Going to Canada is great! It’s a Country with lots of opportunities. As fascinating as it sounds, going to Canada is just one step of the puzzle. Perhaps the most important step.
However, having arrived Canada and probably got a job already or studying, there is the need to be financially intelligent. And that’s where developing your financial intelligence comes to play.
If prior to you moving to Canada, you’ve got some financial IQ, that’s great. There’s room to learn more. If on the other hand, you are new to the subject, we are happy to take you by the hand.
What is Financial Intelligence?
Financial Intelligence to do with how intelligent you are with finances. There’s pretty much the simple definition. Right? Well, it’s a bit more than that.
Financial intelligence can be considered a skill. It’s something you learn or develop over time. It takes efforts. And if you want to get anything out of being able to comfortably reside in Canada, then you’ve got to begin improving your financial intelligence.
To be more explicit, Financial intelligence has to do with basically understanding and gaining knowledge and skill in finance. This could be in the business world, personal finance, company’s finances, et cetera.
Having cleared that out of the way, let’s talk on a few tips to aid you with developing your financial intelligence.
Tips To Develop/Improve Financial Intelligence In Canada
In this context, we will be talking about personal finance. This means, tips to develop or improve your personal financial intelligence while residing in Canada.
In simple English, we want to share a few times to aid you with being prudent in Canada and possibly do well financially over time.
1. Have A Budget
There’s a saying; “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail“. While this can be literal, it applies to almost every work of life.
The need for budgeting cannot be overemphasised. If you do not have a budget for spending, there’s a chance you’d spend all your income before it even arrives. Hence, we recommend crafting out a budget even before receiving your salary and try all you can to be within that budget.
While planning out your budget, include miscellaneous. Miscellaneous will help you stay in check as it means other expenses not accounted for.
2. Save 10% Of Your Income
Making money is great. It can even get overwhelming. If you allow your income get the better part of you, it can consume you.
As exciting as it is to wait till when you get paid your salary while residing in Canada, do well in keeping aside at least, 10% of the income as this can help on the long run. And this brings us to the next point.
3. Instead of Just Saving Money, Invest or Do Both
This is quite self explanatory, right? Personally, rather than saving, I prefer to invest. There are lots of things you could choose to invest in.
It could be real estate, shares, et cetera. You want to know the interesting thing? Spending money on books, acquiring skills, going to school or improving your studies, et cetera, can also be investments.
Anything you put your money in, in the hopes of getting more money out of it short term or long term, is an investment.
While investing, I recommend saving a bit too. This can be handy for the rainy days. Long term investments pay better and that means, the money will have to be there for a long time. For the sake of short term rainy days, do well to save. Even if it’s a little.
4. Minimize Purchasing Liabilities
Unlike Assets or investments which brings money or aims at bringing money, liabilities takes money.
Having a car is great! It’s even considered a utility (to some people, a luxury). As great as it sounds, you are better off being cautious of the kind of car you choose to get, IF you choose to get one.
If you don’t have the financial capability to buy and maintain a car, don’t get one. Buying a car is only the first step. Maintaining one is another. Maintenance an ongoing process and while having a car helps you navigate the city better, it takes money from you. Hence, it can be considered a liability.
But, do you know a car can be an asset too? Yes, it can and that brings us to the next tip to financial intelligence while residing in Canada.
5. Get A Side Hustle, If You Can
Having a source of income is really cool. But, how about another source of income? If you’ve got the time, we recommend having multiple sources of income. This helps reduces the risks that comes with depending on just one source of income.
If you happen to own a car, you could choose to use that car for commercial purposes during your free time. Thankfully, there are services like Uber that make the process seamless. Getting on the uber platform can be easy if you meet all the requirement and this of course, can bring extra cash for you thereby making your car become an asset, not a liability.
Conclusion
There are a lot more tips to help you develop your financial intelligence. But in a bid not to overwhelm you all at once, we’d stop here for now. Hopefully in subsequent posts, we will talk on more.
For the meantime, If you have further questions regarding financial intelligence, use the comment form and we will reply you as soon as we can.
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