Eleanor has an income in the low 70K range from her work as an engineer. She is about 15 years away from retirement, and while she has little debt, she has no assets either. She does have a pension, but no rrsps of her own, no savings, no property. She is utterly baffled where the money goes. She does rent an $1,800/month apt in Kits (Vancouver) which she shares with her college-age son.

While successful professionally and working very long hours, Eleanor is chronically and seriously disorganized. Brilliant, yes. Competent yes. But require or suggest structure and she runs for the nearest exit.

What would you suggest to help Eleanor take control of her money so she can start building the assets she could have, with her income level?

Disclaimer: as usual, these case studies are based on real-life people and/or issues I’ve encountered, but details are altered to thoroughly disguise the identity of the individual.