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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Most people think budgeting is about money. It's not, really. Budgeting is actually about life goals. Money is simply the tool a budget uses to achieve those goals. Before you create a budget, ask yourself: "What am I budgeting for?" A common answer is that you are budgeting so that you can save money for something in the future, like a car, a house, or retirement. This is the first mistake most people make. Rather than budgeting just for your future, you should also be budgeting for your present. You should be budgeting to make sure that the life you are living now is fulfilling and that you are flourishing as a human being. Planning only for retirement is like giving up on this life and waiting for the next one to come as soon as possible. Here are four additional budgeting mistakes you may be making: Related: 7 Financial Mistakes Entrepreneurs Need to Avoid 1. Making your budgeting g...

Record-high oil and gas prices continue to bolster Alberta’s books, with the province forecasting a $12.3-billion surplus for 2022-2023 in its midyear fiscal update, released Thursday. The surplus is almost $1-billion less than forecast in the province’s previous fiscal update in August, but is still about $11.8-billion more than forecast when the 2022-2023 budget was tabled in February. That budget was released the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine, kicking off a global energy crisis and supply fears that sent commodity prices skyrocketing to record highs. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith used the province’s recent energy windfall to announce a series of measures earlier this week designed to help ease the burden of rising inflation, including direct payments to families and seniors. The optimistic financial forecast also comes six months before the provincial election in May, which will be Ms. Smith’s first campaign since taking over in October from Jason Kenney as Premier and Uni...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. Come January 3, a new Congress will convene in Washington, DC, setting the stage for potential tax changes that could impact small and medium-sized businesses. With that in mind, it's important for businesses to engage in certain tax planning strategies and to take advantage of tax credits that will soon expire or be phased out. The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is one such credit. Created in 2020 to provide economic relief during the Covid-19 pandemic, the ERC lets businesses claim thousands of dollars in refundable tax credits to compensate for losses experienced in 2020 and 2021 while they continued to pay employees. Businesses subject to a full or partial shutdown or significant decline in gross receipts can qualify. Many small and midsize businesses I know are eligible for two quarters or more of credits, which can range as high as $7,000 per quarter per employee in 2020, with higher per-e...

The news is abuzz with rumors of the next recession coming in 2023 or 2024. But for most Americans, all of that triggers a sudden panic and a desperate need to look at one's bank account. What is a recession, what does it mean, and how can you prepare yourself and your family's finances for one? This article will answer each of these questions and more. By the end, you'll know what to expect and how to prepare for a recession. What is a recession? According to economists working for the National Bureau of Economic Research, a recession is a prolonged period of economic downturn or declining economic activity. It affects a nation's or the world's entire economy and lasts for a few months or more. In some ways, the best way to understand the recession is to compare it to "regular" or positive economic activity and GDP. GDP (gross domestic product) is essentially the combined value of the goods and services made by an economy, like the America...

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is one of eight Canadian companies pegged for long-term investing on the stock market, according to an RBC list. Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press Getting caught up on a week that got away? Here’s your weekly digest of Tausi Insider’s most essential business and investing stories, with insights and analysis from the pros, stock tips, portfolio strategies and more. New year, better financial outlook? Sure, interest rates remain high, as does inflation, and we’re teetering on the edge of a recession – but here’s the good news, according to Rob Carrick. The new year is expected to bring an end to hikes in interest rates, which the Bank of Canada raised seven consecutive times in 2022. We may even see them fall in the second half of 2023. Housing prices have also been dropping as of late, and are expected to continue to plummet this year – below $1-million in Toronto and Vancouver, if you can believe it. This will make buying a home more attainable for many C...

The savings that come with driving an electric vehicle can add up over the course of a decade. Illustration by Glenn Harvey I’m not a smug driver, but I’ll admit to this: When gas prices rose to a record high last June, above $2 a litre, I got a pleasant thrill out of driving an electric vehicle that can be fully charged for as little as a few bucks. Are EVs a financial godsend? They’re not cheap to buy. However, the savings associated with lower operating costs can easily translate into thousands of dollars over a decade, even for an infrequent driver. Commuters may find the savings can have a huge impact on the overall cost of their EVs, especially if gas prices remain high. Over the year I’ve owned my Hyundai Ioniq 5, I’ve driven almost 10,000 kilometres – did I mention that I don’t drive much? Charging costs have varied, ranging from free (charging is thrown in with parking) to cheap at-home top-ups to faster charging in my neighbourhood to more expensive high-speed charging alon...

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. A few weeks ago, I got into an interesting discussion on LinkedIn about the value of meetings. The exchange started with this post , wherein I broke down the cost of a 90-minute meeting I'd just sat through. By prorating the salaries of everyone involved, I calculated that the hour and a half we spent cost our company $1,826. Then, I asked the person who ran it if he thought it was worth the money. We didn't have that meeting again. In the post's numerous comments, some people agreed with me and proposed things like including the cost of a meeting in each invite. Others mentioned how they'd made similar calculations while consulting, and quoted some astronomical annual costs for their companies. A notable comment cohort wasn't quite as big on my cost-counting idea, however, and pointed out that putting a dollar amount on everything we do was a "1950s way of thinking," an...