I’m guessing I was about four or five years old the day I noticed the smoke. This time it wasn’t coming from the chimney of our sawdust-burning kitchen stove. Heavy, dense smoke. Not just a thin trail, but a substantial cloud that swelled upward into the clear blue sky. I had never seen smoke like … Read more
Good morning, friends! The holidays are truly here now – can you feel it? There’s something magical about mid-December when the lights twinkle a little brighter, the cookies taste a little sweeter, and Canadians from coast to coast gather to celebrate everything from community concerts to Christmas markets. Whether you’re bundled up against a Maritime … Read more
Pension Splitting and the Multigenerational Home Credit Hi there, Welcome back to “Your Canadian Senior Moment”! As we continue our series on overlooked benefits, we’re focusing on two important tax benefits that can provide significant savings for Canadian couples and families. We’ll look at how pension income splitting can lower your tax bill and how … Read more
When to Say “No Gifts This Year” (And Mean It) Hi there! Welcome back to Canadian Senior Moment. This week we’ve explored thoughtful budget gifts and the power of experience gifts. Today, we’re tackling the hardest topic: when it’s right to say “no gifts this year”—and how to do it with confidence, love, and zero … Read more
The Gift of Time (Experiences Over Things) Hi there! Welcome back to Canadian Senior Moment. Yesterday we talked about thoughtful gifts on a tight budget. Today, we’re exploring something even more valuable: the gift of your time and the experiences you can share together. If you’ve ever felt like your gifts aren’t “enough” because they’re … Read more
Thoughtful Gifts on a Fixed Income Hi there! Welcome back to Canadian Senior Moment. December is here, and with it comes that familiar mixture of joy and stress. The joy of celebrating with loved ones. The stress of wondering how you’ll afford gifts for everyone when you’re living on a fixed income. If you’ve ever … Read more
Cooking for One (Without Giving Up) Hi there! Welcome back to our Monday series, The Food & Memory Connection. Over the past month, we’ve explored how food connects us to our past, fuels our brains, brings us together, and creates lasting memories. Today, we’re tackling something many of you have asked about: how to keep … Read more
During my childhood, a shift began as families increasingly relied on convenience and credit to simplify their lives. However, my parents made some sacrifices I was not aware of. As far as I was concerned, we lived comfortably even though we had very few modern conveniences as Dad was reluctant to use credit. He believed … Read more
Hello there, and welcome to the second full week of December! The holiday season is in full swing across Canada, with Christmas markets, festive lights, and community celebrations happening coast to coast. Whether you’re wrapping up your shopping, enjoying seasonal performances, or simply soaking in the festive atmosphere, there’s plenty to see and do this … Read more
The Age Amount and Home Accessibility Credit Hi there, Welcome back to “Your Canadian Senior Moment”! As we continue our series on overlooked benefits, we’re focusing on two important tax credits that can put money back in your pocket: The Age Amount and the Home Accessibility Tax Credit. For many seniors, these are valuable savings … Read more
The First Holiday Without Them Hi there, and welcome back to Your Canadian Senior Moment! We’ve spent five episodes talking about how to navigate holiday hosting—from simplifying traditions to setting boundaries, from practical logistics to stepping back when hosting becomes too much. But today, we need to talk about the grief that makes all of … Read more
When You Can’t Host Anymore (And That’s Okay) Hi there, and welcome back to Your Canadian Senior Moment! We’ve spent the past four installments talking about how to make holiday hosting more manageable—simplifying traditions, setting boundaries, creating new approaches, and mastering the practical details. But today, we need to talk about something harder: what happens … Read more
The Practical Stuff (Timelines, Shopping, and Make-Ahead Magic) Let’s talk about the unglamorous part of holiday hosting: the actual logistics. You’ve simplified your traditions. You’ve set boundaries. You’ve committed to taking care of yourself. That’s all great. But at some point, you still have to figure out when to buy the turkey, what you can … Read more
Creating Food Memories That Last Hi there, and welcome back to Your Canadian Senior Moment! We’ve spent three weeks exploring the profound connection between food and memory—from how scents trigger our past to the cultural traditions that shape who we are, to navigating the heartache when dementia steals those connections. Today, we’re focusing on something … Read more
I always looked forward to Sundays, as we went to church every Sunday afternoon. As we took our seats, an older fellow named Wellsford, perhaps in his 80s, would come by and give my brother and me some peppermint candy that had been chopped in small pieces and tucked away in his suit pocket. Everyone … Read more
November 29 – December 7, 2025 Hello there, and happy first weekend of December! Can you believe we’re already in the final month of 2025? The holidays are just around the corner, the decorations are going up across the country, and there’s that special energy in the air that only December brings. Whether you’re planning … Read more
Are You Missing Out on a Pension? Hi there, Welcome back to “Your Canadian Senior Moment”! As we continue our series on overlooked benefits, we’re diving into a surprising but all-too-common issue: unclaimed pensions. It’s a problem that affects thousands of Canadians. You might be entitled to money from a previous employer that you’ve simply … Read more
Taking Care of Yourself First (You Can’t Pour From an Empty Cup) Here’s the uncomfortable truth about holiday hosting: You can simplify every tradition and set every boundary in the world, but if you’re running yourself ragged trying to make everyone else happy, you’re still going to crash. And when you crash, nobody wins. Not … Read more
Setting Boundaries With Love (Even When They Don’t Make It Easy) Hello again, and welcome back! Yesterday, we talked about giving yourself permission to simplify holiday traditions—to do less without guilt. Today, we’re tackling what many of you told us is even trickier: navigating family dynamics and setting boundaries when everyone has opinions about how … Read more
Simplifying Traditions (Permission to Do Less) Hi there. Welcome back to “Your Canadian Senior Moment”! Remember when you used to make seventeen different kinds of Christmas cookies, hand-address 150 cards, and spend three days preparing a feast that was consumed in twenty minutes? Remember thinking, “This is wonderful, and I’ll do this forever”? And now? … Read more