Today I am going to come right out and say that most people are terrible with their money. There was a time in my life where I was part of this very large herd of Canadians that spend just about everything that they make. I have come a long way since then becoming VERY Finicky about my finances. One of the things that I recommend that people should do is save every receipt for anything you buy no matter how small to see where your money truly goes each month – the results will be surprising. Often in life when an opportunity comes your way you may look at the price tag associated with that investment whether it be in training, tools, a new rental property and say “I would really like to get involved but I don’t have the money right now” – well there is likely a reason why and that exercise mentioned can shed some light on the path that got you to “no money”. I read in an article recently that statistically more Americans own cats than they own stocks, that is very telling on how well us north Americans are doing with investing for the future instead of buying TV’s and cars. I am not a huge believer in paper assets but I think they have a place in a well balanced investment portfolio. Clearly, there are a lot of Canadians that could be a bit more finicky about where they spend their after tax dollars. Some might want to consider putting a bit more money into tax deferred assets such as RRSP’s. There are a lot of people that have lost a bunch of money in their RRSP’s in the last few years… and if they were a bit more finicky about how their money was being invested and not just trusting the banks/financial firms they might have considered Arms-length mortgages which are secured by real estate – one of the most common ways the bank makes their money in the first place! If someone is willing to inquire about what their options really are to invest they might realize that they could be just like the banks in a number of ways such as hard money lending for real estate projects. Real estate provides a lot of opportunities but you need the right education to be successful in it because the profits are high in real estate but the mistakes can cost you big as well – make sure your being finicky with your finances to make sure you can invest in the next opportunity that comes your way.
To your success!
Tim R
