Investing

Start Saving For Retirement When You Are Young

Have you ever stopped to think about how long your retirement may last?  For some people, retirement can be as much as one third of their lives!  That can be a daunting thought considering we need to prepare for retirement during our working years and hope we have saved enough.

Due to advanced technology in the healthcare field, it is much easier for many folks to live a lot longer than they might have anticipated.  In order to prepare thoroughly, we must start saving for retirement as soon as possible.

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January 4, 2011
Debt

Get Out Of The Holiday Debt Trap Fast

Many folks find themselves overspending during the holiday season and then they feel overwhelmed at their financial situation in the New Year.  It is easy to get carried away when you keep on finding another great gift for your kids or for your spouse, but you need to know when to stop.

Since the past is now behind us, if you are in a position right now where you have overspent, do not panic.  Instead, create a practical plan and put it into action ASAP in order to pay off that holiday debt.

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January 2, 2011
General

Set Concrete Financial Goals for 2011

Today is the last day of 2010!  It’s really hard to believe that 2010 has come and gone so quickly.  Now is the time to reflect on last year’s successes and to plan ahead for next year.  What do you want to achieve in 2011?  What are your financial goals?

Picture in your mind what you want the next year to look like.  Then, write down ways you plan to make sure these things happen.  In order to ensure that you can meet your goals, you need to start early on in the year.

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December 31, 2010
Investing

Women And Retirement

There is a lot of dialogue these days about women and retirement.  The word out there now is that women need to save a lot more than men for some key reasons.  As a rule, women generally live longer than men, so for that reason women really should be tucking extra away in their RRSPs and other retirement savings accounts.

Another key reason is that women often earn less than men, partly because they take time off to have children, but also because there is still a disparity between men’s and women’s wages.  Men are generally still paid more than women for the same work.  This makes it harder for women to save as much as men for their retirement.

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December 29, 2010
Gifts

Teach Your Kids About Giving

As a parent, you have a lot of influence on your children’s future behavior.  Whether you like it or not, your children are more than likely going to follow in your footsteps, at least partially, so it’s important that you teach your kids about giving starting at a young age.

Whether you are rich or poor, you need to instill a sense of generosity in your children.  One way would be to have a family meeting every year and take a vote on which charity or organization your family is going to support that year.  By involving your kids and encouraging them to use some of their own money as well, they will feel that they are making a difference in the world.  Feel free to change the charity every year based on the decisions of the family as a whole.

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December 27, 2010