By MoneySense Editors on July 17, 2026 Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Chexy co-founder Liza Akhvledziani on investing, debt, and why you should always negotiate
By MoneySense Editors on July 17, 2026 Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
After learning Canada's financial system from the ground up, Chexy co-founder Liza Akhvledziani shares the money habits that helped her build wealth.
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Image provided by Liza Akhvledziani
When Liza Akhvledziani moved to Canada as an international student, she quickly realized that money worked differently here. From building a credit history to understanding how debt could affect her financial future, she had to learn a new set of rules while rebuilding her financial life from scratch. Those experiences eventually led her to study economics, work on Bay Street and, later, co-found Chexy.
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Today, as the company’s CEO and co-founder, Akhvledziani is focused on helping Canadians get more value from their everyday spending. In this edition of My MoneySense, she shares the financial lessons that have stuck with her—from why everyone should negotiate more often to the benefits of automating your finances and using debt strategically.
Who are your financial heroes?
I’m incredibly motivated by people who solve problems in very legacy, traditional industries but whose work reaches millions of people. David Vélez at Nubank is a great example. He went after one of the most traditional, entrenched parts of financial services in Brazil and proved that consumers will move when the product is meaningfully better. I study that playbook constantly.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I’m very active. Some form of exercise almost every day, whether that’s Hyrox training, gym, cycling, or beach volleyball. Depending on the season, I’m an avid skier and hiker. I also read a lot, both fiction and non-fiction, though fantasy fiction is definitely my guilty pleasure.
If money were no object, what would you be doing right now?
I’d still be building Chexy. For me, the point was never the money. It’s a chance to solve a genuinely painful problem and create generational impact.
What’s the first thing you remember buying with your own money?
A video game, without question. I was a big gamer geek growing up, so it was either Need for Speed Underground, a Sims expansion pack, or Grand Theft Auto. My priorities were very clear.
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What was your first job?
My first job was back home in Belarus, helping my parents with events and admin in the family business. My first job in Canada was as a salesperson at a women’s fashion store in my first year of university. It was a good job but terrible for my savings habits, because the employee discount was dangerously good.
What was the biggest money lesson you learned as an adult?
That the financial system is built for people who know how to play it. Rebuilding my financial life from zero in Canada taught me firsthand how small mistakes—like one missed payment on a small bill going to collections—can take years to undo when nobody has taught you the rules.
What’s the best money advice you’ve ever received?
Negotiate everything. Your salary, your fees, your rates. The worst anyone can say is no, and the yeses compound for decades. Most people leave enormous amounts of money on the table simply because they never ask.
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What’s the worst money advice you’ve ever received?
“Avoid credit cards” or debt in general. It treats the tool as the problem instead of the behaviour. If you know how to use it, a credit card is one of the best financial products available to you. Free float, purchase protection, and rewards on money you were spending anyway. Refusing to use one out of fear just means leaving money on the table.
What do you think is the most underrated financial advice?
Automate your good decisions. Set up your savings, investments, and bill payments so the right thing happens by default, because willpower is a terrible financial strategy. The people who build wealth consistently aren’t more disciplined, they’ve just removed the need for discipline.
What is the biggest misconception people have about growing money?
That it’s mostly about picking the right investments. Investing absolutely matters, but for most people, especially early on in their careers, growing your income moves the needle faster. Negotiate your salary, switch jobs when you’re underpaid, build skills that compound. And what matters most of all is time and letting the natural impact of compounding take place. Starting early and staying consistent beats being brilliant.
What’s your take on debt?
The richest people in the world use debt all the time. Used effectively, it’s one of the most powerful financial tools there is. But it should only be used when you truly understand what’s happening: the rate, the terms, and what it costs you if things go sideways. The problem is never debt itself, it’s using it blind.
What is the last money-related book you read?
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. The idea that stayed with me is how much luck and risk shape outcomes. It makes you more humble about your wins and less judgmental about other people’s losses, and as an entrepreneur it humbles you every single day.
What is something you always have in your wallet?
I don’t carry a wallet anymore. Everything is on Apple Pay, so all my favourite credit cards are always on me.
What’s your next money goal?
It’s less about a personal number and more about the company we’re building. My goal is to build Chexy into the biggest and most efficient company in Canada—one that puts money back in consumers’ pockets. Our key KPI is dollars delivered back to the consumer, and I want that number to be enormous.
My MoneySense lightning round
Rent or own?
Depends on the goal. To build wealth, rent and invest the difference. For a family home and stability for your kids, own.
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Buy or lease?
It really depends on the underlying asset 🙂
Save or invest?
Invest
Budget or not?
Not a line-item budget. Automate the big things, then know exactly how much you have left for fun.
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MoneySense editors and journalists work closely with leading personal finance experts in Canada. Since 1999, our award-winning magazine has helped Canadians navigate money matters.
