I’ve been a personal finance columnist or editor for the better part of two decades now, much of that time at the Financial Post newspaper and more recently at MoneySense magazine. I’m also an avid reader of financial content on both sides of the border, so I think I’m on pretty safe ground declaring there is a certain cyclicality to this beat. (Dare I say “repetitiveness?”)
Yes, there are occasional momentous changes that require reporting and comment as they develop. In Canada, the last such groundbreaking event in personal finance would be the unveiling of the Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) in the 2008 budget, and its subsequent debut in January 2009, and the furor this spring over the near-doubling of its annual contribution levels.
But here we are, six years later, and what are personal finance writers supposed to do while we await the next significant development on our turf? Fret not, we’ll find a way. In the meantime, this is the first of seven columns I’m writing that reprise what I believe to be the top seven eternal verities of personal finance.
Without further, ado, the first one please:
Eternal Truth #1: Live below your means
This is the granddaddy Truth of personal finance. Without it, there’s little point talking about the rest. The only way to become financially independent is to be consistent about spending less than you earn, year in and year out, decade in and decade out. The attitude required is what I call (in my book) “guerrilla frugality.”
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