Mother’s Day is a special day dedicated to recognizing all the strong, independent, hardworking, and selfless women in our lives. Our mothers have helped shape us into the people we are today and taught us many valuable life lessons along the way. We often don’t realize how much our mothers have impacted our daily lives, and in my case, influenced my current spending and financial habits. 

Most of you will remember me as Tracey’s first-born child; often carried around to appointments in my car seat. Now, 24 years later, I am working full-time in the office side by side with my mom. I get to see firsthand how hardworking and dedicated she is to her business and clients. I am inspired by her and the enthusiasm she puts into her business every day.

I have been working in the finance industry for a few years now and I feel as though I have learnt even more from my mom within this short amount of time. I thought it would be fun to update my list to the more recent and prevalent money lessons that have impacted me the most… 

Budgeting 

Upon graduating high school, I was finally ‘allowed’ to get a job! Though this may sound funny, my parents always wanted my brother and I to focus our energy on school and getting good grades, which is what we did. Once I graduated, I couldn’t wait to get a job and start making my own money. Now, 6 years later, I have learnt the importance of saving my money; more specifically having a cash flow plan. With every paycheck I budget out my mandatory expenses(including investing), discretionary spending and my emergency fund. Having a set budget gives me the freedom to spend my money on the things I want but it also keeps me on track towards my saving goals.  

Emergency Fund

As mentioned above, a key element in my cash flow plan would be putting away some money for my emergency fund. Thankfully my mom has always told me how important it is to have extra cash in case of emergencies. Over these past few years I have definitely needed my emergency fund for things like my car breaking down, random medical expenses, work uniforms, etc. Having some extra cash set aside for unexpected expenses has benefited me a lot since I started making my own money and taking on more responsibilities.  

The Value of Investing 

On a daily basis I see first hand how important investing is, but when I first started investing I had no idea how much it would benefit me in the future and how thankful I would be to have started when I did. Upon graduating high school, my attitude toward working and saving money became more serious. From what I knew of my mom’s business, she helped people save and grow their money for the future. This was exactly what I wanted to do with my own money. I am lucky enough to have someone so close to me who knew exactly what I needed to do. My mom suggested I invest some money every month into a TFSA. Over time I was able to watch my money slowly grow into a nice little nest egg. Putting away as little as $25 a month taught me how dollar cost averaging works and why it’s important to save regularly. Instead of buying Starbucks every day, I put that money towards my future.    

Thank you, mom, for always being my support system, my role model, and my best friend. 

Happy Mother’s Day!

Have a great weekend,

Paige 

Reviewed and approved with love by Tracey Marshall. 

Products or services related to investments, investment recommendations, financial planning, retirement planning, and investment reviews are provided through our mutual fund dealer Security Financial Services and Investment Corp. 4665 Yonge Street, Suite 309, Toronto, ON M2N 0B4 t 416.964.0440