Holistic Approach to Household Finances
As we approach the holidays and the end of the year, it is important to talk about your finances.
Jason Trueman a portfolio manager talks about how to have a holistic approach to household finances and to buy a good mattress. A holistic approach to life is an amazing idea. Try to have a holistic approach to your finances also. A holistic approach to finances means looking at the overall picture of your finances.
Jason, welcome to Four Columns, a holistic blog on food, faith, finance, and family. Please tell me a little about yourself?
I am a Portfolio Manager with Cumberland Private Wealth Manager. Cumberland is headquartered in Toronto. I work with a talented team in Kingston, Ontario including a CFP, CA, CPA, and TEP providing holistic wealth management services for successful Canadian families and business owners.
How did you end up in personal finance?
I graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce Degree. I received my CFA charter in 2001. I started my career as an Underwriter with Chubb Insurance. I was recruited by AIG and worked in Bermuda for 7 years before returning to Kingston to raise our young family in 2010.
Give me three tips on how to have a holistic approach to personal finance?
Control your spending by buying things you need and on an average cost basis (i.e. you will spend one-third of your life on a mattress so buy a good one).
Be disciplined with your investing. Buy dominant companies with great management who care about both their customers and their shareholders (these are rare and require work to find).
There is a balance between disciplined spending and enjoying your life; life is short so if you need a trip or a new car or new shoes to enjoy your life then spend the money.
What happens when we live on credit cards and not on our salary?
Credit cards that you pay off in full on a monthly basis and never pay interest on and accumulate rewards are great. When you overspend and pay exorbitant interest living beyond your means then you will suffer from difficult financial decisions and increasing stress.
How important is it to have a budget as part of a holistic approach to our personal finance?
I find long-term goals are helpful in providing meaning to your actions like why am I going to work and saving for my child’s education or retirement. Budgets help keep your life and spending in order; like a calendar and daily to-do lists.
What are some important tips to start saving?
Paying off your higher interest-bearing debt is most important. Taking advantage of government savings programs like RESPs, RRSPs and TFSAs is enormously important as well. Again, buying things you need (healthy food, a quality mattress) instead of buying things you want for status and cost a lot on a per-use basis (the tenth pair of shoes, vacation properties) is critically important.
How do you balance faith, food, finance, and family?
I believe in humanity; if we all do our part to contribute, we collectively accomplish amazing things. If you don’t spend money on healthy food then you’ll pay the price with poor health and physical limitations. Finance is about independence; ideally, a career doing something you enjoy while creating financial freedom to do nothing if you so choose. Raising kind, caring and confident children who find something productive they love to do in life are our number one job as parents.
Can you recommend some great restaurants in Kingston?
Kingston has an enormous array of awesome restaurants – having 35,000 students in the city helps. I prefer local family-owned restaurants such as Tango, Woodenheads, and Harpers.
You manage money for the wealthy, what have you learned from the experience? Do they have a holistic approach?
Success usually requires some form of sacrifice at some stage in their life. For many that mean focusing on academic excellence instead of always finding the nearest party. For others, that means pursuing an idea, a vision, and taking on considerable financial risk, and working excessive hours to make their dream a reality.
How important is food to you?
Food has an enormous impact on how you feel and how you look. Humanity would benefit from healthier eating with lower health care costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and an overall more productive society and cleaner earth.
‘Finance is about independence’ – yes, exactly! I like this perspective, it is sensible to spend more on the things that you spend a lot of time with, such as a mattress. Usually, there are ways of reducing even those costs, though. For example, in terms of food, you can buy ‘ugly fruit and veg’, which are just as good as regular produce, but not the correct shape or colour, or you can buy things at a reduced price at the end of the day. If you are on a lower salary or just starting out, things like that can really help to keep the costs down and get started saving money early.