Not all journalists get to live their beat, but Rob Carrick does. His personal finance column in The Globe and Mail is one regular guy’s attempt to make sense of the world of money. He’s married with two 20-something kids and constantly figuring out ways to spend and invest intelligently. He asks the same questions you would and applies his experience and contacts to get answers. He got his start in financial writing back in the early 1990s when he covered the Bay Street business scene for The Canadian Press wire service. A few years later, he was transferred to CP’s parliamentary bureau in Ottawa to cover consumer affairs and, later, the federal Department of Finance. He left CP and joined The Globe and Mail as investment reporter in 1996. He mentioned to his boss at the time that we didn’t do much personal finance coverage at The Globe. The paper’s Personal Finance column was launched shortly afterwards, with him at the wheel. What a trip it’s been for Rob covering personal finance over the years. Rob’s seen three bull markets for stocks, a couple of recessions and stock market crashes, one global financial crisis, the incredible rise of the housing market, soaring personal debt loads and an ever-present worry that Canadians aren’t saving enough for retirement. Rob knows there’s infinite personal finance content available these days online, in print and on TV and radio. Come to Rob for his experience, his willingness to challenge stale consensus thinking and, most of all, his ability to make you say after finishing one of my columns: “Now I understand.” In my interview with Rob, we discuss: His book "How Not to Move Back in With Your Parents” The Bank of Mom and Dad Top mortgage tips for first-time homebuyers Expenses that may surprise first-time homebuyers Why you shouldn’t judge a bank by its hyped-up rate The First Home Savings Account (FHSA)