Scotiabank | Financial Literacy Month Wrap-Up

Last updated on March 26th, 2021 at 02:46 pm

This Financial Literacy Month, we need to evolve our money mindset.

November’s Financial Literacy Month, and it gives us a real opportunity to take a look at our books and what we’re trying to do with our resources at hand. School. Kids. A new home or retirement—goals quickly become pipe dreams if we don’t know how to plan for our success.

Take a moment and ask yourself just how much you know about your finances. Are you choosing the right investments? Making the right moves today for a better tomorrow? The sad truth is far too few Canadians are well-versed in financial matters, and in an age where Canadians are continuously borrowing significantly more than they’re earning, that makes for one huge problem! It makes us desperate. It has us believe in self-proclaimed financial gurus who lead us astray. We have to do better if we ever want to get out of the hole we’re in.

Time is Money—Developing a Wealthy Mindset

I remember talking with Sarah about a $1000 bagel I’d seen online. She reacted much like any sane person would:

“Who would buy a $1000 bagel?!“

But you know who’d buy a $1000 bagel? People with money.

Whenever I want to tangibly understand wealth, I refer back to a Reddit thread explaining it for those who’ve never experienced it.

A $1000 bagel would be costly to most Canadians—our median income’s just shy of $34,000 a year. If you’re earning $34,000 a year, that bagel costs nearly two weeks of work before taxes. That’s almost two weeks without food, clothing or shelter for the joy of a bagel topped with white truffles and gold leaf.

But let’s multiply that salary by three—at $102,000 per year, the 7.6 days you would’ve needed for that bagel suddenly becomes 2.5—a lot easier to swallow than the rich mouthful you were chewing before! And if you multiply that by ten and you’re lucky enough to bring in a million a year, you now need 0.25 days of work, or in many cases two hours to afford that bagel. $10 million? 12 minutes. $100 million? Just over a minute. To put it more simply, what costs $1000 to your average Canadian feels like 34¢ to someone with $100 million. And who doesn’t have 34¢ to spare?

In short—your time should get you money, but your money should also buy you time.

Time and Money—Not So Strange Bedfellows!

Fact—we all have the same amount of time; we just value it differently. You, me and Oprah Winfrey all make different decisions because we all have various relationships with time and money.

Let’s throw some numbers out there. Without verifying these whatsoever (but considering Oprah once made $70 million in a day, I wouldn’t entirely discount it):

Think about that—in the time it takes most Canadians to make rent (assuming you’re nowhere near Vancouver, Calgary or Toronto), Oprah could already buy a fair-sized property in Canada’s most expensive cities outright with a cool $4.32 million to her name!

The goal shouldn’t just be to get more money—it should be making each hour of your day generate more money than it already is! That’s one of my goals, anyway—building enough value into my time that I can afford to spend time with my family without worrying I’m not doing everything I can to make a better future for them. To build a solid financial foundation today so they can all benefit from it tomorrow.

But why do it alone? Professionals aplenty are just dying to give solid financial advice, and I know for one that the team at Scotiabank have the skills and resources to help me out!

How Scotiabank’s Tools Can Set You on the Path to Prosperity!

It all starts with the proper money mindset—taking whatever you have and using it to build toward a larger goal.

But where do you start, right?

Step One—Finding Some Money

Scotiabank sees that struggle and presents a few options to get you on the right track:

• The Money Finder Calculator is an excellent first step to getting your money right, showing you exactly where your money goes and what you can cut back on to start saving!
• And once you know what you want to save, Scotiabank’s found a nifty way to kick it up a notch with their Bank the Rest Savings Program, which lets you automatically round your purchases up to the next $1 or $5 multiple and put the extra into a savings vehicle of your choice! And believe you me—those little sums can add up!

Step Two—Saving That Money!

But guess what? Money’s only as good as what you do with it, so you’re going to need some goals to work toward to help you use that money wisely.

Well, guess what? Scotiabank’s got that covered, too.

• You can try the Pay Yourself First Tools, which make the paths to your financial goals real and attainable, showing you what you need to put away each month to get where you want to go.
• Or perhaps you’re already a Scotiabank client and seeking out ways to do more with the money you’re already spending! Never fear, because Scotiabank has a Rewards Calculator to help you figure out how to maximise the rewards that work best for you.

Step Three—Making Your Money Work For You

“That’s great, Casey,” you might say, “But I’m already maximising money I already have. What do I do for the money I’m going to need?”

Hey—great question! Life changes come with expenses aplenty—take it from someone who just spent the last six years getting married and becoming a Dad to two little guys, trust me. It’s no joke!

So if you’re looking for the tools that’ll help you help the future you, check these out:

• If you’re looking to do more than just save and leverage investments a bit more advanced, Scotiabank’s See How Much You Could Save TFSA Calculator will help you figure out what kind of saver you are and see just how much you could be looking at over time!
• Or maybe you’re a parent or soon to be one! You may have heard about a little something called RESPs—Registered Education Savings Plans. I have some bad news, guys—the cost of education isn’t going down anytime soon, so our children will need all the help they can get to afford it! Fortunately, our federal government has some matching programs for those who do contribute to RESPs, so yes my friends, there is hope. It may be worth looking at the Scotiabank RESP Reality Check to set you on the right path!
• And finally, if you’re planning on the opposite end of the spectrum (and frankly, you should start planning for this as young as you can), then Scotiabank’s Retirement Savings Calculator is worth checking out! Many people fail to account for the fact that retirement commands a very different lifestyle—including a fixed income—so you’re better off giving yourself as much time as you can to build the sunset years you see for yourself!

Firming Up Your Financial Future—Let Experienced Professionals Show You How You Can Do It!

With these tools and more, Scotiabank’s equipped to help you live the life you should be living—not just the one you’re living today.

There’s entirely too much to cover on financial literacy to capture in one post—heck, hundreds of professions are dedicated to helping you make the most of your money!

You just need to ask the right questions.

Check out Scotiabank’s suite of tools to help you make sense of your financial situation and plan for whoever you want to be tomorrow.

We get but one life, after all—why waste it?

Good luck, everyone, and until the next,

Disclaimer: I wrote this post as a Scotiabank Ambassador, a program compensating for my thoughts and content with a stipend, unique opportunities, and exclusive access to Scotiabank staff and affiliations! As always, though, all views and opinions remain my own!