Can You be Successful With a Net Income of $24,000?

Can You be Successful With a Net Income of $24,000?

by | Oct 24, 2017 | Money Meditations

I still get stressed before meeting other financial professionals about my personal numbers.

This time it was before a meeting with an insurance broker to ask some questions about disability insurance, and I was gathering some information about my income for the last two years.

I pulled up my 2015 and 2016 tax returns and I was hit with an unexpected wave of shame.

Turns out I had forgotten that my net income for those years was $21,000 and $24,000 respectively. And even though I knew that, I had forgotten.

It was kind of intense.

I almost canceled the meeting because I was embarrassed.

In that moment I felt that no one could call themselves successful with a net income of 24,000 last year.

 

Numbers seem like black and white truth… but are they?

The thing is that I know that feeling is wrong.

Yes, that income is low, and there are a bunch of reasons for that… but they really don’t matter right now.

The question is more about the feeling of ‘success’ and its attachment to income.

We use income as a measuring stick for success all the time. I was just sitting around a table and looking up famous actors' networths in order to compare them and see who was still ‘doing well’.

In some cases the word success is synonymous with income earned. Who doubts the ‘success’ of Warren Buffet or Bill Gates? Not me.

But where does that leave me for the last two years?

Because I know that mostly I’ve felt quite successful, even though the numbers don’t show it.

 

My own success defined as a whole bunch of little things

My focus in the last two years has been a total reorganization of my life. A move away from 100% singing to include a new life as a financial planner.

That’s meant training, but those costs come off before reporting a net income so I’m going to ignore all that.

The real success I’ve managed in the last two years is to afford the time I need to refocus. To learn new skills, to meet new people, and to just get my head around not being ‘just a singer’.

I’ve afforded that time while still paying my bills on time, accruing no debt, and spending $12,000 fixing my teeth.

I’ve afforded that time while still finding resources for multiple trips to see friends and family around the world.

When I look past the ‘net income’ number it’s very clear that I’ve lived a very fulfilling last two years.

That feels successful to me… at least it does most of the time.

 

Success moving forward

I know those things.

But I still felt that shame.

Honestly, I still feel a bit of it now. I’m afraid that the amount of money I make speaks to my competency as a financial planner.

I feel that even though the lion’s share of my clients this year will never pay me a cent.

I know that in order for me to feel fulfilled I can’t define my success by my income. I can’t fall into the trap of thinking that a line 150 (net income) of $72,000 is all I need for complete happiness.

Even as I move to grow my business, make more money and move toward that goal (because it is a goal of mine), I think it’s important for me to remember what made the last two years so fulfilling.

That even though all my socks had holes in them and I lived with a bunch of roommates I felt successful.

Even on ‘just’ a net income of $24,000.

Emily Nixon

Emily Nixon

Rags to Reasonable Community Outreach Coordinator

Emily Nixon is an actor/writer/director/filmmaking Swiss Army Knife. She is also a big money nerd and Community Outreach Coordinator for Rags to Reasonable.

She came to this work after becoming completely fed up with living paycheque-to-paycheque and being too afraid to look in her chequing account. She is passionate about empowering other artists and variable income earners to keep doing what they love and feel confident about their finances.

Email Emily at emily@ragstoreasonable.com

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Sexy Spending and the Boring Things That Make it Possible

Sexy Spending and the Boring Things That Make it Possible

by | Oct 23, 2017 | Getting Started with your Money

It’s easy to ignore my body.

Sure, it’s there… I see it. But it rarely seems to be the crucial element in what I’m trying to do. I normally focus on just one or two elements.

When I’m singing most of those elements are around my head and throat area (with only the rarest of thoughts to the whole ‘breathing apparatus’).

When I’m wearing my financial planner hat… it’s my brain that I’m most gets my attention.

Those are the body parts right?

Except that it’s not nearly that simple, and because you’re smarter than me… you already know that.

The boring things that support the important ones

I’ve been thinking about this same issue a lot lately in the arena of time management.

It’s been a really busy, and so I’ve been forced to really think about the most important ways to use my time.

And I’m getting better at it (yay!!!)

In the beginning I was making lists of all the most important tasks that needed to be done:

  • rehearsals
  • finished this plan
  • work on this project

But I was running out of steam, feeling stressed, and like I was stretching myself way too thin.

I was focusing on the most immediate tasks, but I was ignoring some really important fundamentals.

Things like:

  • make food
  • go grocery shopping
  • rest

I wasn’t leaving time for ‘support’ items, and so they either weren’t getting done, or they were ‘stealing’ time from my other projects, and it was stressing me out.

I was thinking about everything all wrong.

 

The throat bones connected to the ….

It’s easy to remember all the important things.
What’s harder is to remember all the support (or maintenance) work that needs to be done too. The work needs to happen consistently to keep me a healthy and happy person.

The work that needs to happen in order for me to accomplish the other work… the ‘other work’ that I keep categorizing as ‘more important’.

That’s the thing that I’ve begun to realize this week.

It’s not more important.

In fact, the most essential jobs are those mundane ‘support’ tasks. Shopping for and preparing good food. Taking real chunks of time to rest and recharge. Nothing gets done without them.

And so I’ve moved them to the top of my list.

The financial takeaway:

It’s the same damn thing with money.

We all have big life goals that we want to work on:

  • paying off debt
  • vacation
  • investing in your career

And they feel essential, so mentally we allot every available dollar to their completion.

Except that a lot of those dollars are already taken. You need them for the basics: rent, food, and car payments.

That mental trap can cause a ton of stress because it feels like you’re constantly falling short of where you ‘should be’.

But your money has to cover the ‘support’ tasks first. It just does.

We all need to have our priorities straight in our heads. First, make sure the mundane is taken care of, and then we can worry about the sexy extra bits.

It’s a small thing, but it’s kind of a game changer.

Try it this week and let me know how it feels.

Emily Nixon

Emily Nixon

Rags to Reasonable Community Outreach Coordinator

Emily Nixon is an actor/writer/director/filmmaking Swiss Army Knife. She is also a big money nerd and Community Outreach Coordinator for Rags to Reasonable.

She came to this work after becoming completely fed up with living paycheque-to-paycheque and being too afraid to look in her chequing account. She is passionate about empowering other artists and variable income earners to keep doing what they love and feel confident about their finances.

Email Emily at emily@ragstoreasonable.com

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Ideal Financial Solutions Don’t Work

Ideal Financial Solutions Don’t Work

by | Oct 20, 2017 | Financial Planning

It would be so nice to be able to make financial decisions in a vacuum. To just freeze the world, so you had time to sit with the problem and figure out a great solution.

But this stupid thing happens almost every time...

Life.

Sometimes it’s good life, and sometimes it’s nasty life … but it always happens.

And the problem that you thought you were trying to solve morphs into something different.

 

Ideal solutions rarely exist (and when they do, they don’t last)

There are times when I think my job as a financial planner is to come up with ideal solutions. The perfect series of actions that are going to lead you to success.

And sometimes… I actually think I found them.

I deliver a big ole shiny plan with numbers and charts and a gleaming pathway to your success.

It makes me feel great.

But, it probably won’t work, at least not as smoothly as that.

 

The reality of financial problem solving

The truth is the ideal plan sometimes doesn’t work, even if it looks perfect on paper.

One changing detail throws everything off, or it just doesn’t fit on your life.

And then my lovely plan is useless.

Well… it’s not useless, but it’s not useful on its pure surface value.

It’s useful because of the underlying process. The thoughts and questions at it’s core.

That’s what we come back to over and over again.

 

Financial problem solving Take 2, 3, 4, and on…

Often when I work with clients we spend 3 months gathering information, building up a plan and setting up a structure for making it all work.

And then in the fourth month we start to figure out why it doesn’t work.

And it probably doesn’t, often in some big ways.

That doesn’t mean either of us has failed (although I’m sure both of us will feel that way a little bit).

It’s because of that stupid ‘life’ thing.

The goal now becomes about adjusting, going back to the process and the fundamental goals and questions and finding a way that DOES work.

Finding a way that works with how you actually live your life, and want to use your money.

At least one that works for now…

Emily Nixon

Emily Nixon

Rags to Reasonable Community Outreach Coordinator

Emily Nixon is an actor/writer/director/filmmaking Swiss Army Knife. She is also a big money nerd and Community Outreach Coordinator for Rags to Reasonable.

She came to this work after becoming completely fed up with living paycheque-to-paycheque and being too afraid to look in her chequing account. She is passionate about empowering other artists and variable income earners to keep doing what they love and feel confident about their finances.

Email Emily at emily@ragstoreasonable.com

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How Does Canada Tax You When You Earn in Other Countries

How Does Canada Tax You When You Earn in Other Countries

by | Oct 19, 2017 | Taxes

This is a classic opera singer/digital nomad type question, and like every tax question… it can get super complicated.

Tax stuff is tricky when you’re dealing with one country, let alone two or three or all of them.

The best advice I could possibly give is to find an accountant that you trust to help you navigate the nitty gritties of filing your taxes. Everyone is different, and so one-on-one advice from someone who knows your numbers is the best thing.

But I wanted to give you a few bullet points that I hope will help.

 

How your taxes work ties in to where you claim ‘residency’

Residency is a squishy word. You’d think it would be cut and dry - it’s where you live right?
Well, any of you people who live out of a suitcase, or haven’t had a fixed address in years know that it’s rarely that simple.

The government defines residency as a place where you have ‘significant ties’. Those ties can be things like a house, or family, or where your storage locker is.

Some countries (like the US) have specific formulas based on how many days you spend there to determine if you're a resident, but you can even challenge that… if you think all the evidence points in another direction.

If you claim residency in Canada, but are working around the world… here’s what happens next:

 

Canada taxes you on your ‘worldwide income’ not just what you make in Canada…

So, if you’re Canadian and you’re working in the US or the Netherlands, Canada wants to tax you for all the income you make.

Let’s say you make $10,000 in the US, $20,000 in Canada and $15,000 in the Netherlands, you’ll be taxed on the whole $45,0000.

But here’s the thing that so many of you world travellers know: the country that you’re in often takes a huge amount of withholding tax off of the top of your cheque.

So if you’ve already paid tax in the country you’re in, what happens if Canada taxes it AGAIN?

 

Canada will give you a tax credit for all the tax you’ve already paid in another country

In an effort to make the worldwide tax system possible for mere mortals to exist in, Canada has set up tax treaties with lots of other countries.

Most of that doesn’t matter to you, but in this case it really does.

Those relationships allow Canada to give you a tax credit for any tax you’ve already paid to another country (think all that withholding tax you already gave).

That means that generally you won’t get double taxed on the same income.

Consider this: You’ve been working on a musical in the US, and every time you get paid your weekly cheque the US government takes a huge chunk of that in withholding taxes (which they will).

When you come back to Canada and file your taxes, there will be a place to tally up the amount of taxes you’ve already paid to the US government.

That amount, will be credited against the rest of the taxes you owe, if you paid more than you owe… you’ll get a refund. A refund from the Canadian Government, even though you paid in the States.

 

 

I’ll say again that these are pretty general statements to give you an overview of how the system works. Every country is different depending on the tax treaty, and there are lots of exceptions to even the most basic rules because … it’s taxes.

I hope this will be a tiny bit helpful. If you want to chat any of this out, feel free to send me an email (chrisenns@ragstoreasonable.com), or if you’ve got really technical questions find your way to an accountant that specializes in these kind of taxes.

Emily Nixon

Emily Nixon

Rags to Reasonable Community Outreach Coordinator

Emily Nixon is an actor/writer/director/filmmaking Swiss Army Knife. She is also a big money nerd and Community Outreach Coordinator for Rags to Reasonable.

She came to this work after becoming completely fed up with living paycheque-to-paycheque and being too afraid to look in her chequing account. She is passionate about empowering other artists and variable income earners to keep doing what they love and feel confident about their finances.

Email Emily at emily@ragstoreasonable.com

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How Financial Planning Helped this Digital Nomad Make More Money

How Financial Planning Helped this Digital Nomad Make More Money

by | Oct 18, 2017 | Client Reviews

Financial planning is a bit of a mystery. Lots of people have no idea what that work could possibly look like… or what it could help with.

I had no idea until a few years ago.

And honestly, I think that even the financial industry doesn’t completely understand what helps and what doesn’t.

That’s why I’ve started to talk to my clients about what they really got out of working with a financial planner. What surprised them? What helped them? What stopped them from working with someone for so long? And I want to share their feedback with you so we can all learn together.

If you’ve ever worked with a planner, feel free to add in the comments anything you liked about it (whether it was me or not).

Here are a few questions and answers from Tammy, a bad ass digital nomad I’ve been working with since the spring.

 

1. What was the obstacle that would have prevented you from working with a financial planner in the past?

I didn't think It was something that people like me did. It didn't occur to me to do so until I cracked down and made the decision that I wanted to have some money to work with. Then I hired Chris, and suddenly I started getting the confidence to go for bigger contracts and make more money—because I had somewhere to "put" the money, and control it. Having a plan actually made it more psychologically appealing to go after more money.

 

2. What surprised you about working together?

I was surprised at how easy it was to listen to and take your advice. I'm a know-it-all and figure things out for myself normally, so I wasn't sure if I could be helped. You are really good at making it clear why I need to do something without pushing my defence buttons.

 

3. What part of our work together did you like the most?

Coffee. No seriously, working with you is like having a coffee with a friend and figuring stuff out. Only I know you know what you are talking about and not just saying what I want to hear like some friends do. 🙂 I liked that you gave direction, I tried stuff, then consulted with you and redirected, you didn't push a particular agenda.

 

4. What are some other benefits that came out working with a planner.

The biggest benefit is money confidence. It is a big deal to feel like I know how to handle money. The psychological effect is like a release of old conditioning and an openness to invite money in.

 

5. Would you recommend it to someone else? If so… why?

I recommend a financial planner to anyone who feels stress around money, so I guess that is just about everyone. Why? Because money has been blamed for marital problems, suicide, ulcers, and evil, or at least the root of evil... when actually, the blame goes to a mindset that can be shifted when you are armed with the right plan.

 

6. Anything else to add?

During this time I have had thoughts like "What would Chris think if...", and I've had the urge to hide expenditures from you, and in my head, I find myself justifying costs and thinking twice about purchases with the sense of accountability that comes from having a coach and mentor in my head. The accountability you bring to the table makes it much easier to build new habits.

I think it is important to note that only a trusted, pleasant and thoughtful person could invite the trust it takes to allow you into my head! You are a lovely, funny, capable and professional angel on my shoulder!

 

 

As you can see, she’s clearly awesome :-).

But she’s just one person. What do you think? Have you ever worked with a financial planner? What would your answers be?

Emily Nixon

Emily Nixon

Rags to Reasonable Community Outreach Coordinator

Emily Nixon is an actor/writer/director/filmmaking Swiss Army Knife. She is also a big money nerd and Community Outreach Coordinator for Rags to Reasonable.

She came to this work after becoming completely fed up with living paycheque-to-paycheque and being too afraid to look in her chequing account. She is passionate about empowering other artists and variable income earners to keep doing what they love and feel confident about their finances.

Email Emily at emily@ragstoreasonable.com

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