So, good morning,
it's Financial Literacy Month

and the Canadian Forces Morale 
and Welfare Services

present a column on this topic.

We take a look at managing
from debt to investment

as well as taxation.

Today we kick off with a look at budgets

and Martin Carette, a financial advisor
from SISIP Financial, located in Ottawa

is joining us.

Thank you, Martin, for joining us.

Thank you, it's my pleasure.

So, first question, Martin,

can you explain a little bit
the main aspects of budgeting.

What should we all know about this?

Yes, absolutely.

So when you look at the budget level,

it's a term that was used over the years
in different ways,

but really, a budget
is the most important part

when we look at our personal finances.

It is really our source of information

that tells us the reality
in terms of our spending.

When we talk about budget,

there are many people
who think that budgeting

means limiting our spending.

In reality, the budget

is our guide to know our actual spending.

It allows us to see where our money goes

and provides us 
with the information we need

to make financial decisions.

It's really the most useful tool.

Without a good budget
and knowing our spending,

it's hard to see other steps

like investing and paying our debts, etc.

So, this is really the most important tool

when it comes to personal finance.

As someone obviously,
who deals with people

and then sees all kinds of situations,
can you explain to us

what are the most difficult aspects
to budgeting?

The first thing is to be honest
with yourself.

It's sometimes the first part:
admit to some spending.

Something that's probably the hardest
for most people when budgeting

is discipline.

You must make sure
to have follow-ups, write things down

and keep receipts.

But today, there are techniques

which can help us out.

It's something we help people with.

You need discipline to follow-up

and it takes time.

We can't unfortunately 
create a budget today

to [inaudible] our answers.

As a rule, it takes about three months
if no spending follow-up was done before

to start having a good view 
of our spending

because each month 
can be a bit different.

It takes a bit of time

and it's something that should stay
with us for the rest of our life.

We should continue to budget

in order to really know our expenses.

I would have thought

it would be hard for people
to expose themselves like that,

to talk to you,

share all the financial details

as well as their personal situation.

How do SISIP Financial advisors

manage these situations
that can be uncomfortable,

that may be difficult for clients?

Indeed,

finance has always been 
a touchy subject for people.

For us, as SISIP advisors,

it's very simple: 
we're here for our members.

Our conversations are private,
they're not shared,

they stay between us.

The more open people are with us,

the easiest it is for us to help them.

Each case is unique.

There's no comparison

because each individual
has their own requests and choices

where their finances are concerned.

There's no judgement, we're here to help,

to try to give people the tools they need

to help manage their personal finances.

We try to make them as comfortable 
as possible when we chat

and to create a pleasant environment
with each member.

Our only objective is to help them.

It's a private conversation
between them and us.

Excellent, thank you.

Could you tell us what tools are available

to help clients to set up a budget?

Absolutely.

Nowadays, different tools are available.

Many are free and available online.

At SISIP, we have also developed tools

to share with members
in order to simplify the process.

There are different available apps.

Each bank offers applications

to help with budgeting.

On the other hand, these applications

have both positive and negative sides.

So you really need to understand
how they work.

This is also where we can help people

to understand the applications,
and how they work.

We also have applications or programs

that can be shared with members
to help facilitate the process,

to do our follow-ups,

which encourage them to just go for it.

One must always remember

that what's important 
for budget and follow-up

is information.

Some programs are very nice,

they give you all kinds of visuals.

But that's not what's important,

the information provided is.

Sometimes, simple is best

because we get what we really need.

So, there is definitely
a variety of programs available.

Some of them are a little bit better
than others,

but in the end, it depends on the client.

It sometimes happen that
we find the best program for them,

and this will encourage them at this time
to start their budget.

So, if I understand correctly,
are you suggesting that the clients,

let's say, get in touch
with you in the first instance

and then explore various tools

or are they better off
maybe poking around a little bit,

exploring and then communicating with you?

I would say that the best solution,

is always to communicate
with us to begin with

because depending on their needs,

we can guide them at this point

with the tools that would work
on their side

to avoid useless research.

At this time, there are several
tools that we already have.

So we can help with budgeting,

especially if somebody
has never done it before,

they tend to forget certain things.

As we are used to creating budgets,

we can tell people:

"This is where your spending goes."

and hopefully,
bring things back to normal.

So, it's pretty normal

for people who are not used to budgeting

to forget many expenses.

We will then remind them:

"You were spending here and there."

To really create a complete budget
to help them at this time

to start doing a financial assessment
of their situation.

Often, people tend to call us
when they encounter a financial problem.

What's even better

is to call us before it occurs

so we can help to educate them

and give them tools to avoid
those financial problems.

Is there an ideal time
for people to consult you?

Is it at the start of their career,
end of their career,

when they're starting a family...

What are your thoughts?

The earlier the better, I would say.

At the start of a career,

things are moving, income is coming in

and to really start on the right foot,

you must set up a budget
and know your expenses.

It's something that can be adapted

to different stages of your career

because the needs will be different

through this career.

We're available at any career stage,

but of course, the earlier the better

to start on the right foot.

Do you have any other suggestions
or recommendations, Martin?

I would say that the most important one

is never hesitate to call us.

Many different questions can be asked:

it could be simply 
to help create a budget;

or if bigger purchases are on the horizon

like a car, a house

to make sure to think of all the expenses.

We're used to do that daily.

We're here to help,

the service is free 
and offered to all members.

And it's confidential.

No one will know we're having 
a conversation on that subject,

and there's never a wrong time to call us.

And even if it's questions
about credit or other things,

we're always available 
and happy to help out.

Thank you, Martin for having shared

this very useful information
with us today.

I'm here today with Martin Carette,

a financial adviser with SISIP in Ottawa.

A kind reminder 
that you can always get in touch

with a SISIP financial advisor 
on sisip.com

to get your financial plan

et be on the way to financial health.