How to Finance Post-Secondary ft. TeamTailwind

A special, from Team Tailwind

Hey! Devin here, founder of Team Tailwind.

When I was your age, I made three mistakes that cost me money as a student.

First, I was unaware of my eligibility to save thousands of dollars with student grants. Second, I was late paying my tuition, so I received a fine. Third, I was late paying my tuition AGAIN the next year... so yeah, another penalty for Devin 🤦 I’ve been calling it a “powerful life lesson” for years now to make myself feel better 🤷

Okay, I likely can’t help you with mistakes 2 and 3, but my friend Scheherezade and I can show you how much you can expect to spend on school, where to find the funds to finance your education, and tell you a few extra things that will make life a little easier on the ‘ol wallet ​💰

Scheherezade is a Portfolio Manager at Wealthsimple and a recent graduate from the University of Toronto, so she knows all about how to effectively save, spend, and budget as a student.

Together, we created a free course on How to Finance Post-Secondary. Broken down into 5 short video lessons, here’s what you can expect to learn:

1. How much it costs to go to Post-Secondary

Depending on your program and school of choice, your costs are going to vary. With that said, tuition in Canada for domestic students averages around $7,000/year, and $29,000/year for international students. Once you add in housing, books, course materials, and other personal expenses, your total can get up in the neighbourhood of $20,000/year (or $45,000 for international students)!

Seems like a lot? It is! But remember, that’s the average, and you’re not average. You’re capable of carving out your own path, so don’t worry, we’ll show you how to hone in on exactly how much YOU can expect to spend, depending on the school and program of YOUR choice. Plus, we’ll share an awesome tool made available by ProLiteracy to help you forecast your costs so you have a clear picture ​🔮

2. Budgeting for Post-Secondary

As Scheherezade from Wealthsimple points out, “Having a solid budget gives you two things when you’re a student. Knowledge and freedom.” Makes cents, right? #dadjoke Seriously though, the more you know where you’re putting your money, the more you can take charge of your financial freedom. “If you don’t track your spending, you’ll never know where you can make adjustments,” says Schez. Thankfully, she put together a user-friendly Student Budget template made specifically for each semester of school so that you can easily download it and keep it on your phone. Now every time you spend money, you may hear Schez’s words of wisdom as a reminder to track your purchases: “Knowledge and Freedom!” 🙌

3. How to Finance Post-Secondary

This is the video chapter that could literally help you save $3000/year in tuition. Scheherezade clearly explains how Student Loans work, what you need to know about OSAP, the best place to look for Scholarships, how a Student Line of Credit works, and yes, how to find out if you’re eligible for $3000 off tuition each year. Oh, and she shares the links to all the sites you should bookmark for this stuff in grade 12. *Sigh* the things I wish I knew when I was your age...​😔

4. Tips for Managing Money at School

I already told you about the time(s) I forgot to pay my tuition by the deadline. That’s going to be on you to not follow in my footsteps, but some tips you’ll learn from Scheherezade in this video chapter is how to shave costs when it comes to buying things like textbooks, and what you need to know about credit cards (because believe me, there’s a big difference between good debt and bad debt) ​🤔

5. Investing Tips for Students

To close it out, Scheherezade explains what you should do if you want your money to keep its value over the years. And... you do want your hard-earned money to keep its value, right? At the end of this 6 minute video, you’ll clearly understand the difference between saving and investing, and how investing with as little as $5 can make a big difference down the road ​🤯

Ta da! If you’ve made it this far, you’re now empowered with knowledge for how to Finance your Post-Secondary education! This is an amazing journey you’re about to embark on, and it’s also one of the biggest investments you’ll make in your life. We want to help ensure you get the best return on that investment. So log in for free, and let us know if you have any questions 😊

Sincerely,

Devin, Team Tailwind

Scheherezade, Wealthsimple