Episodes

Some private credit funds have recently faced redemption pressure, bringing renewed attention to liquidity risk in the asset class. Colin and Greg walk through what private credit is, why it grew rapidly after the 2008 financial crisis, and how the "illiquidity premium” works in practice on The Free Lunch Podcast. If you've been hearing a lot about private credit lately and weren't totally sure what to make of it, this one is for you.

Colin and Greg brought in one of the sharpest minds in fixed income to answer that question. Tony Crescenzi from PIMCO discusses the bond market like a supermarket with 150 trillion dollars worth of aisles, and explains why knowing which shelf to shop from could matter as much as anything else in your portfolio. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, they get into inflation thresholds, starting yields, global diversification and why active management tends to win in bonds in ways it often d...

That 12% yield might sound incredible. Until you find out what it is based on. Structured notes are often marketed as the best of both worlds — income, protection, and upside. But Colin and Greg argue you can’t have it all, and that the tradeoffs matter. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, they break down what structured notes are, how the payout is generated, and why keeping things simple may be a better fit for some investors.

Greg makes the case on The Free Lunch Podcast that the investors who struggle most aren't the ones lacking knowledge. They're the ones who can't ask themselves: "What if I'm wrong?" Colin and Greg unpack why decorum and diplomacy, the same things missing from today's geopolitical headlines, are actually core investing skills. Staying composed when markets test your patience isn't weakness, it’s a meaningful advantage over time.

Does watching financial news actually make you a better investor? Colin and Greg dig into that question on this week's episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, breaking down how financial media is designed to create urgency, not returns, and what that can do to investor behaviour over time. If you've ever felt the urge to do something with your portfolio after watching the news, this one's worth a listen.

Investing well is supposed to be boring. Most people think great investing means staying on top of the markets, catching the right stocks, and making smart moves. Colin and Greg would say that's exactly the problem. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, they use DIY home renovation as a surprisingly perfect analogy for what goes wrong when people manage their own money. The mistakes aren't usually the ones you see coming.

The "RRIF meltdown" strategy is everywhere online right now, but the advice rarely accounts for your actual situation. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Blair break down what a meltdown strategy actually is, when it might make sense, and why doing it just because someone told you to can quietly cost you more in tax than you ever saved. The math matters more than the marketing.

In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Blair walk through a real conversation many investors are having right now: “Should we get out before it gets worse?” The instinct is understandable. But the plan often becomes selling when markets are down, waiting, and then buying back in when things feel better. That’s not strategy, it's emotion, and it’s one of the fastest ways to derail long-term returns.

In reality, fear shows up in every market cycle. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg talk about why even seasoned investors feel unsettled during downturns, and why that doesn’t mean you should act on it. Because volatility isn’t new. It’s expected. And the investors who succeed aren’t the ones who avoid fear, they’re the ones who don’t let it drive their decisions.

With St. Patrick’s Day behind us, it’s a good time to separate myth from reality. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg explore why chasing the next big winner, timing the market, or relying on “being early” rarely works and why those ideas persist anyway. They break down the difference between luck and skill, the cost of missing just a handful of market days, and why the real “pot of gold” is built through patience and compounding over time.

Each year, the World Happiness Report ranks nations based on factors like social support, health, freedom, trust, and economic security. In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Greg dig into the patterns behind the rankings, why Nordic countries dominate the list, where Canada and the U.S. fall, and what the research reveals about the connection between policy, prosperity, and well-being. A thoughtful conversation about what truly drives happiness in modern societies.

In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, we explore how even high-earning households can feel “house poor” and why lifestyle inflation, low savings rates, and heavy debt can quietly erode financial flexibility.

In this episode of The Free Lunch Podcast, Colin and Blair walk through a case study of “Linda,” a 55-year-old investor with a $780,000 balanced portfolio. When markets fell 18%, she panicked and sold half her equities, only to miss the 22% rebound that followed. It’s a powerful reminder that the hardest part of investing isn’t picking the right fund. It’s sticking to the financial plan when headlines, social media, and fear tell you to do the opposite. Markets recover but emotional decisions...

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.