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PostPosted: Thu Jun 13, 2013 11:07 pm 
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Anyone care to share their money management advice? Perhaps what has worked well for you or money mistakes you've made & learned from? It can range from investments to budgeting but I thought it might be nice to share here.

I'll start with the following:
- Never invest more in the stock market then you can afford to lose and if it sounds too good to be true it usually is unless your the type of person who has a horseshoe up your butt & I never was. :P
I learned this the hard way back around 2001. Lost a ton of money because I got too darn greedy in '99, when tech stocks were sexy. Listened to bad advice from a close family member who told me I was crazy not to jump on the wagon even though I have always been very risk adverse & conservative (only in regards to money lol). Got caught up in the stock market excitement to see my portfoliio increase 90% to then have it later crash. I figured I earned a PhD through that lesson in money reality and still recovering from it to this day. :(

- Pay yourself first
You hear this cliche all the time that you should save 10% of all income you receive right off the top & yet the reality is it really does work. I've been doing it for years whether it was as low as $10 just as habit. (Only wish I had started it even earlier.) Opened up an ING account & started transferring 10% over immediately & have never allowed myself to touch it. Whenever I am tempted to I just go look at the account (love the graphics on ING) & seeing the amount build over the years stops me. :)

- Beware of all the financial gurus
I used to read all the articles & books from the financial gurus when I opened my first self directed investment account back in '99. At first I was naively impressed with all their glitz & fancy credentials but I soon realized most of it was a lot of hot wind. Probably the best read I ever had that was informative & good solid advice I could relate to was the plain & easy to read book The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. (Dragon's Den fans will recognize him as the newest Dragon on the television show.) In fact I still think it's relevant today & believe he did a recent follow up edition.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:16 am 
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Let's try a new one... and this is just my humble opinion.

Cars... never buy brand new or lease. The best value is in buying a 2 or 3 year old car.


Last edited by hughd on Fri Jun 14, 2013 12:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:33 am 
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hughd wrote:
My advice:
DON'T INVEST IF YOU HAVE DEBT.

It's my belief that you should never invest if you have debt, especially a mortgage. Sans unusual circumstances (per stilldeciding's "horseshoes up your @$$") you're paying far more $ in compounded interest than you'd earn from investments. Your biggest investment is paying off your mortgage. Put whatever money you might think of investing into your mortgage and you'll be far better off.

Just my 2¢ worth.
hughd


I know many others who also adhere to that philosophy & have never regretted it. Plus it's simple & no need to constantly analyse the market, etc. Of course financial advisors will always say to paydown your mortgage & invest also but then they need clients so they can pay down their mortgage too. :wink:


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 7:45 am 
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Heres mine.

If you have multiple credit cards that are maxed out and cant get them paid off no matter how much you try, pay the minimum balance on all of them except 1. Attack that one until its paid off, then do the next one. Start attacking the one with the highest interest rate and work your way down to the least. By attack I mean pay down as much as you can, more than the minimum.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:00 am 
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I suck the big one at money management and my husband works on average 60 hours a week so he doesn't pay much attention to our finances.

We both get paid biweekly on opposite weeks so money comes in every Friday. We both earn a pretty good living doing what we do but because the money comes in fast, we tend to spend it just as fast.

We need help big time too.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:25 am 
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NewInTown wrote:
I suck the big one at money management and my husband works on average 60 hours a week so he doesn't pay much attention to our finances.

We both get paid biweekly on opposite weeks so money comes in every Friday. We both earn a pretty good living doing what we do but because the money comes in fast, we tend to spend it just as fast.

We need help big time too.


I believe most of us have enough common sense to know how to manage money without the need for a "financial advisor".
What's that ? ... Pay money to someone to tell me how to make best use of my money ??? Seems counter productive to me.

I think that most of us can figure it out if we put our minds to it. If you really care about tightening your belt, don't spend more than you take in, pay off your debts before investing, shop around for the best deal on everything from groceries to your mortgage rate, resist frivolous or impulse purchases by asking yourself "Do I REALLY need this?". It's a simple matter of priorities... do you really want to curb your spending or do you want to live the high life ? Your choice !

hughd


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:27 am 
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hughd wrote:
NewInTown wrote:
I suck the big one at money management and my husband works on average 60 hours a week so he doesn't pay much attention to our finances.

We both get paid biweekly on opposite weeks so money comes in every Friday. We both earn a pretty good living doing what we do but because the money comes in fast, we tend to spend it just as fast.

We need help big time too.


I believe most of us have enough common sense to know how to manage money without the need for a "financial advisor".
What's that ? ... Pay money to someone to tell me how to make best use of my money ??? Seems counter productive to me.

I think that most of us can figure it out if we put our minds to it. If you really care about tightening your belt, don't spend more than you take in, pay off your debts before investing, shop around for the best deal on everything from groceries to your mortgage rate, resist frivolous or impulse purchases by asking yourself "Do I REALLY need this?". It's a simple matter of priorities... do you really want to curb your spending or do you want to live the high life ? Your choice !

hughd


I feel the same way about contractors. I know how to pick up a hammer. pfffffft.

jk by the way. Financial advisors are worth it for people having problems.


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:32 am 
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Beware of recurring monthly payments (cell phone, cable, car lease) as those cost you more than you think.
They are a wonderful money stream generators for the providers of those services.
Always calculate monthly payment by contract length or year to see the real cost.
I exclude loan/mortgage repayments here, as long as the size of the loan is reasonable.

Leasing new cars is incredibly expensive (including most businesses, yes I know you can write it off)
Multiply your monthly lease payment by months in a year then by 25 years to compare to a mortgage.
At the end of the lease process you get to keep nothing but your memories.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 8:54 am 
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hughd wrote:
I believe most of us have enough common sense to know how to manage money without the need for a "financial advisor".
What's that ? ... Pay money to someone to tell me how to make best use of my money ??? Seems counter productive to me.

I think that most of us can figure it out if we put our minds to it. If you really care about tightening your belt, don't spend more than you take in, pay off your debts before investing, shop around for the best deal on everything from groceries to your mortgage rate, resist frivolous or impulse purchases by asking yourself "Do I REALLY need this?". It's a simple matter of priorities... do you really want to curb your spending or do you want to live the high life ? Your choice !

hughd


The only debt we have is the mortgage and a car loan. We do have a credit line with RBC and a low-interest Visa with RBC but because money isn't tight, we're able to buy everything with cash. But that's the problem...wanting vs needing. My husband doesn't have that problem at all, I do. I see something I like so I buy it. I do save on average about $1.5k per month in a tax-free savings account but I feel like I could be saving more or maybe paying down the mortgage quicker.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:21 am 
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How is that bragging? Whenever someone writes something that you don't agree with, this is the response you give or you derail the whole topic with crap. Shut up if you have nothing to offer.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:22 am 
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If it'll make you feel better, we're drowning in debt and we're on welfare. Does that help you in any way?

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:24 am 
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hughd wrote:
pay off your debts before investing

hughd


This really isn't solid advice.

If I am paying down debt that is costing me 3% in interest I would be losing out on the investment that has given me returns of 9%.

That same $100 could be making me 9% as opposed to saving me 3%.

Get into long terms investments with minimal risk and a normal return should even grab you 4-6%.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:27 am 
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You sound to be doing well NewInTown but at the end of the day you're still in debt.

Some people use TFSA's and other investments as a way of accessible forced savings and I understand that, but it's not the best use of your money.
Look at it this way... you can enjoy your financial wealth on the fly by buying what you want... this costs you more money in the long run,
--OR-- you can live a little leaner and enjoy more wealth once the mortgage is paid off... because of compounded savings on interest you'll be far richer in the long run.

Our society promotes spending and encourages & normalizes debt. A lending institution will gladly let you make payments to cover the interest and a slight bit of principal to keep you on the treadmill forever. Call me old school but I never drank the cool-aid.

hughd


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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:28 am 
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When I worked at RBC Insurance, we had what was called RESSOP...not sure what it stood for. Anyways, whatever you'd save off the top of your salary, RBC would match with up to 3% and we were able to play in the money markets or stock market or whatever. I saved quite a bit whileI worked there (11 years). My current employer doesn't have a savings program like that. I'm wondering if a bank could offer investments like that...or similar.

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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 9:30 am 
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hughd wrote:
You sound to be doing well NewInTown but at the end of the day you're still in debt.

Some people use TFSA's and other investments as a way of accessible forced savings and I understand that, but it's not the best use of your money.
Look at it this way... you can enjoy your financial wealth on the fly by buying what you want... this costs you more money in the long run,
--OR-- you can live a little leaner and enjoy more wealth once the mortgage is paid off... because of compounded savings on interest you'll be far richer in the long run.

Our society promotes spending and encourages & normalizes debt. A lending institution will gladly let you make payments to cover the interest and a slight bit of principal to keep you on the treadmill forever. Call me old school but I never drank the cool-aid.

hughd


For sure we're in debt...biggest debt we'll ever have in our lives.

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