Bob Lai is the host of the website Tawcan.com. He’s a personal blogger on a quest for happiness and financial independence.

Bob Lai investment philosophy focuses on dividend & ETF investing, financial independence, early retirement, happiness, frugality, and finding the right personal balance between saving for the future and enjoying life today.

Highlights from the interview

• Bob was fortunate because his parents started teaching him about investment since he was young.
• He started investing when he was in University.
• Graduated at the age of 24 with a degree in engineering.
• On 2011 he started devoting more time to investments.
• One of the early lessons Bob learned was to treat his credit card as if it was a debit card and never to miss a payment.
• Credit cards give an enormous amount of credit to young people to get them hooked on credit card debt. Some of those young people have little or no financial education and the easily fall prey of the credit card companies.
• Frugality is not being cheap, frugality is buying value.
• Don’t shy away from buying second-hand items.
• Don’t focus on getting the latest electronics.
• The main investment strategy is to buy stable dividend-paying stocks.
• In particular, bob like recognizable brand names, like the Canadian banks and the Canadian telecom companies.
• He owns some U.S. stocks and some international stocks, but there is tax withholding and currency transaction cost, so they are not prioritized.
• Bob likes to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the Canadian government in regards to his Tax-Free Savings Account and his Registered Retirement Savings plans. He likes to fill those accounts to the limit to earn money without paying taxes in his TFSA, and deferring the taxes until age 71 in his RRSP.
• We spoke about life as a blogger. A place where he gained early exposure was on the website Budgets Are Sexy, ran my friend J. Money. See the article here. See the previous interview with J. Money here.
• We spoke about Bob’s money coaching services.
• How to get drunk for the less amount of money.
• Wearing the same clothes for several days is a good way to save on clothing, on laundry and it’s a good way to pollute less the environment.
• Bob has a side business as a photographer.

Previous Podcast

• John Robertson: The Value of Simple
• Greg Johnson, from of Club Thrifty
• J. Money from Budgets are Sexy