CP: NATIONAL (via HFXNEWS.CA)

• Deal brings end to strike of support workers at 2 Sask. universities
  REGINA - A five-week-long strike of support workers at the University of Regina and the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon appears to be over.

• Simplify By Harnessing Your Urge To Get Ahead
  

  It is difficult to maintain a simple lifestyle when we are surrounded by others who don't. It is tough not to get the latest and greatest when everyone else is getting it. It can be one of the hardest aspects of getting started with simplification in your life and can sometimes cause you to give up. Our desire to compete with others and to compare our situation with others is deeply rooted in our genetic make up. However, by looking at things slightly differently, we can take full advantage of this natural impulse to get ahead to keep us going down the road to simplicity.

  Changing The Rules

  We all have a natural tendency to want to compete, to want to win. It's perfectly natural to feel this way. In our current consumer society one of the ways we compete with each other is by comparing our possessions and our positions to those of others. Bigger is better. More is better. Newer is better. Higher is better. So when we decide that we want to cut back on our spending or leave work in time to make it home for supper with our families, it can feel like we are losing the race.

  We are losing the race. We're losing the race that doesn't matter though. You see, everyone is in the wrong race! They've got it all wrong and they haven't noticed yet. The real race is the one to financial freedom. It's the race to a more satisfying and more fulfilling way of life. So, let's give into our competitive side and use this to our advantage to really get ahead. Let's play by these better rules and win.

  Keep Comparing

  You can keep comparing yourself with others to check how you are doing, but now we are looking to see how we are doing in this new race. The new race is much different than the old one.

  Now, instead of feeling like you've been left behind when you don't have the newest and biggest TV, you can feel like you are getting ahead. By reducing your expenses and investing your hard earned money, you are getting closer to financial freedom. You are getting ahead.

  Next time you leave the office with enough time to be home for supper, you can feel like you are getting ahead. You are investing your time in your family and yourself instead of investing your time in an unsatisfying career that you don't really enjoy. You are getting ahead while everyone else works for their bonuses.

  We've All Got A Choice

  I'll admit that I don't always like to relish victory over others when the stakes are so high. We are talking about people's happiness and people's futures. So, don't rub it in too much if you get it and other people don't. No one likes a gloater. Maybe instead you could even divulge some of your competitive advantage secrets.

  Give them a chance. Let them know that you are playing by a new set of rules. You are shooting for financial freedom. You are looking to live the life you want not the one that everyone else thinks you should live. We've all got a choice. If they decide that they like the new rules better they can make the necessary changes in their lives. If they like the old rules better then that is also their choice.

  Final Thoughts

  So next time you have the urge to buy a fancy doodad try to remember that you are playing by different rules now. The way to get ahead in the new game is to cut back on the things that don't matter and focus on what does matter. Instead of feeling left behind, feel like a winner.

  I'm always amazed at how clear things can become with just a small change of perspective. In this case we don't fight the rules, we just change them! Now we're really off to the races only this time they're the right races.

• My Money Mistake & How To Avoid It
  

  One of the most exciting aspects of planning one's escape is learning new financial skills. Often learning a new financial concepts can get your creative juices flowing as you ponder how you could make use of this new idea in your own personal financial journey. Sometimes, however, learning something new can shine a humbling light on past financial mistakes. Some action in our past that we now realize was a poor financial move starts to weigh heavily on our minds and regret sets in. Today I'm going to share one of my (many?!) past financial mistakes and why I am putting my regrets aside and celebrating instead.

  The Mistake

  Around the time that I was finishing my undergraduate degree, I decided that I wanted to start planning for my future. I had read some stuff on investing and I saw what an advantage it was to start investing early in life. So I made plans to meet with a financial adviser - I now know he was a financial salesman and not an adviser. Along with the topics of mutual funds and automatic monthly investment plans, he talked to me about life insurance. At the time I was quite young, I had no dependents, and I had about $10,000 in debts. I had also never once considered buying life insurance, so I was not prepared in the least to defend myself against his sales pitch.

  This financial salesman recommended a $250,000 universal life insurance policy. A universal life insurance policy is basically an investment account and a life-long life insurance policy combined into one. The interesting part is that any capital gains or income generated by, and retained in, the investment portion of the policy were tax free. So each month you pay a chunk of money into the policy and a portion of that payment covers the insurance premium and the rest gets invested. After a few fancy graphs showing projected growth and some slick talk I agreed to sign up. My payments were $100 each month.

  The Education

  I now know a bit more about how life insurance and investing is supposed to work. I'm not naive enough to think I know everything, but I do know more than I did.

  Life insurance is meant to ensure that no one is left holding your debts and liabilities when you die. It also helps to ensure that your dependents have enough to make the transition to a life without your financial support. Generally, this means that you should have enough insurance to cover your funeral expenses, outstanding mortgage, any other loans or liabilities, as well as your children's education and your family's living expenses for a few years.

  Another thing that I learned is that as your assets increase and liabilities decrease (i.e. your net worth increases) your need for life insurance decreases. This is because your own assets can cover costs after you die.

  The Re-evaluation

  After I began to understand the point of life insurance I began to look a bit closer at the policy that I had. I discovered a few things:

  • Of the $100 I was paying each month, about $70 was going to fees and insurance premiums. I was only saving $30 each month.
  • The cost of universal life insurance is much higher than term life insurance.
  • My actual insurance needs were much lower than $250,000. I needed more like $20,000.
  • The investment funds available within the insurance policy all had very high management expense ratios of around 2.7%.
  • Since I was investing in funds and leaving the money alone, I was not incurring any capital gains so the tax sheltered account was not helping my cause at all.

  All in all, it was a pretty poor financial vehicle for me. During the 7 years that I had the plan I had paid $8400 of which only $2520 was invested. So I decided to change things.

  The Celebration, Not Regret

  Now I've decided to go with a term life insurance policy. It is much cheaper and provides the same death benefit. Now I'm paying around $30 each month for insurance and I'm investing the $70 myself. I also took the balance of the investment part of the policy and bought some less costly investments. I'm celebrating too.

  Why am I not regretting the wasted money? Well, the way I see it is that I could have never realized that mistake. I could have paid for that expensive insurance for my whole life and never noticed what a bad deal it was for me. Instead, I did realize. Now I've improved my monthly cash flow and I haven't lost any of the benefit. I'm still insured so my family will be covered if I die. The only difference is that I'm paying much less than before and I'm investing much more than before. That, for me, is cause to celebrate.

  Lessons You Can Take From My Mistake

  I think the best thing that you can do is educate yourself before making big financial decisions and be wary of financial sales people. By signing up without understanding what I was getting, I ended up with a very poor product for my needs. Make sure you understand your needs when it comes to insurance because over-insurance is a waste of your hard earned money.

  The other important thing to remember is that discovering a mistake is good news, not bad. It's only bad if you never notice. So celebrate your mistakes, feel good that you've just learned something new and enjoy the feeling of improving your financial situation. Good luck!

  This post is part of a group writing project, My Money Mistake and How to Avoid it, proposed by Canadian Capitalist over on his blog.

• Exercise That Works: Shoveling Snow
  

  As the first Winter storm of the season lumbered through the region yesterday, I had the opportunity to have a free workout shovelin