Today’s post builds on my November 22, 2021 post, The Importance of Our Money Mindset. In that post, I wrote that “many of our core beliefs about money are formed in early childhood by observing how our parents, friends, and classmates talk (or don’t talk) about money.” The post talked about my childhood, and theContinue reading “How I am Helping my Children Form Their Money Mindset”
Tag Archives: financialliteracy
Setting Goals for 2022
Happy New Year! The start of a new year is a time of reflection, with thoughts of making life changes to improve on things that might not have gone as planned in the past. Some decide to formalize these planned changes as resolutions. However, despite the best of intentions, more than half of all resolutionsContinue reading “Setting Goals for 2022”
How to Keep Holiday Spending Under Control
I find Christmas shopping stressful. First, I do not enjoy shopping. I never have. I do not enjoy crowds, especially crowds of holiday shoppers. You will not catch me at a mall on a week-end from November onwards. Online shopping has made things easier, but it comes with its own set of challenges. Last weekContinue reading “How to Keep Holiday Spending Under Control”
How to Choose a Financial Advisor
The topic of choosing a financial advisor comes up often in my meetings with medical students. Medical students are invited to attend “lunch and learn” sessions which are sponsored by companies in the financial services industry. In these sessions, the students are offered some financial advice and also introduced to a firm and/or advisor thatContinue reading “How to Choose a Financial Advisor”
Black Friday Post Game Recap
Congratulations! We have survived another Black Friday! Personally, I find Black Friday shopping to be very stressful. It is no longer Black FriDAY, but rather Black Friday week. Every retail establishment that has my email address has been sending daily emails about their latest and greatest offer! It is very easy to get caught upContinue reading “Black Friday Post Game Recap”
The Importance of Our Money Mindset
My meetings with students often start out with the disclaimer that “I am not good with money.” And that’s ok. Being “good with money” is a learned skill. But in order to learn this necessary skill, one has to be taught. And this teaching often happens without us realizing it. Many of our core beliefsContinue reading “The Importance of Our Money Mindset”
Let’s Talk About Debt, Baby
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian households owed an average of $1.71 for every dollar of disposable income in the third quarter of 2020. FP Canada reported from their Financial Stress Index 2021 that 39% of Canadians say that paying down debt would reduce financial stress. Credit Counselling Canada reported that the top three causes ofContinue reading “Let’s Talk About Debt, Baby”
Budgeting to Reduce Financial Stress
Last week, I attended the Chartered Professional Accountants (CPA) Mastering Money Virtual Conference 2021. It was a thought-provoking program, covering both personal finance and issues affecting small and medium sized businesses. As is the case with these conferences, I have a long list of follow-up reading to do, with some commentary to follow in theContinue reading “Budgeting to Reduce Financial Stress”
Happy Financial Literacy Month!
November is Financial Literacy Month. During Financial Literacy Month, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) works with private, public, and non-profit organizations to engage with Canadians in order to help strengthen the financial literacy of individuals and families. What is Financial Literacy? According to FCAC (2019), financial literacy refers to a combination of financialContinue reading “Happy Financial Literacy Month!”
FIRE and Freedom 43
In 1984, London Life Insurance Company introduced the idea of Freedom 55, an attempt by the insurer to inform Canadians of what it took to retire at a relatively young age. I grew up with this concept, and the tagline stuck with me – so much so that I named my retirement plan Freedom 43.Continue reading “FIRE and Freedom 43”
Life Lessons 