Oaken Blog

Celebrating Financial Literacy Month

By Peter Aterman

October 29, 2019

November is Financial Literacy Month, and we’re doing our part to help spread the word. This initiative was started by the federal government in 2012, and is led by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC). Improving your financial literacy is an important step in taking command of your affairs, and we’re joining with other...read more

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

By Peter Aterman

September 24, 2019

Did you know that, according to police figures, Canadians reported losing over $120 million to scammers last year? The actual number could be much higher as the Better Business Bureau estimates that the figure jumps to well over a billion dollars when you include all the presumed losses that no one even bothers to report....read more

Making your will: the keystone of estate planning

By Peter Aterman

July 8, 2019

One of the most ignored elements of personal financial planning is also the most basic: a will. A remarkably high number of Canadians don’t have a will, and in many ways that’s not surprising. Wills are associated with the end of life, which is never a happy topic for any family. On top of that,...read more

Is early retirement just a dream?

By Peter Aterman

May 30, 2019

Back in the 1980s, one of Canada’s biggest insurance companies launched an advertising campaign to promote the idea of retiring at the age of 55. It was a very clever marketing strategy, and became hugely popular. As Canadians of a certain generation will readily attest, the magic number of 55 soon lodged in people’s minds...read more

5 reasons why it’s never too late to start saving

By Peter Aterman

May 22, 2019

One question that every young person should ask themselves is “How do I start saving for retirement?”. And another question that many older people may ask is “Is it too late to start saving for retirement?”. Of course, if more people asked themselves the first one, far fewer would end up asking the second. Many...read more

What’s a robo-advisor, and should I have one?

By Peter Aterman

May 13, 2019

If you’ve been hearing more and more about robo-advisors lately, that’s no surprise. First offered in the United States, robo-advisors have spread to the rest of the world, and are now one of the hottest ways of managing money for the average investor. In 2018, over $225 billion in assets were managed by robo-advisors worldwide....read more