Financial Planning Simplified
I’m Robb — the guy behind Boomer & Echo. I’ve been a personal finance blogger since 2010 and an advice-only financial planner since 2015. I help regular Canadians with regular problems make smarter decisions about their money — without selling them a thing.
My philosophy is simple: Money shouldn’t be complicated.
You don’t need 17 bank accounts, 12 ETFs, or a side hustle to retire comfortably. You just need a good plan, grounded in what really matters to you.
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New Articles from Robb
Weekend Reading: Dividends, Rents, and the Illusion of “Income”
Robb Engen | August 16, 2025 |
The dividends-versus-total-return debate has (mercifully) cooled. Most investors now accept there’s nothing magical about dividends – it’s just cash carved out of total return. The real “magic” is reinvesting, i.e., putting the slice back into the cake so it keeps baking. And yes, ex-dividend, a stock’s price typically drops by roughly the dividend amount –…
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The Credit Card Combo You’ve Been Sleeping On
Robb Engen | August 11, 2025 |
We just got back from Scotland – a trip that involved epic hiking in the Highlands, duck-feeding along Loch Ness, and a quick stop in Glasgow so our daughter could “manifest” her future university choice. We covered nearly 500 miles in a rental car, used our umbrellas exactly once, and, thanks to some smart credit…
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Weekend Reading: Conscious Spending Edition
Robb Engen | August 2, 2025 |
Like a lot of money nerds, I’ve always loved a detailed budget. There’s comfort in seeing where every dollar goes, especially when life throws its usual mix of irregular income and surprise expenses. Still, I was curious: what would happen if I ditched the details and looked at our finances the way author Ramit Sethi…
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How I Invest My Own Money
Robb Engen | August 1, 2025 |
*Updated for Aug 1, 2025* Regular blog readers know that I’m a big proponent of passive investing with low cost, globally diversified index funds and ETFs. Why? Low fees are the best predictor of future returns. Global diversification reduces the risk within your portfolio. Index funds and ETFs allow investors to hold thousands of securities…
Let’s Not Turn Our Kids Into Mini Warren Buffetts (Just Yet)
Robb Engen | July 26, 2025 |
Lately I’ve been noticing a familiar pattern among parents: they want to get their kids investing early. Like, really early. The dream is to harness the power of compound interest so little Kale or Kyla can coast into early retirement before they’re even out of high school. Look, I get it. Starting early is great….
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Why We Stopped Saving So Much and Started Living
Robb Engen | July 13, 2025 |
One lesson I’ve learned from my retired clients is that it’s human nature to feel anxious about spending money – especially when the paycheque stops and you’re drawing down your own savings and investments. After decades of watching account balances go up, it’s deeply uncomfortable to watch them go the other way. It just doesn’t…
