Ilona Biro

THE ALLURE OF THE DETACHED SINGLE-FAMILY HOME never disappears

and, in the Greater Toronto Area, it was the sale of detached homes that

led the recovery this year, after a sluggish 2017 and 2018.

I was part of a team that transformed one of the largest municipal websites - toronto.ca - by exhaustively rewriting and reformatting thousands of pages of digital content into actionable, service-oriented copy. This involved fostering strong relationships with subject matter experts and stakeholders to arrive at content solutions that measurably improved the user journey to create a service-focused and citizen-centric city website.

Instead of being years off, your retirement is suddenly happening right now. Asking your advisor these questions can help you manage the transition.
For most of our working lives, retirement can feel like a distant dream. But a sudden and unexpected change in the latter stages of your career – a department restructuring, a health issue, a buyout package – can mean that, ready or not, your retirement is happening right now.

During a family move a little more than a decade ago, Bea Johnson had an epiphany.

“We quickly realized that everything we needed we already had,” she recalls.

And so rather than unpack, the Johnsons gave away more than two-thirds of their belongings. They've lived an almost waste-free existence ever since. And they’ve saved a lot of money along the way.

Want to turn your savings into as much retirement income as you can? Try looking at your retirement income through a tax lens.

I got to ski with Canadian hero and Olympian Nancy Greene, at her home base, Sun Peaks, in Kamloops, BC.

I wrote about the ins and outs of planning an African safari, for MoneySense - Canada's personal finance magazine.

Goodbye spirits!" yelled Mike Earle over the roar of the boat engine as we sped out of Cape St. Charles, a deserted fishing village on the coast of southeastern Labrador. This tiny community, picturesquely perched around a rocky harbour, was Earle's home until 1992, when the federal government declared a moratorium on cod fishing. Until then, Earle had planned to fish his whole life, as his ancestors had done since their arrival from Poole, England in the 1770s.

I was part of the redesign of the Mazda.ca website that launched in October 2022. This involved research, writing, editing, UX writing, collaboration with designers and touchpoints with client. This is a massive website with many pages devoted to models and specifications. I also wrote articles on auto safety, leasing, company timelines, and ESG initiatives. The client was Wunderman Thompson.

Most college kids (and first-time renters), are too distracted to think about getting tenants or renters insurance - but they should.

The server set down the dishes in front of each of us, the lucky 12 souls who managed to get a seat at the chef’s table at Bangkok’s illustrious Gaggan. The dish was number 17 of the tasting menu’s ambitious 25, and it looked like a miniature grilled sandwich. Which is what it was, but at the same time, wasn’t.
Nothing is quite as it seems when you are dining at Gaggan, named the best restaurant in Asia for the fourth time in 2018...

I am the lead editor for the City of Toronto's ArtWorxTO website. The blog is part of the city's Year of Public Art, meant to promote engagement with public art among the city's residents. I also work on other city projects, including editing websites and publications for Doors Open and Nuit Blanche.

Nature rules in Iceland: The small northern country is home to spouting geysers, lagoons filled with icebergs, waterfalls that spill down from towering cliffs and black moors patched with icy ponds.

I write for trivago magazine. This piece is a roundup of affordable hotels in southern Ontario's Silicon Valley North.

Jordan is well-known for its diverse historical and archeological sites, but this friendly country has so much more to offer the visitor.