Build Wealth Canada Podcast
by Kornel Szrejber: Investor
Kornel interviews the top financial experts in Canada to help you optimize your investments, reduce your taxes, and help you accelerate your journey towards financial independence and early retirement. He also shares his own experiences and lessons learned in investing and as an early retiree and member of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) community to help you optimize your finances, specifically here in Canada.
Episodes
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Fixed or Variable? Mortgages, Home Equity and Retirement in Canada
How do you choose between fixed and variable mortgage rates? And when might it make sense to use the equity in your home to invest or help fund your retirement? In this episode, I'm joined by Sean Cooper, a licensed mortgage broker, the bestselling author of Burn Your Mortgage and our resident...
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Reaching Financial Independence: What Worked and What Surprised Us
What helps you reach financial independence earlier, and what do you only learn once you're there? In this episode, I'm joined by Kyle Prevost, founder of the Canadian Financial Summit, for a fireside chat about what helped us reach our financial independence numbers and what we've learned since....
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How Much Can You Spend in Retirement? Lessons From Our Financial Plan
How much can you spend in retirement, and how should that amount change when your investments do better or worse than expected? In this episode, I'm joined by Kenneth Doll and Matthew Lahey from Bracket Planning, who recently created a financial plan and retirement income plan for my wife and me....
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How Mark Seed Retired 10+ Years Early: Strategy, Portfolio & Lessons
In this episode, Mark Seed from My Own Advisor shares how he and his wife reached Financial Independence and officially retired early in Canada in their early 50s. Discover how Mark structured his portfolio, the investment choices that got him to his number, and how they set up their investments…
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How to Retire Early in Canada: How Stephanie Did It and Now Travels the World
When we first start our do-it-yourself investing journey here in Canada, almost all of our focus is understandably on the accumulation phase. We are diligently saving, maximizing our TFSA and RRSP contributions, and figuring out the right asset allocation of low-cost index ETFs to grow our…
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Essential Money Lessons from the Doctor Who Wrote the Curriculum
What are the most critical personal finance pillars that have the greatest impact on our financial wellbeing? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Steph Zhou, the creator of the mandatory financial literacy curriculum for medical students at the University of Toronto. Dr. Steph shares the core...
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What Every DIY Investor Should Know Before Buying ETFs in Canada
Today's episode is going to be especially useful if you're a Canadian DIY investor and you want to build an optimized, passive, low-cost portfolio, but you still have questions about some of the practical details. For example, should you just buy one all-in-one asset allocation ETF, or is there a...
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Is Your Portfolio Safe? The Security Checklist Every Canadian Investor Needs
As the markets hit all-time highs again, one of the things that has become top of mind for me personally is how to make sure that our investments are actually secure. If you're a long-term passive, total market index investor like me, then you've definitely seen your portfolio grow quite...
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4 Mortgage Rule Changes That Give You More Power in 2026: Fixed vs Variable, Stress Test Changes, Should You Break Your Mortgage?
In 2026, it is estimated that nearly half of all Canadian mortgages will be up for renewal. This involves over 1 million households here in Canada. Because of the change in interest rates, some of these households could see their monthly payments jump by 15% to 20% on average—and in extreme…
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Inside My Financial Plan: Safe Withdrawal Rates & Strategies
One of the most common questions I get, and honestly one of the biggest sources of anxiety for anyone nearing financial independence is: "How much can I spend without running out of money once I quit my job and start living off my investments?" It's one thing to see a big number in your…
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Top Investing Mistakes: Common Analytical Errors Canadian DIY Investors Make
With the new year kicking off, investing is top of mind for many of us, especially with all the new contribution room that many of us just received in our different registered accounts here in Canada (TFSA, RRSP, RESP, FHSA). Now before we decide what to invest in with our contributions this…
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David Chilton: Safe Withdrawal Rates, ETFs, & Finding Purpose Before and After Financial Independence
One of my favourite types of interviews is when I get to interview someone who has hit their financial independence or retirement number early, and then picking their brain on how they got there, what worked well for them, what didn't, what mistakes they could have avoided, and learning what…
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Lessons From 400+ Interviews on Canadian Financial Independence & How to Achieve and Protect Your Early Retirement
Today, we have a Canadian guest who has literally done over 400 interviews with different personal finance experts over the years, many of which were specifically for Canadians. Today, I pick his brain on the common conclusions, best practices, and recurring advice he's heard after interviewing…
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The Canadian Guide to Index Investing & Rethinking Your "Safe" Money
In this episode, my goal was to make it relevant for both types of listeners: First, for those who are just getting started in do-it-yourself investing or are looking to transition to becoming passive index investors instead of trying to beat the market by stock picking or owning expensive…
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The One Habit Every Financially Independent Person Shares
Links to speak to today's guests: Thuy Lam: buildwealthcanada.ca/plan Alanna Abramsky: broadmoney.ca After conducting hundreds of interviews over the past 10 years with different financial experts and those who have been able to hit their financial independence number early, one of the common...
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Surviving Stock Market Crashes: Real-World Experiences and Strategies for Canadians
Have you ever felt that knot in your stomach watching the stock market tumble, especially after you've just invested some of your hard earned money? Have you ever wondered how seasoned investors with large amounts invested handle those gut-wrenching portfolio drops? Well in this episode, we're...
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The Hidden Barriers Between You and Financial Freedom
Today's episode is a must-listen for anyone who's ever felt confused, anxious, or just plain stuck when it comes to money. We're diving deep into the emotional and psychological side of personal finance with Jessica Moorhouse, an accredited financial counsellor who's spent over a decade helping...
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How Canada's Top Finance Creators Actually Invest Their Own Money
Today I'm excited to have a panel discussion with some of the largest personal finance and investing personalities, here in Canada. Together they have over 46 million views on YouTube (that's more than the entire population of Canada), and in this episode, I thought it would be great to pick…
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Important Tax & Investing Changes for 2025 (for Canadians)
Today, we're going to cover what you need to know from a tax, investing, and financial planning perspective as all our taxes become due here in Canada on April 30th, 2025, and as we get well underway with 2025 in general. As you know, the government makes changes every year in these areas. The...
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Are You Overpaying on Your Mortgage? New Mortgage Rules, the Impact of Tariffs, and the Fixed vs Variable Rate Mortgage Dilemma
If you own a home, are thinking about buying or selling a home, or have a mortgage renewal coming up, today's episode is here to help you make the best financial decisions in this changing market. Ultimately my goal is to save you some money when it comes to all this, or at least make things less...
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Planning Your Own Retirement: A Rare Peek into a Canadian Financial Planner's Playbook
Have you ever wondered how financial planners in Canada plan their own retirement once they decide to retire? Our guest today is a recurring guest that we've had on the show many times. He's a fee-for-service financial planner with decades of experience in the industry, and while he's not retired...
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How to Optimize Your Investments and Taxes for 2025 (for Canadians)
With the end of the year arriving and the new year starting shortly, there are certain deadlines that you should be aware of every year, from an investment and tax optimization perspective. There are also some elements to keep top of mind as the new year begins. These happen every year, so even…
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The Complexities of Transitioning Your Savings Into Income in Retirement (For Canadians)
Today, we tackle one of the most intricate financial puzzles faced by Canadians: transitioning from accumulating wealth for retirement to effectively managing it during the decumulation phase—when you're actually living off your investments. In this episode, we'll explore why this shift can be so...
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5 Major Lessons Learned When Managing Your Retirement Finances (In Canada)
On today's episode we have another Canadian guest, Kyle Prevost, who achieved financial independence at an early age (he was able to pull it off in his 30s). He's also done hundreds of financial talks and interviews over the years with both regular Canadians, and some of the most highly respected...
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Protecting Your Net Worth (For Canadians): What Insurance Do You Need?
We all spend decades accumulating and growing our net worth, along with many hours of research and studying to optimize our investments and minimize our taxes as Canadians. But what if a single incident wipes all that out? or even just a large portion of it out? Wouldn't it be completely…
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Financial Lessons Learned After 10 Years of Interviews on the Build Wealth Canada Podcast
This interview will be a bit different as I was recently interviewed by Financial Journalist, Ellen Roseman from Canadian MoneySaver Magazine where she asked me some great questions, and so I thought it would be great to also publish that interview, here on the Build Wealth Canada Show. In the...
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The Top Money Blind Spots and Questions Canadians Have
In this episode, I interview two professional financial planners to discover what are the most common questions that they receive when working with Canadians. Our two guests are also going to cover what the most important and frequently occurring blind spots are that we Canadians tend to make in...
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How to Live Off Your Investments in a Sustainable, Stress-Free, and Tax Efficient Way in Canada. Featuring Ed Rempel, CFP
When we first hit our financial independence number 8 years ago, one of the financial planners that I asked to look at our numbers before my wife and I quit our full-time jobs was Ed Rempel. At the time, I asked Ed if he could do his own math and analysis on our numbers, to make sure that I…
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Avoiding the Yield Trap: Are You Too Focused on Generating Income From Your Investments?
Having your investments pay you large dividends or yield sounds great. It's truly passive income where money just shows up in your account without you having to do anything, and without you having to sell off any of your investments even when markets are down. But what if you get too focused on...
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How to Prevent Fraud in Your Accounts in Canada
A big thanks to RBC for sponsoring this episode. We talk a lot about growing our net worth as Canadians, but what about actually protecting our assets from threats like fraud? So, I thought we'd get some security experts on the show to teach us some best practices when it comes to protecting...
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The Top Investing Mistakes Canadians Make
When it comes to managing our investment portfolios, there are definitely some mistakes that are easy to make, and ones that a lot of Canadian investors tend to do. In this episode, we have Peter McMurtry on the show who is going to take us through what the common mistakes are that Canadian...
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How to Save Money on Your Mortgage + 2024 Housing & Interest Rate Update
With inflation slowing down here in Canada, we are starting to hear talks about the Bank of Canada no longer planning to increase our interest rates, or maybe even lowering them. This can have an impact on your investment portfolio, particularly if you hold bonds, because remember there is that...
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Important Tax & Investing Changes for 2024 (for Canadians)
Today, we're going to cover what you need to know from a tax, investing, and financial planning perspective as we head into this new year. As you know, the government makes changes every year in these areas and the implications of these changes can have a pretty substantial impact on how much you...
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Where to Park Your Cash? Regulatory Changes & What Are Your Options in Canada?
We've all heard of high interest savings accounts that we can open up at our bank. But is that always our one and only best option when it comes to where we keep our short term cash? What about for things like our emergency fund, or when we are saving for something expensive like a car and we…
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How to Live Off Your Investments in Canada - Kyle Prevost
In this episode, you're going to learn: How to deal with the volatility of the stock market, once you are financially independent and are living off your investments: There are many schools of thought and structures when it comes to dealing with this challenge here in Canada. Retirement expert,...
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4 Steps to a Worry-Free Retirement in Canada - Kyle Prevost
In this episode, our guest Kyle Prevost is going to take us through how much we need to retire, as Canadians, and how much can we sustainably withdraw from our portfolio to not run out of money once we retire. If you are a long-time listener of the show, then by now you would have definitely…
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Paying Less in Interest, Getting the Right Mortgage (New or Renewal), Handling the Higher Interest Rates in Canada
With the multiple interest rate hikes that we've been experiencing here in Canada, many Canadians have seen their monthly cashflow take a hit, whether it's because you have a variable rate mortgage, a line of credit, or other forms of debt. So what are your options if you're paying more than…
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Lessons on Mastering Money in Canada - Featuring Fred Masters
Today we have Canadian author and speaker Fred Masters on the show. Fred has been a professional financial educator for decades here in Canada. He speaks at different universities to students and alumni, teaching financial wellness. In this episode, he's going to share his findings on: What he's...
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How to Optimize Your Investments to Pay the Least in Tax (for Canadians)
Today, you're going to learn how you can save money on your investments, by having the right investments, in the right accounts so that you pay as little tax as possible here in Canada. For example, if you hold Canadian stocks, or ETFs that hold Canadian stocks, should you put those in your RRSP?...
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How Much Should You Optimize Your Investment Portfolio? The Pros and Cons of Each Approach
Today, you are going to learn about how much you can save in fees and taxes on your investments, depending on how much time you want to spend optimizing your investment portfolio. In Canada, there are inexpensive options that make things extremely easy and automated for you, but they are slightly...
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Ask Kornel: Should I Switch My Investments? Should I Be Worried? Are My Investments Falling Behind?
Today I'm going to be answering your questions, to help you out as much as I can in the world of personal finance and investing, here in Canada. We're going to focus on actionable, practical advice, specifically for Canadians while taking into account the investment options that we have here in...
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How to Raise Money Smart Kids, Teens and Young Adults
It's graduation season here in Canada, so we thought it would be good to focus this episode on parents with kids, those with nieces and nephews, as well as those that are students or fresh out of school. This week, we cover the topic of how to best set up young Canadians and young adults for...
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Active vs. Passive Investing: Interview with S&P (S&P 500, Dow Jones) & How to Choose the Right ETFs
In this episode, I interview S&P, the creator of the S&P 500, Dow Jones, and many other popular indices used around the world by millions of investors. On today's interview, we're going to be covering the SPIVA scorecards which are semiannual reports published by S&P that compare the performance…
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Financial Independence Case Study and How You Can Retire Early
Today we have a great case study of somebody that I really respect, and who has been able to achieve financial independence, at a really early age. I wanted this episode to be relevant to you no matter where you are on your financial independence journey, so I thought we could approach it from…
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How to Maximize Your Inheritance in Canada (and minimize your fees)
One critical topic that can have a substantial financial impact on both us and our loved ones, is the subject of inheritance, and how to ensure that you and your loved ones don't end up overpaying in both taxes and fees, once the whole inheritance process starts taking place. To help me with this...
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A DIY Investor's Guide to Determining Your Financial Independence Number and Sustainable Withdrawal Strategy
Today's guest is Jason Heath, one of Canada's best known fee-only financial planners that you've probably seen in all sorts of media here in Canada over the years. He's a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), has been providing financial planning for over 20 years, and is currently a personal…
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Rising Interest Rates, New Mortgage Rules, and Variable vs Fixed Mortgages in Canada for 2023
With the significant increase in interest rates over the past year, and with home buying and selling season right around the corner, I thought it would be great to have our resident mortgage expert on the show, to go over the implications of this higher interest rate environment that we're in....
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Finding Your Financial Independence Number and How to Live Off Your Portfolio
It's RRSP season here in Canada. Remember that March 1 is the deadline for contributing to an RRSP, and have it count towards your 2022 tax year. Also while we're on the subject, remember that your TFSA contribution room grows every year, and for the 2023 calendar year, you now have an extra…
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How to Live Off Your Investments and How Much Do You Need? Featuring Ed Rempel
In this episode, I interview one of the most experienced Canadian financial planners that I know, and who I tend to go to when I have any complex tax and financial planning questions. His name is Ed Rempel, and in this episode, we tackle: How to determine how much you need to be financially...
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How to Retire in Your 30s on Two Teacher Salaries (A Case Study and Practical Guide)
Today we have another financial independence case study to learn how a real-life couple here in Canada were able to reach their financial independence number by the age of 34. We talk specifically about the practical tactics, strategies and mindset that you can apply in your own life, to help hit...
About this show
Kornel interviews the top financial experts in Canada to help you optimize your investments, reduce your taxes, and help you accelerate your journey towards financial independence and early retirement. He also shares his own experiences and lessons learned in investing and as an early retiree and member of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) community to help you optimize your finances, specifically here in Canada.
Hosted by
Kornel Szrejber: Investor