As part of my resolution to make 2005 the year of fiscal solvency, I’ve been re-reading my copy of Smart Women Finish Rich.
I highly recommend it to EVERY SINGLE WOMAN IN THE DEVELOPED WORLD. Seriously though, every women I know is getting this as a present at some point. It’s much too important to not read and take action. This is your life ladies – take control of it and make it what you want it to be! It’s so easy and can mean so much in the future.
I seem to have far, far too many friends who don’t take their financial security seriously. After reading this book I honestly believe that if you are over 30, do not have at the bare minimum $7,500 in an RRSP somewhere earning between 5%-10% compound interest, and can not own your own home (whether or not you do is something entirely different), you’re currently a financial failure you should take an afternoon to re-think your current future-planning, and if you fail to take some immediate action, you are setting yourself up for the strong possibility of a long life of continuing poverty and hardship. Yah, it’s fun to throw caution to the wind and buy that fancy new toy or whatever, but is it really worth personal bankruptcy?
I myself am what I’d consider a “financial failure” right at this point in time. Too much bad debt, too little future planning. Hopefully my current plan will turn that around, and I’ll be at my goal by age 30. The good news is, it’s never too late to start turning things around. You may never be a millionairess, but at least you won’t be one of the increasing number of seniors living in a rat-infested hovel, eating cat food. Think it won’t happen to you? Talk to me again in 25 years when you’re just starting to worry, and I’m semi-retired on a beach somewhere.
I’ve already done something very liberating – I cut up three of my five credit cards! One was my mastercard, which has a very high balance that I’m working to pay off, and the others were store cards that I only signed up for to get a deal anyway.
I’ve been living in a bit of a fantasy world when it came to what I was actually going to do with my money – now it looks like if I start planning and working now, I’ll actually do quite well. After all, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
Ok, enough with the cheese. Just go get the book.
Well, cool. I’m only half a financial failure, in that I tend to be a touch irresponsible in paying off credit cards and they tend to show up on my credit report, which is why I can’t own my own home right now. This will be changing in the next couple of years. So maybe by the time I’m 30, I won’t be. Heh.
I have, at last count, $8000 in my RRSP’s. A small portion of that was a gift from my grandmother when I was in my late teens, the rest I’ve been adding to over the last 6 years. Mostly for use as a down payment, but they’ll come in handy when I retire, too.
And I can still buy fancy toys! Sure, I have to cut back when I do that… but hey, some of these fancy toys are important for personal satisfaction now, and I don’t think it’s very useful to be living in squallor now so that I can reach my goals sooner. I’d rather be happy now *and* reach my goals… which, I think, is do-able as long as you don’t mind taking a little longer to reach your goals.
At the very least, I’m nowhere near bankruptcy regardless of my fancy toys…. and anyway, my sister will support me in my old age, right? 🙂
Actually student loans are addressed in the book, which I’m glad of, having a pretty hefty one myself. They’re considered “good debt,” like a mortgage, because education is always a good investment.
The reason having a larger base RRSP contribution at a young age is so important is because of the magic of compound interest. One page out of the book that really woke me up illustrated that someone who contributed $2k/year from ages 19-26 and never put another cent away for the rest of her life would have over $200,000 more at retirement than someone who put away $2k EVERY year from ages 27 through 65 if their investments earned an average 10% compounding annually.
It’s highly unlikely that you’ll pay $200,000 in extra interest by not clearing off the student loans early – so it makes more sense to make the minimum payments on those, and contribute more to your investments early on. Of course, I don’t have $2000/year to contribute right now, but anything that goes in NOW rather than later, will obviously benefit me much more in the long run.
I’m not offended or anything, but I have a huge student debt (two degrees) and I have maybe a couple hundred dollars in RRSP’s. It seems to me that my best course of action, money-wise, is to put more money into paying off the student loan than in putting into retirement savings, but I’m not sure.
So I’m certainly in the red when it comes to finances, but I’m otherwise pretty frugal with money. I always pay my credit card bills in full, and I don’t make impulse purchases. I’m interested in that book you’ve mentioned, but it may only be showing one side of the story.
“The point was to say that it’s so very important to start young and make smart decisions – which I don’t think a lot of people realize, and our parents haven’t traditionally taught us, mostly because the nature of planning for the future has changed so much.”
I totally agree with this; if it is at all possible for an individual to start early, they should. Thanks for recognizing that everyone has different circumstances and financial histories. Thanks for trying to educate people (women, in particular) on how important it is to take care of themselves, regarless of their couple status. And thanks for being my friend.
I realize that the paragraph was a bit cutting, and I did intend to write it that way for shock value – though I didn’t mean to insult anyone personally. At this point in time I’m a financial failure myself (which I’ll edit to include in the paragraph). The point was to say that it’s so very important to start young and make smart decisions – which I don’t think a lot of people realize, and our parents haven’t traditionally taught us, mostly because the nature of planning for the future has changed so much.
I guess “financial failure” was the wrong term to choose… I’ll work on different wording. Incidentally, you’re one of the *most* responsible people i know, and thanks for calling me on being a jackass.
Personally, I am totally offended by paragraph 3. As one of your few friends who happens to be over 30, I have made certain decisions in my life that have gotten me to where I am today. Some of them good, some of them definitely not so good. I do not have a house full of “fancy toys”, I do not drive a new car, I do not have a closet full of new clothes. To be told that I am a “financial failure” because I am still paying off student loans and that I don’t have a minimum of $7500 in RRSPs is incredibly insulting. Good on you for cutting up your credit cards – mine were cut up years ago. Instead of preaching down to the masses, why don’t you wait till you’re 30 and see where your life is at that point before you start judging? If you’re planning on going back to school (which I always think is a wise investment), you most likely will not be in a great financial position 4 to 5 years from now either.
The more I read your blog as well as the comments you make on other people’s sites the more I realize I identify with you a **LOT**. There are times when I really regret that our only real meeting was in an extremely bad light of me. I’m going to make a real effort to come to the BBQ and I think it’s my own damn fault we are not better acquaintances (at least) already. Don’t think I’m a creep or anything.. I’m just questioning myself – why do I still hide from interweb people?
Anyway, I understand the point you are making here completely and it’s not anything for anyone to get offended by whatsoever. I see a person creating goals and also setting a personal standard and we all need both of those things to move forward with our lives. At the very least we need them to have a clear understand of who WE are and what our needs are.
I know you will still completely respect/cherish and maintain friendships with those who align their lives differently and that is perfectly fine and that is the point people need to understand. However, if a person’s goals or more bluntly – their daily financial priorities – are so drastically different than yours it’s doubtful you would find a husband or a true intimate “best friend” connection with such a person and most of the time that’s a very good thing! (Isn’t that the f’n point of all these “time-wasting” goal setting sessions we do anyway? teehee..)