The frenzied RRSP pitching that normally starts off a new year is one of many things that consumers may not miss about this year's financially-deflated Money Season.

The later-than-usual March 2 RRSP deadline and the new Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) option, which opened up January 1st, offer opportunities to reconsider priorities within our dramatically-revised financial context. Having a brand-new choice like TFSAs also underlines the necessity for investigation into advantages and disadvantages for all available choices, including doing nothing.

The new National Do Not Call List has quieted some of the telemarketing chatter, but consumers must still claw their way through an often overwhelming mass of financial information and marketing distraction as the RRSP deadline looms. Next, the pace picks up in the mad dash through to the April 30th income tax filing deadline.

After that date, financial silence descends on the land for another year.

This annual pattern of intensity followed by neglect is the financial norm for too many consumers, even though it has not proven productive for most.

One popular definition of insanity is "repeating the same thing over and over, and expecting different results." Follow this thought through, and it is clear that breaking the persistent, unproductive annual pattern should allow individuals, their families and their communities to advance to the point that financial literacy the ability to understand, analyze, and use information about financial decisions in day-to-day life—replaces financial insanity as common sense.

The new interest in thinking before you spend could transform these three or four months of sales-driven, guilt-based bombardment into a stimulating exchange of knowledge which emphasizes "it's not what you make, but what you keep that counts."

Merely saying that things are different is not enough. For instance, switch to "save" mode and embrace a "green" lifestyle, and you may still not have improved your situation if core values, overlooked opportunities and unresolved issues about money—or the lack of it—govern actions and decision making, consciously and unconsciously.

We seem to have quickly passed from a time of financial insanity into forced rational thinking about what we own and how much we need. If you want to transform this temporary shift into permanent improvement, consider these related questions:

• Does this realization alone enable you to achieve the mental shift necessary to consistently act and think in a new way?

• If we have switched from a follow-the-leader, media-hyped reverence for material goods and financial status, have you applied self-assessment to escape merely changing one set of follow-the-leader, media-hyped standards for another?

• How do you consciously and successfully break habits, discard stereotypes and end your biases, even those perpetuated by society, like ageism?

Personal Finance is the body of knowledge that includes the means for individuals, and financial units like families, to achieve the range of returns, both financial and personal, that are desired in exchange for the work done by individuals and their money. Owning real estate is one way to put your money to work for you.

Headlines may proclaim declines in real estate values and pundit may forecast further doom, but these temporary realities and induced fears are a natural part of the revolving real estate cycle, however extreme they are just now. How many recessions have you weathered? How many "the sky is falling" predictions have you seen replaced with "the only way is up" reality?

Real estate is an often underestimated element in wealth building, even though real estate holdings usually represent very high proportions of personal net worth. What percentage of your total net worth is held in real estate? Compare the percentages before and after the world financial crisis, and you'll see that investing in real estate and in continuously improving the value and saleability of your live-in assets has a significant impact on your quality of life now and in the future.

If you continue to live according to the current annual "4 months on, 8 months off" financial pattern, can you expect better returns for your money and your real estate?

Published: January 27, 2009

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Futurist and Strategist PJ Wade is "The Catalyst" - intent on "Challenging The Best to Become Even Better." PJ earned this title by translating the dynamic impact of Boomers and their multi-generation families into relevant insights that start people thinking and taking action—in business and in life. Author of 8 books and more than 1800 published articles, PJ encourages individuals to become their own futurist. PJ writes and speaks about the insight, knowledge and solid decision-making skills that professionals and their clients need to live and work in this vortex of change. For instance, since PJ knows that home is headquarters for the new decades-long "unretirement," she wrote the popular book "Reverse Mortgages: Best Friend, Worst Enemy...Your Choice!", which is filled with suggestions and cautions on protecting, building and managing home equity. Her new business book, "What's Your Point?: Cut The Crap, Hit The Mark & Stick!" will be published in 2012. As The Catalyst, PJ provides strategic communication, client appreciation and advanced education services to the financial, tourism, lifestyle and service sectors - and the clients they serve. A frequently-quoted financial and business commentator, PJ is a thought-provoking strategic speaker who offers practical, real-life suggestions on leaving "the box" behind and embracing Forward Thinking - a talent she regularly demonstrates in this column. For more on keynotes, blogs, books and information on a range of 21st-Century topics, visit TheCatalyst.com.