Traveling for concerts, flying around for festivals… and still saving money for your future? Sounds fake, but hear me out… it can be done. No word of a lie. I only just found out this information myself. And I’m here to give you the rundown on how, all thanks to a lovely little retreat weekend with Notable Life & RBC!
(note: my #RBCandME Instagram posts about this trip were sponsored, but this post is not… I just really wanted to share what I learned because it’s grade A 100% organic Good Info)
But first, a recap.
You can skip to the next section if you want to get right to the nitty gritty, but I NEED to summarize the three days I just spent in the woods. Literally it felt like a dream.
I was invited by Notable Life & RBC to spend a weekend in Muskoka at the Northridge Inn (aka the most beautiful place on earth??) with 40 other entrepreneurs, bloggers, influencers, and all around incredible people. The point was to teach us about investing because it can seem like such an intimidating thing… but I think we left with a lot more than just an understanding of mutual funds & GICs.
I was so nervous to go. I didn’t know who else would be attending, I didn’t know what food would be there (an anxious allergy sufferer’s dream), and I wasn’t sure if people would brush me off for having a FAR smaller Instagram following than they had. This was my first time attending anything like this, so my brain just hopped straight into worrying about anything it could invent.
And it turns out my brain is a big dumb idiot. I just made like 60 new friends, once you add up the attendees, the speakers, the Notable Life team, and everyone from RBC. We literally made an IG group chat on the way home and we’re already trying to schedule a reunion. We’ve been apart for LESS THAN A DAY… and we’re already figuring out when we can hang out again. I learned so much from talking to other people about their journey to this point, and it was incredible to watch these pros taking their IG photos. It’s an art form.
One of the most surreal things for me was hanging out with people I’ve been following online for years, and getting to chat with them about what they do. Or even just hearing someone say their Instagram handle and being like oH MY GOD WAIT THAT’S YOU??? I LOVE YOU???
If you want to check out some of the amazing people who I traveled with, check out the #RBCandME hashtag on Instagram!
Now into the cold hard facts.
Micro-saving
I don’t know if this is a real term or not, but I’m using it. This is the sneakiest way to start saving your money away, and you don’t even have to be aware you’re doing it.
RBC has a feature built into their mobile app called NOMI Find & Save. It looks at how much money you usually spend per month, and if you spend a little less… it’ll take a few dollars and put them away into a savings account for you. You can tell it how much it’s allowed to take at most, and then… it just sneaks your money away.
Scotiabank also has a similar feature called Bank The Rest. When you buy something… let’s say it’s $7.52. It’ll round that up to either the next $1 or the next $5, and put the extra into a savings account. So on that purchase, you’d either save $0.48 or $2.48 depending on your choice. It adds up with every purchase you make, and it’s not a big enough contribution that it stresses you out. And then suddenly you check the account and BAM you’ve got enough money for when Twenty One Pilots finally drops the rest of their North American tour dates!
It’s totally worth looking into what your bank offers in this space because mindlessly saving money is the most stress-free way to be a responsible adult.
Investing (it’s not scary, I swear)
I’ve always been really intimidated by the thought of investing. I was under the impression that you needed to start with like $10k and had to know how to pick stocks and everything all on your own. My brain knows it’s something I should be doing, but I couldn’t get past the mental block of “I don’t know anything about this and don’t know where to start so I’ll just sulk and do nothing”.
But now I’ve realized it can actually be super easy if you find the right option for you. Like I already know I am not the right person to go into choosing my own stocks and playing such a risky game. No thank you! Not playing around with my 8123 Fest funds! But there are options that don’t make me feel like I’m going to pass out just hearing about them. Actually… some of the options… I don’t know, give me hope?
(I’m actually kind of obsessed and desperately trying to stop myself from doing The Most without talking to an expert first)
Robo-advisers are the new rage for millennials because they give you the ability to handle everything online and call a human if you have a question. Some of the more popular ones include Wealthsimple, Nest Wealth, and WealthBar. I know I’ve spent hours combing through the Wealthsimple site and thinking about joining… but then worrying that I’m too uneducated on everything to get involved.
Now an important point to make… “robo-adviser” doesn’t mean that a robot in a sick business suit is managing your investments. Rather, an algorithm helps to select the right things for you (based on some simple questions) and a human goes in daily to check on things and see if anything should be adjusted.
Canadian banks are starting to get involved as well, like BMO’s Smartfolio and RBC’s InvestEase. I learned a lot specifically about InvestEase this weekend and it was the first time I actually felt confident and excited about something to do with money. Here are some of the points that made me feel like I could actually do this big adult thing:
- InvestEase is still new, so you don’t have to pay any management fees until April if you sign up before October 31st (so essentially… are you investing for free??)
- The people involved at RBC are legally obligated to do what’s best for you. If you request one thing and it’s not the best option, they’ll refuse. So you always know your money is being handled in the absolute best way, even if you’re a big dumb idiot like me.
- You can set up multiple accounts for different life events (like a more aggressive growth portfolio for retirement, and a conservative portfolio for a short term goal like buying a house or saving for a trip)
Honestly, I still think about Wealthsimple a lot. They’ve been around for ages compared to many other robo-advisers, plus they have tons of options for account types & perks for investing with them. But I think for me… I feel more comfortable having my money with a bank. And since there’s now an option that falls in with my bank, I feel better knowing that Big Blue could help me get my life in order.
Info break: You usually want to use a more aggressive approach for long term things (like retirement) because there’s more time for your investments to even out. Even if you have a couple years where you’re in the negative, there’s like… 40 years for it to fix itself and grow again. Shorter term investments (like buying a house, a car, or saving for a trip) should use a more conservative approach. There’s less time for it to make any huge changes, so you’ll want to be a little safer with this money. These are all things I learned this weekend. Hey, the more you know!
Want to learn more?
I wouldn’t expect you to read this and be like “that’s it, I’m throwing all my savings into investing because a music blogger told me to”. I am clearly new to this, but I see so much potential for myself now that I understand it better. Why not have your money make you more money?
So because I’m a big noob and should not be solely responsible for your financial future, I bring you Jessica Moorhouse. I met her this weekend and learned SO much from her, and I’ve continued to learn from her as I stalk her blog. She’s an accredited financial counselor with a blog, podcast, YouTube channel, and way more… all revolving around personal finance and how to make the best choices you can.
While it’s awesome to learn from RBC, you know they have a horse in the race and a lot to benefit from you choosing them. Jessica spoke to me as someone who just really loves talking about finance and she has nothing to gain from what decisions I make. If you’re looking for somewhere to start, her article “How You Should Invest If You’re A Millennial” is a great place to start!
Fun fact: the types of investments she recommends are the types that most robo-advisers focus on!
I know this is a super bare bones approach to investing, but hopefully it gave you a little more knowledge than you had before you hopped in here today. If you’re a bit of a money commitment-phobe, this post about saving money for concert tickets may be more up your alley (more quick fixes, less ongoing help).
What do you currently want to save for?
Chat with me in the comments below, or you can always find me on social media!
( and let me know if there are any other confusing adult responsibilities I can help you figure out ;D )