If Gail Vaz-Oxlade was calling the shots as an public school educator for teens about to graduate, she'd make sure every high school in Canada had a mandatory course in financial planning.
Early intervention in a Grade 12 classroom is a better alternative to the school of hard knocks. The star of Slice network's Til Debt Do Us Part is convinced a curriculum change would help Canadians avoid calamity and find financial freedom faster.
"I would eliminate careers planning and make it financial planning," said Vaz-Oxlade, who brought her entertaining money management roadshow to Vanier Hall Saturday afternoon.
"Every child I've ever seen that goes with the careers program thinks it's a bird course that's too soft, and it's too early for them. It's the only required course I think you could push out of the way to put financial education in, so everybody gets it."
There were more than a few folks in the sellout crowd of 782 at the nearly two-hour show wishing they had somebody like Vaz-Oxlade to teach them the basics about making budgets, forcing yourself to save money, and living within your means.
The theme of the afternoon was the 10 biggest mistakes people make with personal finances and Vaz-Oxlade touched on them, blending the cold hard truth with humourous anecdotes that had people rolling in the aisles. Her reasons for setting money aside in an emergency account, which she refers to as the F.U. account, were brutally honest.
"Cars break, houses develop plumbing problems, and partners drop your fat ass and go after a thinner ass," she said. "Your money is your responsibility and if you take responsibility and you have a schedule, you have a plan and you're in charge, you'll sleep better."
The biggest mistake people make, according to Vaz-Oxlade, is not having a system to track their money. Because of that, they don't learn how to prioritize spending (the No. 2 mistake), they don't know how much they're spending, they spend more money than they earn and they don't save enough. It all adds up to a recipe for disaster.
Murray Mooney, 52, was taking notes notes and left satisfied he and his wife are already sticking to Vaz-Oxlade's budget plan and have adopted her savings account advice.
"What we all have to realize is we have to spend within our means and not overspend and that's the biggest thing people do, trying to keep up with the Joneses," said Mooney. "We don't have to do that to have a happy life."
Vaz-Oxlade's website debtfreeforever.ca has a link to a wedding planner. The thrice-married Vaz-Oxlade offered her own advice.
"Please do not marry a money moron, they are huge mistakes," she said. "I don't care how they are as people, if they won't pay attention to the money and it's important to you, they don't love you that much."
In the question-and-answer period she was asked whether it OK to cash in an RRSP to pay off a credit card and line of credit.
"That would be stupid advice," Vaz-Oxlade said. "The only time you tap your RRSP is when you have no other options -- if you have no job and no income and you need to pay the rent. But if you have a job and pull out your RRSP, you are driving up your marginal tax rate. Don't do it."
On her TV show, Vaz-Oxlade challenges people to make changes to their spending habits and follow a plan, and if they succeed they end up $5,000 richer. Micala Bloomfield, 24, is hoping to use some of Vaz-Oxlade's financial gems to save at least that much up until the day she retires.
"She said if you're under 30 you only have to save six per cent of your income until you retire and then you'll be set, and I'm young enough," said Bloomfield. "I have money saved, but not for retirement."
Cara Richardson, 26, said she'll try to do a better job of tracking the dollars and cents that all add up over the course of a lifetime of spending. She already uses Vaz-Oxlade's online spreadsheet to prioritize her spending and plans to think more about how she will save for retirement.
"I'm glad I have that advice now, instead of when I'm 40," Richarsdson said.
Vaz-Oxlade convinced Neil Brushey, 24, the time is now to write a will which will assign a power of attorney and determine how his funeral expenses will be paid. His 22-year-old girlfriend, Colleen Kavanaugh, plans to devote more of her income to RRSPs and her savings account, as Vaz-Oxlade suggested. She's been hearing that same advice from her parents for years, but now plans to act on it.
"I need to get a savings account and take a $100 out of each paychque and just watch it grow," said Kavanaugh.
Charles Grant, 72, says he's done a lot of research on financial planning and has already adopted much of what Vaz-Oxlade was preaching, but that happened later in his life.
"If I had gotten to her when I was younger, it would have been much better for me," laughed Grant.
"That simple thing like making sure you had an emergency fund and when you start having credit cards, pay them off right away, things I didn't do. I didn't save regularly for retirement, and today I'm fine with pensions, but we would have been better off if we'd been better at saving when we were younger. It was just a reminder for us."
