It seems like everybody I know has started wearing a fitness watch. These things make it super easy to watch your activity level, remind yourself to stretch and count your steps. I can see the advantage of setting regular reminders that prompt you to move, walk and get active. I feel the same way about financial health – we can all use a reminder to get active!

In this space last week, I shared some surprising numbers about how passive Canadians are about building their wealth. By this I mean that many Canadians are over-dependent on a booming real estate market for equity and future income. While the markets stay healthy, Canadians see their wealth grow. But if & when there are market dips, their “wealth” will take a real hit. And it’s completely out of our hands.

Consider this:

• Ultrahigh net worth individuals hold less than 7% of their net worth in real estate and luxury goods.
• Typically, we Canadians hold 50% of our net worth in real estate.

It makes sense to pay attention to what the billionaires are doing, when it comes to their money anyway.

So how do we become more ACTIVE in our wealth-building? And let me be clear, by ACTIVE, I don’t mean aggressive or all-consumed! I also don’t mean ‘timing’ the stock market. I mean INTENTIONAL and IN CONTROL. In my goal to help more Canadians spend, save and share wealth optimally, I definitely encourage a more active approach.

This is where the Real Riches Roadmap comes into play.

I'm going to topline 5 of the 8 steps in the Real Riches Roadmap here, so you can see what it looks like to take an active role in growing your wealth. You’ll notice right away that none of these steps are risky, tricky or result in overnight windfalls. But they do put you in the driver’s seat of building real wealth, rather than at the mercy of the unknown.

1. Build a conscious spending plan. The key word here is ‘conscious’. It should come as no surprise that the #1 way to become a millionaire is to spend less than you earn. It sounds elementary, but you need to be aware of where you spend your earnings. Here’s what I see happening: a client outlines their budget and shows $500 savings at the end of each month. It’s based on, among other things, spending $200/week for groceries. But at least once a month they walk into Costco and drop $350 without altering the other weeks’ spending. So their actual spending never aligns with their budget. And their savings account doesn’t grow.

2. Establish 3-months of Priority Savings. I say ‘establish’ – it may take a while to build this up. This is your Emergency Fund and should be considered ‘do not touch’ money. You could save more – 6 months, 9 months or even a year - but you want to be able to cover AT LEAST 3 months of essential expenses in case you find yourself between jobs – intentionally or unintentionally.

3. Establish a Family or Personal Experience Account. One thing I know: Wealth only has value in so far as it enriches your life. We all know we can’t take it with us. This money is to make dreams happen and adventures take place. It means you’re not waiting until there’s “enough” and you enjoy it fully because you’re not worried about paying off the next month’s credit card bill.

4. Invest a percentage of your monthly income into your personal pension plan. I’ll elaborate on what that could look like in future articles, but this simply means choosing a set amount that you’ll direct into one or more investment vehicles that will grow over time.  In contrast to your 3-Month Priority Savings, which you want to be able to liquidate when you need it, this money is for long-term growth.

5.  Create your personal philanthropic portfolio. This is a step that many people forget or ignore. Not because they don’t want to do good or share their wealth, but because they decide to wait until they’ve paid “everything else off first and see what’s left over.” As part of your Conscious Spending Plan, you actively choose the causes that are most meaningful to you and commit to spending the money. This also creates a boundary to say no without guilt to all the small requests we get faced with each day. And, when we decide to make Philanthropy a thing we spend our money on, it’s a powerful sign to the universe that we believe in and accept abundance.

There are a few more steps in the full Roadmap to Real Riches – I outline them all in the January 8 episode of I'm a millionaire! So now what? (listen & subscribe here).

These first five give you a manageable start so you can build on early success – isn’t that what all the fitness gurus tell us? So start here, and take those first steps toward real riches and freedom from most money worries.

Of course if you feel you’re ready to commit to the full Roadmap to Real Riches (and your fitness tracker agrees you’re ready for more steps) – I would love to help you get fully fit! I’ve cleared 7 x 1-hour spots in my January-February schedule for a few true Action Takers. Here’s the catch: you need to show me you’re committed. If you love the idea of taking more control in your spending, saving and sharing, send me an email and I’ll send you a questionnaire to complete before we set up our session.