Happy New Year! I hope the holidays treated you well and that you’ve managed to keep up your resolutions so far. The start of the year is the best time to assess the status of each of the different areas of your life. That also makes it a great time to assess how your investments have performed over the last…

At 22 years of age, Victor Godinho has become a homeowner. He purchased a two-bedroom, 750-square-foot unit at Ten88, a new townhouse condominium under construction in Toronto.

CAMILLA CORNELL, SPECIAL TO THE TORONTO STAR When Cris Lam bought her pre-construction Toronto condo in 2014, she was in the enviable position of having a big enough down payment to avoid mortgage default insurance fees. Even with her parent’s contribution, Lam needed a financial planner’s help. She met with Victor Godinho, a financial planner with Pangea Personal Financial Planning,…

Canadian couples with significantly different incomes may want to consider using a spousal RRSP to help cut their tax bill in retirement, but experts say it’s all about balance.

Despite pitfalls, getting on the ladder as a young buyer is possible. Molly McGrath, 25, and Jonathan Palmer, 27, began their house hunt in early January. “We had just gotten engaged,” she says. “And a gift from my grandfather made it possible for us.” But the couple’s introduction to the Toronto housing market was like a bucket of cold water over her head.

Financial planner Victor Godinho said goodbye to his wallet four years ago and hasn’t looked back. The 23-year-old adviser at the VTAG Financial Group Inc. in Toronto was one of the early adopters of the “cashless” lifestyle, a move to ditch pocket change and bills in favour of plastic cards and mobile phone payments.