Published: June 3rd, 2014 • Last Updated: January 6th, 2021
Author: Ross Taylor on AskRoss.ca

A Basic Primer For Achieving Financial Strength Throughout Your Life

This is intended to be a basic primer for setting you on the right course for financial strength throughout your life. As you become more and more successful, you will seek out more sophisticated information – and there’s lots of that widely available in books, newspapers, and on the internet.

It’s impossible to cater to everyone in one place – some people make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, while many others struggle from paycheck to paycheck.

Some of you are just starting out in the work force, and others are nearing retirement.

Many of you are struggling to cope with financial pressures seemingly coming at you from all directions at the same time. Food, shelter, transportation are our core requirements.

These secrets will help people in all circumstances, but mostly every day people facing every day challenges. If you are a financial superstar, you need to seek advice elsewhere.

Spend less than you make

Sounds incredibly naïve – but the fact is many people get themselves into hot water by making financial commitments they really cannot honor.

With access to easy credit at every store, the temptations are large. Want a new TV but don’t have the cash? Not to worry – the store will grant you instant credit – and maybe jazz it up with no payments for several months.

But the payments will kick in – and often, after the payment holiday expires, the entire purchase is subject to a very high interest rate, retroactive to the day you bought the TV.

Your girl loves to play hockey, and every year you dutifully sign her up for the next level of play; buying replacement equipment (they grow so quickly) and arranging to head off to games and tournaments all over the GTA – perhaps beyond and into the USA.

But can the family really afford this?

If you have ever been really poor at some point in your life (many university students can relate to this) you learned how to adapt to a very low income. You simply had no choice. Then as things improved and money began to come in on a regular basis, you found no matter how much more you made, there was still none left over at the end of the month.

We adapt. We adjust our spending to reflect our new realities. But the longer we can maintain a careful, even frugal, lifestyle, the better off we will be.

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