Tag Archive for: financial planning

Recession Obsession!

Every where you look people are obsessed with this so called recession. It took them forever to declare that we were in one. Now everyone wants to be the first to say that we are on our way back out. However if you speak too soon, and without the proper amount of facts, the animal that is our stock markets will jump up and bite you if they do not agree. Just as they did on Monday.

However while I regularly meet with business owners, I always ask them how their business is going. Invariably most of them are telling me that business is great. Now that does not apply to all fields. My friends in the real estate game and fellow mortgage brokers have had better times. As tough as it may seem to be here, those in the west are feeling the pinch more than we were.

While we all have been tightening our pocket books it looks like things have been improving. We are well on our way to a recovery based on the recent MLS data. (see below) Almost every market in Canada has posted gains except for 4 western city’s.

Some people are suffering and some are not, but their is still hope. If you are looking for a way to improve your current situation as soon as possible, please do not hesitate to contact my office. We will analyze your current situation and develop a plan to help you get to where you want to go. As always I look forward to hearing from you.
Cheers,
Pat
p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Average MLS resale price for local markets

City June 2008 June 2009
Halifax $235,312 $240,093
Saint John, NB $170,199 $172,731
Montréal $269,257 $275,578
Ottawa $298,336 $307,793
Toronto $395,918 $403,918
Hamilton/Burlington $287,249 $297,117
Winnipeg $206,327 $212,542
Saskatoon $310,386 $276,867
Calgary $418,866 $392,601
Edmonton $341,376 $328,285
Vancouver $611,613 $575,949
Victoria $476,639 $476,686

Source: Canadian Real Estate Association

Do It Now!

It’s an attitude as well as a work ethic. Some would rather put off till tomorrow what they do not want to do today. Funny thing is that these same people are the ones with next to nothing in savings, buried in debt and living pay check to pay check. The one’s who do it now are much better off. They are typically high achievers with no holds barred attitude. They know what they want and they go for it with laser beam like focus. Which one would you rather be?

Actually it is a lot easier that you would think. The best way to approach it is to prioritize your day, then start at the top and work your way through. If you find yourself getting sidetracked, don’t beat yourself up remember your only human. ( Dog’s reading this need not apply!) Have a list, better yet pictures of your goals around where you work. They will help snap you back when you get off track. Take action as if you knew you would never fail. Fact is you have a far great chance by doing than by thinking about it and not doing it at all!

As I am a Cape Bretoner, they would say at home ” Get off your arse and do something”! We only come this way once, how about making it a memorable journey. I don’t know anyone who gets paid for thinking about doing something.  Take baby steps if you have to, but at the very least take some action. You will find that everything becomes easier, and achieving your goals will happen quicker.

If one of your goals involves improving your current financial state, then take some action now and contact my office right away. We will take an in depth analysis of your current situation and help you develop a plan to eliminate all your debts as quickly as possible. I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Forecast

After spending the beautiful weekend with my wife and kids playing at the pool and seeing adults wearing much less than they should, it’s back to work tomorrow. I am using forecast in this instance not to describe the weather, which was wonderful, but to talk about a forecast in the sense of a prediction. Not a wild prediction like Y.E Yang beating Tiger Woods at the PGA (few saw that coming), but something with a little more certainty like your own financial future.

Those of us in sales are familiar with forecast in the sense of a sales forecast. Working strictly on commission you have to keep your pipeline full to ensure that your income stays consistent and predictable. Can you forecast your financial future for the next 30, 60, 90 days? Most of us should be able to do that, but what about for the next 3, 5 or 10 years? Where do you want to be? Do you have a plan or are you just living day by day and from paycheck to paycheck?  If there is no plan then it’s very likely you won’t get ahead in your life.  Now is the time to get off the sidelines and take charge and be the designer of your own fate.

They say that once people reach 65, most are either dead broke or dead. To me that does not sound that appealing! All the more reason to come up with a plan, and the sooner the better. This is not something that you have to do on your own either. Use the resources that are available to you, like my friend Steven Cox a Certified Financial Planner who can help you build a road map to build true long term wealth. Also feel free to contact my office where I can help you review your current situation and come up with a plan to eliminate all your debts as quickly as possible.

Remember at the end of the day, if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. Take the time now to design a prosperous future.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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One Hundred percent!

According to Wikipedia it means mathematically the entirety or all of something. Lot of people know it and say it but how many of us actually give 100%. By this I mean day in day out on a consistent basis. If this was the case, we would not be complaining that we need to loose 20 lbs, make more money or have a better relationship. However we live in a day and age where people are actually proud about how lazy they are, and go out of their way to do as little as possible. I admit that there are several things where I know I could do better, given the time and the effort. I even recently heard an advertisement of someone boasting about how they work about 15 minutes of solid work each day.

If you notice I did not say it meant perfection. What you should get from this is that you should give your all, every ounce of it. No trying, just doing as Yoda would say. Get prepared for your life to change for the better in every area. You finances, your health, your relationship will all improve by you giving 100%, instead of the normal half assed effort. I am not singling out anyone in particular. We are all guilty of that.

Take this as an example: As much as I am a fiercely proud Canadian, I must commend my neighbors to the south. When it comes to the big events the American’s really pull out all the stops and leave nothing on the table. Take the Olympic’s for example, typically in most major events the American’s are the one’s on top or the one’s to beat. They find a way to really step it up and give their 100%.

Now that you have gotten this far, you may be wondering how does this apply to the topics frequently discussed on this site. Well it comes down to this, I promise to give you a 100% effort to help you secure the financing required by you personally or for your business. If you want references, any of the people who have given testimonials on this site would be willing to vouch for me. As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to working with you.
Cheers,
Pat

Wake Up call!

I don’t mean the telephone call you receive to get you out of bed when you are staying at a hotel. What I am taking about here is the proverbial wake up call that snaps you to attention to the current state of your life. It could be that your suddenly realize that you are 42 years old, 50lbs over weight, in a job that you hate, and have 150K in debts and no actual savings. Your time of living a zombie like existence is now over and you have to do something drastic to change your life, and you need to do it now! By drastic, I don’t mean taking a swan dive off the nearest high structure.

You have succeed in realizing that what you are currently doing is not working, and you experiencing enough pain that you need to make a change right now. As bad as that may sound this is great news. You have reached a point where you are now able and willing to do something about your life. You should first take stock about what you can and can’t change as some things are beyond your control. Other than your age, height and genetics everything else is open to undergoing some massive changes.

For the purposes of this article let’s focus on finances. If you are open to it, we can show you how to eliminate your debts as quickly as possible so you can be in a position to actually build some net worth. It is easier than you would think and it is possible with the money that you are currently making today. Please feel free to give my office a call as soon as possible so can schedule a time to get you heading in the right direction.

Cheers,
Pat

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Give ‘em the old one-two combination!

I would not profess to know a lot about boxing, however, something can be said for a good sport analogy. My point is that goals and massive action are like a one-two combination. You cannot achieve success with one and not the other. Sitting on the sofa and wishing you could win the lotto will not do you much good unless you have already purchased a ticket or two. If you want reach your goals, they should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. If you were paying attention that means “SMART”.

An important part of that formula has been omitted – action and I mean massive action. Being “Smart” about your goals is all well and good, but if you are still sitting on the sofa then shame on you. 

The same can be said if you were smart and timely enough to take advantage of current interest rates to restructure your finances. If you have just restructured, but have no plan to improve yourself financially, then you may find yourself in the same position in the future.

The one-two punch here is to make sure that if you have restructured; you have a plan and will take action to follow your plan. Ultimately your goal should be to eliminate all your debts as quickly as possible and then start building true wealth. It is possible; we have done this with many clients – clients who have saved thousands of dollars in interest payments and are now saving money every month!

Feel free to contact our office today – we can show you how to make improvements to your financial situation, it is possible.

Cheers,

Pat

 

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Obama knows a thing or two about timing!

By the time you are reading this Barack Obama may have already been sworn in as the next President of the United States. When he first announced his candidacy to run for the President of the United Stated on Feb 10, 2007, the odds were not in his favor. Many were predicting that another Clinton would receive the nomination for the Democratic Party. She was heavily favored to win, however Obama did things different. 

Many in politics advise candidates to focus on their message and to get it out to as many people as possible. Which is more important the message or the medium? They say that he was an ace at both. Their is no denying it that Obama is a brilliant orator, however what many do not realize is that he was particular adapt at getting his message out. Not everyone can attend live events, watch CNN, or follow the countless stories in the newspapers. In this day and age people have a constant urge to stay informed and want to do it in their own way. Barack Obama saw this and took advantage of the many social networks to get his message out to as many people as possible via facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and his own web site. People were able to stay informed on their smart phone on the go. You may be asking how this has anything to do with timing. Well it has everything to do with it; it helped him get his message out, by taking advantage of the latest social networking trends. He engaged more people, got them involved with the process, which gave him momentum to win the nomination and eventually the Presidency. 

You may also think that timing has nothing to do with the current state of your finances. Well nothing could be further from the truth. Think of it this way, would you rather have a 6.0% mortgage rate or 4.5%? The answer is simple; you would rather have the lower one. You probably assume that the higher rate is for people with less than perfect credit and that you could easily get the lower one. However, both were available as the discount rate for people with good credit over the last 24 months. The biggest difference is timing. You may also say that you will go out and get a loan only when you need it, well I am telling you that it may be too late.

You may not qualify for what you want if you wait for when you need it. Don’t wait until you are painted into a corner and you need a loan to help you out, because the only one available at that time may not be exactly what you want. There is no better time that now to look at restructuring your finances. It will put you in a better financial position in the long run, and allow you to weather out the uncertain financial times that we are currently facing. 

Feel free to contact my office so we may see if the timing is right for you.

Cheers,

Pat

p.s- This is by no means a reflection of my political views but rather an acknowledgement of his achievement.  

 

p.s- You can find me on Twitter,Linkedin, Facebookand friendfeed.
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Signs that you may be in need of a bailout and what you can do about it!

Unless you have been living on a deserted island some where you are probably aware that we in the midst of some interesting and challenging economic times. Big business are lining up for bailouts, the markets are just one roller coaster ride after another, yet we ( the consumer and tax payer) are the engine that runs the economy and where can we turn if we need help?

Here are some signs that you may be in need of a bailout and what you can do about it:

1) More than 40% of your income is going to service your debt.

2) Your balance is higher than 90% of your credit limit.

3) You are using one credit card to pay another.

4) You have been late more than once in paying your creditors ( not utilities). 

5) You have or are receiving calls about money you owe.

6) You are living paycheck to paycheck.

7) You think the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train.

8) You are stressed about the money you owe.

9) Your debts are keeping you up at night.

10) You feel like you are working only to pay your bills!

There is a better way! If you are a home owner, the lowest cost of borrowing is against your home. That is because it is  a secured loan. Contact me today and we can look at combining all your debts into one simple payment, also providing you with a plan to pay it off quickly and efficiently if you qualify. Start focusing on designing your life instead of just paying your bills and you will be surprised how different your life can be. I would recommend that you sit down with a financial advisor like my friend Stephen Cox to help you design out your long term financial plan. 

Cheers,

Pat