Too busy to look after your finances?

So here he was, stuck in the office instead of watching his son play hockey. Meanwhile, Steve was out playing street hockey for three hours a day with his kids. What weighed more on Pete’s brain was that street hockey used to be the love of his life now, it was just a nuisance.

Although he’d missed his son’s hockey game, he decided he still had to get hold of Steve. He had to find out what Steve’s secret was. Although he didn’t see how Steve could be in a better position than he was, he decided then and there that he had to find out how someone his age could afford to play street hockey all afternoon with his kids.n“Steve?" Pete asked, when he finally dialled Steve’s number. “Can I take you out for a beer tonight and watch the Senators mop up the floor with the Maple Leafs?"n“I’m glad you called," Steve responded. “Unfortunately, we were just heading to the Corel Centre to watch the game. How about Tuesday night after the kids are asleep?" Pete invited him over to his house, and then headed home, anxiously awaiting the Tuesday meeting.

What seemed like an eternity finally ended with Steve ringing the bell at 8:55. Jenny let him in, and they all sat down in the family room. nn“We haven’t spoken in a while," Steve offered.

Pete got right to the point. “Steve, I don’t know how you do it! You’ve been laid off for two years, and we’ve been wondering when you were going to sell your house. Your wife doesn’t work outside the home, and yet you’ve just bought a new car (although it’s not as nice as my Lexus). How do you do it?" Steve started shaking his head. “I was never laid off. I was offered incentives to leave, so I took them." “Yeah, whatever, Steve," Pete stated. “So where is your money coming from?" Steve responded, “I have several income-producing assets. Where does your money come from?" Pete replied proudly, “I’ve just been promoted to Senior Manager! I got quite a nice raise too!" “Congratulations, Pete! I’m glad to hear you’re doing well," Steve said.

Pete looked down at his hands. Even though his career and salary had improved, his raise was barely enough to meet his expenses. And he knew Jenny was already planning on “celebrating" the new money with a nice trip at Spring Break.

Pete suddenly remembered why he was there. He looked up at his old friend and asked, “What do you mean by income-producing assets?" Steve responded with a long-winded account of financial terms. When he realized Pete had tuned out, he stopped. “Pete" You’ve got the same expression on your face as I did when I spoke to my Uncle Ken for the first time about controlling my money. He taught me a lot about finances "how to control your spending, how to get your money working for you and how to increase your finances. But it didn't make sense for a long time until I was able to relate it to something I could understand." “Hockey?" Pete asked.nn“Exactly!" Steve affirmed.

Jenny left the room just then, and Steve looked Pete in the eye. “What’s your biggest challenge these days?"
Pete took a deep breath and sighed. “My biggest challenge is that I have no control over my life! It doesn’t matter how much money I make; it’s never enough. I don’t have time to do the things I want to do because all my non-work time (which is disappearing yearly) is spent lugging the kids around to hockey games, swimming classes and piano lessons."nn“Wow," Steve interjected.

Pete continued, “My boss doesn’t think I work hard enough, and my wife doesn’t think I’m at home enough. The truth is, I’m too busy making a living to . . ." Steve completed the sentence, “You’re too busy making a living to make a life."