My name is Mark Goodfield. Welcome to The Blunt Bean Counter ™, a blog that shares my thoughts on income taxes, finance and the psychology of money. I am a Chartered Professional Accountant. This blog is meant for everyone, but in particular for high net worth individuals and owners of private corporations. My posts are blunt, opinionated and even have a twist of humour/sarcasm. You've been warned. Please note the blog posts are time sensitive and subject to changes in legislation or law.

Monday, June 5, 2023

Farewell and Best of Luck with Your Financial Affairs

It is with mixed feelings that I write this post. It will be my last one. I have written this blog for fourteen years starting with my first post on September 20, 2010, appropriately titled “Let’s See Where This Goes”. After 638 posts, I am saying goodbye.

This blog went beyond my wildest expectations. As of today, I have over 6,000,000 page reads. I have been interviewed on TV & video, quoted multiple times in various publications, written articles for newspapers and had multiple media opportunities I had never envisioned. I even used the best of my blogs to form a book, “Let’s Get Blunt About Your Financial Affairs’. When people search Google for tax and financial topics, my posts often show up as one of the top five references. I have met people at parties or business gatherings who tell me they are readers and enjoy my blog.

My readers have been loyal and long standing. Over the years I received multiple unsolicited emails from readers that said they enjoyed reading the blog and encouraging me to keep up the good work. Many took the time to comment on particular topics or to suggest topics I may want to write about. I thank you all for patronage and support of the blog. I will truly miss you.

From the mainstream media I would like to thank Rob Carrick and Roma Luciw of The Globe and Mail and Ellen Roseman and Adam Mayers of the Toronto Star for their support since the blog’s inception. Other supporters include fellow bloggers, many who became friends, in no particular order: The Big Cajun Man, Jim Yih, Robb Engen, Michael James, Mark Seed, Frugal Trader, Canadian Capitalist, Tom Drake & Preet Banerjee to name just a few. I was amazed at how supportive these bloggers and others were to me when I started out. It was always more of a camaraderie than a competition amongst financial bloggers.

I would be remiss if I did not thank Lynda Kremer, my executive assistant for most of the blog’s life, for all her help in editing my weekly posts and for her immense help in putting my book together.

Finally, the most important person has been my wife, Lori. She not only helped edit blog posts but taught me and “cajoled” me into writing in “plain English", which is a topic she teaches often as a professional presenter. It is amazing how many people have told me I have simplified as best as possible, complex topics. That is all Lori’s doing. Finally, she was very tolerant and supportive as I wrote my posts at night and on the weekend, taking away family time.

I may write occasional posts if something catches my attention and post them on LinkedIn, but my blogging career is over.

So, thanks for reading and best of luck with your financial affairs in the future.

This site provides general information on various tax issues and other matters. The information is not intended to constitute professional advice and may not be appropriate for a specific individual or fact situation. It is written by the author solely in their personal capacity and cannot be attributed to the accounting firm with which they are affiliated. It is not intended to constitute professional advice, and neither the author nor the firm with which the author is associated shall accept any liability in respect of any reliance on the information contained herein. Readers should always consult with their professional advisors in respect of their particular situation. Please note the blog post is time sensitive and subject to changes in legislation or law.