The Financial “Rulebook” Says:

… go to school and get good grades so you can find a good paying job with benefits and a defined benefit or company match pension plan.

… save as much as you can to form a down payment to buy a home and begin paying off the mortgage as fast as you can.

… maximize your 401(k) / IRA / RRSP / TFSA contributions and buy a mutual fund your big bank advisor recommends to “diversify” your portfolio.

… purchasing real estate is too hard, too expensive and much too risky for anyone who isn’t already “rich” and has money to lose.

… investing in the stock market is too complex to do without your financial advisor and impossible to learn to do on your own without simply gambling.

… you should always buy term life insurance and invest the rest and never purchase participating whole life insurance.

… only certain types of people can be entrepreneurs. Starting a business or “side hustle” requires luck and is always a gamble.

How’s that working out for you?

How’s that working out for them?

We Are Canadian Wealth Secretss… 

…3 teachers who have committed their lives to learning what we should have been taught all along.

Have you ever felt like for decades you were doing what you thought were the right things?

You know: living under your means, saving that down payment for a home, paying extra on your mortgage each month, taking advantage of company match retirement opportunities, maybe even putting some money into mutual funds.

Then, a year or ten down the road, it dawns on you…

Your mortgage balance has decreased some, your retirement plan has some money in it (but not enough to retire on) and you aren’t buried under a bunch of credit card debt, but there is still one problem:

Your lifestyle is exactly the same and you certainly don’t feel any wealthier than you did when you first started.

If this story sounds familiar to you, then you’ll definitely fit in here.

That was exactly how we felt when we were trying to do “all the right things” that traditional schooling taught us.

Before we go on, let’s be clear on one thing:

Following the traditional approach outlined above in school certainly is better off than living above your means, building no equity in appreciating assets (i.e.: a primary residence) and setting aside some money that might make retirement a little more comfortable.

The problem is the sacrafices one must make for what feels like a not so great payoff in the end.

It begs one to question whether this traditional approach to teaching financial responsibility is a path to building wealth and financial freedom or whether it is just a path to just scraping by?

What if there was a better way?

We are 3 teachers – 2 math teachers and a history teacher – who had the same wonder. 

Each of us had a very different experience with money growing up, but all three of us were eager to build wealth as a means to live on our own terms by creating financially stablity.

To be clear: each of us are passionate about teaching and we love our jobs, but we have also wanted to ensure that we positioned ourselves financially so that we could ultimately make decisions on our terms and take advantage of opportunities that many who are stuck “working for the (wo)man” are not able to. 

To these Canadian Wealth Secretss, that is what building wealth is all about: being able to break the golden handcuffs that a good paying job might provide you and be able to live life comfortably and confidently on your own terms. 

Training Invested Students, Like You!

You know what they say:

“Once a teacher, always a teacher.“

Throughout our careers as teachers, we have worked tirelessly to learn and execute a variety of investment strategies and wealth building tactics to determine which ones and in what order would be most repeatable for others in a similar situation (earning between $50k to $120k per year). The passionate educator in us can’t help but want to share what we’ve learned along the way with others – just like you!

We like to think of the Canadian Wealth Secrets community of learners as Invested Students.

How Can You Become an Invested Student?

As educators, we truly believe that every student can learn and achieve at high levels.

The few differences between one student to the next is their starting point and how much time and effort will be necessary to achieve the next step in the learning process.

That’s it.

The same is true for those interested in becoming an Invested Student.

For some, they will enter further along the learning curve and progress with what might seem to outsiders like a “natural talent” or skills that they were “born with”.

For others, they’ll start right from the beginning and progress will seem slow and difficult.

Regardless of your entry point, becoming an Invested Student requires only 1 thing: will.

If you have the will to become an Invested Student with the Canadian Wealth Secretss as your mentors, you have the willpower, grit, determination, discipline, decisiveness and drive to make ongoing progress and reach your goal of financial freedom to live your life on your own terms.  

The Pathway to Success Isn’t a Secret

The steps to achieving success in most areas of life are not a secret, nor are they complex on the surface.

Take health, for example:

Consume an appropriate amount of (mostly) nutritious food and exercise regularly. 

Or, schooling:

Pay attention in class, complete required work and study until you know, understand and can do the work. 

Or, love/relationships:

Be kind, caring, empathetic, open and honest. 

The path to success in the above areas of life are pretty simple and straightforward. 

The same is true for achieving success when it comes to personal finance.

So what gives? Why do so many people struggle in the areas of health, schooling, love and personal finance? 

As it turns out, while each path for success in these pilars of life may be simple at the surface, committing to a plan and sticking with it are easier said than done.

That is why so many people who have success in one or more of these pilars of life typically have a mentor or coach to help them get there.

Simple Steps Anyone Can Follow

The steps to becoming an Invested Student aren’t a secret.

• Paydown bad debt;
• Don’t spend more than you make;
• Minimize your depreciating expense purchases; and,
• Maximize your appreciating asset purchases.

Simple, right?

Of course, we know that these steps to financial freedom are simple on the surface, but like the other pilars of life, they are more challenging to stick to. 

Throughout our Canadian Wealth Secrets channels including this website, the podcast, YouTube channel and social media accounts, we plan to guide you through this journey so you can become the Invested Student that will lead you to financial freedom.

Meet The Canadian Wealth Secretss 

Jon Orr

Jon is a secondary mathematics teacher who is earlier along his financial freedom journey after teamming up with Kyle back in 2018 to launch their Make Math Moments side-hustle business doing the work he loves: helping more students learn more math in effective and engaging ways.

It didn’t take long for Jon to realize that Kyle had investment and wealth building plans for the extra cashflow they were generating through their passion project math business. Being a lifelong learner, Jon listened to all of the recommended audiobooks, podcasts and engaged in long mentorship conversations to shift his mindset from a save and spend mentality to an investor’s mindset.

The first substaintial amount of profit Jon generated from his portion of his side-hustle business went towards a real estate joint venture (JV) partnership with Kyle and his real estate partner Matt Biggley’s North Shore Properties and they continue to partner on deals as opportunities arise. Jon is now an active real estate investor, stock options trader, and Ontario Mortgage Agent.

Design Your Wealth Management Plan

Crafting a robust corporate wealth management plan for your Canadian incorporated business is not just about today—it's about securing your financial future during the years that you are still excited to be working in the business as well as after you are ready to step away. The earlier you invest the time and energy into designing a corporate wealth management plan that begins by focusing on income tax planning to minimize income taxes and maximize the capital available for investment, the more time you have for your net worth to grow and compound over the years to create generational wealth and a legacy that lasts.

Don't wait until tomorrow—lay the foundation for a successful corporate wealth management plan with a focus on tax planning and including a robust estate plan today.