Recently Michael helped update the Canadian version of (seventh Edition), a comprehensive guide to all the pieces from budgeting and spending to taxes and retirement. Below, he shares his own experiences with money and what he believes is probably the most underrated financial advice.
Who are your financial or investment heroes?
Maybe John Bogle, who founded the Vanguard Group, an investment firm within the US that launched the primary index funds for retail investors. He was driven by greater than just self-interest. He desired to empower small investors. Bogle also wrote: , which made MoneyDown’s list of 25 Timeless Personal Finance Books.
How do you prefer to spend your free time?
Cycling, climbing, running. I live within the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, where there are amazing climbing trails right outside the door.
If money wasn’t a difficulty, what would you do now?
Travel to expensive destinations like Paris, Japan and the South Pacific.
What was your first memory about money?
I looked as if it would “get” money from a young age. I’d reserve it and loan it to my teenage siblings at fairly high rates of interest. This was within the late Seventies and early Nineteen Eighties, when rates of interest were astronomically high. Then I learned about credit risk!
What’s the very first thing to procure together with your own money?
A K-tel compilation record filled with one-hit wonders from the Seventies.
What was your first job?
I sold gas station vouchers door to door on a commission basis. It was a racket. I finished after two weeks.
What was the largest money lesson you learned growing up?
When I used to be 22, I used to be scammed by a criminal gang in Thailand. Essentially, I had to purchase my way out of possible imprisonment with gold, paid for with an American Express card that my father had given me for emergencies. It took me months to pay my father back, but I knew even then that it was all about money.
