You are, aren’t you? You may not want to admit it, but I’m willing to bet you cringe a little at the thought of going into a bank and discussing your money with someone. Well, you should re-think your position if that’s the case.

Unexpectedly Exciting

I recently sat down with Laura Dingwell, an Account manager at my local RBC branch, and I can honestly say it was one of the best-spent hours of 2008 (even better than half of Lost’s season finale). Well, that’s a close one. Depends which half. Anyway, my intention was not even to blog about it, but I left feeling so invigorated and empowered that I had to share it with all of you. Seriously, go talk to someone. You owe it to yourself.

A Little Help, Here?

My goal was to make sense of money and figure out how to make it work FOR me rather than against. This will differ from person to person, but let me share what I took away from my meeting with Ms. Dingwell. First of all, it turns out that I had met with her years ago to discuss my Royal Credit Line, and upon recognizing my name she made a point of checking to see why I seemed familiar. Maybe it was curiousity, but I think she genuinely cares about her clients. I certainly felt that I was a person and not just some numbers on a computer screen. Here are the top three things Ms. Dingwell motivated me to do:

1. I’m starting (later than I’d like) an RSP!

   Using the RSP Calculator found at the top of this page (seriously, this thing is pretty cool) she showed me, reluctantly, the difference that 8 years – from 20 to my current age – has already made on my future savings. It’s scary. The amount has roughly been cut in half. Do it NOW! Well, finish reading this, THEN go. I’m not kidding. You’ll be glad you did. Laura (I think she’d be cool with me calling her that) stressed the importance of starting earlier than later. If you’re unclear about just how an RSP works, here's a great page on RBC's site about the specifics.

2. I’m starting an ACTUAL savings account!

   While I do have an account that is called a savings account, it contains the money I use on a regular basis. Attached to my debit card, it is no place to put money I wish to protect from my spending. RBC has a High Interest E-Savings Account, which clearly has a higher interest rate than my current savings account. The plan is to have $25 from each paycheque automatically transferred into this account, as well as into an RSP. And the beauty of it all is that I can get it all done within a few mouse clicks and nickname all my accounts to reflect what they are (rather than generic “savings”). $50 a month may not be much, but it’s better to do SOMETHING rather than nothing at all.

3. I’m creating a savings account for BILLS!

   The final step of my trifecta is to set up another E-Savings Account, in which money for bills shall reside. The idea is to separate it from MY money, as we are all guilty of looking at our account balance and falsely believing more of it is ours than is actually the case. You might have $1250 in there but in the next month $1100 might be spoken for. Wouldn’t it make sense to remove at least an approximation from this pile, as to reduce confusion? Laura tells me that paying FROM an E-Savings Account is quite costly (the site says $5.00 each), so it would be wise to automate a transfer back to my general savings account and to pay the bills from there instead.

Now It’s Your Turn

Well, there you have it. It may not seem like much, but compared to my previous habits (and I suspect many of yours as well) this should help straighten out my finances. You may not like ANY of these ideas, but the point is that I was inspired to take these steps after speaking with Ms. Dingwell. I would highly recommend that you make an appointment to see someone, so you can tap into your financial truths. Seriously, bankers aren’t that scary. You might even have fun, as I did in my meeting!