Managing your Finances

Taking responsibility for your finances and managing your finances is one of the most important things you can do to ensure a better quality of life for both you and your family.  Some of the statistics are quite scary when you consider the impact it will have on the family’s personal finances and their ability to deal with emergencies, and plan for retirement.  If we can get people to begin to manage your finances, we know that as a country and as individuals will be much further ahead.

Managing your Finances

Here are some facts that might surprise you:

• 6/10 Canadians live paycheck to paycheck
• the yearly savings rate of Canadians have strop from 12% of income to just under 2% today
• household debt has doubled in the past 10 years
• credit card charges have risen from $70 billion-$2 trillion in the past 20 years
• the average household credit card debt is $16,000
• 84% of graduates felt that they would have benefited from more education on financial management topics
• the average college graduate is over 23,000 that
• there is no system to educate Canadians and Americans by managing their finances

More Topics to Cover

The following are some of the things that the writer feels that many people would benefit from if they were to receive more education on these topics:

• how money works
• dispel myths and misconceptions about money and debt
• why people cannot save money
• why it is important to save money early in life
• how saving 10% can provide you with financial freedom
• compound interest
• how to invest your savings and maximize income
• understanding the stock market and the bond market
• should you purchase a rental property
• how credit cards and credit card interest work
• impact of not paying your credit card on your credit rating
• what you need to do to have an A+ credit score
• what is the difference between good debt and bad that

If people understood the issues behind the above concepts they would be in a much better position to manage your finances and to also make sure that they are financially secure and can withstand emergencies that come along from time to time.  Whether it is a health problem, job loss, a sudden large repair on your home or car or something that just comes of the blue, understanding the above issues will increase the probability that consumers can deal with these financial issues and have money set aside to fund their retirement.

In the coming weeks, we will cover the qualities topics in much more detail stay tuned for more posts about these subjects and basic money management of your finances.