What's in a tax return? Quite a lot, actually, which makes it feel so complicated that some people (naturally enough) would rather ignore tax completely than understand it. But trying to understand it, even a little, can reduce your anxiety. Listen to the whole episode at readysetmoney.ca

While we wait for season two, check out this season one episode on employee benefits. Listen to the whole show and subscribe so you're first in line when season two drops at readysetmoney.ca

These are the four critical questions you need to get answers to if you want to understand your defined benefit pension. While we wait for season two, we're digging into the season one archives. Subscribe so you're the first to know when season two drops at readysetmoney.ca

Want some great news while we wait for season two? Investing in relationships is never a waste of time. The world doesn't have to fall apart for community building to be worthwhile. Listen to the whole episode and subscribe so you're the first to know when season two drops at readysetmoney.ca

Ready...Set...Money might be on hiatus as we work on season two, but we can dig into the archives together while we wait. Here's one about investing. Listen to the whole episode and subscribe so you're the first to know when season two drops at readysetmoney.ca

Do future you a favour while we all wait for season two of Ready...Set..Money, and start tracking your spending. Listen to the whole episode and subscribe so you're the first to know when season two drops at readysetmoney.ca

We're digging into the archives as we wait for season two, and today we're revisiting the Registered Education Savings Plan. If you (like me) have forgotten how much you've contributed or how much you've gotten in grants and bonds, there's a way to find out! Subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

As we wait for season two, here's one from the archives: Getting access to your information at Service Canada is pretty straightforward, even if you don't want to go the digital route. Listen and subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

Waiting for season two of Ready...Set...Money? Take a look back at season one, and why getting access to your CRA account is doing future you a favour. Subscribe for season two at readysetmoney.ca

Why, exactly, does Ready...Set...Money exist? Because you have more important things to do than worry about money!

In finance, goals is often just a code word for things. But most of us don't just want "things"...we want the feelings those things create. Getting clear about what you want and why you want it is the only way to move with purpose toward your true goals. Listen and subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

If your basic needs are being met, and you have more than you need to get by, you have the luxury of deciding what to do with that extra money.

What makes up the Management Expense Ratio (MER) you pay on your mutual fund or exchange-traded fund? Administration, management, commissions...and let's not forget profit. Listen to the whole episode and subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

Whether you’re just starting out, or you’ve been investing for a long time, it’s important to know how much you’re paying to invest, and decide if it’s worth it. Listen to the full episode and subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

Sure, the Registered Disability Savings Plan is a helpful tool for people with disabilities to save for their own future...but a) should they have to? Should any of us have to?

If you're eligible for the Disability Tax Credit, you can get up to $70,000 from the federal government by opening and contributing to a Registered Disability Savings Plan.

The First Home Savings Account, or FHSA, lets you save for a home, deduct the amount you save from your income when you file your taxes (like an RRSP), grow the money inside the account without having to pay tax on the growth, and then withdraw all of it, tax free, when you buy your first home.

It can be intimidating and pretty scary to buy a home for the first time, not to mention pants-wettingly expensive. Squeezing every last tax-free dollar out of registered programs like the First Home Savings Account is worth doing.

In a defined benefit plan, you’re entitled to the amount you receive when you retire or leave the plan, whether it’s the commuted value or a lifetime monthly amount. You know the amount ahead of time, and the formula for how it’s calculated.

A Defined Contribution Pension Plan is a mash up between a Defined Benefit Pension Plan and an investment account (and, as a matter of fact, an RRSP too).

Unless you’re operating entirely outside of the government’s watchful eye, you’ll need to track what you earn and what you spend to earn it no matter what kind of business you start.

Maybe you’re tired of your labour being exploited for someone else’s profit, or how toxic your workplace is, or being evaluated for the quantity of time you spend in the office instead of the quality of the work you do.

If you don’t understand your insurance policy and exactly what it entitles you to and when, call the person who sold it to you. If you can’t get a hold of them, call the insurance company itself.

Someone, somewhere knows how much you've contributed to your RESP and how much grant money you've gotten, even if you've lost track. Here's how to contact them. New episodes are coming back next Monday! Find them at readysetmoney.ca

Nobody wants to talk about life and disability insurance, at least, not with the people who sell it hard, and man - I get it.

Hey, if you're free on a weekday, can't get into your Service Canada Account, and would rather talk to a person than go through the whole verifying your identity online song and dance, here's your chance to talk to a real live person. Catch up on past episodes at readysetmoney.ca

Just like Nanny MacPhee, when you need your CRA account, you don't have access to it, and when you do have access to it, you don't need it. Do future you a favour and get access to it now, before you need it.

It's time for a mid-season break. Ready...Set...Money will be back on January 12th, but in the meantime, straight from the archive, here's the one that started it all. Catch up on all the past episodes (and get new ones hot off the press) at readysetmoney.ca

When it comes to TFSAs, what matters is whether you're a resident of Canada and over age 18. That's it. Listen & subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

If you’re in a position to put money away for the future, knowing the basics of Tax Free Savings Accounts and Registered Retirement Savings Plan can help you decide what kind of account makes the most sense…for you, specifically. Listen & subscribe at readysetmoney.ca

Did you know that RRSP contributions can increase the amount of money you receive from programs like the Canada Child Benefit? If you have kids under the age of 18, and happen to have some extra money you could bear to put away for awhile, it could be worth investigating.

If you’re even a little bit interested in money, you’re going to encounter RRSPs. They’re everywhere, especially during RRSP season, that 60 days at the beginning of the year when everyone, including your uncle, is trying to get you to contribute, regardless of whether it makes sense for you or not.

Old Age Security is the closest thing to a universal basic income we have in Canada, and more than 95% of seniors get it. For more than a third of Canadians, it’s a major piece of their income pie.

The Canada Pension Plan, or CPP, has been around for sixty years, but most of us don’t think much about it except when we notice it on our paycheques, or have to pay it all at once on our self-employed earnings come tax time.

This one's important. So many people are so anxious about income tax, and that anxiety makes good decision making very difficult. Let's get familiar with the basics so we can make empowered decisions about our own lives, yeah? sandimartin.ca/news/income-...

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

Today’s episode is a long one, because your employee benefits (if you have them) are important to Present You and to Future You, and it takes time to understand what they are and how they work. And, fair warning: this episode has homework. Listen & Subscribe here: sandimartin.ca/readysetmoney

If you’re one of those few, those happy few with a defined benefit pension plan, let’s talk about the four most important questions you might want to know the answers to:

The evidence is in: when disaster hits, your first responders are probably not going to be actual first responders. They’re going to be your neighbours.

Listen, there's a whole lot of stuff to talk about when we talk about investing, and only a small fraction of it has to do with investing money, but for today, that's the fraction we're talking about.

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

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?"

Nature (actually real, source of all life, necessary for continued existence of humanity): INFINITE, burn it up, there's always more where that came from Money (imaginary): FINITE, hoard it, don't you dare ask me to share there's only enough for me Capitalism's mental gymnastics are wild

Coming soon!