Simple Money Talk

Happy Canada Day!

Estate planning is a topic many of us avoid. For me it was because I don’t have kids, so I didn’t think it was important, but I realized that my estate plan is more than just distributing of my financial assets. It also includes my living will and power of attorney which provide instructions if I become unable to make decisions about my care and money. If you have kids, it will include guardianship if they are under 18. I contacted a law firm that specializes in wills and estate planning.
Your estate plan will include more then your will and financial assets. The estate plan can include power of attorney, living will or personal directives, trusts, and funeral plans. If you aren’t ready to contact a lawyer, you can do the first steps on your own. To not get overwhelmed by the process the first 2 things I recommend you do is figure out what financial and physical assets and debts you have and where are they. Do worry about if an item is valuable or not. If it is important to you or your family put it on the list. A good place to start is the list you may have done for your home insurance. This is a comprehensive list you’ll need to identify if you have a will or power of attorney or even a grave plot.

The second step is to list your important documents and information and again where are they. You’ll need to include your personal information like your birth date, and place of birth and social insurance number to more complex information about your bank accounts, investments, life insurance and pensions. If you have kids, you’ll need to include their information as well.

This step can lead to more questions and can take time. Try your best to get as much information complied because it can help you make decisions about your will such as picking a guardian, executor or power of attorney.

Leave a comment or let me know if you have any questions. Next week I'll talk about the terms used in estate planning.

Mindful Money Tips for the Holidays from www.simplemoneytalk.com

I created Simple Money Talk because I wanted to help women gain confidence around making money decisions. This is still an important goal for Simple Money Talk, but after 10 years I have decided to shift the focus to providing information and online courses on helping women start investing. It is important that we get our money working for us. Especially in times of high inflation and interest rates.

The first course will be on the language of investing and focus on providing you a good understanding of what it means to invest, and the terms used. It will start by making sure we know what your money goals are. Then we will look at the several types of investing and what the risks are when you invest your money and the returns each type of investment can provided.

I am looking forward to creating these courses for you. The Language of Investing launches on September 12, 2023, and the Basics of Investing on November 12, 2023.

Go to www.simplemoneytalk.com/welcome-2/workshops/ for more information.

I highly recommend Morgan Housel's 'The Psychology
of Money'
It is a straightforward read on
why and how people make money
decisions. It also dispels some
long standing myths about investing and being a successful
investor.
EDIT -- This isn't an ad for the book. It's my honest opinion.

Have a happy New Year and thank you all for your support!

Happy Christmas 🎄

If you are venturing to go shopping remember to make a list.

This & , remember to buy your gifts the smart way: make a budget before you shop and stick to it. This end of the year, avoid financial anxiety and stress! Enjoy the holidays.

If you want to learn more about financial anxiety and stress among U.S. households, check out this report by Andrea Hasler, Annamaria Lusardi, and Olivia Valdes: https://lnkd.in/eyFf_AWs

FINRA Investor Education Foundation
The George Washington University
The George Washington University School of Business

FP Canada conducting a survey in October 2022, asking respondents about "The Quiet Spend". The often hidden elements of day-to-day purchases - unconscious spending.

Being more mindful of your expending can help. Tools such as, tracking your spending or making a list before you go shopping, can help stop this type of spending.

Launcing new online financial coaching program November 1st.

During the month of October, I’m going to be following my own steps and tracking my spending. In the past, I have tried a few methods to keep track of my spending. I have been most successful entering my spending into a notebook or spreadsheet everyday, this is the accountant in me.

This time I’m going to try the Mint app. I do not have an affiliation with Mint.

If you would like help and support to start tracking your spending, please let me know by leaving a comment below or emailing me at [email protected]
https://www.simplemoneytalk.com/

I needed this reminder today...momentum not motivation.

As I've been working on the relaunch of Simple Money Talk, I decided it was a good time to review and update my personal financial plan. The best part of doing this review has been crossing off a goal and adding new ones.

It is a good idea to review your plan twice a year to take into account any life changes you've had. Did you change jobs, or move? Are you planning a trip or to have children kids?

A good place to start if you don't have a financial plan is to look at your monthly expenditures, those items you pay every month. Then track your spending for the next two weeks. This will help you get good idea of your salary, expensive and savings.

How do you keep track if your spending? Do you use an app or your bank transactions or paper & pen?

I recently achieved a major financial goal, of buying a property in the Bow Valley. I was lucky to get my mortgage approved before interest rates went up.

Have the increases in interest rates impacted your goals or spending? Let me know in the comments.

Flew to the West Kootenays this year because renting a car costed 7 times the usual price for a summer car rental.

Tracking spending is a good way to see where your costs are increasing and understand where you can make changes.

It is a widely held belief that you just know how to manage your money, but money management is a learned skill and everyone can and needs to be learn it. Regardless of how much money you have, you can take control of your money and learn to manage it to help you reduce your stress about it.

I created Simple Money Talk to help other women learn the why and how to invest so they can reach their life and money goals.