Found myself in a Pratchett book (again): “I’m losing my touch,” he said. “Imagine—me, working for someone? I must have been mad. It’s the cold weather getting to me, that’s what it is. Even…wages,” he said the word with a shudder, “looked attractive.”

This end of the year tradition means a lot to me, and I'm happy to be back at it after seven years away. What I want for you in 2026 is enough.

Continuing fire from John Stapleton at the Federal Government's war on poor people from www.canadianaffairs.news/2025/11/12/o...

Budgets reveal political priorities. Every cut, every subsidy, every tax break exposes who governments believe deserves support. Austerity disguises itself as discipline, but the real cost shows up in the lives it pushes to the margins.

I miss library cards in the books that said who else had borrowed the book and when.

There are going to be lots of arm chair opinions on the value of essential public services from people who don’t use or rely on a certain public service today. Perhaps take a pause and listen to those who do for a change. Your couple a bucks a year to pay for said service might not seem so horrible

This was a super fun interview, and not just because talking to Bruce is *always* fun. Getting to talk about what a real, actual financial plan is (and isn't) gets me going every time. moolala.ca/do-you-have-...

The destructive nature of the current feudalized version of capitalism needs to be talked about more on social media.

This makes me think of @nolore.bsky.social's exhortation to get involved in your community somehow, regardless of whether what you do is overtly political. People need connection, purpose, and meaning. If that's community soccer or choir or gardening club or whatever, cool.

In 2023, the top 1% of Canadian families controlled 24% of Canada's total net wealth. The richest 5% controlled 40%. The bottom 40% of Canadian households, combined, controlled 3.3% of net wealth in Canada. Many of those are in a net debt position.

Oh, yeah. I have a newsletter. Practice news one month, financial planning the next, one great read every now and then, and a round up of the past month's @readysetmoneyshow.bsky.social episodes. Fill yer boots: sandimartin.ca/subscribe

Hey folks please take a look at this and consider filing it out, because if you don't you can be sure the tax software lobby industry is! The CRAis starting to consult on automatic tax filing in Canada. Let's get this done! cra-arc-survey-sondage.ca/f/s.aspx?s=d...

Hopelessness is an important element of Neo-Liberalism

A must-watch, 6 and a half minute primer from @katyrshields.bsky.social on how the orthodoxy of (white, male, wealthy) economic groupthink has harms all of us by propping up and reinforcing neo-liberalism: youtu.be/42oiE-VKWvg?...

Vacation reading from This Book is a Knife: “It isn't enough to hope for the world you want, and it isn't enough to work for the world you want. You have to hope and work for the world you want.

Truly, friends, I wrote this episode for myself. But I'm so happy to share it with you fine folks too:

Solidarity with @cupescfp.bsky.social and Air Canada flight attendants who refuse to back down. When governments rush to end strikes, they're sending a clear message: workers' rights are expendable, corporate profits are not. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

We have created an entire non-profit industry based on fundraising to support essential services. Rich people are the donors, even creating foundations to donate money, but yet refuse to pay their fair share of taxes. Instead they get a tax write-off and a building named after them.

Saw someone upbraiding someone else for having a hobby while the world is on fire, and, my friends: 1. The world is ever on fire, this is today's conflagration; 2. If you don't find time for rest and joy the fire will consume you; 3. Don't let people shame you for being an entire human.

Enjoy the early morning song from my (very dry) garden while I continue to pester you with quotes from Four Thousand Weeks:

More morning reading from Four Thousand Weeks “Our struggle to stay on top of everything may serve someone’s interests; working longer hours—and using any extra income to buy more consumer goods—turns us in to better cogs in the economic machine”

Morning reading from Four Thousand Weeks: “When people make enough money to meet their needs, they just find new things to need”

This morning’s read is The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World, all about the web of special economic zones and freeports around the world where the 1% benefit from an entirely separate set of rules. “When the rules benefit the wealthy, the wealthy need not break the rules”

"People are hungry not because food is scarce, but because access to food has been made scarce...A food system is not just the supply chain of paddock to plate. It is a web of policies, cultural values, financial flows, power relationships and ecological feedbacks.

Remember: There is nothing natural or inevitable about extreme inequality; it’s the result of an economic system that values wealth and power over human dignity and justice. It doesn't have to be this way.

As @terrilltf.bsky.social reminds, the Chrétien/Martin budget imposed the 2% cap on all Indigenous spending which warped a lot (from education to health to social spending) for First Nations communities in Canada. And now this, which is way worse. Liberals are amazing colonizers.

Rereading Walkaway by Cory Doctorow for the next @beerandfreedom.bsky.social book club and this line, man: “Work needed doing, and he could help. What more could anyone ask for?”

Talking shop with long-time friends who've chosen the same weird and wonderful slice of the financial planning profession to work in is incredible. Five stars, chef's kiss, highly recommend.

From my Tumblr

Co-sign. I still think the CPP calculation could be clearer, but appreciate that there's a free tool for this

I just got to help someone I deeply respect (who works really hard in a really necessary job and who is understandably *really* tired) to cut back to a four day workweek, and I'm so excited for him.

It's here! The first three episodes of Ready...Set...Money are live, and I'm already laughing to myself about what a very special nerd I am. You can follow along here on Bluesky, on Instagram at the same handle, on the website readysetmoneyshow.ca, or wherever you get your podcasts

I'm *almost* finished my readings for tonight's @beerandfreedom.bsky.social and here's what stood out so far: "That which is just must be useful; That which is useful must be true; That which is true must be possible"

From my friend and neighbour @betsmith.bsky.social: "It can be hard to find the time and energy for environmental advocacy. Sometimes the weight of a million other urgent problems leaves no bandwidth for organized activism."

From friend of the podcast Russell Sawatsky: "What if this summer, rest weren’t a reward to be earned or a luxury to be purchased, but a deliberate and generous choice for our good, and the good of those around us?"

Coming soon!

Things that jump out at you in Discworld after an evening with the @beerandfreedom.bsky.social crew: “They think they want good government and justice for all, yet what is it they really crave, deep in their hearts? Only that things go on as normal and tomorrow is pretty much like today”

@holypotato.bsky.social Hiiiii I miss you!

Go home EQ Bank, you’re drunk

No more empty happy holidays mass emails to your newsletter list. Give your comms person and our inboxes a break.

The last day of work before the holidays giddiness has finally set in.

It's been disheartening watching so many Ontario urban progressives either silent on or supportive of Mayors wanting to strip the Charter rights away from people experiencing homelessness. Progressivism should be about defending the marginalized, not defending government.

It took me three years to admit that my eyeballs need a portable second monitor and today me is so annoyed with past me for not doing it sooner. Tomorrow me is delighted with today me though, so it all works out.

The relief I feel being here is going to be real hard to explain to anyone who didn’t live through 2023 Twitter.