Episodes

In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Blair continue their financial planning series by examining the Canadian macro environment, from housing and household debt to interest rates and inflation. Using a real-life style case study, they explore how someone can have strong net worth on paper while still feeling monthly cash flow pressure. It’s a reminder that financial planning isn’t just about assets. It’s about context, options, and clarity.

In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin is joined by Blair, Director of Financial Planning at Canvas Wealth, to kick off a new series focused on the role planning plays in long-term financial success. They explore how financial planning turns money into a life tool, replaces guesswork with clarity, and helps people navigate major life transitions with confidence, not just better returns. A conversation about outcomes, behaviour, and building freedom over time.

From wars and sanctions to trade disruptions and surprise political events, global markets react quickly to uncertainty. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Greg and Colin walk through decades of data on geopolitical shocks, what typically drives market drawdowns, how long recoveries tend to take, and why most sell-offs fade faster than headlines suggest. They also explore what these events mean specifically for Canadian investors, including impacts on oil, the dollar, and global portfo...

Every January, investment firms release their top picks and bold projections for the year ahead. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Greg and Colin look back at the stock lists published in early 2025 and ask the question most people forget to ask: how did they actually perform? By comparing forecasts to real-world outcomes, they unpack why confidence doesn’t equal accuracy, why benchmarks matter more than opinions, and what investors can learn from hindsight.

In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Greg and Jacob reflect on how the reality of wealth advising differs from what’s taught early on. Technical knowledge matters, but it isn’t what ultimately sets wealth advisors apart. Listening, understanding, and guiding people through uncertainty are what define the work. Throughout the episode, they explore the lessons that only experience teaches, and what it really takes to build a career that lasts.

If there’s one lesson that kept showing up over nearly 300 episodes, it’s this: being reasonable beats being brilliant. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin reflects on five themes that have shaped the show over the years, starting with why behaviour matters more than intelligence, forecasts, or clever strategies. It’s a reminder that long-term success rarely comes from bold moves. It comes from consistent, disciplined decisions made over time.

When markets move, our instincts kick in fast. ⏱️ In this episode, Colin and Greg share a real example of a new investor reacting to a small short-term loss, and use it to explain why checking your portfolio too often can do more harm than good. They break down volatility, time horizons, and why investing isn’t meant to feel like watching a savings account.

We’ve become far more comfortable with debt than we used to be. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Rob Carrick, one of Canada’s most trusted personal finance journalists and longtime columnist at The Globe and Mail joins Greg and Colin to talk about how consumer culture has reshaped our relationship with money. They discuss frictionless spending, social media pressure, and why debt often builds quietly, without a clear moment where things go wrong.

We procrastinate on taxes for the same reason we avoid the dentist. We know it’s important, it just feels uncomfortable. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Blair talk about tax optimization, early planning, and why contributing sooner to your TFSA or RRSP can be one of the most underrated financial habits. It’s step four in their “12 Steps to Greatness in 2026” list, and they cover all 12 to help you start the year with clarity.

Is there really a free lunch when it comes to investing? According to Greg and Colin, there is one: diversification. It’s not exciting. It doesn’t make headlines. But it’s one of the few strategies that has improved outcomes while helping reduce risk over time. In this episode, they explain why diversification works, why investors resist it, and why it matters right now.

Where would modern thinking about markets be without the people who pushed it forward? This week on the Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg reflect on the thinkers and researchers who reshaped the way we understand economic behaviour. From evidence-based approaches to frameworks that bring discipline and clarity to decision-making, the way we view the world today exists because a few pioneers were willing to challenge old assumptions.

We buy everything else on sale, but with stocks we do the opposite? In this episode, Colin and Greg talk with Mark Eibel about the strange way human behaviour shows up around money. The market rises more than 70% of the time, yet fear in the 30% often pushes people out at exactly the wrong moment. It is one of the few areas of life where people get more interested as prices rise and more nervous as prices fall, even though history shows that downturns are usually shorter than they feel.

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Most clients don’t actually want a stock tip. They want reassurance, they want clarity. They want to know, “will I be okay?” This week, Colin and Greg explore the emotional side of money with financial therapist Ashley Quamme as they unpack the real drivers behind our financial behaviour. The beliefs we inherit, the patterns we repeat, and the questions we are truly asking when we think we are asking about markets. 🎧 A powerful conversation for anyone curious about why they think, feel, and b...

🏡 Have a kid who’ll buy their first home one day? The First Home Savings Account (FHSA), part RRSP, part TFSA, all opportunity. In this week's episode of the Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg explain how the FHSA works, the benefits and the deadline you can't afford to miss. They explain why making a small contribution before year-end could mean more room and more opportunity down the road.

In 2008, one client went all in on silver. Convinced inflation would soar, governments would lose control, and precious metals were the only safe bet, he put everything into silver. And technically, he was right. It hit $50 an ounce… 17 years later. On this week’s Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg revisit that story to explore what it teaches about timing, behaviour, and the bigger truth: time in the market beats timing the market every time.

If the Canada Pension Plan were a mutual fund, would you still buy it? 🤔 Greg and Colin dig into the real costs behind Canada’s national pension, how it stacks up against low-fee investing, and what it teaches us about simplicity, transparency, and discipline in your own portfolio. It sounds cheap at 0.26%, but that’s just the tip of a $7 billion iceberg once you factor in performance fees, transaction costs, and operating expenses.

What are smart investors doing right now? According to Greg and Colin on this week of the Free Lunch Podcast they are: staying diversified, staying disciplined, and staying calm. They unpack how to think about: 💰 Bonds & cash in your portfolio. 🏠 Mortgage renewals & rate holds. 🧾 End-of-year tax moves. 😴 Retirement “sleep-at-night” planning.

Jonathan’s style was to blend practical financial advice with human behaviour and life lessons. This week, Colin and Greg reflect on the life and legacy of Jonathan Clements, the longtime Wall Street Journal columnist whose insights helped redefine how we think about money, happiness, and simplicity. Jonathan’s approach really aligns with what we try to do here, cutting through the noise, finding clarity in uncertainty, and reminding people that even if the market’s at an all-time high… so is m...

AI was everywhere at Future Proof Festival. From Google searches to client service, every conversation circled back to how artificial intelligence is reshaping the industry. On this week’s episode of the Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg reflect on Colin’s time at Future Proof, and why, despite AI’s power, nothing can replace human trust and behavioural coaching. 🎧 A must-listen for anyone curious about what AI means for the future of advice.

🎓💰 Sending kids off to college or university? The sticker shock is real. Tuition, books, housing, can quickly add up to $20,000+ per year. In this week’s episode, Colin and Greg break down the real costs of post-secondary education and explore smart ways to fund it, including: ✅ Student loans, grants & bursaries ✅ RESPs (and how to make the most of government grants) ✅ What happens if your child doesn’t go to school ✅ Why TFSAs can be a hidden funding tool

True or False: ❓ Diversification increases expected stock returns. ❓ Owning Canadian banks, pipelines, and utilities is enough diversification. ❓ Most active fund managers outperform their benchmarks over time. If you hesitated on any of these, this week’s episode is for you. Colin and Greg break down why diversification is really about protecting against risk, how home bias trips Canadians up, and why global exposure makes all the difference.

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Tariffs go up. Inflation lingers. Politics heat up. And the cost of everyday life feels it. On this episode of the Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg explore how U.S. policy shifts ripple through interest rates, inflation, and portfolios around the world. They discuss... 🌎💼 ✔️ The hidden inflation driver no one talks about. ✔️ Why Fed decisions matter beyond the U.S. ✔️ How to position portfolios when volatility returns. 🎧 A must-listen for anyone trying to make sense of today’s economic hea...