Greg Keith, Certified Financial Planner

09/09/2026

"Mom, how did we get so poor?"

"Your dad moved to cash every time the market dipped."

I have watched grown adults with law degrees, PhDs MBAs, and CPAs in corner offices do this.

Smart people making terrible decisions.

The market drops a few percent and they panic.

They move everything to cash before they lose everything.

And then the market recovers, as it always does.

But unfortunately, these people are sitting on the sidelines waiting for the perfect time to buy back in.

The problem is, it's impossible to know when "the right time" is.

This is how our nervous system works.

Our brain treats a market drop the same way it treats a bear chasing us in the woods.

Run first. Figure the rest out later.

The people who build the best retirement funds usually aren't the most knowledgeable.

They're the ones who tune out the noise and stay invested.

Selling when the market crashes rarely works.

And usually hurts you way more than just staying put.

If the market dropped 10% tomorrow, what would you do?

09/08/2026

“My friend died in their 60's. I’m taking CPP at 60 so the government doesn’t keep my money.”

This is one of the most common conversations for a retirement planner.

It's often a very expensive decision.

40% of Canadians take CPP at 60.

90% by age 65.

Waiting until 70 increases your CPP by about 121%.

It’s also indexed to inflation and paid as long as you live.

The National Institute on Ageing estimates the average Canadian who takes CPP at 60 instead of 70 gives up an average of $100,000 in lifetime income.

I think the problem is how we look at CPP.

People treat it like a bank account.

“I paid into it. I want my money back.”

But one of the biggest risks in retirement planning isn't dying before you receive the benefit.

It’s living to 92.

If you have enough savings to fund your early retirement years, delaying CPP reduces that risk.

Sometimes taking CPP at 60 makes sense.

A lot of the time it doesn’t.

Make sure you run the numbers and consider all the variables.

The decision is permanent.

09/07/2026

“Whoever speaks first loses.”

I hate sales culture.

The scripts. The closing techniques. The clever questions designed to lead someone toward a yes.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours in sales training over my career.

It took me way too long to realize I hate almost everything about it.

I don’t want to overcome your objections.

I don’t want to create urgency.

And I definitely don’t want to “close” you.

I just want to understand your problem.

If I can help solve it, I’ll explain how.

If you think I’m the right person to help, great.

If you don’t, that’s completely fine too.

I’m not going to chase you around trying to change your mind.

That doesn’t mean communication isn’t important.

It might be the most important part of my job.

But I’d rather learn how to listen better.

Ask better questions.

Understand what someone is actually worried about.

And explain complicated things in a way that makes sense.

Maybe that’s still technically sales.

I don’t know.

But after 21 years in this business, I have zero interest in getting better at convincing people.

I’d rather get better at helping them.

Imagine just treating people like people, not pay cheques.

09/06/2026

Turning 60 and taking CPP immediately could be one of the biggest retirement mistakes you make.

But I understand why so many Canadians do it.

You turn 60.

You see that CPP money sitting there.

And waiting another 5 or 10 years feels crazy.

“It’s my money. I might as well take it.”

I hear this all the time.

Nobody knows how long they’re going to live.

Some people worry the government will change the rules.

Others just want to get the money while they can.

But taking CPP at 60 means permanently reducing your monthly payment.

And if you live into your 80s or 90s, that decision could cost you a lot of guaranteed income later in life.

That doesn’t mean everyone should wait.

If you need the money, have health concerns, or have other reasons for taking it early, 60 might make perfect sense.

But taking it just because you can isn’t a retirement strategy.

CPP is guaranteed for life and increases with inflation.

Before you take it at 60, make sure you understand what you’re giving up.

Because once you make that decision, it’s permanent.

09/05/2026

30 years of disciplined saving can fall apart pretty quickly if you’re not careful.

Banks spend a lot of time helping you save and invest your money.

They spend a lot less time helping you figure out how to actually spend it in retirement without running out.

Then retirement arrives and the game changes.

The things that worked while you were saving don’t always work when you start spending.

Saving is mostly a habit.

Retirement income is a series of decisions.

When should you take CPP?

Which accounts should you draw from first, your TFSA, RRSP, RRIF or non-registered investments?

How much should you take from your RRIF without creating a bigger tax bill or losing some of your OAS?

These aren’t small decisions.

Getting them wrong can cost you tens of thousands of dollars over retirement.

Yet a lot of people make these decisions for the first time without really understanding the trade-offs.

That’s a big risk.

The hardest part of retirement usually isn’t investing your money.

It’s making good decisions once there’s no paycheque coming in to fix your mistakes.

If you’re getting close to retirement and this sounds familiar, it’s probably time to figure this stuff out.

The missing piece usually isn’t more money.

It’s having a strategy for the money you’ve already saved.

Happy to talk through it with you.

09/04/2026

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by retirement planning and all the tough decisions that come with it, you’ll want to watch this.

I joined Marianne Agudo, Unpacked & Empowered Finances to talk about why retirement planning is about much more than just having a good investment strategy.

We discussed the importance of making the right decisions around your income, taxes, investments and overall retirement plan so you can feel more confident about what comes next.

09/04/2026

I stopped calling myself a financial planner.

Now I call myself a decision guide, and the shift isn’t just branding.

Most advisors are trained to manage money.

They pick funds, monitor performance, and talk about returns.

That’s important, but it’s not the only thing that determines whether your retirement goes well or falls apart.

Some of the biggest risks are in decisions.

When to start CPP.

Whether OAS clawback is costing you thousands every year.

Which account to draw from first so you maximize cash flow and minimize tax.

Not many advisors focus on this.

Investment management gets all the attention because it is easy to measure and easy to sell.

Decision support gets almost none, even though it carries far more weight for anyone approaching retirement with a pension, RRSPs, TFSAs, and a paycheck that is about to disappear.

That’s the work I actually do.

It means tax planning, income timing, pension and CPP decisions, and structuring withdrawals so OAS clawback isnt a surprise.

I talked about this at length on Marianne Agudo podcast, Unpacked and Empowered Finances.

If you’ve ever felt like your advisor manages your money but never talks to you about the decisions, send me a DM.

I’d love to chat.

09/03/2026

08/29/2026

Social media might be the worst place to get financial advice.

Which is awkward, because I give financial advice on social media.

There is some amazing financial content on here.

Smart people sharing ideas for free that would have been hard to find 20 years ago.

But there is also some awful stuff.

People selling fear.

People promising returns.

People making complicated strategies sound like secrets the banks don’t want you to know.

And people giving advice to thousands of strangers without knowing anything about their lives.

That’s the problem.

A financial tip can be completely true and still be completely wrong for you.

Pay off your mortgage.

Don’t pay off your mortgage.

Take CPP early.

Delay CPP until 70.

Max your RRSP.

Use your TFSA first.

Buy insurance.

Don’t buy insurance.

I could probably find a convincing 60-second video arguing every side.

Financial planning doesn’t work that way.

Your income matters.

Your taxes matter.

Your pension matters.

Your family matters.

Your goals matter.

And sometimes the boring answer is the right one.

Use social media to learn what questions to ask.

Just be careful using it to decide what the answers should be.

08/28/2026

I asked ChatGPT to warn someone before meeting me.

“A quick warning before you meet Greg Keith.

You should probably know a few things.

He’s going to tell you he’s a retirement planner within the first 11 seconds.

Not because he’s trying to sell you anything.

He just genuinely has no other interests.

Actually, that’s not true.

He golfs.

Poorly.

He also draws financial concepts on loose-leaf paper with a blue pen and somehow decided this was a legitimate marketing strategy.

He has strong opinions about retirement planning, investments and advisors who make simple things sound complicated.

Ask him about CPP and you’ve made a terrible mistake.

Clear your afternoon.

He drives an unreasonable number of kilometres every year to meet clients because apparently Teams wasn’t enough of an advancement for him.

He thinks most financial plans are too complicated.

Most investment portfolios are too complicated.

And most financial industry language exists mainly to make advisors sound smarter than they are.

He will probably tell you retirement planning should be simple enough that you can explain it to your spouse at the kitchen table.

Then he’ll spend 45 minutes explaining it.

He posts on social media constantly.

Like… constantly.

His family has accepted this.

His friends tolerate it.

His dog has no idea what social media is and probably has the healthiest relationship with him.

Anyway, Greg’s a decent guy.

Just whatever you do…

Don’t ask him when you should take CPP.”