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Seriously! What excites you… that you can tell me in front of my 7 year-old grandson! I’m mostly talking money here.

Thinking about day-to-day life, how stoked would you be to find out a gas station across town was selling gas for 3₵/litre less than every other gas station in town? Would you call your friends, or post it on Facebook, and then go for a drive so you could buy the absolute most gas you can at the reduced price?

How about finding out your favourite bra was on sale for ½ price!

I got pretty excited when I found out some AirBnBs in Spain reduce their prices by 80% as soon as you book for one full month.

retirement moneyNow let’s look at the savings involved with the above examples: gas – you’d save about $3, depending on your tank size; the bra sale could save you anywhere from $10 – $30; the AirBnB deals were reducing my expenses by about $600. All great deals, and we’d probably all appreciate any of the above finds!

Let me ask you some other questions now: If your financial advisor could recommend something that would increase your investment earnings by 1%, what are the real numbers that represents? Should you pay into your RRSPs or your TFSAs first? If you were to retire tomorrow, would it be better to start collecting your pension right away, or when you turn 65, or leave it until you are 70?

I’m going to hazard a guess and suggest you could have duplicated my suggested numbers in the first part of this post, but you maybe struggled with the second half.

Which is something to think about considering you may be retired for 30-40 years and be relying on pensions and investment income for almost as long as you were in the work force. It really is important to spend as much time thinking about and following up on the long-term plans for your money as it is making sure you save a few dollars today.

Did you know it costs nothing to meet with an investment specialist – make sure they are fully certified/licensed/credentialed in the areas pertinent to your needs – and get some advice around your short- and long-term goals? You are allowed to shop around to find a person you are comfortable with and trust. Make sure they can explain both management fees and management expense ratio.

Be Savvy to be most Successful!