An increasing number of people are spending their days in a home office, but working from home can be tough. Here are some tips on how to stay productive.   For Shelley Grandy, one of the best parts of working from home is the time she saves commuting – especially in the winter. “Not having to commute on snow days, I feel extremely smug,” says Grandy, president of Grandy Public Relations, which is based out of her home in Erin, Ontario,...

As good as life may be, we can always get better. Here’s how. Canadians are, generally, a happy and satisfied bunch – we are the sixth happiest country in the world according to the 2016 World Happiness Report – but we know we can always do better. In fact, a recent Ipsos Reid poll noted that 88 percent of Canadians are always on the hunt for ways to boost their well-being. Fortunately, increasing well-being doesn’t require radical...

You want to make sure the right people are looking after your finances when you can’t do it yourself. Being an executor is a challenging job – so is picking one. Here are a few questions you should ask when choosing an executor: Does your executor live nearby? General practice is to appoint an executor who lives in the same province, city or town as you. This makes it much easier to deal with your beneficiaries and your assets. It is your...

For those looking to see the world and give back at the same time, consider these must-see destinations. As Cathy and Don McCallum reached retirement in 2007 – she was a teacher, he was a banker – they began thinking about what they should do after they stopped working. The North Bay, Ontario, couple knew they wanted to travel, but they didn’t just want to sit on a beach or do the usual sightseeing. They’ve always volunteered in their community...

In the 1990s, there may have been no bigger Canadian music industry player than Paul Alofs. During that decade, the Windsor-born execuitve was president of HMV Canada and BMG Canada, the domestic arm of one of the largest record labels in the world. He also spent two years at Disney, running the company’s 500 stores, and as an executive at MP3.com, just as the music industry’s digital revolution was about to unfold. Somewhere along the line,...

You used to dream of getting away in the winter to a place where the sun kisses your skin and you could wear flip-flops daily. Now that dream’s a reality – you spend your winters playing canasta and perfecting your golf swing down south. While it’s exciting to escape the winter weather, you now have homes to maintain in different countries. Transitioning from one place to another can be a lot of work, but with a little preparation you can...