Design Your Future Financial Services - Brought to You by The Financial Engineer

Recently, we discussed why people are afraid of money, now we will discuss how to feel good about saving money and creating wealth.  First of all, to feel good about money, you must realize you are its master!   You control what money does and can do - very few realize this.  Money often controls the person and their beliefs what they can and can not do, but not you, not any more. Saving and Investing is a habit, and as most know, good habits are hard to start.  Example:  Exercise and eating healthy are hard to start, but become routine and enjoyable once a habit, same with saving and investing. Here's 3 tips to start the good habit of saving and controlling your $$ which will make you feel good: 1) Pay yourself first .  Invest at least 10% of whatever income you make.  If you make $100 per paycheck, invest $10, if you make $5000, invest $500 and so on. Do this on payday or better yet, have it come off you paycheck directly and treat this as a retirement fund.

If you’ve ever avoided looking at your bank account, if you’ve ever panicked about your finances, if you’ve been immobilized by indecision, or if you’ve overspent yourself into debt ... you’re afraid of money.  When asked what I do for a living – I used to respond  “I help families save and protect their money”  with a nice smile. As soon as I said the word “money” I would usually see instant fear in the person’s eyes and body language. Why, in a society where we idolize athletes and movie stars who get paid the big bucks, are most people afraid or uncomfortable about talking about money? Research and from my experience, it comes down to 3 things: 1) Media – fear sells. Guaranteed on the news in the next few weeks - stories about CRA and “wealthy” people penalized for trying to reduce their taxes. Who’s the villain in most movies and what are they trying to get?  2) Our upbringing – media has also influenced how were raised and raise our children. “Money isn’t everyt