how the United States became dominant superpower after WW2 thanks to their unfair advantage, which is having double the navigable waterways as the rest of the world combined.   Over the next few episodes I will continue to share how the history of the US has impacted Canadian investors, and how we can draw on lessons from history to chart a course for the future. 

When the wars were over, the US started t...

Last episode I discussed the Canadian economy, and why so many economic commentators watch the United States so closely.  The reason we watch the US is because they are Canada’s largest trading partner for both exports and imports.  Over the next few episodes I will share how the history of the US has impacted Canadian investors, and how we can draw on lessons from history to chart a course for the future. 

I am borrowing ideas f...

Today’s episode is a brief overview of the state of the economy in Canada. As an Accredited Canadian it’s important to understand Canada’s place in the world so you know how best to invest your money.

Explaining in exacting detail how the economy works is beyond the scope of this podcast, but I’d recommend watching Ray Dhalio’s “how the economic machine works” by Ray Dhalio, an American billionaire for a 30 minute comprehensive sum...

This is the first episode of the A.C.T. Podcast and I’ll just spend a few minutes to explain who it’s for  The A.C.T. Podcast is dedicated to Canadian professionals like you who are busy contributing to the wellbeing of others. You’ve spent decades educating yourself in your field, and your greatest assets are you intellect, your work ethic, and your future income. 

This podcast is especially designed  for you if you’re focused o...