They say knowledge is power. I say knowledge is money and Credit Canada can show you how to put that knowledge to work for you.

Understanding how to manage money properly can be a life-changing experience. Worry and stress can be lifted from one’s shoulders. The world seems new, fresh.  You start making the right decisions, such as how much to save, invest, spend and give.

Suddenly your days are no longer a grind; they are an adventure, full of all kinds of gratifications often of a simple nature. You stop living in your head. You start looking around and noticing there is a whole world of interesting things to experience. And you find you begin to relate to others – be they family, friends or associates – in new and positive ways.

At Credit Canada, it’s been a goal of ours for some time to develop and offer a special education program that tells troubled souls everything they ever wanted to know about personal finance but were afraid to ask. Through our certified credit counsellors, we now offer what we call our Financial Coaching Series, and I guarantee it can put vital energy back into anyone’s money-rattled life.

The program is designed for anyone who is interested in taking control of his or her finances. It brings relief and wisdom to those who are marginally or deeply concerned about money. However, the program should not be confused with our regular counseling services at Credit Canada, which often involve putting together Debt Management Programs.

The Financial Coaching Series is for those who are experiencing life changes or for those who are constantly fretting about money, in other words, it’s for everybody. The Series teaches and guides you on how to create a realistic monthly and annual spending plan– and all the ins and outs about credit and debt. It is also about planning and attaining goals and lifelong dreams, all of which factor greatly in taking financial control of one’s life.

Participants in the Series are motivated with a coach physically on hand and in constant communication. All within a year’s time, you can at last become an expert yourself in personal finance through six sessions that are easy to understand, through self assessment, practical guidelines and advice that anyone can implement.

If you are interested, I encourage you to visit this link www.creditcanada.com/financialcoaching.asp. I tell you honestly, joining our Financial Coaching Series could change your life in ways that will surprise and delight you. Not only that, it could change your life for life.

Aside from language, it is the thing human beings share most. We live with it daily. It shapes us; it drives us. It is elemental to our survival and happiness. Yet for millions of us, the way it works and influences our behavior remains a mystery comparable to the crop circles of Wiltshire.

I’m talking about money. And I ask you, how did something so basic and common come to be so misunderstood by so many?

The answer is simple: we’ve been lazy, presumptuous and generally spoiled in Canada and other free-market democracies around the world. Money has been in such great supply for so long, we have forgotten to give it respect as a limited resource requiring wise and prudent supervision.

The memory lapse applies to citizens and institutions alike nowadays – to Main Street and to Wall Street.  Individually and collectively, we’ve lost our way financially. I say it’s time we got back on track.

This blog, For the Love of Money, aims to do just that through regular columns and conversation about personal money management and other financial matters of interest to anyone who owns a wallet or a purse.

Check out my blog entries on this page covering a range of topics. I’ll be discussing all kinds of money-related subjects as time goes on. I hope you will find time to join the discussion and, if you’ll excuse the expression, put in your two cents worth.

Movies about money that will move you.

Pop culture has plenty to teach in terms of financial literacy – movies about money, for example.
 
Indeed, having discussed popular books about money in this space, I think it’s worthwhile to talk about a few popular films about money. But let me clarify that. The movies I’m thinking about are works of fiction primarily experienced on a gut level rather than on the more rational level of a reading experience.
 
To put it another way, through the image-oriented, make-believe world of movies, I think it’s possible to experience something like emotional learning about money in addition to the more cerebral lessons that come from books most often created with education, rather than entertainment, in mind.
 
While there are few good feature films whose stories directly address crippling debt and ways out if it, there are a number of great movies I can think of that offer general life lessons about money. From these films insight can be gained into the deeper urges, influences and expectations that play out in our lives in the context of money.
 
Here, then, is my movie list. It includes five mainstream features that tell interesting stories relating to money management and finance – if only as a byproduct of the central storylines.

Doubtless many of you have already seen some or all of these films. If that’s the case, my advice is that they are worth seeing again on DVD, particularly if you’re in a situation where you’re evaluating or re-evaluating your finances and what money means to you in life.
 
• Wall Street (1987). The message of this memorable film resonates even today – in fact especially today – thanks to a bad guy known as Gordon Gekko, the greedy, ruthless Wall Street titan played by Michael Douglas. Some 23 years after its release, we’re told the movie Wall Street will be getting a sequel. The new movie has a lot to live up to. The original film offered as clear a lesson as ever there was about putting greed and personal interest before ethics, self-respect and matters of the heart. Here, specifically, the heart belongs to one Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen). As Gordon Gekko’s eager and ambitious financial gopher, Bud learns through a number of twists and turns that coveting money and cheating your way to the top can have dire consequences. The story stands as a timeless reminder that if something in life seems too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true. It’s good advice a lot of people with money troubles ought to consider since financial difficulties often stem from unrealistic expectations and exceeding one’s bounds.

• The Shawshank Redemption (1994). There are a couple of important messages in this critically-acclaimed film about a wrongly accused New England banker named Andy Dufresne (played by Tim Robbins) who is sent to federal prison for many years. Andy suffers some terrible ordeals there. But thanks to his perseverance and his commitment to a carefully thought out plan, he escapes from prison. He even manages to create a financial nest egg for himself. While in prison, he is appointed money manager to a corrupt warden whose ill-gotten gains eventually end up in Andy’s possession through a little sleight of hand. The story is a good, if unusual, reminder to anyone that focus and patience are required for long-term security. The movie also illustrates life’s uncertainties. None of us can be sure about what fate holds in store, so we must do our best to be prepared; we must take the good with the bad, and learn to adapt.

• Trading Places (1983). On a lighter note, here is a comic romp that begins with two aging, ultra-rich commodity brokers making a bet that they can turn a privileged rich kid named Louis Winthorpe III (played by Dan Aykroyd) into a common criminal, and reinvent a two-bit street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy) as a successful businessman. The old guys conspire to have Louis and Billy trade places in life. It’s interesting and funny to see the different ways the two young men deal with their new financial circumstances. Message wise, the movie shares something with The Shawshank Redemption in that it addresses the issue of coping with life’s uncertainties. It also shares Wall Street’s lesson concerning self-interest, but with a positive twist. Trading Places promotes the idea that it’s only right to look after and think about your own finances, just don’t do so at the expense of others, or for that matter, at your own expense.

• Jerry Maguire (1996). Here is another movie that will leave you with a smile by the time the final credits start rolling. Based on a real-life character, this is a dramatic but uplifting film about high-powered American sports agent Jerry Maguire (played by Tom Cruise). As the story unfolds, Jerry is on the rebound in his career and faces some big obstacles in a cutthroat business. In the process of overcoming those obstacles, Jerry learns to value people above money. His trials teach him to respect himself, to care for others and to understand the value of good business ethics. In a nutshell, the message here is that there is more to life than money. Additionally, Jerry shows us that we grow in spirit and positive self-awareness when we realize the true value of our abilities.

• Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). Now, back to a solemn note. The movie Glengarry Glen Ross is based on a celebrated play written by David Mamet, whose ear for dialogue and insight into today’s social and economic realities make for high drama. Or perhaps excruciating drama is a better way to put it, particularly as we watch one of the film’s main characters, Shelley Levene (played brilliantly by Jack Lemmon), come unglued. He is amongst a group of dishonest salesmen competing for business in a dingy real estate office where a dog-eat-dog ethos prevails, and where heart-breaking tragedy is the real end product. Desperation is the operative word here and it’s the main reason I’m mentioning this movie. As a cautionary tale, Glengarry Glen Ross amply illustrates the folly of acting foolishly out of desperation in difficult financial circumstances. Indeed, the message we always promote at Credit Canada is that, regardless of how desperate your financial situation seems to be, there is always hope. It just comes down to keeping a level head, educating yourself and perhaps reaching out to honest people with the financial know-how to give you a hand, like our counsellors at Credit Canada.

So that’s my list about movies concerning money. Of course, there are many other films whose storylines have something to tell us about money – everything from the classic Citizen Kane, to The Godfather series. But my blog space is limited. And besides, film reviewing is not my forte.

In closing, let me just say that if anyone out there is wondering why I didn’t include on the movie list It’s a Wonderful Life – possibly the most famous film ever about money problems and debt – it’s because I already reviewed it at length in my 2009 Christmas blog installment, which is available for reading in my Archive section (just search the column that you see to the right). Look for the installment dated December 2009.
 
You know, it just isn’t Christmas until George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) discovers that a person’s true wealth is measured by the love and support of family and friends.

And that, dear film fans, surely is the ultimate money lesson.

 
One thing we stress at Credit Canada is that life is about much more than material goods. It’s also largely about spirit and emotion. How you feel about yourself, your life, your accomplishments – especially your accomplishments. Because the more you accomplish, the more energy you have to realize your dreams.

Three years ago, we had a dream at Credit Canada. In a world obviously in need of financial literacy – where personal and public debt are reaching unprecedented proportions – our dream was to create an annual event around credit education. We wanted a national focus. We wanted speakers and events that would engage people. We wanted the news media to join in to get the word out. We also wanted, and needed, upstanding corporate sponsors to make the idea a reality. So we put our heads together with Capital One, and we set the foundation for an event called Credit Education Week Canada (CEWC).

As of November 2009, CEWC has not only been fully realized, it has surpassed expectations, steadily growing over three years in popularity and importance.

This month’s event attracted financial gurus and public policy makers alike, including Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Ontario Education Minister Kathryn Wynne, both offering great news about what government is doing in the interests of financial literacy. Meanwhile, along with host Alison Griffiths, a panel of financial experts brought all kinds of insights to the party. And members of the news media came out in droves.

Credit Canada and Capital One – along with the Credit Association of Greater Toronto and an array of other CEWC sponsors – also teamed up for a terrific dinner gala at mid-week, which included a presentation by Ontario’s Consumer Services Minister Ted McMeekin. During the gala, 17 winners of this year’s high school essay writing contest were presented with scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 for efforts in describing  “the dumbest thing” they ever did with their money. At the same time, gala keynote speaker Mike Holmes – of HGTV’s Holmes on Homes – hammered home some money-related points of his own.

CEWC events concluded with a wildly entertaining RAP Summit. In an event titled “What’s Up with Your Loot?”, a variety of rappers brought messages of financial literacy to a gathering of 600 students at the Jamaican Canadian Association in Toronto’s Jane and Finch area.

I have to tell you, CEWC is bolstering our spirit at Credit Canada, and that’s very good news for the people we help, because if we don’t have the spirit for what we do, our clients certainly don’t stand to benefit much.

All told, a great time was had by all during the week – and much was learned – including the lesson that dreams really can come true.

The countdown has begun and Credit Education Week Canada 2009 (CEWC 2009) is only five days away. It’s set to be bigger than ever; so big even Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, will be in attendance, along with many more prominent financial media figures.

It all starts with the Kick-Off Launch on Monday, November 2nd from 9:30 am – 11:30 am at the Downtown Metro YMCA. This is a free event which is open to the public, so don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity. Alison Griffiths from ‘Maxed Out’ will be hosting the event and presenting to you our financial guru panel. This is your chance to see world renowned Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Minister of Education Kathleen Wynne address the public on the importance of money management and financial education, followed by presentations courtesy of our guru panel:

Patricia Lovett-Reid, Senior Vice President with TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. and host of ‘MoneyTalk’ on the Business News Network.
 
Jonathan Chevreau, personal finance columnist for the Financial Post and author of The Wealthy Boomer and Findependence Day.

Sean O’Shea, award-winning investigative and consumer reporter and host of Consumer SOS.
 
Ellen Roseman, author and personal finance and consumer affairs columnist with the Toronto Star’s business section.

Pat Foran, author, host of Consumer Alert featured on CTV Toronto, and consumer reporter for Canada AM.

The week’s halfway point will be highlighted with the Dinner Gala to be held on the evening of Wednesday’, November 4th from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Mike Holmes from ‘Holmes on Homes’ will be our key note speaker for the evening, as well as students from across Canada who participated in our national essay contest will be awarded scholarships.

CEWC 2009 wraps-up with the What’s Up With Your Loot? Rap Summit on Thursday, November 5th. Hosted by Blacus Ninjah and featuring Toronto’s most promising urban talents, including Grammy nominee, Aloysius B. This is a financial literacy event like no other where you can watch, listen, and learn from some of Canada’s top hip hop artists, including Sling Dadz, Frankie Payne, Capital V, and Nem.S.Iss.