Financial coaching will save you money
and make you money
The money you spend on financial coaching will reap rewards for years to come. Working with me, we can find ways to save money, get money, and earn money. Here are some ways you can earn a good return on your financial coaching investment:
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Learn how to use RRSPs most effectively
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Maximize your RESP grants
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Lower your income taxes
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Generate higher investment returns
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Pay less in investment fees
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Increase your confidence and reducing your anxiety (priceless)
Lowering your investment fees
Mutual funds are a good investment: you get instant diversification, access to hundreds of stocks, and you don't have to think about it too much. But mutual funds charge fees, which are embedded in funds. This means you don't actually write a cheque to the fund company, but your returns are reduced by the fees charged by the fund. You can read more about mutual funds here. These fees really make a difference over the long term. The alternative is to invest in ETFs, which have much lower fees. Here is an analysis of how paying a fee of 1.8% on a mutual fund versus paying 0.4% to invest in ETFs can make a difference on your investments over a 10-year period.
Saving on taxes
Paying your fair share of income tax is important. I am not one who obsesses about lowering my taxes, and I don't like convoluted strategies to pay less tax. However, there are easy and legitimate ways to pay less income tax that many people can use.
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Making your RRSP contributions in years when your income is higher
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Splitting income in retirement through spousal RRSPs, which works well when one spouse has a much larger RRSP account and/or a higher income than the other
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Structuring investments to even out retirement income between spouses by having the spouse with a lower RRSP balance catch up on their contributions to their RRSP while the other spouse pays the mortgage and other expenses
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Using RESPs to pay for your children's education
Catching up on missed RESP money
When you put money into an RESP, the government contributes 20% of the first $2,500 you put in every year per child. If you haven't made the full contribution every year, you can over-contribute in future years to collect that missed grant money. This is valuable - think of it as a guaranteed 20% return on your investment.
Getting your money invested
If you're saving for a long-term goal like retirement, it's simply not good enough to have the money sitting in a savings account or in GICs. The rate of inflation is higher than what you earn in interest, which means the value of your money will actually diminish over time. You can read more on my views on this topic here. By working with a financial coach to get your money invested in the market, you will end up ahead financially over the long term, making your investment in coaching look like the best deal around!
