Everyone has a type of “financial coming of age.” You get your first piggy bank and drop the coins and bills from your weekly allowance in the slot on top. Later, you get a checking or a savings account and deposit your checks and cash in them, accruing interest and using plastic for some of your purchases. During this time, life is easy. You dream of living in a beautiful town like Burnaby since it has the prettiest parks in the world. Burnaby’s recreation activities would make you the envy of your friends and family. But soon (for most people, anyway), life’s expenses seem to outweigh life’s profits. You need to take out loans to pay for school or to cover medical costs, and sometimes you can’t get loans without a credit history.

The catch twenty-two, of course, is that the easiest way to build a credit history is to get a credit card. For some credit cards, in order to apply, you need a pre-existing credit history. To get out of this infinite financial loop, some agencies and websites provide credit counseling, wherein they will assess your current financial position and provide you some of the best options to implement as you move towards your financial future. You can get credit references and steps on how to build strong crediting rapport so your past experiences can help you continue to plan.

The financial world can be overwhelming. In fact, for some it’s so overwhelming that, even though they have a lot of money, they don’t do anything with it for fear of losing it. The best idea for handling finances, however, is to learn how to get your money to make money on its own. Building good credit can give you more ability to get better credit references and to get more money so you can take some small (or large) risks, turning yourself and your assets into something profitable and financially viable within the context of the larger market.