Unlike most other goods or services that financial assets are based on, real estate responds to an innate desire -- the desire to have a piece of this earth one can call his own. This basic yearning has been, in my opinion, the driving force of the real estate market, and the reason I continue to believe in it.

Is there an anonymous, free, and untrackable virtual currency currently making its sweep across the World Wide Web? It is not quite that simple, but Bitcoin is poised to become the next big thing in computing and finance.

Hot money is like a hot potato that no one wants to be caught holding. With all this money floating in the emerging market economies, domestic banks want to lend. When banks are more eager to lend, they take on risky clients. This can spell disaster.

While it took a few years after the financial crisis for financial services start-ups to get their business models refined to the point where they can come to market they are here now, and these alternative financial services technology companies are becoming viable and increasingly common sources of financing for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

The federal minister of Finances, Mr. Jim Flaherty, made public comments and exerted pressures for Manulife Bank to withdraw its offer for a five-year-fixed mortgage rate of 2.89 per cent. NPD leader Thomas Mulcair accused Mr. Flaherty of using his position of power inappropriately. I couldn't have said it better myself.

There's been a rise in the pawn industry as people look to sell off personal items in order to do any number of things from pay off debts to maintain lifestyle, to grow new businesses where other financing avenues are not available to them. Here are five situations where pledging personal assets as collateral can save you money.

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and Chief Operating Officers (COOs) are increasingly accountable for sustainability. A study by Deloitte -- Sustainability: CFOs are coming to the table -- found their accountability for sustainability had jumped sharply during the last year. Here are some of the drivers for the CFO's involvement in sustainability.

Women relate to each other though stories, and through this process they learn and grow. Money is one of the last taboos and is something many of us are uncomfortable discussing. Creating safe and open spaces for women to talk about money is one of the missing gaps in financial and investor education.

With growing demands that governments must increase taxes on the rich, there's a strong possibility that some participants at the upcoming G20 finance ministers meeting in Washington will take aim at the banks with renewed calls for new taxes. Yet Canada already has a bank tax in place.