Moolala: Money Made Simple with Bruce Sellery

In this Best Of episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery explores the powerful connection between money and mental health. ADHD coach Leanne Gawley explains why budgeting feels different for neurodivergent brains and shares practical tips for managing impulse spending, time blindness, and financial overwhelm. Deloitte psychologist and behavioural scientist Michelle Hilscher reveal...

In this episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery digs into the money mistakes we all make and how to overcome them. Certified financial planner Hanna Horvath unpacks "friction maxxing," the trend of intentionally making spending harder (and saving easier) to curb impulse purchases. Financial coach Alana Abramsky of Broad Money walks through seven popular budgeting methods, the tra...

Theatres, symphonies, and galleries are the backbone of Canadian culture, so why can't many of them get a basic corporate credit card or line of credit? Jamie Bennett, consultant at Lord Cultural Resources, joins Bruce Sellery to expose the gap between arts organizations and Canada's financial services sector, explain why it's largely a problem of education and business language, and make the case...

If you're struggling with debt you can't manage, a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT) may be the most powerful resource you've never heard of. Caryl Newbery-Mitchell, Senior Vice President at MNP's Consumer Insolvency Practice, Canada's largest insolvency firm, explains what situations lead people to seek help, how a consumer proposal works, what an LIT can and can't do, and how to tell a legitimat...

Alex Mayyasi, longtime contributor to NPR's Planet Money podcast, joins Bruce Sellery to talk about the new book Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. From the "Pickle Problem" at food banks to Argentina's failed BlackBerry factory, the economics of remote work, and the algorithm quietly running dating apps, Alex breaks down how everyday economic principles affect deci...

What does economics have to do with food banks, dating apps, and the Canadian arts scene? In this episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery sits down with Alex Mayyasi, a longtime contributor to NPR's wildly popular Planet Money podcast and author of the new book Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. He is here **to unpack how economic principles touch...

Karen Holland, an economist and early financial educator and founder of Gifting Sense, introduces Spending Ed: Driver’s Ed for Money, a practical kit designed to help kids ages 10–15 build lifelong money habits before bad ones take hold. Using the familiar framework of a learner’s permit, Karen walks through mindful spending tools, trade-off exercises, and back-to-school budgeting strategies that...

Financial journalist Alicia Adamczyk from The Purse shares insights from her ongoing Division of Labour series, which profiles real couples and how they navigate the daily split of childcare, household tasks, and finances. From stay-at-home dads to same-sex couples rewriting the rulebook, Alicia explores how gender norms still shape, and sometimes limit, the choices couples make at home. Find out...

Author Stefanie O'Connell joins Bruce to unpack her data-driven book The Ambition Penalty, revealing how workplace culture tells women to lean in, then penalizes them for doing exactly that. From biased performance reviews to salary negotiation backlash and the "paradox of meritocracy," Stefanie explains why the problem isn't women's ambition, but the environments responding to it differently base...

Why do ambitious women keep getting penalized at work even in 2026? In this episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery sits down with author Stefanie O'Connell to dig into her data-driven book The Ambition Penalty, which reveals how corporate culture tells women to step up and then pushes them back down through biased performance reviews, salary negotiation backlash, and the "parado...

Nearly 10 million Canadians have no access to a workplace retirement plan and the problem is most severe at small and mid-sized employers. Alex Mazer, co-founder and CEO of Commonwealth, joins Bruce to make the case for a Small Employer Retirement Plan Tax Credit: a federal incentive that could reduce the cost of setting up a group retirement plan by roughly 40% over three years, including up to $...

For decades, buying a home was seen as the cornerstone of financial security in Canada. But with Toronto and Vancouver homes priced at 10 to 12 times the average family income, more Canadians are renting well into their 30s and 40s not by choice, but by necessity. Senior Desjardins economist Kari Norman discusses her recent study on the rise of the permanent renter, exploring the data behind affor...

Financial influencers are everywhere on TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn but how do you know if the advice they're sharing is accurate, unbiased, and actually right for your financial situation? Zainab Williams, founder and CEO of Fund Evolve, joins Bruce to walk through her Influencer Safety Score, an AI-powered tool that analyzes financial videos for red flags like sponsored bias, factual inaccur...

With crypto prices swinging wildly, many Canadians are sitting on gains or losses and aren't sure what to do next. Certified financial planner Jason Heath of Objective Financial Partners and Objective Tax and Accounting breaks down exactly how the CRA treats cryptocurrency: when profits are taxed as capital gains versus business income, how switching between coins triggers a taxable event, what to...

In this episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery tackles four pressing personal finance topics for Canadians. Certified financial planner Jason Heath breaks down the tax implications of cryptocurrency, including capital gains and losses, the risks of business income classification, and the importance of proper CRA reporting. Zainab Williams, founder of Fund Evolve, introduces her...

Carol Willes, Director of Estate Planning at BMO Private Wealth, offers essential guidance for families navigating the financial complexities of caring for a child with a disability. She breaks down the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP), a tax-sheltered account eligible for up to $70,000 in government grants, and explains when and why a Henson Trust is the right tool for passing on an inhe...

Chantel Chapman, CEO and founder of the Trauma of Money Institute, reveals the surprising and deeply personal ways that past trauma, including generational scarcity, relational wounds, and systemic stress, shows up in our financial behaviour. She introduces the concept of "financial fawning" (using money to seek approval and avoid abandonment), explains why scarcity triggers the same brain respons...

Mischa Oak, LGBTQ+ keynote speaker and author of Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ+ Life Lessons for Everyone, joins Bruce to explore why inclusion still matters in the modern workplace. Mischa shares how "thinking queerly" means breaking out of imposed boxes, the critical difference between fitting in and truly belonging, and how allies can "queer the space" in their daily interactions. He also explains w...

In this episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery tackles three powerful conversations that connect identity, emotion, and financial well-being. First, LGBTQ+ keynote speaker and author Mischa Oak joins Bruce to discuss Rainbow Wisdom: 18 LGBTQ+ Life Lessons for Everyone, which explores queer joy as a workplace superpower, the difference between fitting in and truly belonging, and...

Cherolle Prince, Director of Fraud and Identity Management at Equifax Canada, unpacks the alarming rise of first-party fraud — when individuals misrepresent their own identity or inflate their income to qualify for credit. With economic pressures pushing more Canadians to the financial edge, Equifax data shows first-party fraud is up over 30% year over year, doubling in both credit cards and banki...

Ron Butler, principal broker at Butler Mortgage and host of the Angry Mortgage Podcast, breaks down exactly how home equity lines of credit work, the key differences between a HELOC and a traditional mortgage, and the real risks of using one to cover vacations, pay off credit cards, or fund rental properties. He also explains why a HELOC is a demand loan — meaning the bank can reduce or call it on...

Organizational psychologist Dr. Liane Davey explains the concept of "thoughtload" — the invisible drain on your performance caused by cognitive overload, emotional triggers, and depleted energy. She shares how to identify your overwhelm style (whirlwind, stickler, brooder, or rogue), why multitasking is counterproductive, and practical tools like three-tiered priority lists and dedicated "focus an...

In this episode of Moolala: Money Made Simple, host Bruce Sellery tackles three pressing issues facing Canadians today. Organizational psychologist Dr. Liane Davey introduces the concept of "thought load" , an invisible tax on your performance and presence driven by rising cognitive demands, emotional triggers, and depleted energy reserves. Liane shares practical strategies to identify your overwh...

Licensed insolvency trustee and Spergel partner Rob Kilner joins Bruce to break down the explosive growth of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) platforms and the serious financial risks they pose for Canadian consumers. Rob explains the concept of debt stacking of how small incremental payments across multiple accounts can quietly spiral into unmanageable debt and reveals that "interest-free" BNPL isn't tr...

Leadership strategist and author Dan Pontefract joins Bruce to unpack the "age debt crisis": the organizational failure to plan for and value older workers and why a demographic shift from a bell-shaped to a bulb-shaped workforce means companies can no longer afford to ignore age. Dan explains why simply replacing experienced employees with AI is a dangerous short-term play, how companies like BMW...