Episodes
Friday Dec 21, 2018
63 - Cal MacWilliam
Friday Dec 21, 2018
Friday Dec 21, 2018
Cal MacWilliam helps developing countries get money when they need it most.
Cal is a senior economist at the World Bank, a global organization that helps to reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.
Cal will meet with the government officials of these countries, who have already reached out to the World Bank for loans or grants, and provide them with the funding they need.
OK it's not that easy.
The government officials might need to make a few changes, before they qualify for the loans or grants. These are usually changes that will improve their country in some way. Positive changes.
Sounds like it should be an easy decision, right? Implement policy change that is meant to improve the lives of your citizens and you get money from the world Bank.
Money you asked for. Money that you said you really needed. And If it's a grant, you don't even have to pay that back.
But often Cal will visit these countries after speaking with their government officials and find they haven't made the changes necessary to qualify for the money.
Despite these frustrations, Cal continues to dedicate his career to helping others, as he has since he started at the Canadian International Development Agency or CIDA in the 1980s.
Cal now lives near Washington DC and I was very happy that he agreed to sit with me, when I was visiting earlier this year, to talk about his personal finance story.
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Friday Dec 14, 2018
62 - Zena Amundsen
Friday Dec 14, 2018
Friday Dec 14, 2018
Zena Amundsen wants you to know that money is emotional.
One of the emotions often associated with money is fear.
That’s what Zena felt when she separated from her husband for 2 years, with 2 small children and absolutely no knowledge of her personal finances.
It was during that time that she decided to stop worrying about money and start learning about it instead.
Today she is a Certified Financial Planner, Certified Divorce Financial Analyst and a Certified Cash Flow Specialist.
She’s got the financial knowledge but that’s only part of it. Personal finance isn’t just about graphs and rates of return.
Money is emotional but we don’t talk about it that way. Realizing the current financial education system is lacking, Zena decided to write a book called “The Heart of Your Money” specifically to empower Canadian women to build a healthy relationship with money.
Zena joined me from Regina, Saskatchewan to tell her personal finance story.
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Saturday Dec 08, 2018
61 - Mr. Prairie FIRE
Saturday Dec 08, 2018
Saturday Dec 08, 2018
Mr. Prairie FIRE wants you to discover something about yourself by knowing your finances.
Mr. Prairie FIRE, let’s call him Fred, is an anonymous Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) blogger in the prairies of Western Canada at prairiefirecanada.com.
Fred calls his discovery of the FIRE movement his financial enlightenment.
After surviving 3 large financial crises in a very short time period, he was determined to take control of his finances.
Specifically Fred was drawn to the FIRE movement and the freedom that financial independence promises.
Fred joined me from somewhere in Saskatchewan to tell his personal finance story.
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Saturday Dec 01, 2018
60 - Elizabeth Naumovski
Saturday Dec 01, 2018
Saturday Dec 01, 2018
Elizabeth Naumovski is the host of a new television show called Finance is Personal.
On the show she talks with women who are experts in personal finance, while educating viewers about financial literacy.
Elizabeth decided to make women the focus of her show because she believes we need to change what is referred to as the women's money mindset. Many women are not interested in spending any time on their personal finances and this can be detrimental if there is a need to manage money issues on their own.
There aren't that many women on finance shows and definitely not many Canadians on TV at all talking about the financial issues that specifically affect women.
Having a broadcast and finance background, Elizabeth is very well suited to promote financial literacy to Canadians.
I met with Elizabeth at her office in downtown Toronto to hear her personal finance story.