“Get to know and minimize the investing fees you pay”: Michael McCullough, MoneySense consulting editor

Recently, Michael helped to update the Canadian version of Personal Finance for Dummies (7th edition), a comprehensive guide to everything from budgeting and spending to taxes and retirement. Below, he shares his own money experiences and what he thinks is the most underrated financial advice.

Who are your finance or investing heroes?

Maybe John Bogle, who founded The Vanguard Group, an investment firm in the U.S. that created the first index funds for retail investors. He was driven by more than self-interest. He wanted to empower small investors. Bogle also wrote The Little Book of Common Sense Investing, which made it into MoneySense’s list of 25 timeless personal finance books.

How do you like to spend your free time?

Cycling, hiking, running. I live in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, which has amazing trails right outside your door.

If money were no object, what would you be doing right now?

Travelling to expensive destinations like Paris, Japan and the South Pacific.

What was your first memory about money?

I seemed to “get” money from a young age. I’d save it and loan it to my teenaged siblings at pretty high rates of interest. This was the late 1970s and early ’80s, when interest rates were sky-high. Then I learned about credit risk!

What’s the first thing you remember buying with your own money?

A K-tel compilation record full of one-hit wonders from the 1970s.

What was your first job?

I sold service-station coupons door-to-door on commission. It was a racket. I quit after two weeks.

What was the biggest money lesson you learned as an adult?

When I was 22, I got ripped off by a criminal gang in Thailand. I basically had to buy my way out of possible captivity with gold, paid for with an American Express card my dad had given me for emergencies. It took me months to pay my dad back, but I knew even then that it’s only money.