Have to call in the financial pros

After our ‘burb weekend, I can safely say I am definitely a city, or maybe just a “my neighborhood” person. The lovely little towns that have grown into pretty little suburbs as Toronto has expanded have a few flaws I just can’t get past:

1) I love to walk everywhere and do most of my errands on foot or bicycle with the kids – these lovely towns don’t have all of the amenities located tidily near enough to make anything other than driving manageable
2)Strolling around the neighborhood and meeting a seemingly endless parade of friends and families out doing the same isn’t the ‘burb way – from what I’ve observed both driving around and strolling on the “one-side-of-the-street-or-not-at-all-sidewalk” neighborhoods, people must hang out in their fenced in backyards or in some secret location revealed only to those who live there

Now maybe I just haven’t found the right little town/ suburb with the perfect combination of all that I love. I’m still open to the possibility, but in light of recent activity, I’m little dubious.

So now, my hubbie and I are at an uncomfortable impasse on the moving issue. Rather than risk marital implosion, we’re calling in the big guns – an investment consultant – to help us best understand our options.

We’ve tried to do this on our own….fiddled the dollars a bit here…consolidated debts a little there…deducted a bit elsewhere…but without professional insight to really look at all of the short and long-term benefits/consequences and what we really want out of our lives.

So why have we not taken advantage of professional help before? (I just re-read that line...made me giggle) Sadly, it’s been a matter of priorities. Until now, we’ve managed to distract ourselves enough from the alarm bells sounding off regularly with the busy-ness that is our life.

So here we go...soon to be ignorant no more. Personally I’m terrified! But I’ll let you know how it goes (hopefully not a case of misery shared in the end, but wish me luck).

If you too are at an impasse, a good place to get through it is to:
1) Talk to your bank. They deal with this every day and may surprise you with how creative they can get at saving you money
2)Check out what the bread winner in your household’s workplace may offer. If could be anything from a financial consultant to a therapist able to help you sort through the stresses and find a solution that you can live with.