Planning for Unexpected Money

David Sklar & Associates – Toronto Consumer Proposal and Bankruptcy Trustees,
Share the Lessons of Successful Debt Management

What did you do with your June 2010 HST Transition Benefit cheque from the Ontario government?

• Did you use it to pay down your credit cards?


• Did you put it into your Tax Free Savings Account?


• Did you apply it to your Financial Goals?

If you said yes to any of the above – good on you!

However, if you were like many in the Greater Toronto Area, you have little or nothing to show for it.

Here is the good news, there will be two more chances for you to make the most of your Ontario HST transition funds. In December 2010 and June 2011 two more series of HST transition cheques are scheduled to be sent out. Now is the time to plan ahead for how you can best manage these ‘gifts’ from our provincial government.

Windfall Planning

Having a plan in place for unexpected money windfalls sounds like a contradiction in terms – how can you plan for something that is unexpected? And if the windfall is relatively small – how can you resist the temptation to spend it?

We have all been there – suddenly we have a little bit of money we had not expected and we are torn. Our budget is in place and we are on track with our financial goals – so why not spend it? The answer is one of those ‘grown-up’ things that the child in all of us resists: in the long run, we are better off if we apply windfall money directly to our financial goals.

When you determined what your financial goals are, you went through a thoughtful process that identified what your really wanted your money to do for you. You have already established the importance of your financial goals, now what you need to do is make a firm commitment to apply all future ‘unexpected’ money towards your goals.

Looking beyond the immediate gratification of spending unexpected money can be a challenge – but if you have committed yourself to putting it towards your financial goals, the right decision has already been made.