At Boomer & Echo financial planning, I don’t sell products or get paid commissions to refer you to someone who does. Instead I offer sound financial advice to help you get out of debt, budget and manage your spending, and decide on big picture questions like; should I pay down my mortgage or invest, can we afford to have one parent stay home with the kids full-time, or when can I retire?I am not licensed to sell investments and cannot recommend specific mutual funds, ETFs, or individual stocks to buy or sell. What I can do is review your portfolio and analyze the asset allocation, risk, and fees and then measure its performance against a comparable benchmark or index.All of this means that I offer the opposite of what you get from your average advisor at a big bank. They receive commissions to sell you bank mutual funds, take mortgage vacations, and open full service accounts – not to give you sound advice on how to lower fees, pay down debt, and save to reach your short-and-long term goals.

Boomer & Echo is a Canadian personal finance blog with smart ideas on how to save, invest, and achieve financial freedom. This award winning blog has been featured in the Globe and Mail, MoneySense, MSN Money, Global News, CBC, and the Toronto Star.

I write a bi-weekly column for the Toronto Star's Smart Money section.