One Step Back, Two Steps Forward

Do you ever watch a child trying to walk?  In the beginning they fall on their butts more than once.  The thing with a child is they don't realize they are failing at something so they keep on trying until they succeed.  The child will eventually succeed at walking no matter how many times he or she falls down. 

Why is it as adults we are afraid to take a step back so we can move forward?  Most people are afraid to fail at something so most of us won't even try.  In life failure should be an option.  If you don't fail, you really don't get the valuable lesson that failure teaches us.  The most successful people are the ones that had the most failures.  The more you fail at something the more successful you should be in life.  I know that you have to understand the differences with failure.  You cannot go through school without trying, then failing, and think you will succeed at your chosen career. 

I am talking about taking a chance in trying something new.  Whether it is a sport or applying for a new job.  You won't know if you can do something until you try, fail and then learn from your mistake.

I met someone recently in my travels who had very successfully built an amazing business.  What he failed at was in planning his finances.  He overspent and over leveraged to a point where he found himself broke.  He went from rags to riches to rags again.  When this man looked at the failures he had had he took away some valuable lessons and today he is back financially sound and making better choices.  In this case this man needed to go broke to become a better person.  This was an extremely valuable lesson for him.  We all will take away a different lesson from a failure.  The point is learning and growing from all the steps back so we can move forward in life.

O' Holy Day, No Regrets

I know for most of you Christmas seems a long way off.  Wouldn't it be nice if this year you gave the holiday more thought and planning so you will not experience January blues when the credit card bills come in?  What if the day could be more about the true meaning of Christmas instead of a competition with the Jones's giving your children, friends and relatives the latest and greatest gifts stirred on by advertisers of course.  You should start seeing Christmas ads soon I am sure.

I remember growing up where families were large and money was tight.  Some of my best Christmas memories were being together as a family and having a few simple gifts.  We truly felt blessed.  Now for the most part Christmas is about an exchange of gift cards.  I thought this year I would help you to plan in advance by providing some food for thought so this will be the year your best memories get created.

First start making a list of the people you feel you want or need to buy for.  Then start thinking about what you can commit to for your Christmas budget.  You will have to budget some of your disposable income.  Choose an amount you can comfortably put aside each month without jeopardizing your current savings plans.  Allow for some extra since it is like a home renovation, it always costs more.  Assign a monetary value to each name. 

Next think about the person and what they would like.  If you were them, what would you enjoy receiving?  This may be something homemade like gift certificates of services you would do such as washing and waxing their car, making a meal, or offering to babysit someone's children.   Think of what the receiving person would appreciate.  If you have plans to purchase store bought gifts then start looking now and take advantage of sales.  Shopping now can really save you money because over time everything goes on sale up and until it gets closer to Christmas.  Retailers know you will pay anything as it gets closer to Christmas so few things go on sale.

If you really want to save money and have a lot of fun, you can plan for one family to host the holiday party or look for a restaurant with a private room and do a gift exchange.  If you have a lot of children within the immediate family you can have one dedicated to the children and another one for the adults.  You set a price limit say $50 and only buy a gift for that value.  If you get the gift on sale it will be even better. 

Nobody gets to know in advance who will receive the gift.  All gifts purchased are wrapped by the individual that will participate and put under the tree.  Each person draws a number and then gets to go in order to pick something from the tree.  The next person that picks a gift has a choice from under the tree or a gift already chosen and opened.  The person that picks at the end gets their choice of gift.  It is the most fun because you won't really know what you will end up with until the very end.  You can wrap the gift in disguise to make it even more fun. 

We did this one year and had the most fun that even the children enjoyed it.  Everyone got to see what the other person got and had a lot of laughs doing it.  If this is done at one person's home then the family members coming over will bring a main dish of food so no one gets stuck doing all the work and expense of hosting. 

A restaurant is easy because there is no mess and you know exactly in advance how much it will cost each person.  Try thinking outside the box this year and remember what Christmas is really all about.  Celebrate in a way that brings families closer together.  Make January blues a thing of the past.  No regrets.

Sharing, caring and saving you money

Summer is a time when there is a lot of activity going on.  Houses are being

bought and sold; renovations are happening; vacations are being taken.  It

recently came to my attention that even though we live in great communities

around this country that there are still a lot of people unsure who to do

business with. Whether you need your air conditioning serviced or have a

major project like landscaping to do, how and where do you find the trades

you trust?

Given that a lot of business is done by referrals I thought this month would

be a good opportunity for my clients to share their stories and trades people

with the rest of our community.  I will put the trades in categories and

addresses so other clients can use your great person.  I only want names

and contact information from people that you were extremely happy with

their services and that you also felt gave you good value for the money you

paid.

Names will go on the website but will only stay on as long as the service

person continues to provide excellent services to our clients.  We all want to

know we can trust the person to provide services in our best interest and

not be self-serving.  

We are looking for names in every category you can think of that has

provided some service to you such as lawyers; doctors; accountants;

salespersons (in any industry); handyman; landscapers; hairdressers; etc. 

If you know of someone please submit all their contact information to us.

Thanks for sharing and for caring.

“What’s easy to do, is also easy not to do.” Quote from Jim Rohn.

I talk to my mother almost everyday.  My mother is typical of a lot
 of people and she finds it hard to get herself motivated to do things 
on her own.  In fact on my personal side I would say I take after my 
mother.  Luckily for me I take after my father when it comes to being 
and staying motivated on the business side.  In any event I have to try 
to get my mother to do things that will benefit her on the health side 
without having her rely on other people.
 
What I am talking about
 is getting up and walking across the street to the mall.  My mother is 
84 years old and in pretty good health.  I want my mother to stay 
healthy so I have to encourage my mother to go for a walk.  The mall is 
right across the street from where my mother lives.  Walking is not only
 good physically but it is also a really good mental workout.  When you 
see other people, and you are outside enjoying the sun or taking in the 
activities at the mall, you feel like you are a part of something and 
not isolated.
 
Well it is easy to do, but as the title says it is
 also easy not to do.  In life we are faced almost daily with things we 
know we should do that are easy and would surely make a difference in 
our life, but we find it is just as easy not to do so we don't do it and
 then wonder why our life is turning out different.
 

Retirement Needs

There seems to be a large discrepancy of thought in what Canadians need to save and have available for retirement. I have heard anywhere from 50% of pre retirement income to 100%.  This is a big difference in percentages.  What are you saving now?  Are you on target to hit your percentage of retirement income? 

The challenge really is what state your health will be at retirement.  You could end up with a short retirement because your health is poor.  Or you planned for the short life span in retirement based on your family history and you end up with a long healthy retirement.  What do you do then if you planned for a shorter retirement and end up with a retirement of 30 or 40 years to fund.  Planning to save more is always a safer bet since it is better to have a choice of how you will spend your retirement years no matter how long your retirement is.  A lot more variables to consider so it is always wise to talk to a Financial Planner to help you plan your ideal retirement.

Any guesses what you need to save?

Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Bird in the Hand or Two in the Bush?

I am often asked when doing retirement planning whether you should apply for early CPP or wait until age 65 for the unreduced pension.  Just so you know, no one ever wants to defer the pension to age 70 for an increased pension but it is an option.  Although I cannot make the ultimate decision for you I can give you some food for thought options of why you may want to consider an early reduced pension.  This is where the bird in the hand comes in. 

Taking an early pension allows you up to five years of receiving money that you did not have before.  Since most of us certainly do not have a crystal ball as to when our number is up, you may want to enhance your lifestyle by using this additional cash.  If you decide to take the money and do something more conservative, this money would certainly help to increase your savings by investing in your TFSAs or RRSPs.

CPP comes with a maximum monthly amount of $1,065 currently. If are a married couple who have both contributed to CPP and one of you dies, the death benefit will be limited to the maximum allowed.  For example, you have both contributed to CPP and one of you have a reduced monthly benefit of $650.00.  The second spouse passes away, the monthly death benefit may be increased by an additional $415.00 to bring it up to a monthly amount of $1,065.  If you were both receiving the maximum CPP benefit, then your monthly death benefit would be increased by 0.  

If longevity does not run in the family; you have health problems; you are a married couple that are both CPP contributors; or you just want the bird in the hand; you should discuss with your investment advisor if taking a reduced CPP makes sense for you or should you wait until age 65 or older for the two in the bush, so to speak.

Home Owners Insurance, What Your Agent may have forgotten to tell you.

Do you know what’s in your home owners’ insurance policy? Recently I had a conversation with some clients and we happen to start talking about our home owners insurance policies.  One of the topics that came up was what you need to do when going away on holidays. 

I know that there is a lot of thought when planning to go on vacation.  You get your lists and make sure you have not missed anything.  You plan the perfect vacation.  Then you come home and find that you had a water pipe burst and you have a lot of damage in your basement.  The first or second thing you do is call your insurance representative right?  Then you hear the representative say, I am sorry but that is not covered under your home owners’ insurance policy.  You are stunned, shocked and angry.  You pay for home owners’ insurance and now you are told you are not covered for the damage.  Why, because your insurance representative may not have brought it to your attention that there is a clause in your insurance policy that states: “If you are planning on leaving your home empty four or more days, especially in the winter, you had better notify your insurance company”.  And more importantly you should arrange to have someone come into your house on a regular basis to check that everything is in working order.  This may include the heating, no burst water pipes, etc.  It is even suggested that water not only be turned off but you should drain your pipes as well if you plan to be away more than four days in the winter.  If your pipes burst and cause water damage you may not be covered.  Now your own specific insurance policy will have its own wording but you get my message.