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

Ideally, you’ve been putting away money in your RRSP, TFSA, or other savings accounts. But are you overlooking ways to save money  now  so you can free up more for your financial strategy or help build your cash stash for a rainy day? 1. Pay Yourself First. If you’re making contributions to your RRSP at work, you’re already paying yourself first. But you can also apply the same principle to saving. (If you open a separate account just for this, it’s easier to do.) If you prefer, you can accomplish the same thing on paper by keeping a ledger. Just be aware that paper makes it easier to cheat (yourself). With a separate account, you can schedule an automatic transfer to make the process painless and fuhgettaboutit. Here’s how it works. Whenever you get paid, transfer a fixed dollar amount into your special account – before you do anything else. If you don’t pay yourself first, you might guess what will happen. (Be honest.) If you’re like most people, you’ll probably spend it, an

Ever consider starting your own business? Does anything sound better than being your own boss?  Well, maybe a brand new sports car or free ice cream for life. But even a state-of-the-art fully-decked-out sports car will eventually need routine maintenance, and the taste of mint chocolate chip can get old after a while. The same kinds of things can happen when you start your own business. There are many details to consider and seemingly endless tasks to keep organized after the initial excitement of being your own boss and keeping your own hours has faded. Circumstances are bound to arise that no one ever prepared you for! Although this list is not exhaustive, here are 5 things to get you started when creating a business of your own: 1. Startup cost  The startup cost of your business depends heavily on the type of business you want to have. To estimate the startup cost, make a list of anything and everything you’ll need to finance in the first 6 months. Then take each exp

Do you ever feel overwhelmed and unsure what to do to make the world a better place? One of the most effective ways to make a change of the better is to invest in social and environmental friendly companies.  Watch my video. It's a win-win. The earth wins because companies need to prove their social and environmental leadership. You win because Social Responsible Investment Funds (SRI or ESG) are outperforming funds in their corresponding category and add a layer of risk management by examining their Environmental performance (E), Social responsibility (S), and Corporate governance (G). This means your investments will increase in value while being secure and stable. Learn how to align your investment goals with your personal values, to combine financial return and positive societal impact. Learn to be a responsible investor. Stephan MacLellan  Mutual Fund and Insurance Representative Email: steve@thefinancialengineer.ca Cell: (902) 240-6508 www.thefinancialeng