It’s like taking your car in for a scheduled service in that you dread the phone call if they find anything to fix. But isn’t that better than being stuck on the side of the road in the pouring rain with a broken car? Or worse, in an accident caused by a mechanical failure? The […]

If a client asked me that question, how would I respond? That’s easy – I’d suggest they check their plan! Our plan has 4 key objectives: RSP and RESP Savings Extra Mortgage Payments Big Trip Savings Other Big Item Savings The majority of RSP and RESP savings is achieved through regular monthly savings incorporated into […]

We went grocery shopping a couple weeks ago and came away with what looked like a medium sized turkey. It was ‘free’ because we spent more than $250 at the store – not hard to do when it’s a big shop day. I’ve made only 1 roast turkey before so I pulled out my battered […]

It’s not even the end of March and already I find myself making summer camp plans for the kids! It seems early to me but the upside is that I’ll have it organized sooner. It also leads me to take a look at our summer budget and since child care is such a large component […]

Spring Break is 2 whole weeks!! We have 2 children and so we have a few options (the estimated cost is beside each option): Take vacation time and take a vacation ($5,000) Take vacation and plan a ‘staycation’ ($300) Find Spring Break camps ($1,000) A combination of the above (??) We opted for the combination […]

The weather in Vancouver was gorgeous today and spring flowers have been popping up everywhere. You may wonder what on earth that has to do with money – in fact working on your finances might be the last thing you thought of dealing with today! The parallel is this – planting seeds today means beautiful […]

A Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) is a program under which you can save for your child’s education. As parents we try very hard to give our children every opportunity and one of the foundational bricks of many paths in life is education. The cost of post-secondary education increases each year and who knows what […]

It’s all planning until you turn it into reality…it’s not as tricky as you might think! It helps to be organized in terms of your filing system but the organization essentials are more about minimizing the administration. Credit Cards – Hold and carry 2 (put away or cancel the rest) Bank Accounts – 1 Chequing […]

This is Part 1 of a 2 part process to get your plan developed and implemented because it’s one thing having a plan but it’s another to make it happen! That’s the key – put your ideas into action to make your dreams a reality. There are essentially 2 steps to Part 1: Understanding the […]

Last week was the ‘why’ and this week is the ‘who’ and ‘what”. Who is you! Now you need the ‘what’ to put together a picture of your finances. Your prioritized goals from last week. A list of your assets and liabilities. Assets = Things like real estate, vehicles, savings and investments and Liabilities = […]