Oy. So much to think about between Jack’s blog and the Financial Planner’s comment!

I don’t have a will (nor do I have dependents) but I do have financial assets and personal property that would need to be disposed of in the event of my death. I suspect a Do-it-Yourself kit would actually suffice in my circumstances. I’ve looked into this in a cursory way before but need to do some real research here…add it to the list!

As for the LLP, I do have RRSPs & looked into it when I started school, but my program either isn’t qualified or there was some glitch about not being in school frequently enough (I do one course at a time while I work full-time, not 2 or 3 at once), but I can’t actually recall what the stumbling block was. So now I’m going to look into it again - who knows, maybe something has changed since I first checked?

When I started this phase of my education, I applied for the only scholarship I could find that I was qualified for, checked into the LLP, hunted down all sorts of options but at one turn or another, no help was available. Basically I either earn “too much” income (ha!), don’t go to school “enough”, or my investments disqualify me. So basically, I don’t earn enough to afford school without going into debt (ironic since I’m already paying off debt - which is where much of my “too much” income goes!). In other words, I’m expected to cash in my RRSPs (since as far as I know I don’t qualify for the LLP to simply draw from and then replace them) and give up what savings I’ve managed to put away for my future.

Because the education I’m gaining doesn’t guarantee a high return of income, I’m not willing to let go of my future in case the earning potential doesn’t make it worthwhile to have surrended those RRSPs. It feels like a big gamble to me. Those RRSPs are secure and are earning well. I’ve already surrendered part of my investments to manage debt in having made my career change (taking a significant pay cut) and moving to this province. For now, I prefer to incur debt and pay it off rather than let money that has been compounding for 10 years be used to pay for education costs. I’m interested to hear some feedback from either our resident financial planner or from the Coach about whether I’m being ultraconservative…it’s just what feels good to me intuitively, but maybe it’s not the best financial decision? Honestly, I dunno.

I’ll get on that LLP to see exactly what the problem was so I can explain the situation here. I’m sure others are in this boat and it would be good to brainstorm some solutions for those of us trying to find money to pay for education while paying off debt, trying to invest (long-term) and save (short-term) and still have some semblance of lifestyle. That’s a lot of financial balls to juggle and it’s no easy feat!