Surrounded by faded wood paneling, Chilton wrote it by hand on a brown, lamp-lit card table within the basement of his Kitchener, Ontario, home, and continued to accomplish that despite industry experts giving “very mixed reviews” of the early chapters. Instead, he was guided by feedback from a dozen “beer-drinking” softball teammates and emerged greater than a 12 months later with a private finance classic that now sits on the bookshelves of greater than two million Canadians.
The wealthy hairdresser gets a contemporary update
Although much of The Wealthy Barber’s advice seems timeless, an alphabet soup of TFSAs, RESPs and FHSAs has since emerged as real estate prices rose ever higher, all amid a cacophony of online personal finance and stock picking experts. An update for contemporary eyes was due.
The investor, businessman and former “Dragon’s Den” star has now completely rewrote – on the identical card table – a new edition of his 1989 hit, which, like the unique, bubbles with folksy memories and candid but humorous conversations about personal wealth and investments. Published last month, “The Wealthy Barber” tackles questions of a brand new world of finance, covering topics starting from investment vehicles to home purchases to life insurance, with simplicity at all times the theme.
Young Canadians today face a tougher financial landscape, one marked by skyrocketing real estate prices and social media “finfluencers” but in addition stuffed with opportunities that may also help everyone from hairdressers to shift staff prosper, Chilton said.
Saving first is more vital than ever
In an interview, he reiterated that his “golden rule” – paying yourself first by wasting 10 percent of your gross salary – is more vital than ever, considering how quickly that cash will be spent on living expenses that refuse to go down. “It was never easy to save, but now it’s harder,” he said. “It’s not just property prices, it’s the cost of everything…You see it when you go to a restaurant, you see it when you pay your car insurance.”
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Chilton’s book advises younger Canadians to make the most of newer financial tools like index funds and tax-free savings accounts, avoid high-fee funds, accept money from their parents’ bank – if it’s offered – and watch out for the TikTok finfluencer.
His affable prose references Canada’s central bank in a single sentence and the previous Central Meat Market in Kitchener in the subsequent. It expresses memorable truisms – “Invest in success” and “Procrastination is the worst enemy of aggravation”; dark humor – “Let’s talk about death!” says a personality in a bit about wills; and lots of jokes, including one from the narrator’s fictional wife: “The other night she threatened to ground our unborn child because it was causing so much heartburn.”
Chilton tells readers the way to avoid “cashtration” – that’s, becoming financially powerless by buying a property because it can put them “in poverty”. Buyers may perhaps have the opportunity to deal with a mortgage, property taxes and maintenance, only to search out that they’ve “nothing for ‘negative surprises,’ nothing for fun and nothing for saving,” he noted.
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“It’s sad that we’re in a time where ‘Choose your parents wisely’ has become such an important commandment. But if you have parents who can help, don’t let your pride stop you from embracing it.”
Small houses, smart funds and part-time jobs
Aside from parental generosity, side hustles provide a solution to throw away a major sum of money. “I’m not necessarily talking about driving for Uber,” but reasonably “monetized hobbies” like walking dogs, taking piano or French lessons, or selling handmade products or used furniture online.
Like the hairdresser of the identical name, Chilton, 64, shows compassion for the predicament faced by many Millennials and Gen Zers. “The younger generation’s complaints are valid,” he said, referring to housing that may always feel out of reach. A 20% down payment on a $700,000 home equals $140,000. “That’s hard to do.” Therefore, there’s a necessity for alternative solutions similar to renting a room in your private home or just settling for a smaller room.
“I was fortunate that I was well and still live in a 1,300 square foot house. I find it more comfortable,” he said.
Stick to easy strategies and ignore the net noise
Chilton also stressed that internet marketing and dubious financial advice from social media influencers comes with its own dangers as they “exploit human weaknesses and leave us overwhelmed by temptation with one-click purchases,” he said within the interview. “It’s now easier than ever to give in to all of our impulses.”
He noted that there are numerous helpful educators – often qualified finance professionals – to be found on social media, citing the Canadian Richard Coffin, who runs the YouTube channel “The Plain Bagel”, and his fellow YouTuber Ben Felix.
“But there’s also a lot of trash out there,” he said. This also includes AI slop. Since 2022, artificial intelligence has offered amateur investors around the globe the chance to study financial strategies and portfolio decisions via AI-generated videos or a chatbot.
AI could grow to be more useful every month through virtual assistants like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, “but it’s not there yet,” Chilton said. “You still get wrong answers. And when it comes to finances, you don’t want wrong answers,” he emphasized, warning against counting on AI for comprehensive financial planning.
