While many drivers instinctively want to "beat the system" after being pulled over, the odds are against you.

"But, officer, I didn’t see the sign!" ranks as the the top excuse in a recent survey of explanations drivers give when stopped by police. Not that it generally gets them anywhere.

Being lost and being "unaware" of car equipment failure are also among the typical excuses drivers offer when pulled over for a potential ticket.

Getting a large tax refund each year simply means you’ve remitted too much tax to the Canada Revenue Agency throughout the year, essentially giving the government an interest-free loan.

That’s a bad idea, says Tim Cestnick, author of 101 Tax Secrets for Canadians.

While many employees understand that there’s a cost to overpaying taxes throughout the year, the idea of receiving a refund can be appealing since many view it as forced savings or found money. But it’s still a mistake, Cestnick maintains.

And getting it upfront from a tax discounter, by cheque or loaded onto a debit card, is likely worse. That's because it comes with a catch — a fee that can be as high as 15 per cent of the refund in certain cases — which, when you think of it, is a rather dim way to access your own money.

While you're teaching your kids about the ABCs and 123s, make sure you throw in some saving and investing tips.

It's never too early to start teaching your children basic money know-how that will give them the foundation to build some financial savvy for the future.

Serge Pepin, vice president, Investment Strategy, BMO Asset Management, says, "The sooner parents start talking to their kids about money, the better prepared they will be when they start saving and investing for the future.

"Even very young children can benefit from learning basic investing skills and the importance of setting financial goals."

If you make a conscious effort to treat every day as Earth Day, you will be doing your part to save the planet and will save some money along the way.

There are some simple things you can do to help reduce energy consumption and reduce your household expenses. 

Here are some tips offered by BMO Bank of Montreal, a company dedicated to becoming a leader in environmental sustainability.

There's much to be said about a good education.

But if you're late getting out of the gate, how do you plan on funding your child's post-secondary education?

Graduating high school students, like my daughter in Grade 12, are just now starting to get their acceptance letters to colleges and universities. And, according to a new report by BMO Wealth Institute, a four-year university degree can cost upwards of $60,000 and yet three-quarters of Canadian parents are not prepared and only half have taken advantage of Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs).

I remember my father with his neat stacks of coins lined up on the kitchen table, ready to roll up into coin wrappers of every denomination.

Quarters, nickels, dimes and, of course --- lots and lots of pennies!

He had a lot of patience sorting and counting the change and I admired how he managed to stuff those neat stacks of coins into the little paper wrappers with expert precision.

Now, many banks across the country are rolling out coin counting machines to offer convenience for all that spare change laying around the house.

As soon as the temperature begins to rise after our long, cold Canadian winter, we tend to get a little more motivated to tackle some much needed spring cleaning around the house.

Washing windows, scrubbing floors, organizing closets, wiping and dusting are all an important part of the annual ritual.

However, there is one extra item that you should add to your household spring cleaning "To Do" list -- your finances.

Financial advisors should help clients plan to continue working after age 65 rather than for a "vacation retirement," says coach Mitch Anthony, an industry coach and author of The New Retirementality.

"Retirement is an artificial finish line,” Anthony stressed at a recent symposium on the future of retirement. "Somebody decided that at this age, you're done. Is there anyone in the room who would like to tell yourself when you're done rather than have someone else tell you?"

The whole notion of a retirement age is really a bit of a myth, of course. Age 65 is, and always has been, an arbitrary benchmark invented by Otto Von Bismarck 130 years ago as part of a pension scheme to move aging civil servants from their posts.

But, with the average life expectancy now moving past 80, many surveys suggest that a great many people don’t want to stop working.

Could the language you speak affect your financial decision-making? Does the fact that you're reading this in English make you less likely to save for retirement?

Quite likely, maintains Yale University behavioural economist Keith Chen, who believes the grammar of the language you speak affects your finances.

Chen divides the world's languages into two groups, depending on how they treat the concept of time. If your language separates the future and the present in its grammar, you're more likely disassociate that future from the present.

Live long and prosper. Or so we hope.

Women may be better prepared emotionally for retirement than men, however they may be less prepared financially, according to a recent study.

The study, conducted by Pollara for BMO Bank of Montreal, found that three in five Canadians have a financial plan in place. Out of this group, it revealed that more men (64 per cent) had a financial plan over women (55 per cent).