Jess and Colleen share how they learned personal finance and investing through short, focused research sessions (including lunch-hour study), Canadian online resources, a couple of books (Beat the Bank and Millionaire Teacher), and finance podcasts, and they challenge listeners to spend 15–60 minutes researching terms like ETFs, TFSAs, RRSPs, and fees, plus using a compound interest calculator. Colleen also explains budgeting for Christmas by spreading gift purchases over multiple biweekly paycheques to reduce stress and avoid last-minute chaos, mentioning the NeeDoh toy craze. They then cover a TFSA nuance: the U.S. doesn’t recognize TFSAs as retirement accounts, so dividends from U.S. companies (including within U.S.-exposure ETFs) are subject to a 15% withholding tax, while gains aren’t taxed; Jess notes high U.S.-dividend holdings may be more efficient in an RRSP. Next episode will discuss all-in-one (portfolio) ETFs.

00:00 Welcome to TGIF

00:39 Learning Money Basics

02:38 Lunch Break Learning Challenge

04:56 Holiday Budget Planning

07:19 NeeDoh Gift Craze

10:11 TFSA Not Always Tax Free

10:48 US Dividend Tax Explained

13:31 TFSA vs RRSP Placement

15:49 Wrap Up and Next Episode

In this episode, we discuss money mindset and avoiding unnecessary spending by maintaining what you already own, sharing examples and proposing a weekend challenge to refurbish or repair before buying new and to consider the savings and potential investing impact over time.

We then explain why “financial advisor” is confusing in Canada, covering common designations (CFP, CFA, and bank-based PFPs), the importance of whether an advisor is a fiduciary, and how product restrictions can steer clients toward higher-fee mutual funds instead of lower-fee ETFs.

We outline key questions to ask advisors: credentials and registrations, whether recommendations are limited to in-house products, discretionary vs non-discretionary management, and detailed fee/compensation structures including commissions, AUM percentages, and incentives.

00:00 Welcome to TGIF

00:40 Money Mindset Reset

02:00 Repair Over Replace

05:07 Weekend Savings Challenge

06:50 Financial Advisors Explained

07:30 Designations and Fiduciary Duty

09:24 Fees and AUM Costs

14:26 Questions to Ask Advisors

21:04 Wrap Up and Next Episode

Welcome back to Two Girls Investing Friday! This week, we catch up on the real costs of career growth and business renovations before diving into the foundational steps of investing. If you've ever moved money into a TFSA or RRSP but aren't sure what to do next, this episode will save you from missing out on serious compound growth. This episode covers the hidden costs of career growth and DIY business renovations, plus a beginner-friendly breakdown of what a brokerage is. We also reveal the massive $500k mistake Canadians make by leaving cash uninvested in their TFSA and how to choose the right investing strategy.

00:05 Podcast Intro

00:45 Conference Costs Reality

03:03 Superstore Free Gift Chat

04:14 Retail Costs & Budgeting

08:39 Money Mindset Shift

09:17 What Is a Brokerage

11:32 Accounts vs Investing Mistake

14:21 Cash vs Invested Example

15:50 Brokerage Options Canada

17:33 Self Directed vs Managed

19:25 Mixing Strategies

21:32 Wrap Up Next Episodes

22:26 Final Takeaways Outro

.We open this episode tackling the current reality of Canadian grocery prices, breaking down a $375 Loblaws bill and sharing aggressive, practical strategies to cut your food budget, from leveraging the Flipp app at Superstore to the forgotten ROI of a pantry audit. We then transition into the core financial safety net: the emergency fund. We explain exactly how to calculate your target number based on personal risk factors like job stability, single versus dual income households, and renting versus owning. Finally, we expose the danger of cash hoarding, why overfunding your savings account actively loses you money to inflation, and explain why a High Interest Savings Account is the only place your emergency fund should live so you never have to sell off investments during a market dip.

Episode Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome and Episode Preview
• 00:19 Grocery Bill Shock
• 01:07 Free Gift Grocery Perk
• 02:38 Frozen Produce Savings
• 04:58 Pantry Inventory Strategy
• 08:10 Price Matching With Flipp
• 09:19 Stocking Food at Work
• 11:30 Emergency Fund Basics
• 13:38 How Much You Need
• 16:42 Household and Housing Factors
• 21:31 Insurance and Risk Buffers
• 20:24 Avoid Overfunding Cash
• 24:45 Keep Emergencies Out of Investments
• 27:03 High Interest Savings Account
• 29:12 Next Week and Wrap Up

n this episode, we tackle the unglamorous side of homeownership, from the sheer sticker shock of premium paint to the frustrating reality of DIY door handle replacements. Shifting from renovations to wealth building, we break down exactly what we’d do differently if we started investing today. We cover how to strategically hold high-interest savings inside a TFSA to shield your money from taxes, the core flexibility differences between a TFSA and an RRSP, and why keeping a clean ETF portfolio across both accounts is the ultimate play. Most importantly, we highlight why women historically outperform in the stock market: patience, zero panic selling, and ignoring the noise. Start small, let compounding do the heavy lifting, and join us in normalizing everyday money conversations.

00:00 – Friday Catch Up

00:41 – Paint Costs & Home Reno Sticker Shock

01:45 – Door Handle Drama & DIY Reality

03:19 – Renovation Reality Check

04:16 – Investing Do-Overs: What We'd Change Today

05:58 – TFSA vs. RRSP: The Core Strategy & Differences

08:33 – Portfolio Setup: Sticking to Low-Cost ETFs

10:55 – Normalizing Money Talks

11:48 – Why Women Invest Better: Avoiding the Panic Sell

15:00 – Start Small & Build the Habit

17:41 – Compounding Beats the Lottery Ticket Mentality

19:49 – Teaser: Emergency Funds

20:19 – Wrap Up & Follow

In this episode, we (Jess and Colleen) break down the most costly mistakes beginner investors make and how to build a clean, straightforward portfolio today without the noise. Before getting into portfolio pitfalls, we share a quick laugh over local community Facebook drama and break down why switching to the Wealthsimple 2% cash back card beats complicated big-bank points systems. Then, we get honest about where first-time investors lose real money: high MER bank mutual funds, falling for internet hype, accidental ETF duplication, and gambling on penny stocks. Learn why simplifying your holdings into diversified, low-cost ETFs and mastering the emotional side of money is the fastest path to long-term wealth.

00:00 – Intro: What we’d do differently if starting today

00:48 – Unhinged local Facebook community boards & comment wars

05:11 – Credit card switch: Wealthsimple 2% cash back vs. Scotia bank travel points

08:32 – Mistake #1: Bank mutual funds and the hidden drag of 2%+ MER fees

09:44 – Mistake #2: Chasing internet noise, hype, and unresearched tips

11:38 – Mistake #3: Accidental portfolio duplication and ETF overlap

14:15 – Mistake #4: Penny stock gambling and the trap of survivorship bias

17:44 – The hardest part of investing: Managing emotions vs. logic

18:28 – Key takeaways & teaser: How much do you actually need in an emergency fund?

After an unplanned couple-month summer break due to busy schedules, the hosts return, share plans to improve their recording setup, release weekly episodes, seek sponsors, and eventually create courses and educational content for Canadian women. They discuss recent “frivolous” spending they don’t regret. They then outline what they would do if they were starting investing from scratch at 25 in Canada earning $65–70K with $5K saved, $15K student debt, and no investments. Each host shares what they would do and they highlight what they would do the same and what the differences are. They tease a next episode on investing mistakes.

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In this TGIF (Two Girls Investing Friday) episode, Jess & Colleen catch up on Jess’s music studio recording process. They then explain private equity by contrasting private vs. public companies, using examples like Dragon’s Den and startup investors, and describe how everyday investors can access private equity indirectly by buying publicly traded private equity firms or ETFs that hold them, noting higher potential returns but higher risk and suggesting it as a small, advanced allocation. They answer a question about investing as a single mom by emphasizing a strong foundation including an emergency fund and paying off high-interest debt, and discuss budgeting and portfolio planning using percentages, plus using credit score tracking as a way to gamify debt payoff and motivation.

00:00 Welcome to TGIF

00:34 Studio Recording Recap

00:54 Click Track Check

03:28 Karaoke

04:58 Private Equity Basics

08:10 How You Can Invest

10:56 Returns and Risk Talk

14:47 Portfolio Percent Allocations

16:54 Single Income Listener Question

19:10 Budgeting in Percentages

21:36 Credit Score Motivation Game

23:33 Wrap Up and Next Week