The art of doing something with your money

“When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” ~Zen proverb
In my workshops to help improve your personal finances, I have always preached that the best idea in the world is the implemented idea. It is better to have done something and failed than to have done nothing. We’ve all heard the saying “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

Is financial education the problem?

Many people and organizations have argued that we have a real problem when it comes to financial education and financial literacy. Although financial education is my business, I’m not convinced that a lack of education is the problem. There is no shortage of information on how to become richer, how to have less debt, how to prepare for retirement, how to invest better, or hoe to improve your personal finances. Information is abundant. As much as knowledge is important to remember that you can have lots of knowledge stored in your head but if you do nothing with that information then what good is it to have the information.

Doing creates results

Reading is good. Research is good. Discussing is good but doing is great because it is what creates results. Here’s a list of things you can do to improve your personal finances:

1. Figure out your net worth. This is so simple and yet not enough people know their net worth. All you have to do is take a piece of paper and on one side write down everything you own and on the other side write down everything you owe. How can you get ahead financially if you have no idea how much you are worth. Start with the basics and refine it later. To learn more details about your net worth, here’s an article with a downloadable spreadsheet to how I track my own net worth – Calculate your net worth

2. Track your expenses. Knowing how much you spend is a key determinant of financial success. Too many people are living paycheque to paycheque or even worse spending beyond their means. How would you know if you have a spending problem or not if you had no idea how much you were spending? Here’s another article I wrote sharing some different ways to track your spending – Know your spending

3. Take control of your investments. Nobody cares about your money more than you care about. Start doing by simply taking stock of your investments and determine why you own what you do. Here’s an article on how to review your RRSP portfolio if you have not done so in a long time. If you are working with a financial advisor give him/her a call and book an appointment for a review. Walk into that meeting with a list of questions because you care about your money.

4. Get a will done.
   Not only should you get your will done but you should also get a power of attorney and a personal directive done as well. In my 20 years in the financial industry, I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen people without these key documents and the result is problems, costs, delays, and conflicts.

5. Get the right bank account. A bank account is something we use every day and in today’s world, not all bank accounts are created equal. My suggestion is to look into high-interest bank account options because they are the types of accounts that work in your favor because they pay interest and charge no monthly service fees. I am very passionate about getting the right bank account so here are a few articles on getting the right bank account:

• Have you reviewed your bank account lately?
• Every penny counts in banking.
• Keeping a minimum balance in your bank account

6. Start an automatic savings plan. For many saving money does not come naturally. Saving money is one of the four key disciplines of financial success. Putting away money for the future is so much harder when you don’t automate it. Doing is simply a matter of going to your financial advisor or institution and asking them to start a regular withdrawal from your bank account into a Tax-Free Savings account (TFSA) or Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). If your employer has an option to take it off your paycheque, that’s even better. If your employer is willing to match your contributions that’s the best. If you need help saving money, here are my principles of saving money.

This list is far from complete. There are so many things you can be doing. I think this list forms some of the basic skills needed for tour financial health. If you have done these things then keep doing something else. There’s always room for improvement. Doing something is better than nothing. It’s never too late to start doing something. I think Nike said it best “Just do it!”
What kinds of things are you doing to improve your personal finances? What things are you planning to do?