The Wealthy Barber says Canadians face more opportunities

David Chilton was down on his luck.

In 1988, the aspiring author decided to cash in his RRSP and self-publish a book about a savvy barber who dispenses financial advice — like not to cash in your RRSP — to curious, wisecracking customers.

“The one time I was struggling — badly — in finance was when I was writing the original ‘Wealthy Barber,’” he said.

Surrounded by faded wood panelling, Chilton penned it by hand on a brown, lamplit card table in the basement of his home in Kitchener, Ont., carrying on despite “very mixed reviews” on the initial chapters from industry experts.

Guided instead by the feedback of a dozen “beer-swigging” softball teammates, he emerged from the cellar over a year later with a personal finance classic now on more than two million Canadians’ bookshelves.

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