Personal Money Management

HOW TO USE THIS SITE

"I'm just a regular guy 

I'm just a regular guy 

Never got rich

Never did try

I'm just a regular guy "

Steve Earle and the Dukes

As a retired Canadian 6 years ago at age 52 I really do not understand how anyone can say that the retirement income system in Canada is in any way inadequate. If anything it is more than adequate. The only shortage is the population’s motivation to manage the system properly. Even the documents being dispersed in the current discussion are missing whole sections of how the system does a more than adequate job. So here is my version of a reality check on our retirement income system.

There ain’t anything in life that is free. Nowhere is the truer than with Personal Bank Accounts. Whenever you move money through bank accounts the bank will peel just a little bit of it off of the amount moved. It doesn’t seem like much at the time. However you need to examine bank account costs in 3 ways so that you understand the importance of managing your personal bank accounts diligently.

In the first box in the illustration below, the header says "Budget Surplus...Spend less that you make. Cut your spending until you have a monthly budget surplus." There are two ways to cut your spending. One is to control the spending that you already engage in. The other is to renegotiate some of the debt that you already have.

I was going to include a questionnaire as a way to show you that you need to improve your capacity to THINK YOUR MONEY. However the first person that you will lie to about your competence in personal financial matters is yourself. In fact when dealing with personal finances people take lying to a whole new level.

The goal of this plan is to use the financial tools to manage your cash flow so that you can live comfortably, buy a house and own it in this lifetime. You will plan to have enough money left at the end of your working days to support your comfortable lifestyle into retirement.