Life and Career Skills

Exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet and managing stress effectively can help pro actively can help you maintain a positive mind and healthy body. For many people, doing so on a daily basis is a big challenge.

The link between stress and health has long intrigued workplace health providers, employers, doctors and scientists. Stress, which is a fact of life, can be difficult to control and can have serious physical and mental health consequences.

What do you think tops the list of stressors for most people?
Managing your finances is the number one stressor for most people. People worry and fret about their financial situation constantly, with some years being worse than others. The global economic downturn in 2008 caused many people to loose sleep over their financial situation.

Does your financial situation stress you out? If so, you are not alone. Almost 58 % of Canadians and 72% of Americans admit to worrying about their financial security and future. Concerns like " How will I manage to send my children to university?", I am worried about my retirement", or my investments are commonly heard.

Think about and articulate your financial goals. Whether it is travelling, buying a second home, planning your estate or retiring, your goals should be unique and important to YOU.

Here are some tips to get started.

• Create and stick to a weekly budget
• Keep all your receipts to find out how much money you are spending on the "little things"
• Pay off your debt!
• Review all your outstanding credit and make a plan to get rid of them.
• Establish an emergency fund
• Review your insurance coverage
• Calculate your net worth
• Look up three financial terms that you have never understood.
• Teach your children to save 15% of their allowance and gift money
• Understand your employee benefits package
• Invest in Real Estate.