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Tax.

Bad 80’s Music, Cheap Champagne and Taxes

taxes

TAXES

I think it’s time to put some perspective on my least favourite subject. Oh, no wait, that would be Justin Bieber. However, taxes do run a close second.

Ever had a GQ-Harvard-type-guy fall in love with you that kept pursuing you, giving you flowers and chocolates, spoiling you, buying you designer purses, Louboutins, delivering cup cakes to your office, flying you to exotic places, fancy dinners, randomly depositing thousands in your bank account, leaving love notes on your car, opening the car door for you, writing you love texts throughout your day to say how much he loves you and romancing your skirt off?

Neither have I.

Taxes are the opposite of a good lover.  They are like when you have a headache and just aren’t that into it (come on’ like you’ve never had a ‘headache’ before?!) But it’s way worse than just having a headache for one night.  It’s like having a headache for the rest of your life coupled with a bad 80’s mix tape, cheap champagne and topped off with an awful awkward kisser.  And then it just goes on and on and on (and downhill) for years.  In fact, it happens so much, you don’t even know it’s happening to you because we women have the skills to block out anything!

And I’m not dissing our system at all, taxes do provide so many amazing social services and jobs and we are truly blessed to live in such a great country!

However, you do need to know how you are getting taxed, because unless you are aware, you will have no idea how to minimize its impact on your financial situation.  Although, you can’t do much about most of these forms of tax (tariffs, duties, royalties, mandatory fees), it’s just good to realize that you are indeed paying your fair share.

Here are all the ways we get ‘headaches’ in Canada for now:
-income tax (federal and provincial)
-property tax (even if you rent someone is paying them)
-Goods and services tax (GST)
-provincial sales tax
-capital gains tax
-import tax
-export tax
-payroll tax
-mineral royalties
-land transfer tax
-highway toll fees
-gas tax
-tabacco tax
-employer health tax
-dog license
-hunting and game license
-automobile license
-hotel tax
-airport tax
-probate fees/inheritance tax
-marriage licence tax
-utilities tax
-hospital tax
-parking ticket tax (ok – I consider that a tax!)
-liquor tax (where’s my drink now!)

Honestly, there are too many types of taxes and I’m sure I didn’t even list them all. There is no way to accurately figure out how much of every dollar goes to taxes, however intuitively you know it’s higher than Bob Marley’s last joint.

Now, the moral of my story is this: Bad kissers you can avoid. Taxes (and 80’s music) you can’t. You just need to know how to minimize the headache. So make sure you are getting the right tax prescription and the best financial pharmacist out there!

 

 

Invest.

Creating Change

I will never promote traditional “formal” budgeting cause I think it’s boring.  Yup, you heard me  – I think creating a big detailed budget is for the birds and rarely works for most people (although, I will say a good “excel” spreadsheet is a total turn on for me – just not when it comes to this.)  I realize that if you aren’t a spreadsheet-loving-penny-watching-crazy-er-I-mean-meticulous-money-manager then you ain’t ever gonna be one (and if you are one – GOOD ON YOU!)  I also know that tracking where every penny goes is a full time job – something we don’t have time for!  I’m not gonna make old dogs (or in this case my-shopping-friends) learn new tricks.

It’s probably gonna work for like a day, maybe an hour, and after you’ve written down your morning Starbucks on your budgeting log or entered in your new shiny budgeting app, you’ll be feeling proud and patting yourself on the back.  Then miraculously, after the new pair of shoes you just bought hours later, you can’t seem to find a pen to write down that purchase on your budgeting log, nor in your phone app cause your battery is about to die, and we must save the battery for the important “emergency texts” we are waiting for.  There’s always 3 sets of financial statements anyways…. “What Really Happened” Book, “What Hubby Can See” Book and “How Much Wine Did I Have That Night When I Bought All Those Shoes Online” Financial Hangover Book.  (Wine meets Shopping – The True Danger of Online Shopping – join our support group today – sign up for my blog below! 😉 )

Before you do the dance of joy because your new financial coach said you don’t have to budget, you need to know this.  The only way to create change is by action.  Action in your life will create glorious transformation.  If you truly want to “create change” in your financial life, then start with this easy tip – Start a PAC.  Yes, I want you to start a PAC (Pre-Authorized Cheque or Pre-Authorized Debit) with me!  (Literally!)  I want you to call up your financial coach, and start saving what you can every month.  Everyone who works can do this! PAC’s or PAD’s (whatev) start at $50 a month with most financial institutions.  So if you are working you can find $50 a month to save.  Then whatever amount you feel comfortable with – say it’s $200 or $500 a month, then I want you to add another $50 or $100 to that number to make it kinda feel like it’s going to hurt or pinch a bit.  This is because providence moves with you once you commit and take action!

I’m not going to tell you how or where to invest it or what type of account (your financial coach will) – just to start now.  And yes, this is over and above whatever your employer is doing for you right now in terms of savings and over and above whatever you are doing for ‘retirement’ savings.

This will combat the effects of any future online financial hangover and to put into effect the golden rule of “paying yourself first.”

This isn’t a marriage proposal, you can always cancel a PAC at any time.  This is YOUR money going into savings and going to work for you. And what this does for you is miraculous.  You are forced to save everymonth (cause if you start a PAC and you are like me – we are too lazy to stop it!) and you don’t have to think about it and typically you can go on your way living the lifestyle that you want and yes, I will guarantee you that your lifestyle will not suffer.  Infact, the opposite will happen.  You will begin to attract financial abundance into your life.

THIS WILL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER THAN 80% OFF SALE AT YOUR FAVORITE DESIGNER STORE! (and calorie free!)

So trust me, call and set up a coffee with your coach now.  It takes a few minutes to get your PAC set up, and then you can kiss budgeting goodbye without guilt.  You can say your financial coach said so!

 

Insurance.

Protecting Your Babies

Have you ever thought about getting Critical Illness Insurance or Life Insurance on your babies?!

Well, truth be told, as horrible as it seems to “profit” off your child’s illness, or worse, death (yes, I’ve had this talk with many parents, many times!) – it’s something to consider for this simple reason:

If your child had to be at the hospital everyday or needed plenty of care for the foreseeable future, and you couldn’t work (remember, disability is only if you can’t work, not if your kids can’t), how would that affect your family financially?  If you are a single parent, it’s probably even more important, or if you are in a partnership that requires both of you to pay the bills every month.  And if the worst case scenario happens, then do you want the option to go back to work right away or not.  Don’t think of it as insuring your children, think of it more as insuring your job if you can’t work.

Well I found a way to make the “uneasiness” of buying critical illness and life insurance on your children less terrible!

There is an insurance company that I use that offers a 3-In-1 policy – it’s the best I have found, and yes, I have these on my girls (I hunted for the best when I had my babies – so naturally I share that with you!  I’m quite passionate about these policies.)

For whatever your selected face value, say $50,000 or $100,000 (very typical face amounts), if your child is diagnosed with a critical illness (the policy will pay out for a number of critical illnesses), or if your child dies prematurely, then it pays out the face amount upon death.  So you get one or the other.  However, if you are like me and you pray, hope and expect your children to grow up healthy and happy, then guess what – 20 years later you get all the premiums back!  This is a lovely little lump sum of money you can gift to your child for university, perhaps a wedding, or a new home or just keep it for your next shopping trip after all you just spent 20 years having to raise that child – well deserved shopping money!  Also, important to note, after 20 years, the policy becomes ‘paid up’ meaning you don’t need to make any more payments every month, and then your child has a critical illness/life insurance policy for life, just in case he/she is uninsurable at the policies 20 year mark – so you don’t have to cash it in for refund of premium.  That’s like a 4-in-1 policy.

By the way, this is a great policy for grandparents to buy on their grandchildren who want to help, so if you can’t afford the premiums, ask OMA or BABA or NANA to help.

So ask me for a quote – it’s free and I will email it to you. EASY PEASY and ZERO obligation!  I want to arm you with the best information to make an informed decision for your financial situation.  Oh, and on that note…maybe it’s time you look at your own critical illness policy!

lisa@ellementsgroup.com

 

Create.

Financial Freedom

“Financial Freedom is when you never do anything that you don’t want to do for money and

you never omit doing something you want to do because of lack of money.”

∼ Phil Laut, Money is My Friend ∼

Create.

Everything Through Community

Discovering for yourself that everything can be done through community was one of the greatest things I learned last year.  Just knowing you don’t have to be or do everything yourself and the great “letting go” and not having to have everything perfect all the time has been a great gift.  If you haven’t received that gift, let me give it to you….. let go now and ask for help.  You will be able to still accomplish all you want in this life and meanwhile collapsing time frames!  It’s truly a great way to live!

Thank you to my community of women, friends and family who have helped me on my journey of “letting go” and “creating possibility”!

#strut