Make Money Your Thing

Hi! It’s me, Kalee Boisvert. I’m a financial advisor, speaker and author and I’m thrilled to be making a guest appearance on The51’s blog to chat about “making money our thing” as women. To this end, I’m sharing some tips I’ve found helpful in my career in the hopes they will help you—The51’s community. Let’s dive in!

The finance industry has been male-dominated for too long. Everything from commonly used finance vernacular to financial advertising and marketing have never focused on women’s priorities, needs or perspective. It’s really no wonder why women feel left out—since the industry’s inception, women literally have been left out. 

But not anymore. Women make up half of the world’s population. More women than ever before are financially independent and many of us are the sole financial decision makers in our households (like me, for example!) Wonderful organizations like The51 are standing up to the still archaic views of the finance industry to advocate for women and affect change. It is time for women to own their roles as serious earners and smart investors. It’s time for women to Make Money their Thing.

If you want to build a positive relationship with your money and feel confident and powerful when it comes to your financial life, it’s time to get going. Below are my top tips for making money your thing:

1.     Show your money some love:

I have loved money for as long as I can remember. My mom likes to tell the story of asking me at age four what I wanted to do when I grew up—my response was, “I want to collect money!” Unfortunately, especially for women, this goal is seen as “selfish,” even though the same ambitions are not viewed negatively in men. When I meet with women, the majority don’t outwardly express wanting to “be rich” or “be a millionaire.”  However, they all also work very hard for what they earn. You need to give yourself permission to invest in you; pay yourself first, and love your money. Money doesn’t have to be associated with greed. It’s OK to want to make it, have it, and enjoy it.

2.     Advocate for your money:

Don’t give up control or defer to others when it comes to your money. This applies to giving up control to a spouse/partner or even to a financial professional. If you stay engaged in your finances, you can ensure your best interests are being looked after; after all, YOU are the one who knows your financial goals and ambitions best. It is important to advocate for yourself throughout your financial journey and put yourself first. Self-advocacy is all about speaking up for yourself—asking for what you want or need, when you want or need it. Initially this may feel uncomfortable and unnatural, but keep in mind the ultimate goal of creating what is best for you and expressing yourself will become easier each time you do it. How can you advocate for your money? Take time to get clear on what your expectations are and write them down. If you decide to work with a financial professional make sure to interview more than one in order to find the right fit, and make sure they provide the value and services you require.

3.     Have money awareness:

Avoidance and denial are common tactics I see when it comes to addressing finances. Especially when it comes to confusing or overwhelming topics like money, it may feel easier to take a “head in the sand” approach. But even though we’d sometimes like to, we can’t hide from our finances. The sooner you recognize that, the sooner you can move on to designing how you would like your financial life to look. You can’t start any journey without first knowing where you are, nor can you change what you can’t see. No more hiding or avoiding—dig deep and develop an awareness of your money by taking an inventory of what you have (creating your net worth statement), and also knowing what you spend (completing your budget). From there, you can decide if you need to make changes and plan where you would like to go.

4.     Take Action:

This is the most important step— it’s all in the execution! If you want to make money your thing you must take action. Here’s how you can start right now:

·       Setup a disciplined savings strategy: Start where you are. Don’t let procrastination talk you out of taking action. Always know that when it comes to saving money for your future anything is better than nothing. And don’t give yourself another “to do”; keep things simple and try automating things as much as possible. For example, setup automatic monthly withdrawals from your chequing account into your savings account.

·       Build an emergency surplus: An emergency surplus provides a financial safety net during times of crisis. At the very least, it can reduce some of the stress your family may experience by covering off your financial concerns.

·       Commit to learning: Finances, money and investing can be scary and uncomfortable topics. To make matters worse, they are notoriously left out of our formal education curriculum. Understand that learning these things is a journey that takes time and effort—so don’t be too hard on yourself. As with learning anything new for the first time it will take patience and practice.

·       Get investing: Investing is one of the surest ways to grow your wealth. If you let your money sit idle it will never reach its full potential. Your money deserves to grow and flourish, and you can achieve this by putting it to work. When you invest your money you give it the greatest opportunity to grow and compound.

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful—I know they’ve helped me a time or two in my financial career and journey. If you have any questions or would like to get moving on making money your thing, feel free to connect with me or any of the team members at The51.

By: Kalee Boisvert, MBA