Saturday 3 March 2012

I have found some money...want some??


Today I wanted to talk about “found money”.  Not the kind you find lying in the street, however if you do find some there, be sure to pick it up.  You remember the old saying,
“A penny saved is a penny earned.”  The found money I am talking about is in your every day expenditures.  Here are some examples of what I mean. 

Do you have balance protector insurance on your credit cards?  If you do, it is just overpriced term life insurance and can charge up to .99 per $100 balance.  For example, if you have a $5000 balance on your credit card you are going to pay $49.50 per month for this insurance.  A healthy male adult aged 40 can get $100,000 term life insurance coverage for about $14.00 a month.  That’s found money.

Are you paying money for bank fees?  The average person will pay about $28 per month in bank fees.  If you switch your banking to a “no fee” account, which are available, you will have saved an extra $28 per month.  That’s found money. 

Have you checked your phone bill lately?  The amount due each month tends to creep up without provocation.  By calling your provider and asking for a reduction in charges, which they will do if you are persistent, can easily save you around $25 per month.  Or better yet shop around for a new provider.  This is a very competitive market so there are deals to be had.  That’s found money.

Found money can be well, found everywhere you look.  The key is you have to look for it.  Are you shopping for groceries that are on sale or are you just buying what you need regardless of the price?  Are you using rewards cards that accumulate found money?

Again there are so many places in your everyday life that there is “found money”, you just have to know where to look.  Did you know that as little as $200 per month of found money invested into your RRSP at 6% can grow to a whopping $383,000 in forty years?  Not bad for “found money”
If you are not sure where to start looking for your “found money”, contact a financial advisor.  It makes cents to me!