- Get link
- Other Apps
Latest JUSTCAWS Columns
- Get link
- Other Apps
If you have a regular paycheque, set it and forget it, writes Greg Cawsey
OK, time for a little review. We began our first lesson telling you to get a job. Then you were told how rich you are right now and the need to keep track of where all your money is going. Finally, you were given some motivation to start saving your cash now for the tsunami of bills that are coming your way.
Now we can move forward. This lesson is all about saving your money with ease.
To begin taking charge of our money, we must use the tools out there that make spending our money easy to do. The great thing about this plan is it is flexible to accommodate a wide variety of income scenarios. It can be used no matter how much you make, just as long as you have money coming in on a regular basis — either through an allowance or paycheque. The amount of money can also vary from one paycheque to the next.
There are numerous saving products offered by the banks. Unfortunately, many, such as savings bonds or Guaranteed Investment Certificates, require that you have money already saved up before you are able to purchase them. Once we have saved up enough cash down the road, we can then look at these in greater detail.
For now, it makes the most sense for you to open a higher interest savings account along with your regular banking account. This can be done at your local branch or online. Once you have set up your savings account, saving money is as easy as a tap on the screen.
To start, go back and look at where you are spending your money, and find out how much you need to live on and what you can afford to save. You can even put some rules in play — just make sure they are flexible enough no matter how much your pay changes each period. Let’s say you find that you can get by just fine on $80 every two weeks. Then anything you make over and above that amount can be saved.
Say you got paid $262 after deductions in the last two weeks. With a quick tap of your phone, you can easily transfer $182 to your high interest savings account. Do that for the rest of the year every two weeks and you will soon have saved close to $5,000 — and that’s not including interest!
Some financial planners suggest setting a preset amount of money to be automatically transferred into your high interest savings account after every pay period. The problem with this approach is that the amount of young people’s paycheques tends to bounce around, depending on hours worked and tips, etc. So with a preset amount, you could find yourself saving too much or too little depending on how much you earned on your last pay.
With internet banking and banking apps on phones, doing the transfer yourself is pretty easy, and students have said they like the act of transferring money themselves. It keeps them motivated and gets them into the habit of saving, which many have found quite rewarding.
Now what to do with that $80? Head to the bank and take it out in cash. In a previous lesson, I told you to use a debit card so you could track where your money was going over a month’s time. We’ve done that — so now we can start using cash to make our purchases. In our next lesson, we will see how we can make that cash in your hand last.
A Lesson in Finance appears in the Mercury Tribune every month. Gregory Cawsey is director of business and financial literacy education at John F. Ross CVI’s Ross School of Business. He can be contacted at gregcawsey.com.
- Get link
- Other Apps
Popular Posts
Teacher Unions - You Need To Calm Down
Been tapping my thumbs quite a bit on twitter lately, as it seems many educators have expressing their concerns of various school re-opening plans. While many of my colleagues have been critical of various governments, my ire has been directed at the teacher unions and their fervent followers. Obviously, my comments have been questioned by teacher union supporters, What they fail to grasp is how a teacher and passionate public education supporter would take issue with their own unions. Perhaps a little background is in order for how my view has developed during my 20 + year career. Being politically minded, I was very interested in the teachers union and its role in public education. Early on I was voted by peers to be my schools collective bargaining rep and later a district federation VP. Here, I received further negotiation training and sat on multiple rounds of negotiations with my corresponding school board. My rose coloured, idealistic glasses were soon broken, by these experie
When The School Bell Rings - We Must Be Ready For All
Been certainly enough speculation from concerned parties about what is going to happen in Ontario Schools this fall. Since I have more than a little skin in the game, I wanted to share my thoughts on the matter. Knowing first hand as an educator and parent the vital role teachers play in the development of young minds I was very satisfied to hear that Sick Kids recommended that school return back to the classroom (with enhanced cleaning and safety measures of course) this fall. I thought this would be met with relief, and it was for some. But for many it seemed to only bring anxiety. I can understand this feeling of unease coming from some parents, but I thought educators would embrace being relevant and essential again. Teachers know the dark side of abuse and neglect that occurs in homes of the vulnerable. For these students, school is their safe space. We also know that e-learning does not work for many students with special needs and those facing tech inequity. So barring a chang
When Will This End? If You Live in The States - Early Next Year.
Update - I am an dual citizen and have discovered I have an American mindset, so I stand by my prediction, as it has come true in the U.S. and many parts of the world, but sadly not in Canada. Limited capacity in our healthcare system, little risk tolerance and the power of the collective over the individual has kept Canada in paralysis. Even with higher case counts in some states than all of Canada, red and blue America has moved on. If you are trying to find a sliver lining to this pandemic a popular one is to appreciate its historical significance. You may have been told or said to others to think of the stories you can tell your grandkids about the pandemic of 2020. Sadly, it will be a sombre tale. But it will be one that I am glad to proclaim will come to an end after one year. Yes, the pandemic will stop as soon as we decide to put an end to the pain and suffering caused. Of course I am not talking about the disease. Sorry, but that's not coming to end just yet.
10 Ideas For The Jays New Ball Park
Kids and I have toured quite a few ball parks prior to the pandemic. Love doing the tours and taking notes of what works and doesn't. Had noted some of my observations for ideas on how to improve the Rogers Centre for baseball. With a new ball park now hopefully on its way soon, I did some revising. Ultimately, I don't believe it will be in its current location as its in too valuable a spot already. Better to leverage cheaper real estate down by the lake and build up around it. The Jays also have few options of where they could play while a new park is being built. So I expect, it will eventually end up by lake, so let's not make it another mistake. But either way here are … My top ten suggestions for the Jays new ball park... Let's end this post appropriately, with a walk off from many fans fav park - PNC.
This Disease Is Fought Standing Shoulder To Shoulder
I am heartened to see many videos and images this morning of Police joining with peaceful protesters in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. While racism in society is pervasive and progress toward true equality moves at a frustratingly slow pace, the relationship citizens have with those sworn with a duty to protect them is at the core of this anger. I am not a police officer and I have no family connection to law enforcement. However, like many of us I know many and some very well. I have heard their stories and have nothing, but respect for the job they do. Many of the officers I know are also black. I have deep admiration for these heroes because I would imagine their sense of duty to their communities comes with an inner battle that must be won before they join that group and don that uniform. So I am careful not to suggest solutions in policing, or offer changes to law enforcement structures that I don’t understand. I am a member of another professional tribe a
JUST Archives
JUST Archives
- June 20211
- March 20211
- January 20212
- November 20201
- October 20203
- August 20201
- July 20202
- June 20206
- May 20204
- April 20201
- March 20201
- February 20201
- January 20201
- December 20191
- November 20191
- July 20192
- May 20191
- April 20192
- March 20192
- January 20191
- December 20181
- November 20181
- December 20101
- May 20101
- August 20081