Financial Planning: Lessons learned along the way….
It’s time to start sharing that experience with the big, wide, world.
And so here we are with the first of several special focus blogs from our team.
Carol van den Kerkhof starts us off with the first post in a series about financial planning and personal finance.
You gotta look in your basket to find out how many eggs you got.....
Financial planning.
What does this phrase mean to you?
Putting money in your RRSP, creating a household or organizational budget, paying off debts, investing or just making your funds last until the end of the month?
For me, it means all of the above and more.
Even though I was taught a bit about money as I was growing up – I had a bank account by the time I was ten, worked part-time during high school and knew my parents had paid off the mortgage on our house well before they sold it 14 years after buying it – I have made financial mistakes. Becoming a bookkeeper has really brought that home to me and the irony of my career choice has not escaped my friends and family! Now I am taking stock of what I have, what I owe, how can I spend less, save more and move forward without beating myself up. No small job.
My desire to build a plan and increase my skills has led me to enrol in the Financial Planner Certificate program at Humber College. I am currently completing the first course in the program – Retirement Planning. There is a lot to learn about the different types of pension plans – from the Canada Pension Plan and other government income support programs, to company pensions to your own savings such as RRSP’s.
Many STAR Company clients face the major challenge of a “creative income” – unpredictable cash flow. This challenge requires extra planning and more tools for individuals to be able to create strategies for getting out of debt, saving for major purchases and planning for retirement. As I complete my studies and travel the path of fiscal responsibility, I hope to be able to share some of my knowledge, and inspire you to do what it takes to prepare for that big adventure , the project you’ve been wanting to execute, or whatever is it that is going to enrich your life and allow you to follow your creative pursuits. Stay tuned!
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