Six Action Steps You Can Take To Build Your Financial Confidence

March is the month of women, money, and confidence. According to our survey last year, the biggest reason that women do not get involved in their finances is …. they felt too behind. Team Jackie Porter, wants to dedicate this month to empowering women to feel confident and to get organized around their finances. This week on LinkedIn Live at 5, Jackie shared her 6 important lessons that women can learn right now to feel more assured when making decisions about their life and financial future. 

Lesson 1:  Figure out how to make Yourself Happy 

We can only offer and receive love if we know how to love ourselves. The first step is not about finding a good partner, but instead about figuring out how to make yourself happy. What gets you up in the morning? What are you curious about? What does living your best life look like for you right now? 

Remember, we attract people to us based on how we feel about ourselves. By making ourselves happy, we attract people that make us happy. By understanding our life purpose, we attract people who love and support us on the way.  

Lesson 2: Expect that you will need to provide for yourself as an independent person in this world.  

No one else deserves to take on this burden or assume this privilege until you have mastered it for yourself so that you have the confidence to know you will be ok in the future, regardless of your relationship status. Having someone that we could trust is amazing but placing our whole destiny into the hands of someone, and not yourself is not a smart choice. At the end of the day, knowing we have the power to take control of our lives and our destiny provides us with greater peace and confidence than relying on someone else.    

Lesson 3: Invest in Your Career 

Consider yourself self-employed. You are a brand, and a brand needs to be unique, valuable and innovative to thrive.  Learn as much as you can about your chosen way of making a living. There are programs such as the Lifelong Learning Program where you can borrow from your RSPS tax-free to go back to school and learn new skills. And do not be afraid of starting late, it is never too late or early to do something. We only need to put in 10,000 hours to practice something to become a master in it.  

Lesson 4 Prioritize Yourself 

As women, we tend to prioritize others’ happiness and comfort over our own. The minute we get married, we are expected to put ourselves last. It is true that being hardworking and caring for others are crucial to our happiness and emotional and financial security. However, a good partner will prioritize your happiness as well.  Keep in mind, often women already are doing all the unpaid work, and taking off time to have children, all while earning less.  This makes it crucial to have a supportive partner who is looking out for your interests as well.  The reality is, it may be better to be alone and independent than to be with someone who does not support and share responsibility with you.  

Keep in mind, women are three times more likely than men to end up in poverty after a divorce.  Especially if they have children. So, if they are with partners who did not respect and now no longer love them, chances are their former partner will not seek to provide a fair settlement for them or their children. It truly becomes a vicious cycle for women who put themselves last. 

Lesson 5: Say NO to feeling ashamed about your financial circumstances 

We don’t learn about money in school- Yet so many of us of feel ashamed about our financial circumstances, about how little we know or how behind we are in terms of where we should be.  

Don’t feel ashamed about having debts on your credit card that you are not sure how to pay off. Don’t feel ashamed for not having an emergency fund, RSP, or TFSA savings.  JUST SAY NO TO SHAME LADIES! Instead, focus on what you are doing well, maybe a good income or being good at stretching your dollar. Whatever it is emphasize the positive! If you are thinking of getting help from a financial professional, remember that they work for you and not the other way around. They should be prepared to answer all your questions without making you feel bad about asking them. You should be able to ask how an investment works, fees you are paying, and if you need reminders on how it all works. 

Lesson 6: Don’t just save. Invest!  

Instead of adding money and saving it in a bank account, let’s multiply money by investing. Richard Kysioki said think of your money as employees. Is money working for you and growing or is it lazy money sitting in a savings account waiting for you to work to add to it? Keep in mind, it takes 36 years for your account to double if you have an interest rate of 2%. The rate your money is growing must be higher than the inflation rate on the market! If you cannot keep up with inflation, the money you are saving will run out sooner. 

Bonus tip: Decide you want to be in a relationship with money and that it’s a relationship you will be in for a lifetime. 

Consider money a friend you will need to rely on over the course of your lifetime. Jackie recommends each year asking yourself what do I want to learn, how can I build on this relationship and where do I need help? This means you will want to learn about it by reading books, taking courses and checking in on your finances are doing regularly. When you are ready to improve your financial IQ, we are always available at info@askjackie.ca to offer you a 30-minute consultation. 

Thanks for checking out our live and be sure to check out our page for the latest updates. Happy Woman’s month. Stay tuned for exciting updates on future lives we have planned for this month.