BMO Bank of Montreal introduced an innovative program called BMO SmartSteps in 2009, which is a program that was specifically designed to help Canadians save more money during the period of increasing financial stress.

The SmartSteps were providing customers with 5 essential banking tips that they can do on the spot as part of their visit to any BMO branch.

The 5 steps are:

• • Generate automatic monthly savings
  • Minimize banking fees
  • Take years off of mortgage payments and become debt free quicker
  • Start saving tax free
  • Automate money transfers to avoid extra fees

BMO SmartSteps was a huge success, and many Canadians found themselves saving a lot more money than they realized once they actually followed the steps listed above.

BMO then decided to bring out BMO SmartSteps for Business, which aimed to help, which aimed to help make your business work better. By using BMO SmartSteps for Business, business owners will be able to assess their banking needs, and get customized plans that includes managing cash, banking an daily operations, financing and investing, and financial needs that go beyond their business.

With the success of both of these initiatives, it has given birth to another set of BMO SmartSteps, however this time it is aimed towards investors.

What is BMO SmartSteps for Investing?

BMO SmartSteps for Investing is a program that has been designed to help Canadians make sense of their savings and investing, to help them keep more of their money, stay on track with their investments and grow their money for the future.

Using BMO SmartSteps for Investing, customers can get clarity on how they can prepare financially for the long term by implementing straight forward tips and advice, including on how to pay less tax, protecting their investments and securing their retirement.

What can BMO SmartSteps do for me?

With this new program, customers can:

• • Get a clear financial picture
    • How much money you will need to achieve any long and short term goals
  • Keep more money by reducing taxes
    • You will be able to pay less tax with the right investment tools, such as a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
  • Keep more of your money by protecting it
    • Keep a portion of your investment portfolio secured by guaranteed investments such as GICs
  • Secure your Retirement
    • Ensure that your money works for you, and as hard as possible in order for it to reach your ideal retirement lifestyle

Looking at the success from the initial introduction of BMO SmartSteps, with the addition of BMO SmartSteps for Investing, hopefully BMO clients can set and achieve their individual goals now and in the future.

Why should I use BMO SmartSteps for Investing?

BMO SmartSteps for investing does not cost you a penny, and in the end you will benefit from it. You will be able to get a clear understanding on how you can prepare for any long or short term goals. It will not hurt you to actually try this program out, and from looking at the success of all of the Canadians who tried BMO SmartSteps, this program may be well worth your time.

In the end it is up to you, whether you wan tot start preparing for the future or not. If you do, consider going to your BMO branch and discussing BMO SmartSteps for Investing, and see where it takes you.

When you think about it, an average person will spend the majority of their life working. You will probably find yourself in school for at least 20 years of your life, and then the rest of your life will consist of you working in society until you retire.

The problem that tends to arise while working is that we never seem to have enough money, or we are always worrying about it. We have so many goals we wish to see accomplished before we retire, but we can never get them done mainly because we are always stressed out.

Take the time to breathe once in a while, clear your mind from all your financial stress and sit down and prioritize your goals. Figure out what is most important, and put the rest on hold, or get rid of them completely.

As we have all come to realize, life is not only about making money, but it is essential for us, and why make money if we cannot even enjoy it.

With that said, with a your large goals in mind, keep a smaller goal that is aimed for some “me” time. Take a vacation, enjoy yourself once in a while; relieve stress you may have piled up throughout the year. You will find yourself very relaxed and can get back on track with your life and getting your goals in life accomplished.

We all know that money can’t buy happiness. But does that mean that money and happiness are not interconnected? Far from it. The lack of money, or financially caused stress, can be a primary factor in the loss of happiness. Does that mean that you can buy peace and well being? No. But it does mean that in order to be happy, you need to have your finances under control.

In October of 2008, About.com reported:

Financial stress is a sadly widespread experience. According to a poll on this site, roughly 7 in 10 respondents are “very stressed” about money, and only 1 in 10 report that they are not stressed about finances — and the proportion of people stressed about money is only going up.

In addition, the article goes on to explain that financial stress then impacts numerous other areas of your life, including sleep and health issues. Do you overeat? Perhaps it is because you are financially stressed. Do you have trouble sleeping? Maybe you need to get your finances under control. Do you find yourself angry, sad, or depressed? Have you considered it may be financial stress causing you this unnecessary harm?

It is time to stop being stressed about your finances.

Make More Money

How are you going to stop worrying about your financial problems? Just make some more money. All you need to do is make a few more dollars here and there, and then you’ll be fine, right? Most of us are operating on a pretty tight budget. So we figure that if we just make another $500 a month, we’ll have tons of room to feel less stressed.

Here’s the problem with that solution. Making more money means more work. Sure you can try to work smarter, or work for a greater wage, but in the end, if you want to make more money, you need to expend more energy. You need to put in overtime hours, you need to get a part time job, or you need to start freelancing on the side. And you know what, if you’re drowning in debt, this might not even be an option. You have to. But the more time you spend working, and the less time you spend with your family, friends, and yourself, the more stressed your going to be. You can’t outwork your financial stress.

A second problem. Between lifestyle inflation and the need to “reward” yourself for working so hard, the extra money you make will probably just disappear. If you spend less time with your spouse because you’re working extra hours, you may have to spend some of that money making it up to them. If you are suddenly not seeing your kids very often, they might “deserve” a few more presents here and there. And if you’re making an extra thousand dollars every month, then you can afford that new house/car/yacht that you’ve always wanted – which will reduce your stress levels on its own, right?

Micromanage Every Dollar

Ok, so maybe you can’t outwork your financial stress. You just need to be smarter about your money. So instead of making more money, you’re going to maximize your dollar. You sit down and work up a budget, a spending plan, and set goals for yourself. You watch your grocery shopping like a hawk, you coupon clip like a madman, and you choke the life out of your TV, internet, and cell phone bills. You negotiate your credit card interest rates down, you get a rent reduction and you limit yourself to one Popsicle every six weeks. You manage to make some breathing room in your budget – but all of a sudden, you realize that you’ve actually been choking yourself.

While there is a huge benefit to trimming the excess fat of your monthly expenses, you can’t out frugal your way out of stress either. Restricting yourself to the tiniest of pleasures and eliminating any expense other than the absolutely necessary will slowly clamp down on you living your life as you mean to enjoy it. Not only that, but micromanaging your money takes up a lot of time. Time you could be spending watching a movie, relaxing with you kids, or pursuing your passions. Time that you shouldn’t be wasting balancing checkbooks and logging receipts.

Life is meant for living, and life is meant for enjoying, and if you are so worried about every dollar that you spend that you are paralyzed, then something needs to change.

So what’s the solution? What’s the way out?

Embrace Serenity

Serenity is a simple word that is defined as “the absence of mental stress or anxiety”. Imagine, being free from stress. Being free from anxiety. Being free from the financial strain that is currently your life. The good news is that this is not a get rich quick scheme. Even better, you can have it today.

How so?

Take these simple steps

Stop

Right now, just stop. Take a minute and stop. Stop checking your bank account balance, stop counting your change, stop rifling through your bills, receipts, and coupons. Just stop.

Stopping will do two things. It will slow everything down for you. Life in our North American consumer society is going so fast that everything has become a blur. The corporations want it to become a blur so that they can profit on your disorientation. So just stop. Nothing will fall, nothing will break, no disaster will come of you taking a break. So stop already. Stop searching for quick money, stop looking for the lottery, stop wondering when you will be able to live the life you always dreamed of. Stop.

Stopping will also allow you the time to focus. Stop doing what others tell you to, and think about what you really want to do. What do you want to do with your life? Who do you want to be? How are you going to get there? What do you need in life? What are the essentials? What can do you without?

Breathe

Take a breath. Breathe. Air in, air out, and repeat.

Take a few minutes to really concentrate on what you need. Food, shelter, clothes. Friends, family, love. Establish a bare minimum. The house you’re living in – could you be content with less? The restaurants you eat out at – could you go less often? What’s your absolute minimum? Does it depress you? Probably. My bare minimum depresses me.

So what do you need to be happy. Really and trully happy. A bigger house? No chance. While it might increase your happiness temporarily, you will grow into it and will return to the same level of happiness as before. More money? Doubtful. The more money you have, the more stress it puts on you. Losing $10 sucks, losing $100 is worse, losing $10,000 or $10 million could cost you your life. The more you have, the more you can lose, the more stress and strain is on you. So what do you want? A fulfilling job? A short commute? A close group of friends? How much money could that really cost? You might already have enough.

So breathe. Because your financial situation – as bad as it may seem, or feel, or look – isn’t as bad as you think it is. Everything is possible to overcome. So breathe.

Plan

Now you know what you want. You just have to figure out how to get it. Want an emergency fund? No problem. Want to be able to retire? Piece of cake. Every problem has a solution, it just needs a plan on how to get there. A word of warning, however. You can’t plan your way to fame. You can’t plan your way to unbelievable riches. That’s okay though, because that’s not what Serenity is about. Serenity is not on the front page of newspapers, and Serenity is not the most well known person on your block. Serenity is quiet, calm, and peaceful – and very rarely seen.

So plan to achieve Serenity by taking your large goal and breaking it into a number of smaller goals. Want to retire in 20 years? Break that down into 5 year chunks, 1 year chunks, and 1 month chunks. How much should you put aside this week in order to retire in 20 years?

Automate

Then set it and forget it. If you have your online bank account all you have to do is set up your online account to pull a set amount of money each week, or each paycheck, or each month, from your regular account into the online account.

And then, you’re done. Relax. Share a pint with some friends. In 20 years you can retire, so you don’t have to worry about it anymore. For each goal or dream of passion you have, just repeat the process. Stop. Breathe. Plan. Automate.

Have too many goals and not enough money? Prioritize. Pick which one (or ones) is the most important to you, and get rid of the rest. You don’t need a new house, new car, new shoes, new friends, a vacation every year all while working 4 hours a week as an artist in your New Year Penthouse studio. You don’t. That won’t make you happy, you know it and I know it.