Your credit score does matter If it were a sport, a credit score of 650 would get you in the game. 800 would get you on the starting lineup and 850+ would make you an all-star. Your credit score can impact your life in a variety of ways. Whether it’s to obtain a mortgage, score a new rental unit or gain approval for your choice credit card — having a good score is important. Personally, I didn’t realize how important it really was until it impacted accomplishing a financial goal that mattered to me.  In 2019, myself and my not-so-pretty credit score walked into a car dealership. Afte ..read more

Money is emotional As the book’s title suggests, “The Psychology of Money” does not take the crunching approach to finance education and instead focuses on a study of what happens between the ears. As Housel so eloquently reminds us, “You’re not a spreadsheet. You’re a person. A screwed up, emotional person.” Instead of giving you a playbook describing the do’s and don’ts of money management, this book gracefully introduces concepts of personal bias, emotional factors, and the psychological shortcomings we all fall victim to. In addition, its pages are filled with telling a ..read more

One of the most valuable things that money can buy us is a sense of security. Most of us do our best to determine how much we’ll need in retirement to feel that security. But the additional unknown of knowing whether you might have enough for some life-altering experience, such as a medical emergency, is hard to predict. You can do a few things to financially protect yourself and your loved ones. One of these protective measures is life insurance and the other? Critical illness insurance. What is Critical Illness Insurance? This type of insurance is a form of coverage to cover unexpected medic ..read more

Making smaller and more regular contributions eventually add up in a BIG way. A sinking fund is an account in which you set aside money each month to put toward a goal at a later date. It is a separate pot or bucket of money to shield you from using your savings when something unexpected arises. Now that we know what a sinking fund is, it’s essential to know that creating a sinking fund can be your first step to crushing your goals in a consistent, passive way. Today’s post will outline the different types of sinking funds, creating one, and the advantages of a traditional ‘savings account ..read more

If you’re in the position to save for these unexpected expenses, the time is always now My new book, Financial First Aid, is officially out. In its entirety, we discuss emergency funds and the importance of preventative measures to protect your financial life. If you’ve ever been in a situation where money felt tight, and you were scrambling to find a way to pay for an unexpected bill, you’re not alone. A Pew Research Center survey found that only 47% of Americans have enough emergency funds to cover three to six months of expenses.  Although common not to have an emergenc ..read more

It’s time to look at your numbers. How many times are you going to say I wish? I wish I could do what you do with your money. I wish I knew how to pay off my debt quicker. I wish I knew how vital investing in my future could be. So here is a good piece of advice: STOP WISHING and start making moves. Hoping for something doesn’t make it happen any sooner than it would if you completely forgot about it. These days it’s all wishing and no planning. So many of us have become accustomed to settling for how things are because we don’t want to fear failure. We have put off our dreams, goals, and ..read more

Choosing a credit card today can feel overwhelming I ask my followers which financial brands or institutions they’re most interested in learning about each year. This time around, Neo Financial was the most common response. So, because I never offer information about products or services until I’ve used them myself, I figured it was time to do my research on their credit card and savings accounts. Since the pandemic, I did a lot of reassessing what credit cards made sense to have given the *gestures everywhere* current state of the world. For example, I had a travel card that became usele ..read more

You don’t have to be a seasoned CPA to file your own taxes The final deadline to file your taxes is quickly approaching, and our new regular contributor, Sarah, is here to share her experience filing her taxes for the first time. Sarah graduated from the Wilfrid Laurier University business program with a concentration in Finance in 2018. She now works as an Investment Representative in the financial planning industry. Alongside Financial Advisors, she helps manage the money of clients. Through her own experiences, Sarah writes about things pertaining to recent grads, women in finance, an ..read more

“Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become” My favourite book I read in 2021 was undoubtedly Atomic Habits by James Clear.  I’ve leaned on its contents before in previous posts and at this rate, I might be doing so every other post, but by golly what a masterpiece! Every single one of the concepts in this post has been influenced by concepts from Clear’s book. So while this isn’t a review, it is hopefully a testament to the type of quality content that resides within those pages. I have taken the concepts from Atomic Habits and infused them into my own life, a ..read more

Finding new ways to earn more is key Building passive income can be a great way to increase your household income. Learning how to build passive income as you go through life can set up your family for a more prosperous future. The practices in this article will help you learn more about passive income along with some of the best ways to do so while making the most of your time and resources.  Why Passive Income is Valuable Did you know passive income can help you change your financial future? It’s great if you’re trying to save for a down payment on a house, a new car, or to pay off ..read more