Jorge Diaz
Dec 26, 20192 min
Updated: Apr 22, 2021
I have nothing against professional financial advisors. I believe there is a business opportunity everywhere and the value they can bring to the market is, most of the time, way better than the one that comes along with their fees. That said, my purpose is to emphasize the importance of understanding how Personal Finances work. It is like knowing how to cook: it doesn't mean you are taking the business away from chefs, but balancing the fact of everyday eating with going out for a restaurant once a while. You need to know to make it work.
At the same time, it doesn't mean you have to go out and take a Personal Finances (PF) course. There are pretty good online resources you can regularly check and build a solid base for your financial literacy and future. So, here, the one I often recommend the most:
Personal Finance Canada (PFC) subReddit is awesome. It is like an online hub of Q&A with tons of comments by more than 140,000+ Canadians members providing priceless advice and input. An average of two hundred new PF topics come up every month and it goes all the way from housing decisions, retirement, TFSA/RRSP to budgeting, taxes, Canadian Laws... it is simply awesome.
You can either ask questions or just by silently participating you will learn a lot from the community. It is one of my daily sources of information regarding personal finances and it is a good place to jump into and help when someone has a doubt.
Although with the PFC subreddit you can learn a lot, there are multiple concepts that you should understand first to better digest the debates, questions, and responses. So it would be a good idea you add a nice book to complement this gap (in case you are new)
About a year ago I read "Millionaire Teacher" by Andrew Hallam and it was a great book. I just wish I had read it 20 years ago (although it was published in 2017). ETF, Bonds, interest rates, stock market, compound interest projections, and many other concepts are clearly explained here. Knowing about those is one of the main reasons people finally "wake up" when it comes to financial literacy to later begin thinking and planning ahead.
There are also some other books by Robert Kiyosaki that provide a very solid background of the topic but don't fit that much in the "Canadian scenario". Just mentioning it out ;)
Either way, join the PFC subreddit today and start steering towards your financial future today. The earliest, the better!
If you are in Canada and are looking for ways to grow your wealth, you should start by opening an account at Questrade Inc. and begin investing your money. It is the #1, most prestigious and most affordable brokerage in Canada. By following this link, you will get a cash bonus, up to $250, depending on the amount you deposit when you open/transfer your TFSA, RRSP, RESP or brokerage account.