Finance for Humans
It’s Financial Literacy Month! Here’s Some Essential Money Advice
Our M.O. at Wealthsimple is to demystify the many, many complexities of personal finance. In honour of Financial Literacy Month, we’re sharing some of the smartest, most practical insights we’ve published.
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Many moons ago — OK, 2011, so not that many moons — the Canadian government decided it would be wise to remind folks that, Hey, money is really important, and, if you’d like to secure your financial future, you should learn how to manage it well. So they launched Financial Literacy Month, the premise of which happens to jibe really well with what we do day in and day out here at Wealthsimple. In honour of this year’s FinLit Month, we compiled an all-killer no-filler greatest-hits collection of our best personal-finance and investing advice. Once you’ve read Wealthsimple’s top insights, you can mosey over to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s website for more. Or, if you happen to be really into story roundups, you can check out Money Diaries: Pride Edition.
“If you could predict what the best stock or the best sector or the best country was going to be, then diversification would be a terrible idea. Sadly, nobody has a crystal ball.”
Read more: A Deep (But Not TOO Deep) Explanation of What We Mean by 'Diversification’
“You might be thinking: Hmm, stock prices are at record highs, so it’s probably a good time to get out. But if that’s what you’re thinking, you might also need a lesson in long-term investing.”
Read more: Stocks Are at Record Highs. Is It Time to Sell?
"If your income has taken a hit and you have to tap into savings (or debt), how you do it is important. You don’t want to emerge from a crisis worse off than you need to be.”
Read more: Emergency Money: What to Do When Your Bills Are Bigger Than Your Income
“The tidal wave of hype that comes with every initial public offering may spark your investing FOMO. But FOMO isn’t the best strategy.”
Read more: What You Really Need to Know About IPOs
“How do changing interest rates affect me and my money? The short answer is: significantly.”
Read more: Now Is a Really Good Time to Understand How Interest Rates Work
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“If the RRSP has wily-old-veteran energy, the TFSA has, shall we say, brash-young-punk-who-knows-TikTok-dances energy.”
Read more: RRSP vs TFSA: What’s the Better Choice?
“What’s the biggest unforced tax error? This one’s easy: filing your taxes late if you don’t need to.”
Read more: Here Are the Eight Tax Tips You Need
“The first piece of advice we have to offer: DO NOT READ EVERY PERSONAL FINANCE BOOK.”
Read more: Six Totally Worthwhile Personal Finance Books According to People Who’d Know
“Not all charities are created equal. Some are inefficient, or ineffective, and some are even scams.”
Read more: How To Pick a Charity That Does The Most Good
“If you think doing well in the stock market is about picking stocks, then you’re wrong.”
Read more: Why Do We Think Stock Markets Will Go Up Over Time, Anyway?
Our advice columnist Lizzie O’Leary helps one person fix her money life and teaches the rest of us how to make a financial plan through the “waterfall method.”
Listen now: Salina: A Money Makeover
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