Tag: taxes

Learning about money stuff – Canadian Securities Course

When the global economy collapsed in 2009 (and the world’s biggest capitalist society needed government bailouts – wow!) we all discovered we really didn’t know much about how or why. We recognized that our financial literacy is lacking. As a current Facebook meme says, I’m sure glad I learned about parallelograms in school instead of taxes…

Blog-CSC.JPG

Money is a funny thing. I like learning about it and talking about it. It comes from growing up without it. Over the years I’ve collected a little library of books on the topic, I subscribe to a magazine about it (MoneySense), I even have a monthly meeting with a group of women to discuss it. But even with all this, I know there’s still so much I don’t know.

Sure I know how to budget and save and invest – to a certain extent. I know there’s a whole other world out there and, despite having some math fears (seriously, I have recurring nightmares about high school math class), I took a big step.

I signed up for the Canadian Securities Course (CSC), the foundation you need to work in the financial industry here. The plan is to take the course over its suggested 135 to 200 hours of study, and to write about what I’m learning along the way. I’m hoping it’ll help me find new clients to write and edit for in the financial industry. At the very least I’ll learn more about how to make the most of my money so that one day, I won’t have to work so hard for it.

Will I be spending my summer Sunday afternoons on my balcony in studying bliss? Or will I have to replace my new financial calculator multiple times from throwing it in frustration?

Let’s find out. Let’s improve our financial literacy and do some book learnin’ about this money stuff. Most importantly, let’s find out how to avoid eating cat food in our old age.

Credit is like Spandex

Yesterday was tax day for me and I have mixed feelings. Usually I’m happy about paying taxes. I know, I know, I’m weird — but I’ve benefited from what my taxes pay for and I’m grateful. It’s also a great indication of how much money I’ve made.

Thanks to installment payments and lower income, I didn’t have to pay much for 2015. I’m trying to remember how stressed I was in 2014 when I was working seven days a week and a Big Personal Event happened that left me scrambling to find the time. Sure I made a lot more money, but it left me thinking about the whole work/life balance thing.

Oh, I’m self-employed, by the way. A lot of people think you have more free time when you work for yourself (as though you’re retired), but most self-employed people I know actually have less, because you’re working all the time.

I went to the bank to make the tax payments (I’m rather fond of the big PAID stamp they have) and while I was there I spoke to an advisor. I mentioned my next big project is saving up for an investment/income property. He told me that with my equity and good credit I wouldn’t need to save up, I could finance the whole thing through the bank. All I have to do is go in when I’m ready and they’ll pre-approve me.

Fully financing a second mortgage through a bank? Too Big to Fail started flashing through my brain. Credit is good, when used appropriately. But sometimes credit is like Spandex.

Just because you can get it, doesn’t mean you should use it.