By Sheila Walkington, co-founder and CFO Money Coaches Canada and the Women’s Financial Learning Centre

Happy New Year!

The New Year is a natural time to look forward and set goals, but it is also a good time to reflect on how far you’ve come. Looking back one year life may not be dramatically different, but if you look back 10 or 15 years, so much has probably changed, especially in terms of your career and income.

When you were starting out you probably had a pretty simple financial plan – pay the bills so the lights stay on. Going out to the movies may have meant you’d have a smaller bag of groceries that week, and you may have dreamed of the day when you’d reach a level of success that you’d never need to budget again. But like the child who dreams of eating chocolate all day when (s)he becomes an adult, it isn’t such a good idea when the moment arrives. Now that you have achieved a good measure of success, you probably have a lot more reasons to stay on top of your finances.

So, do 6-figure professionals need a budget? Not if your idea of a budget is restriction and inflexibility. At Money Coaches Canada we’ve created a Spending and Savings Plan, not as a euphemism for the word budget, but as a tool that keeps you engaged with your money. Engagement fosters informed decisions and informed decisions will likely be in your best interest long term.

What happens to many high earners is that they get busy; they work hard, play hard and are often raising families at the same time, and they lose touch with where their money is going. They don’t have to choose between groceries and a movie anymore, so they may stop worrying about day to day spending in general. The catch is, with success comes different reasons to pay attention. Continue reading →