I’m sad to say this will be my last contribution to Unlimited. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time writing and podcasting, but, the time has come for me to go back to school and pursue my Masters in Business. Though there’s the short-term pain of cramming for exams and pulling all-nighters – I know it will prove to be a valuable investment.

I’ve chosen to pursue more education for a few reason; jobs of the future will require more education and technical savvy than ever before. According to a survey conducted by the US Department of Labour in 2004, more than 75% of future jobs will require some form of post-secondary education. They also discovered that jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree would grow twice as fast as the national average for other occupations.

To remain competitive in the job market, you’re got to prepare yourself and be flexible. First, invest in your education. Second, sharpen up your technical skills. Third, grow your personal and professional network because research confirms that getting ahead truly is about who you know. Fourth, explore new and budding industries like clean energy, robotics, computer engineering or environmentally friendly vehicles. Alternatively, maximize opportunities within industries which are expected to grow like health care, data management and communications.

Investing in your education is totally worth it although the price tag is steep for tuition and books. According to the National Graduate’s Survey (Stats Canada), when you invest in any type of post-secondary, your long term income-earning ability is a few hundred thousand dollars to over a million dollars greater than a high school graduate’s¹. Research has shown that educated people not only earn more money, but also enjoy a higher quality of life because they have more choices in terms of their career opportunities and lifestyle.

To sharpen your technical skills, you’ll need to get a job where you can learn the technical ropes or take on the task yourself by enrolling in a course or getting cozy with your laptop in the evenings. Get ahead of the curve by embracing technology and using it to improve your work and life. If your company will allow it, introduce a new technical idea like cloud computing or cloud storage. Lead the project, implementation and adoption.

Growing your personal and professional networks is critical to remaining competitive. Social capital refers to all the resources available to us through the people we know – information, finances, ideas, business and job opportunities, trust, partnerships, etc. The workplace is no longer based on individualization. Collaborative competence and relationships are vital to completing projects and tasks.

Social capital has been written about extensively over the past few years and it turns out there is a legitimate business case for investing in your networks. Social capital enhances a person’s performance which in turn leads to better jobs, more pay, influence, learning, word-of-mouth marketing, personal branding and much more. Be strategic about who you surround yourself with. If you hang out with successful people in your company, you’ll probably pick up some helpful habits. But, if you’re kicking back with the folks that cut corners on projects or have negative attitudes, you’re likely to adopt bad habits. Harness the power of your networks. A great book on this subject is Achieving Success Through Social Capital.

Exploring new industries will also prove valuable. The workforce demographics are shifting and so too are the world’s demands. Technology continues to advance faster than ever before and this is changing the way we work, how we analyze situations, how we interact with people and how we plan our personal lives. Experts predict the demand for data management and communications will grow significantly. Demands for health care professionals are also increasing as North America’s population ages.

New industries like clean energy or, renewables, have captured a great deal of attention in recent years. Financial planning and wealth management services are also rapidly expanding industries because there’s increased interest in financial security and retirement planning – that stems for the fact the people will live longer. Financial planning experts say the 30-something crowd, which is anticipated to live to an average age of 100 and will need at least $2 million to retire and support an average Canadian lifestyle.

What will prove most valuable and financially lucrative to younger generations looking to the future is open-mindedness. Try to work at what you love and are passionate about. Be okay with learning new things and shifting your skill sets. And, as always, preparation is key; keep focused on your financial goals because you’ll want your finances to help support your dreams and passions.

1 http://www.millenniumscholarships.ca/images/Publications/090623_POK1_backgrounder_EN.pdf

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Besides infidelity, the fastest way to end a relationship is to avoid communicating about money. Monetary choices reflect a person’s values, like trust or greed, and relationships can only survive if values are aligned. According to Capital One Canada and Credit Canada, eight in 10 couples fight about money and 48 per cent feel their partner’s attitude towards money is different from their own. Financial incompatibility breaks up the majority of Canadian marriages. But, sadly, couples downgrade the importance of ‘money matters’ below wedding planning, changing diapers, and building a happy future.

Stop your relationship from hitting the rocks and start talking about money. Learn about your partner’s financial philosophy and work to align goals. Grab a coffee, get comfy and turn off your phone. Avoid finger pointing, stick to the facts and focus on solutions. If you press each other’s buttons, back off, cool down, find out why and keep the conversation respectful.

Gain an understanding of the origin of your partner’s financial views. Most 20 to 30-somethings have received little professional advice, limited financial education, and their parents have had the greatest monetary influence followed by friends. Chat about what was learned at home or school and what influence it’s had.

Next, sharpen your money savvy together by reading and discussing financial books like Smart Couple’s Finish Rich, Rich by 40, Millionaire Next Door, and Wealthy Barber. Then, cozy up to your laptop, and visit personal finance sites like www.moneyville.ca and www.finance.yahoo.com.

Foundation

Marriage counselors agree; teamwork and financial boundaries are critical when planning your future with someone. Though you may not like to deal with financial matters, it’s irresponsible to ignore them. You don’t want to find yourself in a bad financial position you weren’t aware you were creating. Swap financial chores or take on new ones each week like paying the bills online, negotiating interest rates, monitoring the budget or collecting receipts to track your spending.

Budget

Overspending causes severe arguments and stems from unclear financial boundaries. The saver, for example, may feel their financial security is being jeopardized by their partner’s shoe fetish. Tell your partner how debt impacts you emotionally and financially. If you’re angry about how you got into debt, air your grievances. Agree on what’s worth going into debt for in the future and how you plan to reduce it now. And, don’t hide debt from your partner.

Sticking to an agreed-upon budget allows you to spend less time worrying about money, and more time on your relationship. It’s a tool to track income and expenses, set boundaries, and support your financial goals. And, rather than being restrictive, incorporate affordable fun.

Avoid finger pointing and stick to tried-and-true budget principles – spend less than you make and before you pay bills, save at least 10% for yourself.

Develop a Plan

A written financial plan keeps couples accountable for their actions and focused on achieving dreams. It details goals and strategies for saving, spending, income and asset growth, debt reduction, insurance, estate planning and taxes. Start talking about your dreams for children, homes, retirement, etc; then break your dreams into realistic steps. Start taking action.

Follow these five planning principles:

1. Grow net worth through debt reduction and asset growth
2. Set specific, measurable, realistic and timely goals
3. Protect what you’re building (a will and insurance)
4. Implement your strategy
5. Evaluate your progress.

Financial planning advice from a professional, like a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), helps couples avoid arguments and form a holistic plan.

Together, interview at least three reputable financial planners, get proposals, pick the one most aligned with your goals and start planning.

Respectful communication and team work keeps your relationship healthy and focused on achieve dreams. If you’re stuck in a rut, get help; see an advisor or couple’s counselor.

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Salary may not be the only thing you care about, but it’s a top priority in terms of your financial health. An extra $5,000 could mean more money for you so you can build your net worth….and have more financial flexibility in the long term.

Whether you’re thinking of changing employers or staying put, here are some tips to maximize your salary.

Tip 1: Stick to the facts
Avoid comparing your salary and benefits to family members or friends. If you’re not in the same industry, occupation or city, you’re comparing apples to oranges.

Research comparable salaries for comparable jobs where you live. Remember to evaluate the complete picture – salary is only one part of a total compensation package– there are other factors to consider such as benefits, stock options, retirement plans, etc. Start your research by checking out the current salary bands for various jobs levels at your current employer. Then move on to 3rd party sources like Monster.ca, Workopolis, or Payscale.com. If you belong to an association or alumni group, check whether they’ve got research on salaries and benefits you can review.

As you consider the salary you think you deserve, be realistic about how much relevant experience and education you have. Less experience typically translates into less salary, but perhaps more training and development opportunities

Research the demand for your skills. If you’ve got a skill that employers want, you’ll see job postings. On the flip side, if you see a posting for a job you want, study up on the skills that are required. You may need to invest in developing new skills.

It never hurts to get advice and facts from a recruiter that specializes in your line of work. They’ll discuss your resume, help you prep for interviews, give you current information on salaries and they’ll tell you straight up how marketable your skills are and whether they think your job and salary expectations are in line with reality.

Tip 2: Set Goals

Once you’ve got your facts straight, and you think you know what you’re worth, set a realistic goal before you go in for negotiations. Perhaps you want a raise of 3 to 5% of your salary. Or, you may wish to focus on an actually number like $5,000. If you’re going to be negotiating on a job offer, ensure your goal is a salary range. Every company’s policies are different.

Tip 3: Techniques to the Negotiation

Don’t get upset. Just getting up the courage to negotiate sets you apart from your peers. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, 33% of people say they’re freaked out about negotiations, so they don’t do it even though 80% of recruiters and managers are willing to negotiate .

It can be hard to find the right words when you’re asking for more money. Playing hardball in a negotiation rarely wins. So, stick to the facts and try to be collaborative. Don’t beg and don’t whine. Avoid making unquantifiable statements or comparison. Be professional.

Focus the conversation on how valuable your contributions are to the organization. Talk about the experiences you’ve had to date plus what you plan to do in the future. Hint; if you want more money, you’re probably going to have to take on more responsibility. It can be very helpful to present information on competitive salaries and positions, based on the research you’ve done before.

Timing is important. There are better times than others to discuss money. Don’t barge into your boss’s office right asking for a raise after they’ve had a hectic day. Wait until you’ve both got some time to sit down and talk. It’s also nice to give your boss a heads-up about the money topic so that they aren’t caught off guard. This gives both of you time to prepare. They may need to chat with their boss or an HR advisor as to salary and benefit policies. When was the last time you sat down with your boss for a performance review? That’s an optimal time to negotiate your salary.

If you’re interviewing, avoid talking about salary expectations in the first half of your interview. These discussions are usually held in the middle or near the end. Why? Because when you’re interviewing you need at least half if not more of that time to prove to your potential employer that you’re worth it.

Be flexible as you negotiate. If your employer or potential employer can’t pull through with exactly the salary you want try to negotiate for greater benefits, a bigger training and development budget or more time off. Suggest a pay for performance, bonus or commission structure. You can even negotiate to have your salary reviewed more often – 6 months vs. 12 months down the road.

If you feel it’s appropriate, get a few different offers. This gives you more bargaining power.

Raises and job opportunities can take some time to come to fruition. Be realistically patient and use the time to sharpen your skills. Going forward, do everything you can to enhance your person brand and contribution to the organization. That way you’re more marketable in good times and bad.

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Charitable giving has become an essential piece of a financial plan. In fact, studies have shown that philanthropy is one of the top three characteristics that wealthy people share – the other two characteristics are spending wisely and investing for the future. On average, self-made millionaires give approximately 10 per cent of their earnings to charities they feel strongly about. So, if you earned $50,000, 10 per cent equates to $5,000 in annual giving.

Some people feel that giving to charity will set them back financially. But research shows it actually has the opposite affect. There’s a return on investment (ROI) when you invest in your community. But, rather than getting a dollar return, which is typical of a financial investment, you benefit through expanded networks, increased sales, leadership opportunities, promotions, marketing opportunities, job offers, publicity and much more. Additionally, Revenue Canada thinks giving is a good idea and will provide you with an attractive tax credit.

People give for different reasons – perhaps they’ve been touched by a cause, or they want to enhance their personal brand, or they want to be recognized or maybe they’re being peer-pressured by friends or at work. But, whatever your motivation, when you give of your time, talent and money, it demonstrates leadership, and people, like your employer or customers, will pay attention to that.

I know it’s hard to find extra dollars to give. You’re probably working hard to save 10 per cent into your RRSP or paying off your debts. But, giving doesn’t just happen. You have to plan to make it happen, just like you’re like you’re creating a financial plan which focuses on building net worth. And you can give in various ways – some charities need money, others need volunteers or both. If you’re feeling stretched financially, start small, then grow your giving. When I was starting out and had just bought my first house, money was tight. But, I still found a way to give back. I started volunteering: building a playground at the local women’s shelter, raising money for United Way, serving lunches at the homeless shelter and packing hampers at the food bank. It wasn’t long before I was settled into my new life and was able to start giving dollars back too.

Now I am a board member for YWCA of Canada, I sit on a think-tank committee for the University of Alberta, I volunteer, advise and give to the Canadian Women’s Foundation and I spend time promoting financial literacy in schools. I make it a priority to share my time, lend my skills and give my money to causes in which I believe in strongly. And because I support my community, my community supports me.

Here are some tips to help you get started.

First, do a little soul searching and think about what causes are meaningful to you. Has your family been impacted by a particular illness? Do you love the arts? Do children’s sports camps make your heart melt? Perhaps you had a great college or university experience?

Next, start surfing websites of organizations you’re passionate about. If you don’t know of any, visit sites like www.canadahelps.org, Volunteer Alberta, Volunteer Calgary or Volunteer Edmonton to learn about how you can help charities that you’re passionate about. See if you can come up with one or two organizations you can make your “charity of choice.”

When it comes to donating money, there are two different roads to take:  First, you can give small amounts to many charities – $20 here and $50. Maybe you’ve got 10 colleagues running or biking for various causes throughout the year and you give $50 to each of them. When you spread out your donations, many charities benefit.

Or, you can select one or two organizations to focus your donations on, thus they benefit from more of your dollars than if you were to spread out your donation across 15 organizations.

I recommend that if and when you do come up with one or two charities of choice, focus on giving more to them, rather than spreading out your money to random organizations you may not feel as strongly about. That way your dollars have a bigger impact for a cause you’re passionate about.

When you’re ready, start contributing to your charities of choice regularly – perhaps $50 a month. Then every year, grow the amount that you give.

Check if your employer has a matching program whereby they’ll match your contribution up to a certain amount. Also see if they’ll support your volunteering by giving you time off or allowing you to host meetings at your office.

Once you’ve developed a relationship with your charities of choice, explore other ways you can help or lead the organization towards major success. In 2008, for example, I put my financial skills to use and helped the Canadian Women’s Foundation launch the first charitable Initial Public Offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Our goal was to raise $1 million and we’re more than halfway there!

Philanthropy is so important because it helps to build safe, healthy, growing communities. Giving goes beyond donating money. Charities require volunteers to deliver programs and fundraise and they need strategic direction from board and committee members.

If you ever catch yourself wallowing in self-pity about what little money you have, go volunteer at the food bank or homeless shelter. You’ll quickly realize your life isn’t that bad. Regardless of your age, income bracket or financial status, you can still give back, whether through time, talent, or dollars.

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According to recent polls, Canadians aren’t very happy. Though we have more material things than ever before, hyper consumption has resulted in record high personal debt levels and when you layer on job instability still lingering from the recession, its no wonder people are extremely stressed, anxious, and burnt ou

On top of this, more than 80% of Canadian couples are reporting that they’re fighting with their partner about money, resulting in money problems being sited as the leading cause of separation and divorce[1].

Say goodbye to doom and gloom and cheer up! There’s a solution for our sad predicament – and it’s better than any therapy you could pay for. The secret is to keep money matters simple by sticking to tried and true financial principles so that you can focus on what’s truly important in life – your personal well being and relationships.

Money can’t buy you happiness, but it gives you options. When you have it, you can support your lifestyle and choose to do what you want to do. But, when you’re broke and owe money, your choices are limited – pay up or the bank will repossess your car.

Sharpen your skills through first hand experience and education. If you’ve been on financial auto pilot, switch it off and take an interest in money. Though you may not like to deal with money, it’s irresponsible to ignore it. Start by checking your bank account and credit card transactions online each week.

Read financial books and articles. Go to free financial planning workshops offered by your local municipality or employer. Talk to a financial representative from your local bank and ask questions about products and services. Generally, if you can’t understand the product, don’t use. Do more research and get a second opinion.

Shift your mindset from living pay-cheque to pay-cheque to keeping what you’ve worked so hard to earn. This means developing a budget where you spend less than you make and sticking to it. Once your budget it set up, track your progress. Try out budget calculators through your online bank or www.moneyville.ca.

If you’re in a relationship, it’s even more important to use a budget so that you can plan your future, hold each other accountable and avoid money fights. The key here is to ensure both partners feel they have an equal say in what goes into budget.

Next, if you can’t pay cash for something, it’s probably because you can’t afford it. If you’re overspending, cut back on some of the small things like coffees and drinks out with friends. Also, try taking out your spending money from the ATM once a week or once a month and leave your bank card at home. Cash is harder to part with than swiping or charging for a purchase so you’ll think twice about your must-have purchase. If you’re tempted by credit cards, cut them up or hid them.

Take time with your purchases. Shop around, use a shopping list, wait a few days before making a big purchase and plan ahead for your expenses.

Spend your time on developing relationships and experiencing beautiful things in our world rather than spending money at the mall. Go for a hike, bike, run, visit friends, host a potluck, play games with your kids or spend time with your partner. Consider volunteering at a homeless shelter or the local food back. That’s always a good financial reality check to remind yourself you don’t have it that bad.

It’s critical to your financial health to set aside money for your future before you pay anyone else. So, contribute to a pension program through work or RRSP plan the day you get paid. Following that, pay your bills and eliminate debt. Save and pay bills before you hit up the latest hot restaurant with friends.

Focus on your financial goals. Think about where you want to be in 5, 10 or 25 years from now. How are you going to get there? To simplify your life, hire a financial advisor to help you set up a comprehensive plan which includes having insurance, investments, a debt reduction strategy and goals for the future.

Anytime you catch yourself sulking because your friend has a bigger house or nicer car, remember that they’re probably living on credit and have no money.

Being money savvy doesn’t need to be complicated and it will reduce your stress level. Stick with a financial plan, pay down your debt and grow your assets.

Precisely what Boyle is up to in the bucolic countryside of southwest England is the subject of widespread fascination, a bit of envy and a healthy dose of popular skepticism. (It’s also the subject of his just-published book, The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living.)

About two years ago, the Bristol native began a bold experiment. Inspired by Gandhi’s advice that people ought to be the change they want to see in the world, he quit money. Like people who give up smoking only to take up compulsive gum-chewing, Boyle walked away from credit cards, cash and utility bills and enthusiastically plunged into a life of foraged food, homemade toothpaste and compost toilets. By the time the global economy dropped off a cliff in mid-2008, Boyle was picking nettles for tea on a leafy organic farm and learning how to make paper out of mushrooms. “I’m a very, very ordinary person,” he stresses. “If I can do this, then there’s no reason why the vast majority of people couldn’t.”

He may be onto something. Even as the U.S. Federal Reserve plans its second round of so-called “quantitative easing” – essentially a money-printing program designed to buy the country out of its current rut – a marginal segment of industrialized society is going to extraordinary lengths to eschew money altogether. So-called “freegans” dedicated to salvaging what others waste roam rust-belt cities in the U.S. They squat in foreclosed homes, dumpster dive and avoid currency at every turn. At the more extreme end of the spectrum is a guy named Daniel Suelo. He lives in a cave in Utah, scavenges for clothing and food from a nearby town, and sometimes eats road kill.

What a guy like Suelo lacks in a discriminating palette, he makes up for in brains; the moneyless tribe does not appear to want for education. Suelo graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in anthropology and worked as an assistant lab technician in hospitals before taking to the hills, according to the online magazine Details. Meanwhile, “freegans” encountered by New York Times writer Jake Halpern “seemed to be iconoclastic young people from middle-class backgrounds living some version of the freegan dream.”

For Boyle, six years spent studying economics at Galway University in Ireland failed to answer deep-seated questions about the world’s ills. Sweatshops remain prevalent. Factory farms proliferate. Pockets of the world are plagued by resource wars. Climate change advances. Environmental degradation continues unchecked – on his blog, he writes that the term “ecology” was conspicuously absent from most course outlines. Connecting it all was – is – money. It’s the wedge that separates consumers from the consumed. So hey, why not get rid of it?

“People often say this is a very extreme act,” he reflects, speaking on a crackly connection from his solar-powered cellphone, which only accepts incoming calls and doesn’t tie him to a contract. But consider the challenges, he urges. With polar ice caps retreating and a global economy still reeling from some of capitalism’s worst excesses, “How can we expect the solutions to be moderate?”

Hold on a minute. Nobody likes forking over money to monolithic utilities, let alone rolling coins to deposit at the bank. But you don’t suddenly decide one day, after dabbling in a bit of Gandhi’s finer works, to pack up your belongings, including your houseboat, find a used caravan on Freecycle.org and settle down in a quiet corner of pastoral England. Sorry pal, it doesn’t work that way. Find another outlet for your middle-class guilt.

And yet, Boyle’s decision was not made in haste. It was preceded by more than a decade of research and personal exploration. “It was something that I was looking for,” he says, describing the life change. “I spent years in different activist-type roles and it just felt like fire-fighting.” Besides, he notes, economics isn’t limited to the mindless grab for capital. “That’s how it’s bandied about, but it’s also about meeting your needs.”

For some people, that might mean putting gasoline in a tank or food in the fridge and clothes on little kids’ backs. For Boyle, it means tending a veggie patch, where by necessity he grows food locally and according to season. He also forages and barters for grub, and sometimes checks dumpsters behind local supermarkets for choice leftovers. Mornings are spent picking nettles for tea. He cooks on a hand-fashioned, wood-burning stove, travels by bicycle and uses repurposed newsprint for toilet paper. He cheats a little – in exchange for three days’ work each week on the farm he cops a free Internet signal – but otherwise remains committed to a moneyless life. “I’m still doing it. It’s not just a one-year experiment anymore.”

Nor is he oblivious to the very obvious irony that living without money is in part facilitated by a technology – the web – that has made conspicuous consumption so much easier. As far as freebies go, websites like Freelender.org, Letsallshare.com, Ecomodo.com and Freegle (ilovefreegle.org) facilitate sharing on an unprecedented scale. Boyle’s own website connects like-minded spendthrifts in what he calls a “Freeconomic Community.”

The domain was paid for by money he got from selling his houseboat. So, could he survive without the web? “In a really sane world we wouldn’t need a website that facilitated sharing of goods or skills,” he replied. “We’d just be able to do that in our own lives because we knew our neighbours. But we’ve come a million miles from that point.” He calls the Internet a “transitional tool,” necessary “because we’re just not there yet.” There, presumably, is some sort of cashless idyll, a mash-up of resilient economics, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and the slow food movement.

But money is not entirely frivolous. Boyle’s book is sold via Amazon.com and through the Guardian’s online bookstore. Proceeds from the how-to guide are earmarked for a land trust. The plan is to buy some land near Bristol and start a “Freeconomic Community,” where those with a shared aversion to currency can swap skills and generally learn how to make do with less. Boyle bats back the suggestion that he’s starting a commune. “I wouldn’t use that word,” he says. “We’re calling it a village, because I think more people can relate to a village. I wouldn’t see it as a commune. I would see it as a normal village, a village with a localized economy.”

And there’s the rub, really. Boyle isn’t the Kool-Aid drinking sort. Are there holes in his philosophy? Probably. Does he care? Not really. The point is to showcase an alternative. Stock market rallies, resource-driven boom-bust cycles – there is more to life than the efficient deployment of capital, he suggests. Money may make the world turn, but it isn’t real. “I’m not saying I’ve got all the answers to life’s major problems, not even close,” he says. “But I do want people to question their own conditioned thinking.”

Literacy is taken for granted in Canada. Everyone, we assume, can read. But trading letters for numbers leaves many well-read Canucks out of their depth. How good are Canadians at reading a bank statement, let alone a balance sheet?

In the 2009 federal budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty set in motion a Financial Literary Task Force. Its intention was simply to “strengthen the financial literacy of Canadians.” (Unbeknownst to the writer, Unlimited’s publisher Ruth Kelly is a member of the task force.)

While the country knows its ABCs, Canadians are a little fuzzier on terms like ROI and CPI – which are “return on investment” and “consumer price index”. We understand that “colour” should be spelled with a “u” but few understand the Rule of 72. Financial illiteracy is a problem. It’s a problem that regulators, teachers and money managers are trying to fix.

Margareta Hinrichsen of Alberta Distance Learning pushed to have a new online program called “The City” approved for teachers to use in the classroom. The course puts financial literacy front and centre, and teaches high-schoolers that credit is not cash, and outlines the beginnings of the relationship between risk and return in investments. It’s a major improvement on the lifeless modules previously taught from books and booklets. “I don’t know if you know this,” Hinrichsen quietly says, “but teachers aren’t that good at handling money.”

Hinrichsen worked in the banking industry before she started as a teacher. Rather than the blind leading the blind, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada and the British Columbia Securities Commission developed the City to build financial literacy right from junior-high and high school. The lessons however, would also benefit an older crowd. Hinrichsen tours Alberta giving presentations on the City, and trying to get teachers to adopt the course for their classrooms. During her presentations, she watches teachers’ reactions as they skim through the program’s outline. “They look at these and say ‘aha’ .” Programs like the City can benefit a wider audience than just high schoolers.

The danger with being a monetary simpleton is heightened when it comes time to invest that money.

Brett Blackwell is a senior wealth advisor with ScotiaMcLeod in Edmonton. He’s been managing investor’s money in various stocks, bonds and funds for more than 20 years. “The idea that you can read a book and then go and manage your money – to me – is pretty risky,” Blackwell says. “People have just as many bad experiences listening to their friends as they do listening to some investors.”

“The knee-jerk reaction is: I’ll do it myself.” Well, Blackwell warns, “If you’re going to do it yourself, you need to take a lot of time to educate yourself.” Many people turn to money managers like Blackwell for professional handling of their money. He says he turns on his computer every morning and studies the market all day.

He says there’s nothing worse than a green-horn investor. “They’ll usually do something high risk to start, and if it works out, they’re totally over-confident. That is the worst thing, the absolute worst thing.”

“The idea that you’re going to do two-and-a-half times what the market has done over time – that’s Warren Buffet and he’s a phenomenon.” That’s true. The market has grown at a rate of nine per cent over the last fifty years, and Blackwell says, the number of professional money managers that outperform the market is less than 20 per cent. “So if you’re going to start with the premise that you’re as good as Warren Buffet, you’re already setting yourself up with incredibly unrealistic expectations.”

Realistically, investments should look to build wealth long-term not be a get-rich-quick money-management gamble. “If you just start early, take a conservative approach… if investors grow their money at seven or eight percent, you’re going to have more money than you know what to do with,” he says, adding that “you need to make 25 per cent if you want to get rich quick.”

In a new television ad, The Cheque, aimed at older audiences that have made bad investments, a middle-aged man is seen holding a cheque and explaining the difference between a loan and a gift. The audience is led to believe that the daughter is asking for money, when in fact, the father is promising to repay the loan. He is emphasizing again and again that it’s not a gift, and that he will repay his daughter, as the Alberta Securities Commission logo appears on screen. The punch is that older investors will be a burden on their children if they’re not careful investors, who take the time to learn.

The ad, like the ASC courses which run through the year, is another step in the battle against financial illiteracy. The ASC runs courses at Mount Royal College in Calgary and Metro Continuing Education in Edmonton. In addition to a YouTube channel, the ASC also markets the City for new investors and offers other courses and online modules for people who want to learn more.

“If a teacher wants to use some of these concepts with their junior high class, they can contact us and get a free copy of the program,” says Lorinda Brinton, senior advisor for investor education at the Alberta Securities Commission. “Heck, even people in their 20s and 30s can use it as well,” she says. “It’s never too late to learn.” Brinton says the ASC courses run through Mount Royal and Metro are often full, and that enrolment has been consistent – even through the boom and bust economic cycle.

The entire point of financial education for adults, is to make people understand what happens to do their money, and why it’s important to be careful. Lest investors end up like the father pictured in ASC’s TV ad, “Take some time, think about it before you jump in,” Brinton says.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Hinrichsen and Blackwell. Blackwell tells people to come back to earth: “Be realistic, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.” More than that, he says, “The better it sounds, the more homework you’d better do. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

“I think you should always be careful,” he laughs, “I didn’t think there was any other way to invest.”

It’s been said that Canada is on the verge of becoming a post-Christian country, a place where religion is no more politically or culturally relevant than any other form of group identity. Indeed, in February of this year the Globe and Mail raised the subject of the secularization of Canada in an article titled “Anglican Church facing the threat of extinction.” But while traditional religions may be waning in popularity, Canadians have flocked to a new form of faith: home ownership.

Over the last 25 years, the owned home has been transformed from a commercial transaction into an object of existential aspirations. As prices have risen ever higher, more and more Canadians have become convinced that home ownership isn’t just a life goal but the life goal, a prerequisite for any kind of personal success. That attitude has been actively fostered by the government programs that incentivize and subsidize home ownership and amplified by the noisy rabble of real estate agents, mortgage brokers and HGTV executives who exaggerate its pleasures.

So pervasive is its cultural influence, and so unassailable are its apparent merits, that the idea of home ownership has taken on almost religious properties. Like most organized religions, the community of Canadian homeowners is populated by true believers, people of common values who gather in houses of worship – presale showrooms, home show convention floors and Ikea outlets are the most common venues – in order to exercise their faith in the virtues of home ownership.

In recent years, though, that faith in home ownership has started to take on the properties of a more sinister form of worship: the cult. Home ownership moved from being an optional life choice to a mandatory experience, a form of fulfillment that could only be achieved by signing mortgage papers. Those who couldn’t afford to buy a home – or, even worse, those who chose not to – were increasingly victimized by well-meaning friends and acquaintances looking to convince them, using the same combination of shame and bullying that has driven many others in the past into more traditional cults, that buying a home was something they had to do. They’d be “left behind,” they were told (sound familiar?), by a market that was going up, up and away. Saying no was an inexcusable expression of either cowardice or stupidity, and attempts to suggest that their God (the capital gain) might not exist were met with the same mixture of hostility and pity that a Scientologist would get from a roomful of university professors.

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of Canada and the deacon of this movement’s Canadian chapter, appears to be having some second thoughts about the path that his flock is following. In a recent sermon – err, speech – he counselled restraint and reserve, noting that Canadians had overindulged themselves on the buffet of low-interest credit that was laid out for them over the last two years in the hopes of stimulating consumer spending and staving off the worst effects of the recession. Almost all of that imprudent spending, unsurprisingly, has gone towards real estate and related purchases.

Carney’s sudden call for fiscal prudence has all the credibility of a drug dealer telling his clients not to get too stoned, which might explain why those clients aren’t listening. For all the secular sermons that Carney and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty have delivered recently to Canadian homeowners about the importance of fiscal prudence and the impact of impending increases in interest rates on mortgage payments, they continue to double down on real estate and assume what were only a generation ago regarded as suicide-inducing levels of personal debt in the pursuit of the virtues of home ownership.

But if the Bank of Canada’s low-interest lending policy is the crack cocaine that fuelled the real estate market’s recent highs, the gateway drug that facilitated its consumption is the reverential attitude that Canadians have towards home ownership. In an article in the Calgary Herald titled “Desire to own homes overcame tough times,” Michael Polzler, the executive vice-president of Re/Max operations in Ontario and Atlantic Canada noted that “While low interest rates were a principal factor driving home-buying activity, no one can discount the value that Canadians place in owning a home.”

Polzler’s quote underscores the fact that the zeal associated with home ownership has distorted the choice between renting and owning from being a rational economic decision to a moral one, potentially blinding thousands of Canadians to both the virtues of renting their homes and the risks attached to owning it. This narrative, one that associates values like stability, cohesion and prosperity with ownership and shiftless transiency and economic illiteracy with renting, has taken root in the minds of most Canadians. With governments creating various incentives and programs that encourage ownership, the banks providing the easy credit and the industry spokespeople relentlessly spinning the facts and figures – ones that they usually create themselves – they have managed to transform a rational choice into a universal aspiration, and in so doing make home ownership look like a leap that only a self-destructive idiot wouldn’t take.

In America, where almost one in four homeowners are now underwater, the old prejudices towards renting and those who engage in it have softened considerably. But in Canada, where the real estate market has (so far) managed to survive a deep global recession, renting is still looked down upon as an economic activity that sits somewhere between collecting bottles and trading junk bonds in our collective cultural hierarchy. Those who do it by choice are regarded in the same way as a self-identified communist might have been 25 years ago: an eccentric figure whose views would be subject to ridicule if they weren’t so obviously ridiculous.

Unlike communism, though, there is a credible case for renting as a rational form of economic behaviour. The notion that renting amounts to a waste of money only slightly less egregious than simply lighting it on fire is a widely held one in North American society, and it’s actively fuelled by bankers, real estate agents and other professionals with a vested interest in promoting home ownership. Only a fool, aspiring homeowners and the real estate agents and mortgage brokers enabling them say, would choose to pay down their landlord’s mortgage when they could be paying down their own.

But like most pieces of conventional wisdom, this particular chestnut is a monumental oversimplification of what should be a complicated decision. When the costs of renting and owning are roughly equivalent, renting might well be a wasteful economic decision, but it’s been a long time since that was the case in Canada’s major markets. In places like Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, where the price of the average home is anywhere from five to a remarkable 10 times the median income of the average homebuyer (the definition of “extremely unaffordable” is 5.1 and above, according to market research firm Demographia), renting compares very favourably to owning.

Ironically, in these kinds of overheated markets, many new homeowners remain de facto renters, as the combination of low down payments and rising prices create degrees of financial leverage that negate the vaunted forced savings effect of home ownership that real estate agents and mortgage brokers love talking up as a benefit of buying. Instead of wasting their money by paying their landlord’s mortgage as renters, they’re now wasting it on interest-heavy mortgage payments.

When the hidden costs of ownership are factored in, from property taxes and common fees to mortgage insurance, real estate agent commissions and provincial taxes, home ownership starts to look downright reckless. As David Crook wrote in a 2007 piece for the Wall Street Journal, home ownership isn’t nearly the bargain that most of us think it is. “Boom market or bust,” he observed, “homebuying has so many extra costs – from upfront “points” paid to a lender to title insurance and appraisal fees – that over the first five to seven years, a renter who invests the equivalent of a down payment in stocks could easily do better overall than a house buyer. Compounding that problem: Most homeowners move within seven years.”

What about price appreciation? Over the last 15 years, home prices in Canada and the United States have marched determinedly upward in one of the longest real estate bull markets in history, one whose pitch has been so steep at times that it spawned an entire industry of parasitical speculators who made easy money buying up properties and flipping them months later for a healthy profit. The proliferation of these flippers, and the ease with which they appeared to make their money, became so striking that it encouraged many people to think of real estate as an asset that “always goes up.”

A longer view of the situation reveals a less predictable pricing environment, though. Robert Shiller, the Yale economist who correctly predicted both the dot-com and American housing bubbles, has a century’s worth of data that demonstrates that over the length of the average mortgage, the price of a home in the United States barely outpaces the rate of inflation. Even in the best of conditions, real estate can be a dubious financial proposition. Despite the remarkable run-up in prices over the last decade in Canada’s hottest market, if you bought a home in Vancouver in 1992, at the tail end of the last significant correction, UBC’s Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate’s calculations indicate that you would have only seen the inflation-adjusted value of your home rise by an annual rate of 5.3 per cent, barely better than the return you might see on a GIC. There’s a reason people used to routinely refer to houses as “money pits.”

Yet even in the face of what looked like the beginning of a real estate correction in the spring of 2009, Canadians remained resolute in the preference they expressed for owning rather than renting their homes. In June of that year, a national survey commissioned by Genworth Financial Canada and conducted by the Environics Research Group revealed that of the 2,521 people surveyed, 88 per cent said they would feel more financially secure owning their own home. This survey offers an underappreciated window of insight into the mind of the average Canadian homeowner, and demonstrates just how little rational economic self-interest really has to do with the widespread pursuit of home ownership. After all, a clear-headed and honest assessment of the relative merits and drawbacks of owning and renting should be an effective buffer against the kind of cult-like mania that has gripped the real estate markets over the last decade, but still the mania persists, as anybody with a Grade 12 education who’s paid even the slightest degree of attention to the real estate pages in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton or Toronto ought to understand.

This mania’s endurance has a lot less to do with the forces of supply and demand than its industry advocates might like to argue. Instead, it is the result of decades of cultural brainwashing on the part of the real estate industry and its various accomplices in the worlds of government and finance that have made an unemotional evaluation of the financial merits of home ownership next to impossible for the average homebuyer. Together, they have convinced millions of North Americans that owning real estate is more an existential transaction than a financial one. The position of homeowner, one that was once not much different than that of “blender owner,” has become an exalted one in our culture, while the owned home has evolved from a building with a bed into an unambiguous marker of success and status. Indeed, the quest for home ownership has become so universal and so feverishly pursued that one almost expects “Peace, order and granite countertops” to be installed as Canada’s new guiding principle.

Governments across the western world have encouraged this confusion by using the owned home as a proxy for a wide variety of causes, from anti-communist nationalism in the 1950s to middle-class family values in the 1990s. As Elisabeth Eaves wrote in Forbes magazine in a July 2007 article, “Homeownership has been touted as civic responsibility, ‘moral muscle’ and a bulwark against communism. A 1922 pamphlet from the National Association of Real Estate Boards even promised that it would put the “MAN back in MANHOOD.” Over the years, it has been claimed that homeowners vote more, join more voluntary associations, take better care of their residences and have better-educated kids.” As Thomas Sugrue observed in a piece for the Wall Street Journal in 2009, “To own a home is to be American. To rent is to be something less.”

These governments didn’t just talk about the importance of home ownership, either. On both sides of the border and both sides of the political spectrum, elected officials have used their legislative and financial clout to create substantial incentives to home ownership. In the United States, Freddy Mac and Fanny Mae were created, while in Canada the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation was created by the Government of Canada after the Second World War to fulfill a similar purpose. Those measures reached an absurd zenith in the United States in the late 1990s and first years of the new century, as the invention of creative financing measures allowed people who had no business owning homes – most infamously, those without either incomes or jobs, who received the so-called NINJA loans from particularly adventurous banks – to participate in the orgy of home ownership. Those policies, in the words of Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi, amounted to “writing mortgages on the backs of napkins to cocktail waitresses and ex-cons carrying five bucks and a Snickers bar.”

Yet even this cautionary tale, one that has forced millions of Americans into foreclosures and left millions more with negative equity in their homes, hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm that Canadians feel about the semi-spiritual virtues of home ownership. When asked by those same Environics researchers if “owning a home provides a greater sense of emotional well-being and security,” 84 per cent said that it does. Even those who understand the financial and personal sacrifices associated with home ownership, from higher monthly payments and the risks associated with a depreciating market to more mundane inconveniences like cleaning the eavestroughs and replacing the hot water heater, still believe that they made the right decision. When asked if they’d rather own than rent “even though home ownership may mean more work and effort,” 85 per cent of respondents agreed.

That figure may represent a high-water mark, though. With interest rates due to rise – and likely to double at the very least – over the next five years, it’s almost inevitable that today’s home owners will see their mortgage payments increase in the future. House prices, meanwhile, look ready to start marching in the opposite direction. CIBC World Markets recently issued a report warning that Canadian homes are overvalued by almost 12 per cent, with markets in the west showing signs of being particularly overheated. In that report, economist Warren Lovely notes that “It’s in B.C. and Alberta where housing prices have overshot fair market value by the largest margin… with an ongoing correction expected to dull residential construction activity and blunt consumer enthusiasm.”

If that happens, many – perhaps even millions – of Canadian homeowners are going to find themselves caught in a financial equivalent of a pincer movement, trapped between rising mortgage payments on one side and falling home values on the other. Like most cults, it will be those who bought into the lie most earnestly who will suffer the consequences of its exposure the most. It won’t be the central bankers, the developers or the elected officials who abetted the housing market’s unchecked orgy who will feel the pain. Instead, it will be felt by the young couple that just recently signed a zero-down mortgage at 2.5 per cent on a $500,000 house and will have to spend the rest of their 30s eating Kraft Dinner and enjoying romantic nights out at the public library when interest rates naturally rebound to more normal levels, their monthly payments balloon and their dream home becomes a liability. For them and the thousands of other Canadians who are undercapitalized, overleveraged or otherwise unsuited for the challenges of home ownership, the vaunted dream of real estate will become a nightmare from which they cannot escape.

The good news, if there is any in all this, is that the demise of the cult of real estate in Canada may return the market to a more natural point of equilibrium. With it, the kind of near-insane behaviour associated with real estate transactions that have become commonplace might again begin to look as crazy as they truly are. People might stop engaging in ludicrous bidding wars for clapboard teardowns in Leslieville and East Vancouver, or spending half a million dollars on a condominium that is barely bigger than a bus shelter and is located in a neighbourhood with more crack houses than coffee shops. If we’re truly lucky, we might even get back to a point where people buy homes because they can afford them, not because they feel they can’t afford not to.

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Art, in whatever form, is valuable because it enhances our lives. It’s supposed to be emotional and cause you to react. It can be beautiful, satirical, sad, disturbing, funny etc. Art is personal and should reflect your tastes.

Through careful selection of quality and smart shopping, art can be affordable and may even grow in value. Of course it doesn’t make sense to purchase a Botaro sculpture while you’re hacking away at student loans and a mortgage. But, as your career and income grows, you can plan ahead for artistic expenditures, stick to a realistic budget and avoid expensive payment plans. Think of it like this; if there’s a $5,000 painting or sculpture you’re dying to have, start saving $420 monthly or use your bonus or tax return.

When you’re ready to buy, take your time, shop around; speak to professionals like a gallery director. A good gallery director will spend time with you to help you find a piece of art you love and that’s within your budget. Research artists, auction houses, and galleries through personal referrals and on the Internet. If you need help deciding on a particular style you like, visit many galleries and comb through websites of museums, or even www.art.com.

If you’re thinking of making an investment in art, investigate how many pieces from the artist exist, where they’re sold and whether critics have been favourable. Many pieces of art or an artist in general have a sales history and if you see the artist’s pieces selling at increase prices, that’s a good sign their work may hold its value. It’s important to note though that art prices can be volatile. If you really like a piece, get a second opinion. Ideally, you’ll invest money in art which touches your soul and doesn’t break the bank.

These days, galleries offer payment plans for pieces of art. While in Maui this past year, I investigated the origin on these plans and learned they’re being used primarily by the 20 to 30-something crowd. One gallery representative explained that payment plans make art affordable. However, like a car loan or credit card, these plans can have hefty interest rates and inflexible repayment schedules. Avoid going into debt for art. Because the value of art can be volatile; and therefore it can’t be considered good debt.

Don’t forget about other forms of art like theater, music, literature, dance, food and travel. Many communities or government organizations sponsor festivals which people can enjoy for free or inexpensively. Libraries or book shops may host a literary event, or a local government could sponsor a lunchtime Shakespeare play. If you travel, investigate local hot spots for the arts. You may find a jazz bar or cheap tickets for Broadway. Most communities have associations that promote local events through newsletters, Facebook or websites. Additionally, many corporations sponsor artistic events. So, check with your employer or corporate social club to see if you get special pricing on tickets or freebies.

Part of any good financial plan, besides saving and investing for the future and reducing debt, is social responsibility. The arts are an important part of our community and should be supported monetarily and through volunteering. Not only does giving make you feel good, there’s a return on investment and it shows up in a variety of ways – promotions at work, an increased network, enhanced sales, marketing, PR and leadership opportunities. One of the most affordable ways to infuse art into your life is through giving – join a fund raising committee for your local art gallery, teach an acting class, donate to a painting program, write articles for a travel magazine.

You don’t have to buy a Van Gogh to enjoy art. There are affordable and smart ways to infuse the arts into your lifestyle and business surroundings. And, that’s the beauty of art. Whether it’s painting to culinary experiences, the arts bring people together from all backgrounds and bank accounts.

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Paying for post-secondary and graduate education is challenging. I know first-hand how it feels to be slapped with a $10,000 bill for tuition, books, and supplies each year.

When you choose to hit the books for two, three, four, or five years, you forfeit immediate income-earning opportunities; you’re typically not working full time. So while some of your friends are bringing home a nice paycheque each month, you’re doing just the opposite: spending money on education.

An undergraduate degree in Canada costs, on average, between $30,000 to $50,000. Graduate and doctorate programs can cost upward of $70,000 to $100,000. Most graduates leave post-secondary with at least $20,000 to $30,000 in student debt.

So, the underlying question is, is it worth it? The answer is “Yes!” Getting an education is exceptionally valuable. I’m not just talking about college and university. I’m also talking about trade, technical and apprenticeship programs. Your long-term income-earning ability is anywhere from a few hundred thousand dollars to over a million dollars greater than a high school graduate’s[1].

Research has shown that education is an incredibly valuable asset and a big part of developing a strong personal brand. Educated people not only earn more money, but also enjoy a higher quality of life because they have more choices in terms of their career opportunities and lifestyle.

Statistics Canada conducted the National Graduate’s Survey based on 2006 census data. Over a 40 year period, college grads are expected to earn $200,000 more than a high school grad, a Bachelor’s degree holder is expected to earn $745,000 more and a post-bachelor degree holder will earn $1.2 million more than a high school grad. [2]

The US Department of Labour and Census Bureau conduced a study in 2004 that suggested that 75 per cent of future jobs will require some type of post-secondary education. Additionally, they found that jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree would grow twice as fast as national average for other occupations.

If you know you’re going to hit the books, try saving for school in advance. Tuck away regular amounts of money through automatic bank deductions into a Guaranteed Investment Certificate, money market mutual fund or high interest savings account. Each is low risk, earns stable returns and can be accessed when the time comes to pay your fees. To make this even more beneficial, save within your Tax Free Savings Account so that your money can grow tax free.

Also, consider working while you’re going to school. Check with your current employer to see if they will be able to accommodate your school schedule. If you’ve done good work, companies will often want to keep you on part-time or even allow you to work remotely from wherever you go to school. Second, check out if there are any part-time jobs on campus. The libraries, restaurants, stores, fitness centres, and so on need staff. Within your own faculty there may be opportunities to help with academic research or various studies, or you could become a teaching assistant. Third, if you’re studying a particular subject like engineering or education, look for student-friendly employment within your field of expertise. This is a great way to apply what you’re learning and have employers test out your skills. Fourth, don’t forget about entrepreneurial ideas. If you’ve got a special skill such as photography or fitness training, use it to make money.

I’d recommend applying for scholarships. Your effort combined with the right qualifications can result in thousands of dollars of free educational money. The registrar’s office or library on your campus will have information on scholarships, bursaries, and income assistance.

Additionally, apply for government student loans. Student loans must be repaid in regular installments once you graduate. The interest rates are competitive and you can write off the interest after graduation. Student loans often have associated grants and bursaries which you can apply for. Visit Canada’s student loan website for general student loan information www.canlearn.ca. If you don’t qualify for scholarships, student loans, grants and bursaries, pay for school through a student line of credit. Lines of credit are available through most financial institutions and have highly competitive interest rates with flexible repayment plans.

Yes, there are very successful people in North America who don’t have post-secondary education. But this phenomenon is becoming less common because the corporate cultural norm has changed: education is critical.

[2] http://www.millenniumscholarships.ca/images/Publications/090623_POK1_backgrounder_EN.pdf