Hub Blogs contains fresh contributions written by Financial Independence Hub staff or contributors that have not appeared elsewhere first, or have been modified or customized for the Hub by the original blogger. In contrast, Top Blogs shows links to the best external financial blogs around the world.
What most people don’t know is that when I first pitched my book idea to my publisher, its original title was More Than Money.
I thought it expressed everything I wanted to say about how most people’s financial struggles went well beyond a lack of money or financial literacy. After more than a decade of discussing money with people from all walks of life as a content creator and helping individuals and couples with their finances as a Certified Financial Counsellor, I saw firsthand how money was rarely the root cause of their financial troubles. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the only person who thought it was a good title. On my last count, there are already five books on Amazon using that same name.
It’s about Everything but Money
It wasn’t until two months after I handed in my manuscript that I finally landed on the right title for my book: Everything but Money. I think it took me that long because I needed to go on a well-overdue journey of self-discovery while writing my book and come to the realization that my own struggles with money have always been about everything but money. Through countless hours of research, interviews, and therapy, I had to face the fact that as a money expert whose job it is to educate people about their finances, my relationship with money was downright toxic.
My Toxic Relationship with Money
At first, I was ashamed. I’m supposed to be the expert here, which should mean I’m a role model and have my stuff together. Although it may look that way on a balance sheet, on the inside, I was an anxious mess who never felt good enough, no matter how much I earned or had in the bank. The real reason I dove head-first into the personal finance space as a young blogger in 2011 was that subconsciously, I thought money would be the solution to all of my unhealed emotional wounds. The unhealthy friendships that damaged my spirit growing up. The middle child syndrome that made me feel invisible. The intense pressure I put on myself to be seen and heard through external validation.
Don’t confuse Money for Happiness (but it can help)
But as I discovered while writing the book, money isn’t some magical cure-all. There’s a reason there are so many miserable millionaires and billionaires out there. Although research shows that money can increase your happiness (to a limit), research also shows it cannot fix your unhappiness. I mean, have you seen Succession? Continue Reading…
Canadian investors have increasingly been turning to all-in-one ETF solutions that offer built-in diversification and periodic rebalancing. BMO is proud to deliver on our commitment to make our Asset Allocation ETFs even more accessible to Canadian investors. To deliver even greater value, we recently announced a reduction to the annual management fee from 0.18% to 0.15% for our most popular Asset Allocation ETFs.
Now we’re Splitting to serve you Better
It’s important for us to continually evolve and support Canadian investors in reaching their unique financial goals.
With lower fees, and now, a stock split beginning on August 18, you can put more of your money to work in the portfolio that fits you best. Stock splits reduce the price per unit, making it easier to invest smaller amounts, rebalance with precision, and build diversified portfolios over time.
This change was inspired by feedback from our do-it-yourself investors and reflects our ongoing commitment to offering one of the lowest-cost, most accessible all-in-one ETF solutions in Canada.
Q: What is a stock split in the context of an ETF?
A stock split occurs when an ETF increases the number of its units outstanding by issuing additional units to existing unitholders. In a 3-for-1 split, each unitholder receives two additional units for every unit they already own: tripling the number of units while reducing the price per unit to one-third of its original value. This makes it easier to invest smaller amounts and manage portfolios with greater precision.
Q: Does a stock split change the value of my investment?
No, a stock split does not change the total dollar value of your investment. If you owned 10 shares at $90 each before a 3-for-1 split, you would own 30 shares at $30 each after the split.
The total value remains $900.
Q: Why do ETF providers do stock splits?
Stock splits are typically done to:
Lower the Net Asset Value (NAV) per unit, making the ETF more affordable and accessible to a broader range of investors.
Improve liquidity by increasing the number of units available for trading.
Encourage participation from newer or smaller investors who may be deterred by high unit prices.
Q: What are the benefits of a lower NAV for investors?
Affordability: Lower NAVs make it easier for investors to buy full units without needing large amounts of capital. Continue Reading…
Harvest High Income Shares™ turned a year old this week. This rounds out 12 months of continued success, as the single-stock ETF suite has accumulated more than $2.5 billion in total assets under management (AUM). The Harvest Diversified High Income Shares ETF (TSX: HHIS) has made a huge splash among investors with its combination of access to the growth of top U.S. stocks and high monthly cash distributions. HHIS and its corresponding single-stock ETFs target trending U.S. companies that have high growth prospects.
Now investors can access top Canadian issuers using Harvest Canadian High-Income Shares. In August Harvest launched the Harvest Canadian High Income Shares ETF (TSX: HHIC), and 10 new Canadian single-stock High Income Shares ETFs. Canadian High Income Shares are designed to generate high monthly cash distributions from an active covered call writing strategy and use of modest leverage.
Affordable Access to Canada’s Best Companies
Canada is home to many great companies that investors have been able to rely on to generate consistent earnings for the long term. Many of these companies operate as oligopolies. This means they have very little competition and are also able to generate large and steady cashflows. Many of these names are price setters with the ability to change prices to their benefit.
These companies are dominant players in their respective sectors. With Harvest Canadian Single-stock ETFs, investors now have a straightforward and affordable way to make some of these Canadian giants part of their portfolio. Investors will be able to tap into their growth potential while benefiting from high monthly income supported by an active covered call strategy.
In this blog we will review each new ETF and examine, in general, the quality characteristics of the company in which each invests.
*Initial distribution announced on August 21, 2025. Payable on October 9 to unitholders on record as of September 29, 2025.
Shopify | A Canadian Tech Darling
The Harvest Shopify Enhanced High Income Shares ETF (TSX: SHPE) invests all its assets in shares of Shopify. SHPE overlays an active covered call writing strategy and employs modest leverage at approximately 25% to generate higher monthly income and boost growth potential.
The Canadian technology space has lacked a name with the ability to punch with U.S. heavyweights since the fall of Blackberry. Fortunately, Shopify has proven capable of filling that void, quickly developing into one of the most exciting Canadian technology stories.
Shopify snapshot:
Profitability: Shopify posted strong recent earnings, with net income of $906 million in Q2 2025
Balance sheet: The company boasts a healthy cash position with nearly US$6 billion in liquid assets and minimal debt
Long-Term potential: Shopify has pursued aggressive investment in AI, enterprise, and international growth to propel its business forward
The Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank are the two largest banks in Canada, by market capitalization and by total assets. Indeed, RBC and TD Bank are the number one and the number three stocks on the S&P/TSX Composite Index by market cap.
RBC and TD Bank snapshot:
Profitability: In fiscal 2024, RBC reported adjusted net income over $16 billion. TD Bank reported adjusted net income over $14 billion
Well capitalized: RBC & TD Bank both possess total assets over $2 trillion
Dividend history: RBC & TD 10+ years of dividend growth, respectively
Long-term potential: Strong earnings & revenue growth and long-term catalysts like population growth
Canadian telecommunication companies like BCE and TELUS are often described as oligopolies due to their concentration of market power in this space.
TELUS and BCE snapshot:
Profitability: In 2024, TELUS delivered adjusted basic earnings per share (EPS) growth of 9.5% to $1.04 | BCE posted adjusted EPS of $0.63
Infrastructure Investment: TELUS has pledged over $70 billion through 2029 to expand its network infrastructure, including two AI data centers | BCE is redirecting capital toward the Ziply Fiber acquisition and $1.2 billion towards “Bell AI Fabric”, which promotes AI infrastructure
Dividend history: TELUS boasts a 20-year consecutive dividend-growth streak | BCE has hiked its dividend for 15 straight years
Long-Term potential: Both TELUS and BCE well-positioned due to emerging AI growth and telecom infrastructure upgrades
Most Canadians live with debt; as of this year, the majority (75 per cent) of Canadian households are carrying some form of debt, including mortgages, credit cards, and loans.
And yet, some Canadians don’t recognize the warning signs. It’s easy to think debt only matters when it’s obvious, like missing a credit card payment. However, the warning signs are often subtle, like avoiding bills, delaying home repairs, or feeling stressed when you check your bank account.
Having debt isn’t inherently bad. Paying off your credit card in full each month is a controlled use of credit. The danger comes when you spend more than you earn, miss payments, or carry growing balances, which can threaten your financial independence.
The Burden on Homeowners
For homeowners, your house is your largest asset, but also your biggest liability. When you can’t afford regular upkeep or emergency repairs, small issues can quickly snowball into big bills. A leaking roof, broken furnace, or failing appliance becomes more than an inconvenience, it can result in major costs.
Beyond the financial pressure, studies are continuing to show a strong link between debt and its negative impact on mental health.Nearly half of Canadians (48 per cent) have lost sleep due to financial worries. To boot, 38 per cent of Canadians stress about their personal finances on a weekly basis. Many families are forced to make impossible choices between replacing a broken air conditioner or selling a car. Debt is a hidden shame that leads people to suffer in silence and delay critical decisions.
Why aspiring Homeowners should pay Attention
Debt doesn’t just impact people who already own property. It can also stand in the way of becoming a homeowner. Mortgage lenders look closely at your debt-to-income ratio. If your debt is too high relative to your income, you may not qualify for a loan at all. Even if you do qualify, the added expenses of property ownership, from insurance and taxes to unexpected repairs, can become overwhelming.
For many Canadians, the dream of owning a home becomes a financial trap if there isn’t enough cushion built in to handle the inevitable surprises that come with it.
Five steps to Stay Ahead
Whether you’re a homeowner or planning to become one, these steps can help protect your finances, and your peace of mind: Continue Reading…
Diane Francis is a Toronto-based journalist who began her career as a financial writer before branching out into geopolitics. She publishes a twice-weekly newsletter that has readers in 106 countries around the world. Born in the United States, Francis is a dual citizen possessing unique expertise that allows her to comment on the intersection of economics and politics. She was recently John De Goey’s guest on his podcast “Make Better Wealth Decisions” (https://make-better-wealth-decisions.captivate.fm/listen) and offered some candid thoughts about investing in a time of great uncertainty and upheaval.
De Goey is a portfolio manager with Designed Securities in Toronto. “Make Better Wealth Decisions” is a popular, twice-weekly podcast about investing and money management.
Early in the interview De Goey asked Francis about this confluence of economics and politics, and how one should make decisions when there are so many unknowns out there. Francis responded by referring to her days as a financial writer when she wanted to find out what was going on in a particular country.
Diane Francis (LinkedIn)
“I would call an investment banking analyst who covered that area,” she said. “They know more about what’s going on in that country than any politicians or any journalists because they’re making dollar decisions on whether to buy the bonds, sell the bonds, buy the stocks or get involved in the private investment in that country. So I realized that was one of the most important pillars underlying how you should invest.”
She has brought this expertise to her work as a journalist. Francis is a columnist and Editor-at-Large for The National Post in Canada, and also writes for the Kyiv Post in Ukraine, and Ukraine Alert at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center in Washington, D.C., not to mention the Huffington Post, New York Post, among others. What’s more, she holds an MBA and is a CPA as well. And she is a former U.S. Army Intel Analyst.
How downgraded U.S. credit rating could affect investors
De Goey pointed out to his listeners that she has written a number of books and one of the first, published back in 1990, was The Diane Francis Inside Guide to Canada’s 50 Best Stocks. Their discussion then moved into the U.S. credit rating being downgraded and how this might affect investing. Francis said it’s a concern when investing in bonds, but not so much in stocks, and shouldn’t matter if you invest outside the U.S.
She then revealed some insights about her own investing in lieu of European countries now boosting their military expenditures. She said she bought into companies in Germany that are involved in the military area and called them “winners.” By the same token, she said she has invested in Taiwan SemiConductor (TSMC) and made money doing that.
De Goey moved on to what he called the ‘Donroe Doctrine’ and Trump’s realigning of the world order. He mentioned the acronym that has been making the rounds in some media – TACO – for Trump Always Chickens Out when it comes to tariffs. But Francis said he doesn’t chicken out because it’s just a negotiating tactic on his part.
TACO vs TUDIE
“The tariff strategy is quite interesting and I know a lot of people won’t agree with me but I think it’s brilliant,” Francis said. “It’s ruthless and it’s not nice to do to trading partners but imagine what he’s done. He’s harnessed the buying power of the richest country in the history of the world and he’s beating the people who want to supply it with stuff over the head, asking them for bargains in the form of tariffs.”
De Goey used an acronym that he himself coined – TUDIE – for Trump Usually Does It Eventually. Francis didn’t disagree with that assessment and said Canada must do more than whine about the tariffs. She said we should do what Japan and South Korea did, namely, make deals to get their tariffs lowered. She added that Canada is teetering on a recession largely as a result of the Trump tariffs, but criticized Canada’s own policies over the years with such things as immigration, the military, lack of NATO commitments, etc.
The conversation moved on to countries retaliating against the U.S. with tariffs of their own and a possible trade war. De Goey brought up the tariffs that were levied back in the 1930s by the United States and the retaliation that ensued, leading to a global trade war and deepening what was already a severe recession and, ultimately, the Great Depression. Francis had some definite views about that. In fact, she didn’t think a global trade war is coming at all.
Tariff Retaliation is stupid
“I think retaliation is stupid,” she said. “You can’t retaliate. America is Canada’s biggest customer, supplier and investor. You can’t shoot yourself in the foot. I think this is a negotiation. You give. You take.”
She said there still remains a lot of good will between the U.S. and Canada. Before the interview closed, De Goey wanted to get into the war in Ukraine. As a journalist, Francis has been to Ukraine some 30 times and often writes about that war today. She said European countries are finally smartening up by boosting their militaries, and further, that we are at the “beginning of the end” of this war, adding that Trump’s new stance with Putin is a positive development. Francis has hopes for what she called a “semi-permanent ceasefire” but said Ukraine may have to lose 20% of its land in the process. But real peace, she said, will require boots on the ground for security purposes and NATO membership for Ukraine which she said could be one of the most dynamic economies in all of Europe.
When De Goey asked her about which interpersonal relationships are key, her answer was simple. “What’s your relationship with the Trump government?” Francis said. “This is the most powerful country in the history of the world from a military and economic viewpoint, and he was duly elected.” However, Francis does hold grave concerns about Trump’s relentless bashing of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.
Said Francis: “As an investor I want to know what is going to be resolved over the Fed Chairman being taunted or fired by Trump. That will affect every country in the world.”
John De Goey, CIM, CFP, FP Canada™ Fellow, is a Portfolio Manager with Toronto-based Designed Wealth Management. He is the author of three books on the financial industry: The Professional Financial Advisor, Standup to the Financial Services Industry and most recently, Bullshift. You can find John’s personal website here
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