Benjamin Felix, Cameron Passmore, and Dan Bortolotti

The Rational Reminder Podcast

Business EN ↓ 439 episodes

A weekly reality check on sensible investing and financial decision-making, from three Canadians. Hosted by Benjamin Felix, Cameron Passmore, and Dan Bortolotti, Portfolio Managers at PWL Capital.

Author

Benjamin Felix, Cameron Passmore, and Dan Bortolotti

Category

Business

Podcast website

www.pwlcapital.com

Latest episode

Jul 9, 2026

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Episodes

Spending and Budgeting: Aligning Your Values and Goals To Your Finances (EP.37) 14.03.2019

Welcome to Episode 37 of the Rational Reminder Podcast. On today's show we are joined by Lindsay Plumb, Chief Coach-ess of MOOLA Financial Coaches and Advisors. We're discussing spending and budgeting, because that's kind of the opposite end of the spectrum of what we always talk about. We usually assume people already have wealth, but that's not always the case. Even if you do, both spending and...

ETF Model Portfolios: For Performance and Comparison Purposes (EP.36) 07.03.2019

Welcome to Episode 36 of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Today we are going to roll out our new ETF model portfolios. This includes only two new ETF's compared to a couch potato type portfolio that many of you might be familiar with. Nothing too revolutionary, but it certainly makes a meaningful difference. In this episode we also talk about asset location and review a couple of great podcasts that...

Findependence: Finding Financial Independence While Still Engaging In The Things You Love (EP.35) 28.02.2019

Welcome to Episode 35 of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Today on the show we are joined by Jonathan Chevreau who is the founder of Independence Hub. He has authored and co-authored many books and has contributed to The Globe and Mail, The Financial Mail, and Money Sense. Jonathan is here today to talk about financial independence and having that "findependence" while still being extremely engaged...

The Safe Savings Rate: Shifting the Focus Away from Wealth Accumulation (EP.34) 22.02.2019

Welcome to Episode 34 of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Today we are discussing how our new ETF model portfolios will be employed to better accommodate our non-client listeners to whom Dimensional Fund Advisors are not as relevant. We talk about how BlackRock and Vanguard are dominating the market, why the US is leading in passive investment and why traditional financial planning needs to be re-ev...

Low Cost Index Investing with Rick Ferri: What You Need To Be a Successful Index Investor (EP.33) 14.02.2019

Today on the show we are joined by Rick Ferri. Anyone who follows or is interested in index investing will probably have read something of Rick's. He's written seven books, working on the eighth, and he's written a ton online as well. Rick opened Portfolio Solutions, the first low fee index fund based wealth management shop and built it up to over a billion dollar company. Rick created the model o...

Building a Future for the City: An Interview with Mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson 11.02.2019

We have a special, short bonus episode for you today! We are very glad to welcome the mayor of Ottawa, Jim Watson, to the podcast and although we are not strictly talking about investing and our usual topics, we do think it is a great and insightful conversation that you will enjoy, no matter where you are from. Mayor Watson tells us about his vision for the city, how he characterizes it, and the...

Active or Passive Management: The Behavioural Explanations of Factors (EP.32) 07.02.2019

Welcome back to another episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Our goal this year is to find our podcasting rhythm, creating a schedule that alternates between guests and these conversational episodes where it's just us. On today's episode we want to pull the focus of the podcast back to answering a handful of client questions that have come up in the past little while. So on today's episode we...

Single Decision ETFs: Unpacking XGRO and XBAL from BlackRock (EP.31) 30.01.2019

Today on the show we are joined by Steven Leong who is the Head of Canada iShares Product at BlackRock. Steven is here to talk about single decision ETFs, the new XGROs and XBALs from BlackRock and whole lot more. We start off the episode with a bit of an introduction on BlackRock and iShares before Steven informs us on the new relationship between BlackRock and RBC Global Asset Management. From t...

The Authority Speaks: A Complete Guide to Investing and Retirement with Larry Swedroe (EP.30) 23.01.2019

Today we are joined by a friend, hero, and a legend in the field fact based investing. Larry Swedroe is here to discuss his latest book, some of the timeless concepts he has been espousing for many years, and to give out a few golden nuggets of advice for your finances and retirement. Larry is so generous with his time and wisdom and we chat about a ton of chapters from his book, Y our Complete Gu...

Clearing Up the Holiday Back-Up: Podcast Housekeeping and Round Up (EP.29) 17.01.2019

Welcome back to The Rational Reminder Podcast! Today we are riding solo with no guests and just going over some recent developments, in-house news, and gearing up for some more great shows in the pipeline. We have had so many amazing guests recently, talking on a number of specific topics, so we thought we would take this opportunity to clean the mailbox, as it were, and set the table for the next...

Staying Ahead of the Curve: The History of Dimensional Fund Advisors (EP.28) 09.01.2019

Today on the podcast we are very excited to welcome Brad Steiman who is the Canadian Head of Financial Advisor Services for Dimensional! This is an episode we literally cannot wait to share with our listeners as it is jam packed with really useful information, history, and inside scoops on Dimensional and what has helped them get to where they are today. As huge fans and associates of DFA this is...

Evidence Based Investing: Changing the Minds of Advisors and Investors with Robin Powell (EP.27) 02.01.2019

In this episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast we welcome Robin Powell. Robin is a journalist and content creator who has dedicated the more recent part of his career to helping spread the word on research backed investing and turning the tide on the history of investment advice. For Robin, this all came about from an assignment he was working on and the feeling of shock he experienced when he d...

Embracing Uncertainty: Planning Ahead and Taking On the Risk with Big Bang Theory Writer, David Goetsch (EP.26) 26.12.2018

Welcome to this holiday edition of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Today on the show we have a special treat for you. A little while back, Cameron made an incredible connection with our guest, David Goetsch. David is a writer and the Co-Executive Producer of the Big Bang Theory. David himself subscribes to our investment philosophy and he is passionate enough about it that he speaks about it at con...

The Year End Round Up: Recapping Recent Market Performance (EP.25) 20.12.2018

This week on the podcast we are starting to wrap things up for the year, doing some house keeping and looking back at recent trends in the market. First of all we talk a bit about the podcast going forward and have a few comments on ratings and reviews. We also look at some of the upcoming content you can expect early next year! We chat about the client survey we recently held and what the data fr...

Evidence: What To Follow And What Not To Follow (EP.24) 13.12.2018

Welcome back to The Rational Reminder Podcast. Today, Benjamin is getting the factor fill off his chest. We are diving into a range of topics and we are talking about other factors or how far you can push the evidence. This is the first time in a while that we've really dug into factors. We cover other interesting topics like increasing CPP benefits, we talk about our regulatory bodies and the deb...

The Basic Rules of Purchasing Insurance: What, Why, When and How Much! (EP.23) 06.12.2018

Welcome back to The Rational Reminder Podcast. Today we are joined by Glenn Cooke. Glenn is a fixture on the personal finance Canada sub-Reddit and spent many years as the President of Lifeinsurancecanada.com, which is an online platform for insurance information. Today, Glenn is the President of Insurance Squared where he works with market research departments at life insurance companies and show...

The Yield Curve Is Not Out To Get You 06.12.2018

In this bonus episode we briefly talk about the yield curve, and why it's probably not going to hurt you. With special guest Robert Little, Wealth Management Analyst at PWL Capital. For more information or to contact Cameron and Ben, visit pwlcapital.com

Transformational Decision Making: Building A Company, Defining Success, and Finding Happiness (EP.22) 29.11.2018

Welcome back to The Rational Reminder Podcast. Today we are joined by Daniel Weinand. Daniel is the cofounder of Shopify, which is a company based in Ottawa that has had enormous success, not just in Ottawa or Canada, but all over the world in the last few years as a public company. Shopify is a great commerce platform that supports over 600,000 different stores worldwide. It is an incredible succ...

Buying or Leasing: Weighing the Costs of Real Estate Choices (EP.21) 22.11.2018

Welcome back to The Rational Reminder Podcast. Today's episode is focused on the question of investing in real estate. It is still a common conundrum for investors and even those who may not consider themselves active investors, whether to buy or to rent a property. As you may imagine it is not a very simple issue and the answer does require some serious thought and calculation. But our hosts do t...

The Cost of Financial Advice: Should You Pay For It and If You Do, How Much Should You Pay For It? (EP.20) 15.11.2018

Welcome to The Rational Reminder Podcast. On today's episode we are going to roll out our new format for the show. We ended off our previous show format with a series of interviews, and today we are ready to jump into something new! Of course, we definitely don't plan on doing that perfectly today because we do have a couple of things that we want to talk about before we make it official. The meat...

Decision Making: Mental Models, Knowing Your Variables, and Achieving Positive Outcomes With Shane Parrish (EP.19) 07.11.2018

Welcome back to another episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Our guest today is Shane Parrish. Shane runs the Farnam Street Blog , which has to be one of the most valuable collections of information that exists on the Internet. Farnam Street's stated intention is mastering the best of what other people have already figured out and the site gets over a million visitors. The content is unbeliev...

A Passion for Ottawa: Running, Luck, and the Ovarian Lottery with Mark Sutcliffe. (EP.18) 01.11.2018

Welcome back to another episode of the Rational Reminder Podcast. Our guest today is a great friend and associate, Mark Sutcliffe! Mark is a well know media personality, community worker, philanthropist, business person, and investor. He also happens to be a great speaker and listener, which probably has something to do with him hosting his own radio show. Today we are extremely excited to be able...

Evidence Based Investing: Sticking to Science When It Comes To Your Money (EP.17) 26.10.2018

Welcome to the Rational Reminder Podcast everybody! Today on the show we welcome a good friend and someone who has had a massive influence on our lives and work. Bestselling investment author, Dan Solin, joins us on the podcast today. Dan has been a staunch advocate for evidence based investing for a long time now and although this approach is still far from dominant, it has grown immensely in the...

MARKET VOLATILITY (EP.16) 17.10.2018

In Episode 16 of the Rational Reminder Podcast we talked about the following: How bad was last week's market volatility? Should you make changes to your portfolio in this market? Are people better at predicting when markets are volatile? How the market prices securities The economy vs. the stock market When do bear markets typically occur? Will passive investing exacerbate the next correction? Do...

DIMENSIONAL ADVANCED CONFERENCE 2018 (EP.15) 15.10.2018

In Episode 15 of the Rational Reminder Podcast we recapped our time at the Dimensional Fund Advisors advanced conference. We recapped the following:   Eugene Fama The history of the University of Chicago and Dimensional Connecting economics with academia Behavioral finance is a branch of efficient markets (according to Fama) Crunching data for the first time Starting the first index fund – before...

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