Mo' Money Podcast | Personal Finance With Jessica Moorhouse

Todd Tresidder from Financial Mentor and I talk about how he was able to retire from his career as a hedge fund manager at early age of 35. But he didn't just put up his legs and relax once he retired, he put his energy into growing a money coaching business from scratch so he could other people find financial freedom just like he was able to. Long episode description: Todd Tresidder from Financial Mentor is a numbers guy. It helped him craft a successful career as a hedge fund manager, as well as figure out a way to retire at the ripe age of 35. But his plan wasn’t to just save up a bunch of money and spend the rest of his days on the beach sipping margaritas. Financial freedom to him meant he could finally spend his time doing something he loved. What I really enjoyed about talking with Todd was that he was just as open about his failures as he was about his successes. Although society tells us we are to aim for perfection and failure isn’t an option, in reality failure is natural and a big part of succeedi

In this episode, I talk with Kristina Wilson from the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) about the most important dos and don'ts when it comes to house hunting. Buying a home isn't as glamorous as all those home buying reality shows make it seem. It's a lot of work, there are a lot of documents to be aware of, and making one of the most expensive purchases of your life should not be taken lightly. Luckily RECO is here to help with experts like Kristina as well as a number of other useful resources to help any homebuyer make a financially responsible decision. Long episode description: This podcast episode is all about real estate — one of my favourite topics! If you’re a longtime blog reader, you already know I had quite the experience when my husband and I were trying to buy a house in Toronto last year. After two straight months of house hunting and bidding wars, we decided to take a rest and continue renting. If you’re not familiar with my house hunting blog series, definitely check out these detailed p

I interview UFile tax specialist Gerry Vittoratos on what tips we should all know so we can do our taxes like a pro and get the biggest tax refund possible. Long episode description: As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, before I launched this podcast one of the topics I hoped to cover down the road was taxes. You may think that taxes are complicated, intimidating, boring, or maybe you just don’t want to think about them at all. No matter the case, we all have to do our taxes every year, so we might as well educate ourselves so we can get the best possible tax refund. I still remember the first year I did my taxes on my own. I used UFile to file online and I was terrified. I had no idea where to start and thought the process would take me a few weeks. Luckily at 24 my finances were very simple and UFile was very easy to use, so it ended up only taking me a few hours. Since then, I’ve gotten married and my finances have definitely become a lot more complicated. The one big thing that has changed is

Retirement planning doesn't have to be boring, and it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice today to afford a better life tomorrow. In this episode, Retirement Answer Man Roger Whitney and I discuss the different strategies you can try to plan for a better, richer future. Long episode description: Roger Whitney sure is the Retirement Answer Man. Not only does he have his own personal finance blog and podcast focused on retirement, he’s also a CFP®, CIMA®, CPWA® and AIF®. That’s a lot of designations, so he I knew he’d be the one to turn to to chat about retirement planning. Now, Roger has a very interesting story. I definitely encourage you to watch the video I’ve included below where he goes more in-depth about his background, but for the Coles Notes version Roger is so passionate about educating others about retirement planning because of his mom. You see, he was raised by a single mom who worked tirelessly to provide for her family. Her plan was to work hard today so she could relax and enjoy life in retireme

Dr. Willie Jolley, an award-winning motivational speaker, Sirius XM radio host and author and I talk about how he turned his setbacks into major successes. If you're looking for an incredibly motivating podcast episode with a lot of useful advice on how to be more positive and how to turn your failures into opportunities, this is the episode for you. Also listen for a free gift in today's episode to help you on your journey to a more positive, balanced and wealthy life. Long episode description: If you need some major motivation and inspiration, this is the episode for you. I interview the amazing Dr. Willie Jolley, an award-winning motivational speaker, Sirius XM radio host and author, about how he went from unemployed lounge singer to successful businessman. Willie’s story is a story I think we can all relate to. He thought he had it made as a singer, and was living a very comfortable life. But one day his boss said they needed to make some cuts — and one of the cuts was him. Not only that, but he was repla

On this episode of the Mo' Money Podcast, I talk with Karen Yap, personal finance blogger from Makin' the Bacon, about how to make more money, quit your unfulfilling job and rock your dream career. Long episode description: Karen Yap has been blogging about personal finance over at Makin’ the Bacon for close to 4 years and she’s learned a lot about making money and switching careers during that time. Although she considers herself to be a bit of a job hopper, what she really is is a woman who doesn’t want to settle and has big aspirations — just like we all do. I can definitely relate to Karen’s story because I myself have switched careers, and when I initially started my personal finance blog under the name Mo’ Money Mo’ Houses, you bet I wanted to make money of it! I can definitely agree with her though that blogging is not an “easy” way to make money (and any blogger who says it is, well, their either full of crap or their doing something fishy). Blogging (not to mention podcasting) is like having a second

Gina Kennedy is a radio host, voice actor and rockstar and she is still in her 20s. In this episode, Gina and I talk about how anything is possible when it comes to your career — no matter how big your dreams are, or how small your hometown is. Long episode description: Gina Kennedy is a prime example of how even if you come from a small town, if you’ve got big dreams the sky is the limit! Gina is originally from Abercrombie, Nova Scotia. A town so small that when I tried to look up the current population, I could only find one website that said the town was not included in Statistics Canada’s census and therefore the population is unknown. Yup, that’s a small town. But that small town didn’t have much bearing on Gina’s ambitions. She wanted to work in the music industry and nothing was going to stop her. So she moved to the biggest city in the province — Halifax. Still, that wasn’t big enough and so her next move was to Toronto where she currently lives. What I love about Gina is that once she sets her mind

Natalie Bacon grew up thinking she wanted to be a lawyer, but after 4 years in the legal profession she realized she that was not the life she wanted for herself. Deciding to switch careers and become a certified financial planner (as well as a personal finance blogger), Natalie may have taken a major pay cut from her lawyer days, but she is well on her way to making some big money...honey. I also share at the end of this episode that I have just opened a Facebook group for anyone who wants to continue the conversation with other like-minded people. If you want to talk money in a place with no judgement, just encouragement, go to facebook.com/groups/moneylifebalance. Long episode description: As I mentioned to Natalie Bacon during our episode together, her blog The Finance Girl is super empowering. That’s why I just had to reach out to her and get her on my show. Natalie’s story is pretty unique. She always excelled academically and eventually graduated law school with dreams of making big money as a lawyer.

In this episode, I talk to certified financial planner, freelance writer and Blonde & Balanced blogger Tahnya Kristina about how she lost her job during the 2007 financial crisis, and then turned that into an opportunity to become debt-free and never be put in that position again. Long episode description: I’ve known Tahnya Kristina for several years — initially from the personal finance blogging world, then when we were roommates at FinCon 2014. The one thing that always amazes me about Tahnya is how no matter what, she always has such a positive attitude. Case in point, when she lost her job as a certified financial planner during the financial crisis and had to dig her way out of debt and find a new source of income. It wasn’t easy going from earning a good pay cheque as a commission-only CFP, to becoming unemployed and not sure where to go. But like so many successful people, Tahnya turned those lemons into lemonade and fought her way to a better life. She could have easily thrown her hands up and given i

Christopher Smith, documentary filmmaker of Tiny: A Story About Living Small, and I talk about the financial upside to living in a tiny house, and how he managed to build his own tiny house with his own money and no prior building experience. Long episode description: When I watched Christopher Smith and Marete Mueller’s documentary Tiny: A Story About Living Small, it kind of blew my mind. I was always aware of the tiny house movement, even fantasized about building my own one day, but it wasn’t until I watched Christopher and Marete build a tiny house from nothing that I became a bit obsessed. Like started googling plans to build my own tiny house obsessed. Luckily, I didn’t have to just wonder how one would go about building their own tiny house because Christopher was nice enough to chat with me about how he did it himself — with his own money and no prior building experience. If he can do it, anyone can, right? That’s one of the big takeaways from the film actually. Just because you’ve never done somethi

Robb Engen from the popular blog Boomer and Echo and I discuss how he started his blog because of his passion for personal finance, and how it evolved into a money-making side hustle that would lead to an early retirement for him and his wife. Long episode description: Robb Engen from the popular personal finance blog Boomer and Echo and I chat in this episode of the Mo’ Money Podcast about how he turned his passion for personal finance into a means of reaching early retirement. I’ve known Robb and his blog for a while, but it wasn’t until I heard him speak at this year’s Canadian Personal Finance Conference that I knew I needed to chat with him on the podcast. Robb started his blog along with his mother Marie Engen, a certified financial planner, in 2010. He read a lot of personal finance blogs and eventually felt compelled to add his two cents with his own blog. What started out as a hobby turned into a second job where he earns thousands of dollars per month on top of his full-time salary. Not only does hi

Millennial money expert, author and personal finance blogger Stefanie O'Connell and I talk about being an actress during the recession and what inspired her to teach others to be smarter with their money. Long episode description: Stefanie O’Connell is one inspiring millennial. She had aspirations of becoming an actress growing up and even studied acting in New York City. She was well on her way to becoming a broadway star too — until the recession hit. The economic collapse forced her to rethink her plans of being an actress and consider other ways of making a living. She also started getting interested in personal finance, and realized from books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad that she did not want to live like a starving artist for the rest of her life. This new passion for finance soon motivated her to start her own blog initially called The Broke and Beautiful Life. Now just going by her name (like yours truly) at StefanieOConnel.com, she’s not only a popular personal finance blogger, but also an author (she pe

I talk with vlogger, blogger and entrepreneur Anthony Ongaro about how he climbed out of a mountain of debt and came out of the experience stronger by living life with more intention and integrating minimalism into his daily life. Long episode description: I was introduced to Anthony by my good pal Cait Flanders from Blonde on a Budget after I asked her if she knew of any guests who would be great for my show. She was right in pointing me to Anthony because he is seriously such a genuine, smart and inspirational guy. If you need some motivation to pay down your debt, declutter your house and live life to the fullest — Anthony is your guy. In this episode, we discuss some of Anthony’s key philosophies that he often writes about on his blog Break the Twitch and talks about on his YouTube channel. What Does it Mean to Break the Twitch? When I think of twitch, I think of someone who has a weird eye twitch they can’t control. And that’s sort of the same thing that Anthony is referring to, but instead of an uncontr

I discuss the biggest money matters for millennials, such as student loan debt, unemployment, going back to school, and buying a house with personal finance columnist Rob Carrick from The Globe and Mail. Long episode description: I was incredibly nervous to interview Rob Carrick from The Globe and Mail for this podcast episode. I’ve been reading his words for years and when it comes to personal finance, he really knows his stuff. But since Rob is such an awesome guy, when I cornered him at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference this past fall and begged him to be on my podcast, he was kind enough to say yes. Highlights from this Episode I love this episode so much because we talked about one of my favourite topics — millennial money matters. As a millennial who’s mission it is to help other millennials understand the core concepts of personal finance so they can take control of their lives and prosper, well it was more than a treat to talk to someone as passionate about educating Generation Y as I am. We st

I talk with financial consultant, public speaker and author Robin Taub about her book "A Parent's Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids" and what advice she would give to parents about teaching their kids about personal finance at any age. Long episode description: I was lucky enough to meet Robin Taub at the Canadian Personal Finance Conference in Toronto this fall, and I’m so glad I did. She spoke at the conference about how she penned and published her best-selling book A Parent’s Guide to Raising Money-Smart Kids and how she went from chartered accountant to public speaker, author and personal finance media spokesperson. Although I don’t have kids (and don’t plan on starting a family for a few years yet), raising money-smart kids is one topic I knew I needed to cover on the podcast. I think for all of us to become smarter with our money, we need to be educated about it. And the sooner we learn the fundamentals of personal finance in life, the better chance we have at becoming successful and financially stable

For my first Mo' Money Podcast episode of 2016, I interview fitness coach and champion bodybuilder Jaclyn Phillips about how she turned her love for fitness into her side hustle and how she saves money when preparing for fitness shows. Long episode description: In this episode, Jaclyn and I discuss how she got into the fitness world and how she eventually turned her love of fitness and competing into a part-time business. For my first Mo’ Money Podcast episode of 2016, I interview my friend, and co-creator of the Rich & Fit 21-Day Challenge, Jaclyn Phillips. Jaclyn is awesome. And yes, I may be biased, but she really is. The reason we first connected was because we are equally passionate about helping others when it comes to finance or fitness. She loves fitness and wants to share everything she’s learned with people who want to improve their health. I love finance and want to share everything I’ve learned with people who want to improve their financial lives. When we met and started talking about what we do

For the last Mo' Money Podcast episode of 2015, host Jessica Moorhouse does another solo episode, sharing her thoughts on going to university, student debt and making smart financial decisions when it comes to your higher education and future career. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I interview my grandpa, Jacques Hardy, in his home in Chilliwack, BC for this podcast episode because his story is the ultimate success story. He describes his family as "poverty stricken" growing up, he had 8 siblings and had to start paying his own way at 17. Although the odds were against him (he failed grade 7 twice and was fired from a number of jobs), he was able to find a successful career in the military to help support his young family and eventually move across the country for a better life. Long episode description: This episode is why I’m so glad I have a podcast. Finally, I have a medium to share my grandpa’s incredible story. He literally started out dirt poor. Poverty stricken was actually the term he used. He was born in Saint-Sylvère, Quebec, had 8 siblings and had to start paying his own way at 17. If you think that sounds hard, his dad was orphaned at 5 years old and started working at 11! He eventually became a butcher and sold his meat door-to-door. But still, when he got married, all he

In this episode, I talk with longtime friend and fellow film school grad Riley Maruyama about his experience trying to make it in the film industry while trying to crush $35,000 in student debt. Long episode description: I am so excited to share my interview with my very good friend Riley Maruyama for this episode, all about kicking his student debt to the curb. Riley and I go way back. We were in the same 30-person film program at Simon Fraser University back in 2005, we helped each other as crew members on multiple film shoots, and I even passed down my first basement suite to him after we all graduated (it was a really good deal, so we kept that suite in our “friend family” for quite a few years). Since I’ve known Riley, he’s always been a true artist. In film school, he was known as the experimental filmmaker out of all of us. But why we got along so well was he was never that stereotypical art school kid. He had (and still has) the best sense of humour, but at the same time is incredibly philosophical. A

Investment coach Aman Raina and I discuss how to be an empowered investor through financial education, changing habits and understanding your comfort zone. Long episode description: As I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, I found out about Aman because he commented on my blog post about money coaching. After that we exchanged a few emails and I knew I needed to talk to him a bit more so I got him on my podcast. Aman as a very interesting background. He worked on the TSX’s trading floor back in the 90s and has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to investments. Later in his career he decided to go it alone and start his own investment coaching business so he could teach others about the principles of investing wisely. Different than a financial advisor, an investment coach doesn’t sell you products or tell you specifically what to do. Instead, it’s more of a teacher role and Aman shares some of his top tips for those of you who want to learn more about becoming a savvy investor. I was lucky enough to