Karen's pic picks

The best of my photos and more

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My favourite thing

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About us

My online courses are aimed at entrepreneurs and brand managers who want to boost engagement with existing and potential clients. We can achieve this is by sharing captivating stories with our desired audiences. Storytelling is the way I made my living for decades as an award-winning journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in B.C., Canada. Along the way, I began teaching courses in…

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Underwater photos

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Look at these amazing fish friends January is a hard month. Crap weather. Dark. I've been keeping busy by curating my dive photos. Here are some of the images I've been sharing on Instagram this week. You can follow me there by searching tanksubmerged.

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A week of fish and friends

Do I eat seafood? That’s a question I get asked quite a bit. I won’t eat any type of fish I ‘dove with’ that day. Fish are friends, not food. Here are a few of the friends I’ve met over the years.

Top left: longlure frogfish. Top right: crocodile fish. (Roatan, Honduras) Bottom left: Grunts inside a pipe, backlit (Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia). Bottom right: hawksbill turtle (location unsure, but warm…

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Was my first truly amazing scuba diving experience. Happened in East Bali, Indonesia near Pedang Bai in June 2013. The depth was about 20 feet. We stayed put on the sandy bottom and watched the manta rays swim overhead. I’ve not seen manta rays since and I’m not sure I’ll ever return to Bali to dive. Still, I’ll never forget this day.

An amazing diving experience in Bali in June 2013.

An amazing diving experience in Bali in June 2013.

An amazing diving experience in Bali in June 2013.

An amazing diving experience in Bali in June 2013.

Amazing scuba dive day in East Bali, 2013

      2018: the year of Tank’s fish Was my first truly amazing scuba diving experience. Happened in East Bali, Indonesia near Pedang Bai in June 2013.

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At #canroots west conference. Learning lots about campaigning. Loving the digital stuff. #imadigitalcampaigner (at Museum of Vancouver)

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I love the #circus. #cirquedusoleil #vancouver (at KURIOS by Cirque du Soleil)

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Managing my money - next steps

Managing my money – next steps

I said goodbye to my money coach last week. Our time was up. Four lengthy meetings and a lot of work in between figuring out my present and future goals.

What I learned from the process:

I can retire at 60. I’m not going to. The longer I work the more I have when I retire. It’s comforting to have a date though.

I’ve been paying too much in mutual fund management fees. I’m moving my investments to…

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My university degrees haven't earned me one penny

My university degrees haven’t earned me one penny

You may find it surprising, if you know me, that I have an education. Both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Simon Fraser University. Plus various and sundry education courses, diplomas and certificates.

I’ve costed out my tuition in 2017 dollars. Roughly $8200 for the Masters and $5100 for the Bachelors. This doesn’t take into account books, student society costs, parking, living expenses…

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Investment management fees: R U getting ripped off?

Investment management fees: R U getting ripped off?

I was aware from media reports that some investment management companies were greedy when it came to fees. Not just in Canada. Since my investment managers didn’t have to report out what they were charging me in actual dollars — only percentages — it was hard to calculate.

That’s changed. In Canada, they now (as of last year) have to report the dollar figure.

I presently invest with two…

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To my investment advisors: “you’re fired!”

To my investment advisors: “you’re fired!”

Here I am again, harping on about retirement investments. Get used to it. I’m not retiring anytime soon and I’ll have a lot to say in the years ahead.

I’ve always been a good saver, but I’ve been lazy about managing my investments and it has cost me.

Now, I’m taking responsibility. I wish I’d done it a decade ago.

Twenty years ago, I set up a LIRA (locked-in retirement account) with a…

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This was my third annual wine trip to Osoyoos and my second to Penticton. This year, I combined the two trips because they’re an easy driving distance apart and it’s cheaper to do the trip once, even with an extra day added on and a few more bottles of wine purchased. This year’s wine haul cost $400.

I live on the coast (a four and a half hour drive away) and what’s so remarkable about this area of B.C. are the rolling hills and lush vineyards. Things I don’t see in Vancouver. I look forward to this trip every year. It combines a great experience with great wine.

Is wine a stupid purchase?

Nothing is cheap here, not the wine or the accommodation, at least when I travel during the summer months. Osoyoos and Penticton depend on tourism, and the window to make money is limited to the warm weather months. Many wineries have restaurants and they’re very costly. In 2017, I ate at three. Good food, but I won’t be doing that again!

I have many favourite wineries, including Gehringer Brothers, which is the best value for my wine dollar. I also like Desert Hills and Township 7.

B.C.’s wine industry has grown up over the last few decades and the wine regions are incredible places to visit. I’ll keep going back.

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B.C wine country: I went, I sampled, I purchased This was my third annual wine trip to Osoyoos and my second to Penticton. This year, I combined the two trips because they're an easy driving distance apart and it's cheaper to do the trip once, even with an extra day added on and a few more bottles of wine purchased.

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Quick beach vacation or critical illness insurance?

Quick beach vacation or critical illness insurance?

Of course, I’m doing the insurance.

I’ve taken an annual vacation (seven days) in October for the last four years.

An extravagance. Considering I always go away in August and December. The tradition ends this year.

I’m trading the beach for critical illness insurance. The cost of the vacation is equivalent to about a year’s worth of premiums.

It’s not cheap. But my money coach is recommending it…

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Stupid purchases – Mexico edition

Stupid purchases – Mexico edition

I didn’t buy the sombrero.

Oops, I did it again. Made a stupid purchase or two. Mistakes I won’t repeat. I hope.

As readers will know, I’m into experiences and not stuff. Some experiences are stupid and I paid for a few in Mexico recently.

Estupido purchase uno (one)

Three days at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. I’ve never done the Cancun beach thing and figured it was time. The plan was to…

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Freedom 6X - Tank can retire to Mexico

Freedom 6X – Tank can retire to Mexico

Cozumel

Just not yet. Looks like Freedom 65. Or a wee bit earlier. And, only four or so months a year in Mexico. And, the stock market can’t crash, or I get some catastrophic illness, or lose my job or interest rates tank.

Yay me. Who needs Freedom 55 when you can work longer out of necessity?!

My money coach (independent, no financial ties to banks or investment firms) had positive news when we…

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A whale shark and a charmless boat crew

A whale shark and a charmless boat crew

One single whale shark being chased by dozens of snorkelers.

I’ve seen whale sharks before. The best time being when one magically appeared during a dive in Puerto Vallarta. So rare was the appearance, the dive master was accepting kudos from co-workers for weeks.

Tank finds a whale shark in PV

The other time was in La Paz, Mexico when the whale shark snorkeling expedition I was on after a day of…

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