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Monday: Silly Questions
(lemmy.ca)
Come and discuss anything related to personal finance, directly or indirectly, with other Canadians!
It depends : do you thing you can do it all by yourself?
Do you have a budget? This is usually the first step we'll recommend here, as knowing where your money goes is important to understand why you're aren't getting ahead. If you can post more details here on your income, your spendings and your current debt (amount, rate, minimum payment), we may also be able to point you toward the right direction.
I definitely can't do it on my own. There are so many intricacies involved in all the different options.
Without going into much detail. My debts grew when I was making much less salary. Like... less than a quarter of what I make now - and now that I am in a new position I think I need to speak to an expert and give them access to everything.
The stupid part of my question really is: Who should I be talking to? Does the expert I need have a single title/role? Or are they multiple people?
A debt consolidation expert will usually look at how to reduce your debt payments, and a financial advisor will usually try to sell you investments, which may not be appropriate here.
While that's not the right wording, I think you need some kind of money coach (please do not search that on Google, you'll mostly get grifters and scammers): I feel a financial planner (CFP or maybe QAFP) would be better suited for your needs, but not all of them go as far as you seems to be interested in. You could still identify a few of them in your area, and check if that's something they'd offer. I have also met a few accountants/CPA that offered these kind of services: going through your spendings and debt with you, making a budget and a savings plan, and following up every now and then to see that the plan was executed correctly, but I haven't seen it offered recently, as CPA have been in quite a high demand these last few years.