Posts tagged Kathryn
My Financial Goals for 2010
Jan 13th
As per the annual tradition since I’ve started Million Dollar Journey, it’s time to declare some financial goals for the New Year. As I’ve written before, I believe that setting realistic goals are important in making progress towards desired, bigger picture milestones. For me, one of my bigger picture financial goals is to be a millionaire (in net worth) by the year I turn 35. Setting these baby step financial goals help me stay the course.
As last years financial goals were somewhat of a success, I’m inclined to set similar type goals for 2010.
- Pay off Mortgage – With about $25,000 remaining on my mortgage balance, it’s well within striking distance to being paid off. It will be quite the personal achievement to have the mortgage paid off in less than 3 years. Providing things go as planned, we want to be mortgage free in 2010!
- Maximize TFSA’s – I was pretty slack with the TFSA’s in 2009, but I plan to change that in 2010. I plan to make good use of the $15,000 remaining in contribution room. My goal is to fully fund 2 TFSA accounts in 2010. As of this post, I only have 1 TFSA which was recently opened with Questrade.
- Optimize RRSP’s – With higher reported income for 2009, there should be plenty of RRSP contribution room available for 2010. However, with 2010 T4 income being questionable, I may only contribute enough to optimize taxation. However, I may simply max out my contribution but carry forward the RRSP deduction should 2010 prove to be a low income T4 year.
- Generate More Passive Income – After selling my rental properties, passive income has taken a major hit. The only remaining source of passive income is via Canadian dividend stocks in my leveraged portfolio. If stocks become attractively priced in 2010, I will become more aggressive in purchasing dividend equities.
- Consolidate Accounts – I have way too many accounts at various institutions. For example, I have 3 non-registered trading accounts with 3 different institutions. In 2010, my goal is to consolidate some of these accounts and simplify our finances.
- Blog Goals – Grow readership to 15,000 subscribers. As this site has become a large part of my life, I plan to put even more energy towards growing the readership. 15k subscribers is quite the jump from 8k at the beginning of 2009, but a nice round number to work towards.
If you would like some ideas for financial goals, check out Kathryn’s post listing 8 financial resolution ideas for 2010.
Care to share your financial goals for 2010? Feel free to use this thread as your personal finance goal diary. Big or small goals, it will help keep me motivated (and hopefully you) in knowing that readers are working towards achieving their financial goals as well.
Popular Posts:
- How capital Gains Tax Works
- How Dividend and Interest Income Tax Works
- Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)
- Top Cash Back Credit Cards in Canada
- Questrade Review
- Are Hybrid Vehicles Worth it?
- Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
Copyright 2010 MillionDollarJourney – All Rights Reserved
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Workplace Culture Shock: Adjusting to a New Company Culture
Jan 12th
I started a new job on January 4th. I had been at my previous job for over twelve years. I was deeply entrenched in the company culture. I knew how things worked. I knew how to dress, how to behave and how to interact with coworkers and supervisors. I knew who made the rules and how to get things done. I realized the day I showed up to interview for this job, that I had a whole new world to learn.
I heard recently that over 40% of new hires don’t make it past the first year and the reason for many was because they couldn’t fit in with the new company culture.
There may be times in your career where the only way of making more money is to change jobs. There are other situations where you’re going to have to find a new job. If you want to make it past the first year, you are going to want to integrate into the company or organizational culture.
Every workplace has its own organization culture. Most of this is unspoken although a lot can be learned from an employee manual if there is one.
Here is some advice on adjusting to a new company culture. Please feel free to add your own in the comments. I could use all the advice I can get!
Reserve judgement
When everything is different it’s easy to jump to conclusions about why things are done. Even if you are hired on as a new manager for a dysfunctional organization, don’t make changes in the first few weeks. Watch and observe how things are done. Take notes. Keep track. Figure out who has the power. Begin to understand the unspoken rules. Give it some time to understand the reasons behind the behaviour and you’ll be much more successful at understanding the root causes of any disfunction. It doesn’t mean you can’t change things later. You can. You just have to be careful about making change before you really understand the whole situation.
When in Rome
The day I showed up for my interview I was ridiculously overdressed. Everyone was wearing jeans. In my mind I was thinking, “Is it casual Tuesday or does everyone dress this way?” It turns out it’s a very casual workplace. It’s a good thing I didn’t go out and buy myself a fresh new business wardrobe. I would have had no place to wear it.
Was I surprised to learn that everyone eats lunch at their desk? Yes, I was. Did I keep quiet about it and eat lunch at my desk? Yes, I did.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
I hate looking incompetent. I was at my last job for long enough that I knew what I was doing and I did it well. In a new role, there is so much I have to learn. It’s ok to ask questions. You’re new. You’re not suppose to know how things work. Take your time in those first few weeks. Observe as much as you can and don’t be afraid to ask about anything you don’t understand. Yes, it’s humbling to admit you don’t know but it’s better than taking a guess at something or pretending to know more than you do.
Be prepared to make mistakes
Part of learning a new culture means making lots of mistakes. It’s more important to handle your mistakes well than to try to avoid them altogether. Mistakes are inevitable. They are also embarrassing. Day two of my new job I arrived at a scheduled meeting. I could tell something was wrong and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then one of the employees kindly explained that I was suppose to run the meeting. Oops. Next Tuesday I’ll be more prepared. It may have been tempting to get defensive and say, “Nobody told me!” Instead I laughed at my mistake and said, “Well, next time I’ll come more prepared!”
Beginning a new job can be exhausting. We live so much of our life on autopilot. When everything is new, autopilot is turned off. We’re meeting new people, remembering new names, learning new rules and new job skills. Even if you did the exact same thing at your last job, they’ll want it done differently at this one. You can still be professional while making mistakes in those first few weeks. Just remember to keep your sense of humour and learn from every mistake you make.
What is your advice for learning a new company culture?
Kathryn has been a staff writer for MDJ since January 2009. During the day she works in an office. In her off hours, she volunteers as a financial coach helping ordinary Canadians with the basics of money management. Kathryn, along with her husband and two children live in Ontario.
Popular Posts:
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- Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
Copyright 2010 MillionDollarJourney – All Rights Reserved
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Financial Values: Spending More & Spending Less
Jan 7th
Part of finding a balance in our spending habits means spending more money on things that enrich our lives and spending less money on things that don’t matter so much.
When I work with people as a financial coach, I often get them to do a values exercise. This happens after they’ve already tracked their spending for a month. Now that they know where there money is going, they need to decide if it’s going where they want it to go.
Part of this exercise involves filling in as many of these phrases as you can. Try to fill in five to ten at minimum but the more you can fill in, the better it will work. If you are married or in a serious relationship fill these out separately and then share them afterwards.
I don’t mind spending money on ______________ because ______________.
I don’t like spending money on ______________ because ______________.
There are no right or wrong answers. Writing them down can help you identify what is important to you and where you don’t mind spending money. It can also help you identify areas where you could really cut back to free up funds to spend in areas that align with your values.
I will share some of mine with you here.
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I don’t mind spending money on: |
I hate spending money on: |
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Recreation because I like to keep fit and spend time doing things as a family is important to me. |
Extended warranties because I think companies should guarantee their products without me having to buy extra insurance. |
|
Painters, repair people or someone to shovel my extraordinarily long sidewalk because it frees me up to spend more time doing what I enjoy. |
System access fees and activation fees because if you want my business, you’ll be clear about the actual charge and you won’t charge me extra to be a new customer. |
|
Ethnic food in restaurants because I have no hope of making something as good at home. |
Drinks in restaurants because I get the exact same thing at home for a fraction of the cost. |
|
A cell phone because knowing I can call someone in an emergency or the school can reach me if the kids get sick gives me significant peace of mind. |
Fundraising products if I can get it for significantly less elsewhere because I’d rather get a good deal on the product and write the school or team a cheque. |
|
Charitable giving because it helps people in need. |
Dry-cleaning because I can buy the shirt on sale for less than I could get it dry cleaned. |
|
Healthy food because my health is important to me and I like feed my family nutritious food. |
Regular food in restaurants because if I want a hamburger or chicken caesar, I can make a better one at home for less |
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Eyeglasses for family members because glasses become a part of their appearance and they way they view the world. I’d rather they had the best quality we can get. |
Membership fees to shop because I don’t want to pay money to shop in a store. |
Keep in mind that these are my values. It doesn’t mean they are values that anyone else should have. Each person will have their own set of values. I knew a family that lived extremely frugally and spent very little on decorating their house or on groceries. Yet every summer they’d travel to Europe to visit extended family. This was a family who recognized that it was more important to them to travel than it was to live in a well decorated house or eat expensive food.
This will also help you identify areas where you can budget to spend a little more freely. Knowing you’ll have enough money left in your budget for the things that matter to you makes saving on the things that don’t matter even easier.
The is the time of year when many make New Year’s resolutions. We’ve considered financial resolutions in the post on 8 Financial Resolutions, but when you think about some of your other resolutions, make sure you allow room in your budget to reach your goals. It’s ok to spend money. When you spend it in ways that are important to you and save money on things that aren’t as important, you can increase your personal standard of living without a huge hit to the budget. The trick is figuring out what those values are.
What are some things you don’t mind spending money on?
Kathryn works in public relations and training for a non profit. In her off hours, she volunteers as a financial coach helping ordinary Canadians with the basics of money management. Her passions include personal finance and adult education. Kathryn, along with her husband and two children live in Ontario.
Popular Posts:
- How capital Gains Tax Works
- How Dividend and Interest Income Tax Works
- Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)
- Top Cash Back Credit Cards in Canada
- Questrade Review
- Are Hybrid Vehicles Worth it?
- Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
Copyright 2010 MillionDollarJourney – All Rights Reserved
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New Year’s Money Resolutions
Jan 7th
Image Courtesy: Optical Illusion
The practice of New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way to Ancient Rome. Where we look at the past, examine our life and seek to make ourselves better for the New Year. These resolutions can include improving one’s health, getting rid of a bad habit, or re-prioritizing what’s important in our lives.
Typically, there are a few money-related resolutions that are popular: start budgeting, manage debt and save more money. However, there are many other money resolutions you should consider:
Clean Up Your Credit Reports
Sometimes mistakes can happen with your credit report. Someone made an error when applying a credit card payment. You were confused with another person. A Social Security Number was read incorrectly by a lender. Inaccurate information on your credit report can stop you from getting the credit you deserve. It’s important to contact the credit bureaus and dispute these credit mistakes.
Get Out of Debt
It’s not enough to just manage your debts, start a plan to get out of debt. That means making a list of all your debts, their interest rates, and minimum payments. Try to eliminate your highest interest rate payments first and then work your way down. Don’t exclude your secured debts, such as mortgage and car payments. Even as you pay down your debt, don’t reduce what you’ve set aside to pay off your debts. The more you put towards principal, the faster you’ll get out of debt.
Get Rid of the “Little Extras”
Sit down and figure out where your money is getting wasted. Then make a plan to eliminate that unnecessary expense. For example, my money waster was the morning latte on the way into work. At $3.86 a cup, I was spending $1,003.60 a year on lattes. So I bought a coffee machine and starting making my own lattes in the morning. The money from that little extra went towards my emergency fund.
Reduce Financial Stress
USA.gov lists reducing overall stress and work-related stress as popular New Year’s Resolutions. However with the recent economic turmoil and a slow recovery, financial stress is a serious issue that’s going to plague many Americans this year. There are many ways to manage your financial stress. Keep your problems in perspective, and work towards improving your finances. Get support from your family and friends. Exercise or start a low cost hobby to reduce stress.
Increase Your Financial Literacy
Knowledge is power. The more you know about credit, debt and money, the better you can manage your personal finances. If you’re successfully managing your debt, saving money and budgeting your finances, consider branching out into learning more about investing or building wealth. Don’t depend on others to manage your money for you. Take the time to increase your financial literacy.
Improving your financial health can improve other aspects of your life. Take the time to clean up your financial mistakes of the past and start planning for a better future. Make 2010 a good year to remember.
About Kathryn Katz
Kathryn Katz is a working mom, internet marketer and professional copywriter. Kathryn is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor and works for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services.
Should You Consider Last Minute Holiday Traveling?
Jan 7th
Image Courtesy: ToastyKen
This is a guest post from Kathryn Katz with some great tips to help you save money on your holiday travel. See more about Kathryn at the end of this post.
Last year travelers cashed in big when travel industry panicked and lowered prices right before the holiday travel rush. The airlines weren’t prepared for Q4 2008 travel backlash, and lowered prices to entice consumers to make last minute travel plans. However, this year many airlines are grounding more planes and the tide has turned for consumers. Less seats and greater demand are causing airfare rates to rise.
How can you save on holiday airfares?
#1 Stop Procrastinating
Unlike last year the longer you wait, the more you’re going to pay. If it’s in your budget, book now rather than wait for the airfares to get lower; otherwise, you may end up paying more and give up the convenience of traveling when you want to.
#2 Be Flexible
Avoid traveling during the popular Wednesday-to-Sunday trip. Many of the major airlines, such as American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta, are adding a $10 surcharge to those holiday airfares. Instead, consider flying Tuesday to Saturday. According to Bing’s holiday forecast, you can save up to 20% if you’re flexible with your travel plans.
#3 Compare Prices
There are hundreds if not thousands of price comparison travel websites. Some of the popular travel websites include Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline. Bing.com even offers a price comparison between travel websites, such as Hotwire, Expedia and Priceline. Before you buy that ticket at one of these bargain travel sites, make sure to go direct to the airline and see if you can get a better deal. Sometimes dealing direct with the airline can save you money.
#4 Avoid the Up-sell
If you’re booking your airfare online, many travel sites will try to up-sell a travel package. In some cases, booking everything in one place will save you money, but sometimes that convenience will end up costing you more. Break the travel package apart and make sure you’re really getting a deal. Also, check with relatives and see if you can stay with them to avoid the hotel and car rental fees. Sure you’re giving up a little independence, but it can make the whole trip a lot less expensive.
#5 Travel Light
Most major airlines charge baggage fees to travelers that are checking in bags, and limit the size and weight of the carry-on bag. Check with your airline ahead of time to find out their specific rules and alter your packing plans accordingly. Some airlines will offer reduced fees if you pre-pay for bags on their website. If you’re bringing gifts to the family, limit it to what will fit in your bag or use gift certificates.
If you can’t take advantage of the prices now and have to wait to buy your tickets, setup a Fare Alert so you can keep track of airline fares for your destination on a daily basis. You might get lucky and find a last minute deal.
About Kathryn Katz
Kathryn Katz is an avid cat lover, single mom, internet marketer and professional copywriter. Kathryn is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor and works for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services.
2009 Financial Goals Evaluation
Jan 6th
At the beginning of every year, I typically set financial goals for myself. The goals are usually fairly lofty but achievable with the proper discipline and desire.
Although 2009 was a great year for net worth and income growth, there was room for improvement in terms of achieving the financial goals that I set out for myself. In 2009, I was really focused on career and business growth which pushed a lot of important items onto the back burner as you’ll see from my report below.
Goal 1: Open a TFSA with a discount brokerage and maximize the contribution – As of January 1, 2009 (or a bit later), some discount brokerages will offer a tax free trading account. We will open 2 accounts, one for each spouse, maximize the contribution ($10k total), and start the TFSA income fund strategy that I’ve written about before.
Right out of the gate, I messed this one up! As a last minute effort, I managed to open 1 TFSA account (Questrade TFSA) near the end of 2009 after reviewing my financial goals. Why didn’t I open one earlier? My original plan was to open a TFSA trading account and purchasing income trusts to increase my passive income. However, I procrastinated a bit and the markets took off leaving the trusts that I liked a little too expensive. Now that we have an account funded, I will be on the lookout for attractive income opportunities.
Goal 2: Maximize RRSP Contributions – Due to higher income in 2008, my contribution limit will be higher and I plan to maximize my contribution. This will do two things. One, it will put some cash into my RRSP account so that I can buy beaten up equities. Two, it will reduce my taxable income significantly in 2009.
I am happy about this one as I managed to maximize both of our RRSP accounts for 2009 and generate some growth due to the rising markets. For those of you who haven’t contributed yet, here is the RRSP contribution deadline for tax year 2009.
Goal 3: Pay Down Mortgage Principal by $20,000 on Top of Regular Mortgage Payments – Seems like a stretch, but in addition to maximizing both the TFSA and RRSP, I plan on paying down the mortgage principal by an additional $20,000.
During 2009, I made the decision to aggressively pay down the mortgage and I’m happy to report that it is working out better than planned. We started January 2009 with a mortgage balance of $101,200 and as of the end of 2009, the mortgage balance stands at $25,200. The relatively low remaining mortgage balance is well within striking distance of being completely paid off.
Goal 4: Charity Goals – As charitable giving is becoming more important to our family, we plan on giving at least $3,000 this year to registered charities. In addition to the financial contribution, we plan on donating at least 30 hours of our time to a local charity that we support.
This past year was a decent year in terms of giving, but didn’t quite meet the bar that I set out for myself. In terms of monetary donations, we increased our monthly giving to the local children’s hospital, continued our monthly giving to another cause that we support, and we started sponsoring a child through Compassion Canada (thanks to Kathryn for the idea). Total donated in 2009 is around the $2500 mark. Not quite the $3000 that I set out for, but I’m pleased none the less.
Donating time to charities, on the other hand, was a bit more challenging. Even with a hectic schedule, I managed to donate 15 hours this year to a local charity that I support. I hope to do more in future years.
Goal 5: Blog Goals – The quality of the Million Dollar Journey community never ceases to amaze me. I hope to continue the strong readership growth of this blog in reaching 7,000 subscribers by the end of the year.
I’m extremely pleased with how this goal panned out. We started the year with about 4000 subscribers, and thanks to you, we have doubled to over 8000 by the end of 2009. If you are interested in getting daily content updates delivered straight to your email, you can get it here. Alternatively, you can sign up for the MDJ Money Tips Newsletter which is delivered once or twice a month. It’s all offered for free of course.
Goal 6: Dividend Income Goals – One of my higher priority goals is to increase my passive or alternative income. My current Smith Manoeuvre portfolio is paying about $1,000/year in dividends which I plan to increase this year. Combining both my dividend portfolio along with our TFSA’s, I hope to reach $2,500/year in investment income by the end of 2009.
This is one of the goals which was hinged on setting up a proper TFSA portfolio. As I explained above, I didn’t get to invest within the TFSA for 2009, so passive income from investments plateaued in 2009. Although SM portfolio dividends are up to around $1,500 per year which is significantly more than last, it’s still not in the range I want to be. However, I plan to get more focused on passive income in the coming years.
Final Thoughts
Although the results were positive for the most part, there is room for improvement. Over all though, I am pleased with the way that 2009 turned out financially. For those of you who track your financial goals, how did you do in 2009?
Popular Posts:
- Canadian Discount Brokerage Comparison
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- High Interest Rate Savings Accounts
- Top Cash Back Credit Cards in Canada
- Questrade Review
- Are Hybrid Vehicles Worth it?
- Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
Copyright 2010 MillionDollarJourney – All Rights Reserved
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8 Financial Resolution Ideas for 2010
Jan 6th
Every year I make out a list of goals or resolutions for the year to come. I keep my list in google spreadsheets so that I can track my progress and see how I’ve done at the end of the year. I try to make the list reasonable and attainable.
Here are 8 Ideas for Financial Resolutions for 2010. It gets overwhelming to do them all at once. Pick two or three high priority ones and work on those first.
1. Track your spending.
Tracking your spending is one of the best ways of finding out if your money is going where you want it to go. Every time I work with someone and they do this exercise they are surprised at how much they spend on something. Love going out for dinner? Great! Go out more often. Find out you are spending $4000 a year on it when you’d rather spend it on something else? Suddenly making dinner at home becomes a lot more exciting.
2. Open and max out your TFSA
If you haven’t opened a TFSA yet, now is the time to do it. For the first few years of savings (you get $5000 a year contribution limit each) it’s a great plan for your emergency fund. After that you may want to sit down with a professional to decide which you should max out first, your RRSP or your TFSA. I happen to agree with Ed Rempel’s advice.
3. Track your net worth
The vast majority of the people I meet with have no idea the value of their total net worth. Nearly all are surprised one way or another when they do this exercise for the first time. Some are shocked at just how much debt they have and others are pleasantly surprised that they have more than they thought they did. Tracking your net worth every month is a great way to motivate yourself to keep on track financially.
4. Write or re-write your will
You need a will. If you have children or dependents, you really need a will. Some people argue that it’s easier to download a will online or order a will kit that does all the work for you. I’m a strong believer in getting a will done by a lawyer. For those who already have a will, read it over to make sure it doesn’t need updating since it was last done.
5. Max out your employer matching
I am amazed at the number of people that miss out on free money. Some companies have an employer matching program where for every dollar you contribute to your RRSPs, they will match it up to a certain percentage. You want to make sure you are maxing this out. Call your HR department and check. I’ve worked with several people who were amazed that they answer was yes, and they’d been missed out on an employer match for years.
6. Pay off the credit cards
Don’t just make minimum payments. The faster you can pay off your high interest debt the more cash you’ll have to spend now and save for the future. Make a plan to get the cards paid off quickly and if it’s too tempting to buy on credit, consider switching to cash or debit.
7. Build your Emergency Fund
Most financial professionals recommend having between 3 and 6 months living expenses in an emergency fund. If your job is volatile, a baby is in your near future or you highly value security, you may want to make it more. Many couples I know like to have between 9-12 months of living expenses in their emergency fund. Money in your emergency fund shouldn’t be invested. It should be in a high interest savings account or short term GIC. This is money you may need in the short term. It’s not for long term investing.
8. Save up for something fun
Getting your financial life in order doesn’t mean it has to be boring. Life is about finding the balance between saving for the future and living in the now. Want to go on an exotic vacation? Set up a vacation fund. Looking for a Vespa or a Harley? Start saving now. There is nothing wrong with spending money on fun things. Just save up for it first.
Our resolutions for 2009 were to pay off the car and max out our TFSAs. For 2010, our goals are to save up for a potential move or second car depending on whether we decide to relocate or commute and increase our savings by a certain percentage.
What are your financial resolutions for 2010?
Kathryn works in public relations and training for a non profit. In her off hours, she volunteers as a financial coach helping ordinary Canadians with the basics of money management. Her passions include personal finance and adult education. Kathryn, along with her husband and two children live in Ontario.
Popular Posts:
- Canadian Discount Brokerage Comparison
- Top 6 ways to Save on Auto Insurance
- High Interest Rate Savings Accounts
- MBNA SPG Credit Card Review
- Questrade Review
- Are Hybrid Vehicles Worth it?
- Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
Copyright 2009 MillionDollarJourney – All Rights Reserved
