Whether we want to admit it or not, money plays a significant and important role in our lives. Much of our adult lives are spent working for the purpose of paying the bills, saving for education for ourselves or our children, buying a car, a vacation, and a slew of other essentials we need to get by. While many live "paycheck to paycheck", the dream of most Canadians is to save up enough money to live comfortably without working. But how do we achieve that goal?
Unless you happen to have access to intergenerational wealth, you may find that you need to manage and think strategically about personal finance. It is hard to generate wealth, especially while living in a country like Canada - high costs of living, energy bills, among other costs can make it tough to put money away for investment. This is where having knowledge of personal finance can be incredibly useful. Understanding how to manage your money will help you to make better decisions with your earnings and wealth, and you may even be able to help others with your skills.
Have you always dreamed of working with people, and making a positive impact on the lives of others? Are you fascinated by money? Feel stimulated in the area of mathematics?
You may want to consider exploring a career in personal finance. What is personal finance all about?
Learn all about finance careers - what they pay, what jobs look like right out of school, and how you can become a leader in the finance field.
What is Personal Finance Management?
Personal finance is all about helping individuals reach their financial goals. You might find yourself helping people with money to invest - recommending different investment opportunities, providing your own feedback on their financial decisions, or creating financial plans for individuals that want to increase their wealth so they can have a comfortable retirement. You may work with individuals or families that prefer a low risk plan; others may be willing to leverage your expertise through riskier portfolios. As a personal finance professional, you will be equipped with the knowledge to help others make the best decisions.
Where Can I Learn Finance?
If you have read up to this point, you are probably somewhat interested in learning personal finance, either for yourself or as a professional pursuit, or both. Whatever your reasons are, you will need to learn the basics of the financial industry and how to qualify yourself to advise others in making sound decisions with their money.
Though professional learning is often regarded as postsecondary or continuing education learning, in truth your journey starts a secondary student. To get into a good finance program, you will need credits in mathematics, English, and business. You might earn these credits while going through secondary school, or upgrade your secondary school diploma through a private or public institution. Successful completion of prerequisite courses is important: your grades will ultimately determine your admission into different programs, and you will also be gaining the mathematical foundations to understand more complex algorithms and data.
Finance is one of the most lucrative and rewarding professions in Canada. Those that work in finance may pursue a variety of different career paths in corporations, banks, government, and private firms.
Is it Better to take a College or University Finance Program?
Choosing a finance program in college or university is important as it will set you up for your career over the long term. So what's the difference?
Taking a college program means that you will have more flexibility in terms of your prerequisite courses. For example, you might be able to gain entry with applied stream credits, which focus on more practical elements of literacy and numeracy. This is a great option if your transcript has mostly applied or college stream credits, and you are eager to enter the workforce quickly. The downside is you may find yourself more limited when it comes to jobs and career options. Many places of work are partial to applicants with degrees, but if you have the right professional network and skillset there is no reason you cannot achieve your career goals.
University programs are excellent for students that want to take a more lengthy and broad study of business and finance, see themselves pursuing a masters of business administration, or want the challenge and prestige that comes from attending a business school that offers high level academic programs. Perhaps you want to extend your studies to law school, and engage in litigation in a corporate or business context. A bachelors degree may be right for you.
Whatever path you choose, remember that any postsecondary degree, certificate or diploma is a significant accomplishment that will lead you to opportunities you would certainly not have otherwise. You will find opportunities in banks, private investment companies, or at the very least have a strong understanding of how to make good financial decisions for yourself and your family.
Here is a list of some of the best colleges and universities in Canada:
- George Brown College
- University of British Columbia
- University of Toronto
- University of Montreal
- Waterloo University
- University of Alberta
- Universite Laval
- McGill University
Finance is a broad field of work that attracts thousands of Canadian students every year. Find out if the world of finance is right for you.
What is the Difference Between Corporate Finance and Person Finance?
You might hear or see a lot of about corporate finance through movies and shows: the slick suits, power lunches, glamorous lifestyles, and seemingly obscene wealth. While those stereotypes may seem alluring, there is some truth to the level of income an power you have working in corporate finance.
As a corporate finance professional, you will be working with large companies instead of individuals, helping organizations to increase large amounts of wealth and capital through investments, mergers, and other financial products and schemes. Corporate finance can be lucrative, high-risk, with lots of opportunities to be amply rewarded. While this may seem exciting and riveting, keep in mind that to get to a position of power and responsibility you will need to prove your value as a skilled and well-connected finance professional. Getting into a lucrative role can take years of hard work where you may be expected to put in long hours. However if it is your goal to climb the corporate ladder and live the life of a Bay Street or Wall Street Banker, you can certainly achieve it.
Those that work in personal finance, on the other hand, will be making a different kind of impact, building wealth for families or individuals. However, working with individuals does not mean that you will make less money, or be less successful. In fact, you may find yourself building relationships and investing the money of incredibly wealthy citizens that value the knowledge and expertise you bring to their portfolios. There are literally hundreds of firms and banks that focus specifically on personal finance and hire advisors to support their clients.
Not sure which area to choose? You can certainly try jobs in either field to see what you find most rewarding and stimulating. Finance is a vast area, and you may take on a number of different jobs with different organizations in either field. The best thing you can do is to find a mentor that can coach you in how to navigate your career, share their experience and expertise, so you can find a career and lifestyle that works for you.
Public finance is an area of commerce that many often overlook because it often does not align with our initial preconceptions of what a finance career should look like. Learn more about the field of public finance.
Where Can Get Help for Learning Finance?
Learning finance is no easy feat. You must have strong math skills, communication skills, not to mention mastery of the endless terms and jargon that are part of the business. Students can easily find it difficult to keep up with their finance classes, or simply get the math credits they need to enter the program.
This is where hiring a private tutor comes in. A private tutor can help you to succeed in any of your finance or finance related courses, whether it is statistics, calculus, or business administration. They can work with you to practice using new financial vocabulary, check your understanding of mathematical applications, or provide feedback on essays and projects. A tutor, in short, can be the boost you need to be successful in getting through a finance program.
Finding a finance tutor is easy thanks to Superprof Canada. Superprof is a site that connects tutors and students in a broad variety of disciplines. As a finance student, you can find tutors that will be skilled in so many different areas of need: math, business, English, statistics and more. To find the right tutor for you, use the search tool on the site to find a range of tutors with different areas of expertise. You can browse their profiles, and contact them directly to see if they will be a good fit.
Get a finance tutor on Superprof today!
The corporate world brings to mind sharp suits, long hours, and greedy capitalists.. And while our impressions are largely drawn from fiction, there are elements of the corporate lifestyle that are certainly intriguing and appealing to those interested in business careers.
Did you like this article? Leave a rating!
Loading...
