Have you considered DIYing your personal finances?
We all set goals for the future and many require a solid financial plan to support them. We want healthy finances throughout our lifespans and to reach the financial goals we’ve set for ourselves. Many in Kamsack, however, doubt this can be achieved on our own. We think we should pay for financial advice and leave the decision-making to the professionals.
But with an abundance of online personal finance resources now available to us, that’s no longer true. You can definitely take control of your finances yourself, without needing to pay fees for outside help.
The best part? This approach is completely customizable. You get to set your own goals, make your own decisions, choose your own investments and go at a pace you feel comfortable with. What a great sense of accomplishment you’ll feel designing your own financial roadmap.
Financial literacy and personal finance 101
Financial literacy is required to effectively manage your money. It will help you make better financial decisions in all three areas of personal finance: saving, spending and borrowing.
“There are countless free online resources available to Canadians looking to improve their personal finances,” explains Caitlin Wood, Chief Content Officer for Loans Canada and Rate Genie. “Consumers should check out the Government of Canada’s website as it covers many money and finance topics. With both Loans Canada and Rate Genie, we are always publishing content to empower Canadians to improve their financial knowledge.”
A terrific online financial literacy course is offered by McGill University. It is open to everyone, free of charge, takes a few hours to complete and is taught by professors from the school’s Desautels Faculty of Management. When you finish all of the course modules, you’ll receive a McGill Personal Finance Essentials attestation of completion.
The Government of Canada website is also very informative, as Wood recommends above. It covers money management basics, including budget making, banking, credit reports and credit scores, insurance, retirement and estate planning.
Another site that can help you make smart financial decisions is LoansCanada.ca, Canada’s largest personal loan comparison website. It gathers quotes from different lenders, recommends the best option for you and saves you time.
Charting a path to better financial health
Start by creating a budget. It’s a great tool for tracking and controlling your spending and it lets you see exactly where your money is going. Budgeting is also a way to prioritize savings and building an emergency fund, which we’ve learned from COVID-19 is no longer a luxury.
To try your hand at budgeting, check out Mint, a free online budget tracker and planner, or YNAB (You Need A Budget), personal budgeting software based on The Four Rules principle.
Your next move is to start investing. Even though you are just starting to manage your finances, investing is a key component of financial planning. It allows you to grow your wealth and helps you reach short- and long-term financial goals, like saving for a down payment, your child’s education or retirement.
Everyone should have their own tax-free savings account (TFSA), an excellent savings vehicle for Canadians. You may also want to consider using a robo advisor; online investment management services like Wealthsimple or WealthBar are easy to use and beginner-friendly.
Finally, it’s time to tackle debt management. Begin paying down what you owe. Only take on new debt that you can handle and remember good debt can actually increase your credit score.
You can always seek out the services of a credit counsellor if you have any questions or need advice. They can help with basic budgeting, credit health, credit improvement and creating debt repayment plans. They will advise if you need a more drastic solution, such as debt consolidation, debt relief, consumer proposal or bankruptcy.
Financial literacy opens a lot of doors and will inform the spending, saving and borrowing decisions you make for years. Aim to be financially literate so you can manage your money well. Should you ever need advice or a second opinion, reach out.
