A recent Carrick on Money newsletter on teaching kids about money prompted a reader to share her experience with her own children, complete with photographic documentation.
Years ago, the Globe ran a financial literacy series in the paper that included a tip about living below your means. “I clipped this simple message from the Globe and Mail and taped it to the back of the bathroom door,” Jennifer Hicks said by e-mail. “My kids (and their friends), all then teens, couldn’t help but see it over and over and over and over again. Here’s hoping the message sticks.”
Jennifer Hicks taped a tip from a Globe financial literacy series to the back of her bathroom door.Jennifer Hicks/Supplied
I was the one who picked the idea of living below your means for the Number One rule of personal finance. My reasoning: spending less than you make is the discipline from which all other good habits flow, including saving and investing.
How does Ms. Hicks assess the effectiveness of her efforts to teach her kids? “I’d say they really have all internalized the idea that you don’t spend more than you have.”
Success, in other words.
Subscribe to Carrick on Money
Are you reading this newsletter on the web or did someone forward the e-mail version to you? If so, you can sign up for Carrick on Money here.
Rob’s personal finance reading list
How you’re being programmed to bust out when the pandemic ends
A chewing gum commercial shows the way marketers are tapping into the Roaring Twenties narrative of epic partying and spending when the pandemic fades. As I said in a recent column, the biggest risk to our finances going forward is spending surges that undo all the good work done in the past year by those of us fortunate enough to have kept their jobs and income through the fight against COVID-19.
Do you really need to bid over asking when buying a house?
Here’s a data-intensive analysis that will be helpful to home buyers wondering whether they need to bid way over the ask price to get a house. It’s based on Toronto data and concludes with some insights on how to set a bid price. Humour alert: a New Yorker cartoonist has some fun with the things people are doing to win bidding wars for homes.
What’s in Robb Engen’s wallet?
A look at the credit, debit and rewards cards carried by Mr. Engen, a long-time personal finance blogger and financial planner.
For those looking to the east for cheaper houses
A Reddit thread about what life is like in New Brunswick for people moving from Ontario in search of cheaper houses. Health care, daycare, daily living costs and more are covered.
Ask Rob
Q: I have two different registered education savings plans for my son. He doesn’t want to go to college or university.
A: Here’s some information on your options, including closing the plan. But I wouldn’t rush to make a decision. RESPs can stay open for up to 36 years. Also, the list of RESP-eligible educational institutions includes many noncollege or university schools that focus on areas like the arts, esthetics, trucking, technology and more.
Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I can’t answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.
Today’s financial tool
Four tips for avoiding investments based strictly on the fear of missing out on big gains. “FOMO can cause individuals to make irrational decisions that harm their investment plans.”
The money-free zone
More fun with lists: Top 100 sitcoms. Lots to fill in any gaps in your TV watching.
Tweet of the week
Economist David Rosenberg looks at the housing market in North Bay, Ont., and sees similarities to the dot-com stock market boom in 1999.
In case you missed these Globe and Mail personal finance-related stories
- Why you should preplan (and prepay) for your funeral
- Money for life: The pros and cons of the Purpose Longevity Pension Fund
- Renting out your cottage could have tax implications
More Rob Carrick and money coverage
Subscribe to Stress Test on Apple podcasts or Spotify. For more money stories, follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and join the discussion on my Facebook page. Millennial readers, join our Gen Y Money Facebook group.
Even more coverage from Rob Carrick:
- 🎧 Catch up on Stress Test: Are your parents giving you money? • Why it’s time to stop shaming the renting lifestyle • Is now the right time to buy a house? • Why are young Canadians leaving the cities they love? • Eating in: How COVID has shifted our food spending • Crisis-proof your finances? • Can you afford to live downtown? • The cost of kids
- ✔️ The housing file: The housing boom is ripping apart the financial fabric of Canada • Shut out: A well-qualified millennial home seeker throws up his hands after losing multiple bidding wars • Big city housing affordability is over – now what? • She sold her Toronto house to retire somewhere cheaper, but it didn’t work • How young adults and the whole country win with a tougher mortgage stress test for home buyers • Can’t afford your house? It’s likely not your fault
- 📈 Investing: Robo-advisers have grown out of the novelty stage. Here’s help in finding one right for you • The 2021 ETF Buyer’s Guide: Best Canadian equity funds • The 2021 Globe and Mail online brokerage ranking: Who’s best for investing … and answering the phone • Are these the stock market returns of a lifetime? • On the cusp of retirement and wondering about an ETF that pushes the limits on aggressiveness
- 💰 Your money: The five most important numbers for checking the health of your personal finances • Today’s freakishly low mortgage rates can’t last. What will pandemic home buyers do when they rise? • There’s a cost in money, isolation and family stress when seniors choose to remain in their own private homes • Taking CPP early can cost you $100,000 and limit your long term options • Fleeing the city for the suburbs? Watch out for higher property taxes, more cars and other costs
Are you reading this newsletter on the web or did someone forward the e-mail version to you? If so, you can sign up for Carrick on Money here.
