What to Know When Planning Your First Family Annual Meeting (FAM)

The Family Annual Meeting (FAM) is a great opportunity to discuss family finances in a judgement free environment.

In the business world, the practice of informing shareholders about a company’s current finances and outlook for the future is nothing new.

The FAM is simply the personal equivalent of a company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).

You might ask why do I need to hold a FAM and what should we talk about?

The idea is to sit down with the entire family to discuss your family’s finances - review of the past year’s finances, the household budget, spending habits, money problems, debt options, savings plans and financial goals.

If you’re including your children at the meeting, use your judgement to determine what is appropriate to tell them.

A FAM is an ideal time to start educating children about financial responsibility, while introducing them to taboo topics such as personal debt and bankruptcy.

Honest conversations about sensitive topics can help to break down the stigma surrounding them.

Depending on the nature of your family, you may even want to include grandparents in the FAM, so that discussions can take place between all generations.

Every situation is unique, but the following are good starting points...

THE FAMILY BUDGET

Review how the family is doing in regards to following the budget. If you don’t have a budget, this is a great chance to build one together.

CUTTING COSTS

Use this discussion as a way to get kids thinking about money and what the family can do as a team to cut costs.

CUTTING COSTS continued..

Some are obvious choices, like cancelling the cable and using a streaming service like NetFlix, while others may be more challenging - be ready to get creative!

CUTTING COSTS continued..

If you DO manage to successfully create some savings by cutting costs, make it fun for the family by putting a percentage of the money saved towards a fun family outing or vacation.

LONG-TERM SAVING

Discuss saving goals for the future like:● Post -secondary education● Financial emergencies● Retirement or care for an elderly family member

FINANCIAL GOALS

This is similar to long-term saving, but it can include repayment of credit card debt, student debt etc.

Your family may even choose to save for something fun like a family vacation. If everyone knows what the family goals are, the entire family can work together to achieve them.

If the financial goals include debt repayment, it can be useful to speak with a trustee at Calgary Debt Consolidation, credit counselling, and the consumer proposal process.

Educating yourself and your family on the debt help available can be beneficial.

Topics surrounding personal finances can sometimes be stressful, it is important to keep judgement and stress out of your FAM as much as possible.

The ultimate goal of any FAM is to encourage everyone in attendance to discuss all aspects of the family finances openly and honestly.

CONTROL YOUR FUTURE WITH BDO

If you have any good ideas for your first FAM, please share it with other families on Twitter using:

#FamilyFinances

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