Amanda Baxter says growing up without much money made her good at budgeting. ‘I follow the, ‘You make a budget, and you don’t budge’ mantra,’ she says.Supplied
In the Behind the Advice series, Globe Advisor asks advisors about their relationship with money from a young age, lessons learned over the years and how their experiences influence the advice they give to clients. We’ve also launched a Behind the Advice podcast – find all the episodes here.
Amanda Baxter, an investment advisor with Hillside Wealth Management at iA Private Wealth Inc. in Vancouver, talks about growing up poor in Montreal, having to contribute her babysitting money to the family grocery bill, graduating into the 2008 global financial crisis and her career shift from recreation management to financial services.
Describe your upbringing.
I grew up in Montreal, the oldest of three sisters. My mother was a French teacher. My father didn’t have a steady job. He was a self-employed business planner who would get involved in startups he thought would be ‘the next big thing.’ Unfortunately, they never panned out. As a result, we didn’t have much money growing up. Seeing my dad’s continual failure and the financial impact on our family pushed me to make money and have a successful career. I didn’t know what that looked like back then, but I decided early in life that I wouldn’t be poor again.
Describe your first money lesson.
When I was 11, I got a job babysitting but couldn’t keep the money. I was told that I had to contribute to the family finances if I wanted to eat. I didn’t fully understand it then and how different it was from how many other kids grew up. I learned the value of a dollar early on and how much everything costs. I had to be fiscally smart from an early age because nothing was given to me.
How did you get into financial services?
I’ve always been into sports and recreation. I was a very good swimmer growing up. My participation on the swim team was subsidized heavily because my family couldn’t afford it. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 2008, right before the global financial crisis, which made it tough to find a job.
During university, I worked as a lifeguard and swimming instructor at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club. I got a full-time managerial job there, at which I managed recreational programs, including budgeting. That got me interested in finance.
I started to take accounting and finance courses and a few years later got a job as an advisor at Freedom 55 Financial, at which I worked for about seven years before joining Hillside about four-and-a-half years ago. While I still love sports as a pastime, I’m happy it’s not my livelihood.
What’s your biggest money mistake and what did you learn from it?
Not investing as much as I could earlier on. Growing up with very little, when I finally could buy myself nicer things, I went a little crazy buying stuff like shoes and clothes I didn’t need. I realized quickly that stuff doesn’t make me happy. Ultimately, at least in my case, I just ended up trying to sell it.
What decision around money has had the greatest impact on your life?
Deciding to be an advisor and inundating myself with information on how to be better and improve other people’s lives, or at least try to.
What are you best at when it comes to your own finances?
Budgeting. That’s likely because we grew up on such a tight budget. I follow the, ‘You make a budget, and you don’t budge’ mantra.
What’s the hardest piece of money advice for you to follow?
Having joint finances with my partner. Given my parents’ relationship (they divorced when I was in university, and my mother is now happily remarried), I’ve always kept my finances separate from my partner despite sharing home ownership and a young child. We’re working on combining our finances, but it’s difficult for me.
What advice do you have for someone who wants to enter this business?
Make sure you’re coming into the industry for the right reasons. It should be about helping people, not about the paycheque. While it’s helpful to make a decent living, if you can’t do that by helping others, you’re doing it for the wrong reason. Also, I’d love to see more women in this industry. Women bring a very different perspective to the business, which is very much needed.
This interview has been edited and condensed.