Expert offers money tips

DAVE GORDON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

Worried about your financial future? Lynne Zlotnik says she can help. Zlotnik is known throughout the Lower Mainland for informative talks she gives about helping people take care of their finances. Her most recent one, entitled How Intelligent People Get Smart About Money: 18 Secrets Revealed, was scheduled at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver this past Tuesday.

Zlotnik, a financial specialist who has been helping families with their financial needs for more than 17 years, uses her talks to explain how to deal with money and how to prepare for life's financial challenges.

"It's a motivational talk to get people to pay attention," said the 56-year-old, describing the seminar. "It's a psychological look at how we are educated in terms of our money issues."

Most of us, Zlotnik contends, are not given a good enough financial education to prepare us for life.

"It's not taught in school so we have to learn as much as we can from books and people," she told the Bulletin in an interview. "Financial success is possible. A lack of education is not going to hold you back in any avenue today."

One of the examples Zlotnik cites is Mary Kay Ash, cosmetic guru of Mary Kay Cosmetics. According to Zlotnik, it was Ash, a struggling mother of three, who turned a $5,000 investment into a $3.2 billion industry with sheer moxie and common sense.

"It proves you can do anything you put your mind to," said Zlotnik. "You need to overcome the obstacles to financial wealth. We have to clear our minds about what we've learned. This seminar prepares you to be better with your money, budgeting and investing."

As an example, five of the 18 steps Zlotnik talks about are:

• Mind your business. It doesn't matter what your career is; it's all about the way you handle your money.

• Keep only one credit card. "Debt through credit cards destroys the fabric of your finances," said Zlotnik. "The most wealthy people have only one card."

• Invest wisely and responsibly in the stock market. "You want to buy stocks when they're down and ride them up."

• Don't underestimate the importance of the last chapter of your life. "It's a big mistake to think that the government will look after you when you're gone," said Zlotnik.

• Give to charity. "Giving to a charity is a good way to keep money away from Canadian revenue agencies" and, as an added bonus, you receive tax credits.
This was Zlotnik's 34th talk in the past 10 months. She expects to tally up 57 presentations by year's end. But the seminars are not all funding and finance. They're also funny. Zlotnik sprinkles some humor into the seminar, bringing in some Jackie Mason bits and comical anecdotes.

After having graduated from the University of British Columbia with a bachelor of education in 1970, Zlotnik began a public school teaching career. In 1987, she joined Zlotnik, Lamb & Co. as a retirement income specialist and financial services planner. Starting in the spring, she will return to teaching, heading a course called Taking Control: A Financial Management Course for Women at Vancouver Community College. She has also presented Women, Wisdom and Wealth – Creating a Financial Roadmap, which has been delivered all over Vancouver. She has been helping women take charge of their finances for six years through the Greater Vancouver Women's Investment Club, which Zlotnik heads. The monthly meetings now boast more than 80 members in five chapters throughout the Lower Mainland.

"When I see people, I try to encourage them to empower themselves and take charge of their finances," said Zlotnik. "If they wait until they are 75, it'll be tough for them. Pay attention. It's not how much money you make, it's how much money you keep."

For more information, contact Zlotnik at [email protected] or 604-688-7208, ext. 225.

Dave Gordon is a Toronto freelance writer who has written for the Baltimore Sun, the Forward and the Toronto Sun.

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