With the holiday decorations tidied up, the noisemakers packed away and the balloons deflated, it may be easy to forget those resolutions made so earnestly on New Year's Eve a few weeks back. From losing weight to tackling debt, getting the house organized to spending more time with kids, resolutions are the sum of our good intentions: what we hope for ourselves, our families, our homes, our communities and our futures.
And when those lofty plans quickly fall by the wayside, many simply abandon their goals. But it's never too late to see a resolution through - the key is finding a little support, some good information and taking it one small step at a time.
Burnaby NOW reporter Christina Myers touched base with a variety of experts to get their advice on how to make sure that 2012 is the year that you're finally able to accomplish some of those popular goals: to tackle debt, learn something new, spend more time with the kids, get your home organized, go green, eat better and exercise more.
In today's edition, we take a look at a money expert's advice on how to keep one of these resolutions: getting your finances under control, and keeping them that way.
We talked to: Scott Hannah, president of the Credit Counselling Society of B.C.
Question: For someone who's never heard of the CCS, how would you describe what you do?
Answer: We're a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people find solutions to their debt and money problems. We provide consumers with confidential and no-cost credit counselling services. We take the mystery and frustration out of establishing and maintaining a workable budget.
We facilitate consumer financial workshops/webinars on managing debt and money and provide resources and educational material at no cost to the public. We help people manage and get out of debt through our debt repayment programs.
Q: Is there a "typical" client who comes to you in terms of their background, amount of debt, etc. - or is it people from all walks of life, careers, etc.?
A: Our clients come from all walks of life; consumers with modest incomes and consumers with six-figure incomes.
Generally speaking, consumers with higher incomes also carry larger amounts of debt and find themselves in the same position as individuals with lower debt levels; having trouble keeping up with their bills and monthly expenses.
The one area that the majority of our clients struggle with regardless of income is having a workable budget that allows them to meet their monthly and seasonal expenses on a cash basis without having to rely on credit.
Q: A lot of people feel that they are alone in being confused or overwhelmed by finances. In your experience, is lack of financial knowledge a fairly common thing?
A: Financial literacy is on the decline all across Canada. Unfortunately money is still a taboo subject for many people who are too embarrassed to admit that they just don't have the skills and knowledge to manage their financial affairs effectively.
The truth is that our genetic code does not include financial literacy and money skills; these have to be learned. Unfortunately for many people, they learn through trial and error, which can be very costly as well as stressful.
Q: It seems like people are carrying a lot more debt than they used to. Why is that?
A: The average client who seeks our help has seven active credit accounts with an average amount owing of $25,000. Despite our recent recession and the warnings to lower our debt levels, credit is relatively easy to obtain and the marketplace is highly competitive with offers to extend credit at low introductory rates. The flip side of low interest rates is that there is little motivation to save when savings rates at most financial institutions are less than two per cent.
We have also seen a shift in our values; from a society that embraced delayed gratification (saving up for our purchases) to a society that looks for immediate gratification. With easy access to credit, our wants become our needs. When we look to buy a home, most consumers look to see how much of a mortgage they qualify for instead of how much of a mortgage they can comfortably manage.
Combined with declining levels of financial literacy, a lot of people do not fully understand how easy it is to get in over your head with credit and how hard it is to get out.
Q: What kind of impact does financial stress cause on people?
A: It has tremendous impact on their mental and physical well-being. Clients tell us it impacts their ability to focus at work; to sleep at night. It creates tension in families and pulls apart more couples than any other reason.
Q: How many people each year come to the CCS?
A: Last year our counsellors sat down with over 12,000 new clients. We helped another 3,000 clients through workshops, education sessions and webinars. We responded to over 40,000 debt stressed calls and conducted over 4,000 online chats.
Over 150,000 unique visitors went to our websites, nomore debts.org and mymoney coach.ca for information and assistance.
Q: What would you say to someone who may be reading this and thinking that they're too embarrassed to contact the society, or that their situation is too "big" to fix?
A: We understand how difficult it is for most people to ask for help. It takes a lot of courage to pick up the phone, which is why we encourage people to visit our website nomore debts.org and read the unsolicited testimonials from our clients to gain a better understanding of how we can help.
We provide consumers with the ability to remain anonymous and ask questions through our online chat. While we cannot conduct a formal counselling session online we can give consumers straightforward information to help them move forward and take the next step.
We also provide counselling by telephone so that our clients can discuss their situation from the comfort of their home if they are uncomfortable speaking with someone in person.
There are no situations too small or too big to fix. Depending upon a person's situation, they may have more or fewer options available to address their situation.
Getting a second opinion is always a wise thing to do. Doctors encourage their patients to get a second opinion when addressing health concerns, and the same advice applies when addressing a person's financial health.
Q: Anything you'd like to add that I didn't ask about?
A: We strongly encourage consumers to seek help at the earliest stage of financial difficulty. There are some warning signs to pay attention to:
- You find yourself in your overdraft more often than you are out of it.
- You have difficulty paying more than the minimum payments required on your credit cards and bills.
- You find yourself worrying about money on a regular basis or arguing with your partner about money.
- You don't have a spending plan in place that enables you to manage your expenses or savings to deal with unexpected emergencies.
- You have requested limit increases on your line of credit or credit cards.
Getting help at the first sign of difficulties can take a tremendous amount of stress and weight off of a person's shoulders and get them back on track sooner than by delaying or ignoring a problem.
Learn more about tackling debt and money education at the society's websites, no moredebts. org or mymoneycoach.ca, or call the society at 604527-8999.
Keep an eye on upcoming editions of the Burnaby NOW as reporter Christina Myers shares the tips, advice and support from more experts who will help readers who have made resolutions to get healthy, get organized, get green and more, in our ongoing series, This Year, I Will.
Follow Christina on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ ChristinaMyersA or email her at [email protected].
SCOTT HANNAH'S FIVE GOLDEN RULES:
1. Live within your means; i.e. don't spend more than you make.
2. Use credit cards for safety and convenience only and pay the balances in full each month to avoid costly interest charges.
3. Run your household finances as if it were a business, "Me Incorporated," and put yourself (savings for financial goals) at the top of your paycheque. You'll never save any money to accomplish your financial goals if you're the last one to get paid.
4. Be realistic; getting out of debt and learning to manage your finances takes time. It has a lot of similarities to mapping out a plan to run a marathon: it starts with one step at a time.
5. If you're not sure where to start or how to solve a problem, get help from a trusted source. Our organization is nationally accredited, governed by a volunteer board of directors, has an A+ rating with the BBB and has never had a complaint lodged with any of our provincial licensing bodies in Western Canada. Consumers need to do their homework before entrusting a service or person to help them address their financial situation.
