Happy Thursday!
A quick check-in - we're 8% through this year already. So dawdle not with those ambitious 2025 plans! This week’s newsletter follows a similar theme: breaking out of ‘Autopilot Living’ and tackling your priorities with intention.
If this is your first time reading (hello 👋), you can subscribe for free here. With that, let's dig in.
In this week's issue:
📉 The Bank of Canada lowers the benchmark interest rate to 3%
💸 How to Die with Zero (And Lots of Memories)
🌴 Vacation Ideas Where the Canadian Dollar Goes a Little Further
Bank of Canada lowers Policy Interest Rate to 3%
The Bank of Canada cut its benchmark rate again on Wednesday, bringing it down to 3%—its sixth consecutive cut. A year ago, it was 5%, so that’s a full two percentage points of relief for borrowers.
For anyone renewing a mortgage or thinking about buying property, variable rates should drop right away. Fixed rates should directionally follow, but they take their cues from a mix of factors, including U.S. mortgage rates, so the timeline isn’t as immediate and the proportional drop won't be as direct.
For a deeper dive into the rate cut and its broader economic impact, this panel discussion on BNN Bloomberg is worth a watch.
How to Die with Zero?
What if you played your financial cards perfectly—ticking off life’s big priorities at the right time, giving money to family and charities when it actually made a difference, and then exiting with a perfectly empty bank account? Shouldn’t that be the goal?
This week’s long-form piece explores Die With Zero by Bill Perkins. We break down its key ideas and provide a practical workbook to help you apply them.
“The business of life is the acquisition of memories. In the end that’s all there is.”
- Bill Perkins
Vacationing with a Weak Canadian Dollar
Tired of -20°C temperatures? If you’re thinking about a last-minute escape, why not let the exchange rate help choose your destination? Some places will make your Canadian dollars stretch further than others.
This Canadian Foreign Exchange Tracker shows how the loonie is faring against major currencies, helping you pick a spot where you won’t feel like you’re hemorrhaging money.
This article in the latest CAA magazine also provides 8 low cost destinations where the Canadian dollar can stretch a little further.
See you on the beach, 🏖️
- Derek