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Canadian-Money-Advisor.ca BLOG
research before opening a rewards
- Posted March 13, 2010 by Monty Loree
Research Before Opening a Rewards
Shop Before Opening a Rewards Card Account, Expert Says
People are using their credit cards more and more because of the difficult economy, and studies have shown that more people are participating in a credit card rewards program. Rewards program are usually for airline miles, retail discounts, cash back, shopping points or a variety of other benefits.
Studies have shown that most credit card holders takes advantage of rewards programs, which can earn extended warranties on purchases, shoppers discounts at retailers, airline miles and many other benefits.
Mellody Hobson, president of Ariel Investments and "Good Morning America" personal finance contributor, discussed which credit card reward programs are best for consumers when she visited the show.
Hobson also extended additional tips that consumers maybe useful for them to make an informed decision about whether to open a rewards credit card:
Buyer, Beware
1. Do your homework before you choose a credit card. Shopping for comparison is important. Hobson likes the information presented at creditcards.com or bankrate.com for more information on credit card rates , terms, and benefits,.
2. Do not open a credit card for the purpose of getting airline miles, discounts or other rewards with the intention of closing it later. Open one only one because you really need it, she said. Opening and closing a credit card lowers your credit score.
3. Examine your credit card statement each month to be certain that proper fees have been posted and you have received the correct points for your purchases. The best way to settle all of your charges is to save your receipts.
4. Regularly check the terms of your rewards program. Reward program terms frequently change, so be certain you know exactly what you are getting.
VIA ABCNEWS
Keyword: Credit Card
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statistic showed one out of 3 people believe theyve been
- Posted March 12, 2010 by Monty LoreeStatistic Showed One out of 3 People Believe They’ve Been a Victim of Debit or Credit Card Fraud
by Jonathan Chevreau
TD Canada Trust revealed a startling statistic showing that one out of 3 people in Canada feel that they were victimized by credit or debit card in the past and that 40 percent are extremely worried about being defrauded in the future. This is big concern is grounded as Canadian financial institutions are relying on “PIN” and “Chip” system to avoid fraudulent activities. However, a research at Cambridge University found that criminals can get around the new “chip” technology to perform their nefarious activities. The new PIN and chip technology only means that we should not let our guards down. As BBC reported this morning, we live in a world filled with sophisticated hackers and cyber criminals, and it is very doubtful that all of these criminals can be shut down or arrested. What we can do is minimize the chances of losing a lot of money if they got through our credit/debit cards. One thing we can do is to lower our daily withdrawal limit, whether for lines of credit, credit card or checquing accounts. It’s true that the banks said that they will reimbursed customers who have been robbed, but as British banks who have incorporated the new Chip technology are still being a victim of fraud, some bans seemed to be having second thoughts reimbursing customers, especially those who are partially or wholly responsible for their misfortune.
The month of March is also Fraud Prevention Month. We must always be vigilant with our transactions. A little paranoia is not uncalled for when we are swiping our card and entering our PIN. We all cannot afford to trust strangers and people we deal with in situations where we use our cards. Avoiding credit card fraud will require you to b eternally vigilant and not just for the month of March. Never assume that it will never happen to u. I urge you to take the time to answer the TD Canada Trust's 12-question card fraud quiz if you have not yet done so by clicking Here
Your credit and debit cards should be treated same as your money and your PINs like your key to your house. Always keep them in a safe place and never trust anybody with them. Never disclose your credit card number unless you made the call, and immediately call your bank if the card went missing so that they can block it. You should also make sure to check your statements and transactions to ensure that every transactions made with your cards are authorized by you. Choose your PINs wisely and remember to periodically change them. Never give them out to anyone, not even your bank is supposed to know it. When you’re in your ATM machine, always make sure to cover your hands when entering the PIN for there may be a hidden camera somewhere looking over you as you enter your PIN.
VIA National Post
Keyword: Credit cards
statistic showed one out of 3 people believe theyve been a victim of debit or credit card fraud
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how to pay off your credit cards
- Posted March 11, 2010 by Monty LoreeHow to Pay Off Your Credit Cards
by Drew Graham test
Coping with credit card debt can be a difficult for a lot of people, and credit card companies don’t make it any easier. It is very hard to pay off your credit card bills between minimum payments and high interest rates issuers charge. The whole thing is overwhelming for people with debts it leaves them with no idea to settle credit card debts. The best solution is to settle your debts one at a time.
One of the reasons that most people find it hard paying off their credit cards is the outrageous interest rates. Only a small percentage of your payment goes to towards paying down the principal, the bigger part goes to paying the interest. This is especially true if you only pay the minimum payments each month. Minimum payments are contrived to keep you in debt for as long as possible, it is important that you pay more than the minimum if you want to get out of debt.
It is a great theory to say that you should pay more than the minimum of your balance every month; the problem is that you probably have multiple credit cards. Paying a little more than the required minimum payment each month isn’t going to help you to pay off your debts any faster. A far better approach will be to pay the minimum on all but one card and to pay as much as you can the balance on that card.
Choose the credit card with the highest interest rate and pay the most on that card. Ideally you should first transfer any balances you can to a card with a lower interest rate. Even a small change in the amount of interest that you are paying will be a huge help in paying off your debts. Once the balances have been transferred to the card with the lowest interest rates possible, pay the card with the highest interest rate as much as you can. As soon as you finish paying off this card, move to the card with the next highest interest rate. This will make paying your credit card debt easier, as well as significantly reduce the amount of interest that you have to pay.
The key to handling credit card debt is to take it one step at a time. Gather all of your effort into paying off your cards one at a time. This should make paying off your debts easier, as well as keep you motivated.
VIA LoanSafe
Keyword: Credit card
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conversation with jon chevreau author of findependence day part 4
- Posted March 10, 2010 by Monty LoreeConversation with Jon Chevreau Author of Findependence Day Part 3
Monty Loree: Okay. So I'm just noticing here, chapter two here you've got “Money, Money, Money - It's a Rich Man's World”. So basically what you're saying is the best investment is paying off debt.
Jon Chevreau: I think when you're in your 20s and 30s, I think in particular with all the stock market volatility - I think essentially get rid of your student loans, get rid of your credit card debt and ultimately buy a house, pay for it. Before getting worried too much about the stock market, I think for most people you have to get rid of the debt. If your employer offers you a pension plan where they match your contributions, even if you don't, then I think that should be your first exposure to the stock market. Just find whatever the corporate pension plan is giving you. Secondly of course, RSP, I think the TSSA - I started one for my daughter, she's 18. She's already got one going. Mind you it's not her money, but it doesn't matter. Baby boomer parents can certainly get these tips going for them. She's really excited about Apple so I bought stock. Not so much because I thought it was a great investment. It might be, it might not be, but I wanted her that feeling of sense of ownership. This whole being - own and not her loan anything and hopefully by seeing it grow and she's going to get a feel of ownership. Then maybe start one day, I hope, contributing her own money through tips or anything. As a financial planner yourself, you know what a great start it would be. If you put $5,000.00 in domestic property from the age 18 up ‘till you're 55, she would've her Findependence day 50, no problem.
Monty Loree: Exactly. That's interesting because my girl is 16 years old and she's just learning the concepts. We're just starting for her to learn the concepts. So that's important. I appreciate that you're doing that. Again, I'm talking with Jonathan Chevreau here today. He's the author of Findependence Day and we're talking about the book because it's a pretty good one. People need to read it, I think. Chapter 4, you got “Baby You're a Rich Man - The Concept of Human Capital”. That's all about realizing that, what I got from it was that people actually already have wealth.
Jon Chevreau: That's right. Scotiabank says, “You're richer than you think.” I'm not sure if they're referring to human capital. Moshe Milevski of the York Univestiy articulates the human capital argument well in a book he called, put out about a year ago, Are You a Stock or a Bond? Basically you start out in life with no financial capital, but you've got this great human potential - your earnings potential. This is why you need to spill the insurance because if you can't save them, you can't convert your human capital to financial capital things are not good. Same with life insurance, you need life insurance if you're married because if you die, then all that human capital that you've eventually converted to financial capital doesn't happen. Therefore the life insurance kicks in to provide the financial capital to the surviving spouse. So as life goes on, so in this 22-year time frame of this financial novel, Jamie gradually converts his human capital into financial capital. Because he's an owner not a loaner, he tries to build a business. A lot of the plot revolves around that. She, on the other hand, again a different personality. She has a secured, fine investment plan. She's a teacher, a salaried employee. So I tried to have that contrast, not just by money personalities but even in one is a stock, one is a bond. One is an employee, one is an entrepreneur - that way you kind of draw a lot more lessons from this couple's experience than if they were both of the same money personality.
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credit card companies do they write off debt
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeCredit Card Companies, Do They Write Off Debt?
by Johnny Simms
This is a very significant question. In some cases and in some circumstance, credit card companies do write off debt. A debt is usually written off if the person who owes the credit card company stops paying completely. In such cases, the credit card company usually writes off the debt, then sell the debt to a collection agency, and this agency in turn will pursue collections.
Getting a credit card company to write off your debt is something that varies depending on the situation, and is not something that you can plan. Some people think that if they just dismiss the credit card company's efforts to bill them, and cease paying anything completely, that they will get their debt written off. While something like this has happened before in the past, it is not something that you should attempt. Many professionals agree that, rather than worrying and wondering about how to get your debt written off, you should just try to avoid credit card debt altogether. This might be hard, it is a lot harder taking on the minimum balances of a credit card debt, with interest rates over 20 percent (which is normal on a credit card), can really soar you if you miss a payment.
So, attempting to have your debt written off is not really your best bet, unless you feel like you have no other option. In this instance, you might
want to contact a lawyer and ask for advice.
VIA Loan Safe
Keyword: Credit Card
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how to get a credit card if you have bad credit
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeHow to Get a Credit Card if You Have Bad Credit
Get a Credit Card if You Have Bad Credit
You can still get a credit card eventhough you have a bad credit, although it would make large purchases doubly hard for you. Follow these simple steps to get a credit card even with your bad credit.
1. Get your credit cards from smaller retail stores. Sometimes smaller retail companies are more willing than bigger stores to give you a chance. Once your application is accepted, make small purchases only and be sure to pay on time at least the minimum payment each month. (You won't pay as much interest rates if you pay above the minimum payment.)
2. Apply for a credit card thru your bank, credit union or savings institution. They may be more willing to approve a credit card for you if they have your business already.
3. If all else fails, then you can apply for a secured credit card. A savings account will be required for you to maintain as your line of credit security.
4. Ask a family member or a friend to act as a co-signee for a credit card. Make sure you choose someone with good credit as their credit will be inline as well. They must pay if you can't pay your balances and it will be bad for their credit rating.
Tips & Warnings
* Pay all your bills on time while you are trying to get a credit card
* Get no more than 3 credit cards- 2 cards with a smaller credit limit and a third with a bigger credit limit you can use in case of emergencies
* Don’t get a card from the same store and the same company. There’s a wide array of issuers available and they are all widely-accepted.
* Pick a card that does not charge an annual fee.
* Demand an explanation if your credit card application is denied. It is your lawful right.
* Control your spending. Don’t buy more than you can afford.
* Due to large interest rates, you might not be able to pay the balance. You might be overspending if you cannot pay the balance each month so stop using the card until the balance has been paid.
* There is no tax reduction for Credit card interest.
VIA eHow
Keyword: Credit Card
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how to avoid credit cards finance charges
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeHow to Avoid Credit Cards Finance Charges
Credit cards are a convenient way to purchase what you want when you want it, even without taking cash on hand.
Credit card companies profits from customers who use the balances on their credit cards by charging interest rates, and finance charges on top of the interest, as well
1. Make detailed budget of your income and expenses. You can avoid finance charges by keeping a tab on how much money you have afford every month to pay your credit cards.
2. Make a priority of your payments to your credit cards according to each card’s interest rates and the total balances due. The higher the interest rate, the higher the amount of money you should allocate for that card to avoid the biggest finance charges from being posted.
3. Pay the bills on your credit card on or before the due date, thus allowing time for your payment to be posted. You can avoid financial charges by scheduling payments or sending payments in advance.
4. Call your credit card company to request about waiving your finance charges. They may be willing to remove the charges if you have a good credit history with the company.
5. Try transferring your credit card balances to another credit card that offers no interest rate. To avoid incurring finance charges, apply for a new card that offers 0% interest rate promotions on balance transfers then transfer the remaining balance from the old credit card to the new credit card. Be sure to check your current credit card for promotional rates as well to see if there’s any other option.
Tips & Warnings
* Several credit card companies place a balance transfer fee. Try to balance cost-effectiveness of your options because the finance charges might be cheaper than the transfer fee.
* When you transfer remaining balances to a new credit card with a 0% promotional rate, make dure you pay on time and determine the promotion’s expiration to maybe transfer again before it expires because some credit card issuers ask for payment for the interest that you got within the promotional period.
VIA eHow
Keyword: Credit card
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U.S. GDP fails to move stocks at the open
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeU.S. GDP fails to move stocks at the open
David Berman
There is a little change when the North American stocks opened on Friday, after investors were ripped following an unexpectedly worse reading on U.S. initial jobless claims.
There is a decline on the average by 1 point on the Dow Jones industrial average, to 10,320. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 fell by 1 point, to 1102. The S&P/TSX composite index in Canada rose 3 points, to 11,634.
The Commerce Department of the U.S. reported the economy broadened at a 5.9% annualized clip in the Q4, more than the 5.7% growth originally forecasted in January. The upward revision was not appreciated by economists.
“The overall growth in the Q4 [was] still very inventory-driven, with a 3.9% point contribution,” said chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, Ian Shepherdson. In a note, he said, “Final domestic sales increased only 1.6%, following 1.7 cent in the Q3 and 2.3% in the Q2.
“The reported increase today in the second estimate of Q4 GDP to 5.9% from the formerly reported 5.7% does little to change the fact that the bulk of the posted surge in GDP growth in the Q4 reflects a sharp reduction in the rate of inventory liquidation after the unexpected drop through the first 3 quarters of 2009,” said Nathan Janzen, a Royal Bank of Canada economist, in a note.
In the US, Boeing Co. increased 0.9% and General Electric Co. increased by 0.8%. Home Depot Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. dropped 0.7% each.
Energy stocks in Canada generally increased with crude oil’s price, with Suncor Energy Inc. up by 0.3% and Talisman Energy Inc. up by 0.2%. Among gold stocks, on the other hand, Barrick Gold Corp. and Goldcorp Inc. increased 0.6% each.
Financials decreased after Thursday’s strong earnings-inspired returns, with Royal Bank of Canada dropping by 0.3 %, Bank of Nova Scotia dropping by 0.4% and Manulife Financial Corp. dropping by 0.6%.
VIA Globe and Mail
Keyword: Stock Investing
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credit card company visa reported visitors for the olympics spent 115 million
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeCredit card company, Visa, reported Visitors for the Olympics spent $115 million
By Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver
The Olympics which lasted for 17 days proved to be a great boost for the economy of Canada. In Visa alone, the Olympics added $115 usd to the B.C. in international spending, as figures revealed by the credit card company Tuesday.
Andrew Woodward, Visa’s head of marketing and sponsorship communications said that the Olympics is a proof point of what they said about the economic benefit of the Olympics. In the same 17 days last year, foreign visitors spent $55. The figure shows twice more than what was normally spent by visitors on the same period.million in the B.C. that’s a difference of $60 million usd. The total spending during the Olympics breaks down to approximately $6.8 million per day during the commencement of the games.
The Americans spent the most with $61.1 million, followed by China at $7.8 million, then U.K. at $5.1 million and the Russian Federation in the 4th place with $4.3 million dollars spent.
Visa is the real winner for the profits because Visa has monopolize all credit-card transactions at the venues of the Olympics. They, however, gave a breakdown of the spending on all credit card transactions, listing travel, accomodation, restaurants, retail sale, and entertainment taking 92% of all business transactions during the games.
Woodward reported that most of money came from people who were at official venues as well as people who were at restaurants and hotels.
VIA Vancouver Sun
Keyword: Credit Card
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choosing the best travel rewards credit card
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeChoosing the Best Travel Rewards Credit Card
Travel rewards credit cards offer great benefits to people who travel a lot. If you only travel once in a while, the benefits you get from your travel rewards credit card will only be offset by the high Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and other fees charged for this rewards credit card. Travel reward credit cards offer credit card users perks like discounts on hotel accomodation, gas, auto rental, or purchases at retail shops. A great reward credit cards also offer cash advance for when you are travelling and in need of extra cash, although you have to be sure to know the charges applied for cash advances before choosing a travel reward credit card. Travel reward credit cards also offer travel insurance for emergencies, including emergency expatriation, medical evaluation and lost luggage. These are hard to resolve if you do not purchase coverage and did not have sufficient pre-travel preparation. They also offer rewards or points for every purchase you make on the card (take note that some credit cards only offer discounts to those who have a balance carried over at the end of the month).
You should also consider the value and the schedule offered by these credit cards. Cash rewards is a good example. Don’t wait till the end of the year to get your money from your credit card’s cash reward. Make sure that you get the money everytime you accrue the amount of twenty dollars. Some travel rewards credit card also offer round trip flights at the redemption value of one round trip ticket for every purchased twenty-five thousand miles purchased using the card.
Finally, when you’ve found the right credit card, make sure that you follow the terms and pay your balances or the minimums on time every time so you won’t have any problems later.
VIA AmericanAirlinesCreditCard
Keyword: Rewards Credit Card
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improve your credit scores in 5 easy way
- Posted March 08, 2010 by Monty LoreeImprove Your Credit Scores in 5 Easy Way
Getting a good credit score is essential especially now that the mortgage market is still in a bind. Your credit score greatly impacts your financial status. It not only increases your chances to have your mortgage approved, but it also affect your interest rates for applicants with top credit scores always get the best interest rates.
A lot of consumers are not aware of their credit scores and what affects them. Furthermore, they are not aware of the factors that can help them improve their credit scores. Here are some of the things you can More importantly, they may not be aware of the many things they can do to improve their scores. Here are some tips that could do to help hike your credit scores.
* Request a copy of your credit report. Check if it’s correct and if you find an error, you must immediately contact the creditor to correct the errors. Go to http://www.equifax.ca/ or www.transunion.ca to request a copy of your credit report.
* Always be punctual in paying your bills. This might be the simplest way and the most important way to improve your credit score. Remember to pay your bills on time. You can also set-up automatic payment thru your credit card or your bank so you never have to worry about paying on time and you only need to take note of one bill (in case all your bills are in automatic payment) at the end of the month.
* Pay off or pay down your credit card balances or loans. Paying off your loans or credit cards will help boost your credit score score, but so will paying down your credit card balances. Just remember to keep your balances below 30% of your credit limit.
* Refrain from closing credit cards that has not been used. Remember that an old credit history is better for your credit score. So keep your old credit cards and periodically use them just to keep the account active. Remember to be prompt in paying your bills..
* Check your credit limits. Your score will be depressed when your credit limit was reported by your lender than it actually is. Have it corrected so your credit score will improve.
Source: Century 21 Canada
VIA Century 21 Canada
Keyword: Credit Score
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stocks concluded the month strongly with modest gains
- Posted March 05, 2010 by Monty LoreeStocks Concluded the Month Strongly With Modest Gains
The S&P 500 finished Friday at about 2 points higher, concluding the month with a 2.7% gain. The consumer discretionary sector assisted in driving the index, up 5.2% in February.
Tech generally surmounted performance in February with the Nasdaq Composite Index closing its month with a 4-point gain Friday, ending the month 4% higher.
Intuit (NSDQ: INTU) and Autodesk (NSDQ: ADSK) were the best performers in Nasdaq for February, adding 9% and 17%, respectively.
In corporate news, insurance company, American International Group (NYSE: AIG) reported a Q4 loss that was bigger than expected. The $8.87 billion loss, however, was smaller than $61.7 billion lost in the prior year within the same period.
The insurer reported that a large part of the loss was from repaying the $6.2 billion from New York Federal Reserve. AIG has continued to repay the bailout money and is in the process of selling its American Life Insurance Company to produce additional cash.
Meanwhile, on the economic front, the Supply Management Institute said its Purchasing Managers Index rose to 62.6
in February, thus surprising economists as they forecasted a decline to 59.7.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing homes sale swayed 7.2% in January to a yearly pace of 5.05 million homes. The outcome did not reach expectations as economists foresaw 5.15 million.
VIA AllHeadlineNews
Keyword: Stock Investing
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interview with nick farina moneyinenglishcom part 1
- Posted March 04, 2010 by Monty LoreeInterview with Nick Farina - MoneyInEnglish.com - Part 1
Monty Loree: Hey folks, this is Monty Loree here from Canadian Money Advisor. I've got Nick Farina who's the author and publisher of Money in English blog, MoneyInEnglish.com. Nick's kind of a young fellow. He's been involved with personal finance for about five years, and he's 22 years old. So he likes to talk about money issues that are related to younger people, people who are just getting out of high school, people who are in the university. We just had a little talk before and he just mentioned just really good things that we really need to talk about. Hey Nick, how are you doing?
Nick Farina: Hi, good Monty. How are you? Glad to be on the show
Monty Loree: This is good. I'm really excited about this. So you said you've been blogging for five years now? So you've been blogging for a short time...
Nick Farina: Yes, that's correct. I've only had the website up for about five months now, but I've been involved with personal finance for quite a while, about five years. Very quickly, five years ago when I was in my last year of high school, my parents were really busy. They had a lot going on. Their financial situation wasn't bad, but it was complicated. They had a lot of bills to pay and a lot of bills going on and it was complicated. They were starting to lose track. So I thought maybe I can help with this and at the same time it would help me learn about financial world that I need to use later in life. Then I got hooked on it. I thought it was really interesting, just trying to maximize what kind of credit cards to use, what bank accounts to use so they've got an efficient system. I realized that there were a lot of tricks out there. There's a lot of things you shouldn't do, but at the same time there's a lot of things that would be great if you did do them. So that was the beginning of my interest in personal finance. I've been writing about how people overcome them.
Monty Loree: Wow, that sounds good. Sounds like you're a natural at it, if you've taken to that.
Nick Farina: Yes, I hope so.
Listen to this MoneyInEnglish.com podcast
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interview with tom drake canadianfinanceblogcom part 2
- Posted March 03, 2010 by Monty LoreeInterview with Tom Drake - CanadianFinanceBlog.com - Part 2
Monty Loree: So with all of that, somehow you got interested into personal finance blogging and you got online and started typing away. What did - you said before you were initially talking about taxes and so on.
Tom Drake: Yes, again it was writing about whatever I was doing at the time and starting in February of last year, it was searching all these different tax tips, how to optimize as best as you can. So it's a lot of, not just tax tips, also looking into mortgages and I've kind of gone more into a lot of how to save money and how to earn extra income, especially again with the wife and taking care of her. It's more important that you can either save a dollar or gain a dollar somewhere, then it's great for us.
Monty Loree: So basically then you're - you said your blog is not your main business, but can you describe what you do for a job?
Tom Drake: I'm the financial analyst for Sobey's West, which is basically all the stores from West of Ontario. So I do all the retail budgets and forecasts and I also do a lot of reporting and everything on how our stores are doing. So it's a great job and I have to do it.
Monty Loree: That sounds like a pretty busy job if you ask me, unless it's automated. I guess when I was a financial analyst 20 years ago, it was not automated and it was pretty busy.
Tom Drake: It probably gets better as new systems come. My extra title is actually Application Development as well. We use a lot of new programs, like SAP, Calix and SAS. They all speed up the job a little. Previously budgets would be done at different divisions throughout Canada and we consolidate them together. Now we just are able to run the whole thing because we've got everyone's data in the data base and it's pretty simple to forecast into the future.
Monty Loree: So with that you must have CMA or CDA training?
Tom Drake: No I don't. I took marketing here in Edmonton. CGA/CMA, it's something you certainly can do. But I've been doing it for so many years and it hasn't been a need.
Monty Loree: Right, exactly. But I guess if you've got a mindset for being a financial analyst, that would translate usually to the blog there and to writing about personal finance. I found when I was a financial analyst in Toronto, I learned an awful lot about personal finance just from what the companies were doing.
Tom Drake: Yes, you're always dealing with numbers. It starts to pick up even well before I had the blog. If you tell somebody you're a financial analyst, they're automatically asking for some kind of depth.
Listen to my podcast with Tom Drake
See Tom's blog at CanadianFinanceBlog.com
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interview with ivon hughes lifeannuitiescom part 2
- Posted March 03, 2010 by Monty LoreeInterview with Ivon Hughes - lifeannuities.com - Part 2
Monty Loree: So what you're saying is that at some given point, the agreement says they're going to be getting a stream of revenue, like $500.00 a month or whatever they agree to.
Ivon Hughes: Exactly. And you can do it with registered money, RRSP money, or you can do it with one registered money. You can't get the interest rate at the bank and if you want any interest you do get as tax. It's fully taxable whereas non-registered annuity, with $500.00 or so that you get every month, part of that is your turn of capital and part of it's interest. It's only the interest portion that's taxable so you end up with more money in your pocket fund for your savings.
Monty Loree: Okay, interesting. So basically it's kind of like a retirement savings type of situation.
Ivon Hughes: Absolutely. You can have a registered annuity and you can have a non-registered annuity and a lot of people do have both.
Monty Loree: So who's calling you on the phone? What is the age that somebody needs to be thinking about annuities? Is it somebody that's 18 or... ? Is there a better deal if you start later on?
Ivon Hughes: I have clients of age 45, but that's rare. Usually it's 55/60/65 and upwards. That's when I'd say they're fed up with trying to get better returns and avoid the tax grant, etc. The family have gone, the children moved out and probably got their own children and their expenses are fixed and all they need to know is they got to get a fixed income for the rest of their lives.
Monty Loree: So yes, I guess that's a good point. I'm just speaking for the younger folks. When you start in your career, you've got house payments, you've got all sorts of expenses to look forward to. But by the time you hit retirement, generally your house is paid off, the car is paid off, all your debts in theory should be paid off. So you can live on a fixed expense.
Ivon Hughes: Exactly. You'd have a lot of experience during your lifetime of finding out what is important, what is not important. And if you know that $1,200.00 or $1,400.00 a month fixed is better than trying to get $1,600.00 or $1,700.00 a month, then you're content with what the annuity will pay you.
Listen to podcast with Ivon Hughes
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interview with laurel ostfield capital one canada part 2
- Posted March 02, 2010 by Monty LoreeInterview with Laurel Ostfield - Capital One Canada - Part 2
Monty Loree: That's an important word that I'd like to use, is credit cards are tools . They're, in my opinion, not a source of income. I'm just trying to think of – when I think about this, what is a world without credit cards? Can you travel to Greece or Australia without a credit card? Can you rent a car? Can you rent hotel rooms?
Laurel Ostfield: It would be very difficult, yes. I think that these people who use their credit cards properly, they're really enabling themselves to travel more, to rent hotels, even just to get an apartment. A credit history is something you need, which is some of the basic life skills you have in our society. You need to rent an apartment, you need to get utilities and a lot of these are asking for credit histories now. So being able to establish a good credit history really puts you in a much better position.
Interview with Laurel Ostfield - Capital One Canada - Part 2
Monty Loree: Absolutely. That's my point exactly. So the question I've got for you is, what is the benefit of applying online? You're a company that is exclusively online, so it's not like a bricks and mortar bank where you just go into the branch and you've got to make appointments and so on. So what are the benefits of applying for a credit card online?
Laurel Ostfield: First off is the comfort and convenience in being able to do this on your home and being online allows us to reach into everybody's house, from bed, from the couch, in front of the TV. You can research the kind of products that we have to offer and apply that way. Of course we understand that people do like to interact. We have access to agents 24/7. You can either call in or we also have them online. So when you go to capitalone.ca and you start researching cards, there'll actually be a little box that pops up and says if you want and says if you want to chat with an agent, click here. You can really talk one on one with a Capital One customer service representative, if you have other questions that we can answer.
Monty Loree:Excellent. That's total convenience then.
Laurel Ostfield: Exactly. I think the way the world is heading right now – people are on their iPhones and Blackberries and smart phones that's why you can access all that information. You can access your accounts online, so if you are a Capital One customer, you can check your balance, you can get alerts, you can really keep track of what's happening with your account anywhere you are.
Monty Loree: Right on. You said there are new services coming online?
Laurel Ostfield: Yes we have some services to help customers manage their own accounts. We call them alerts. So if you are part of our online banking system which is very easy to sign up for. You can actually set your own profile that you would get notices, so emails or text messages right to your phone and your email account that will tell you if a payment has been posted to your account. You can get notices when your minimum balance is due. So we can set it, say you want to get a notice 5 days before my minimum balance is due and I haven't paid it yet. That way, you're going to keep on track on not going delinquent or not going over the limit because you can also get notices if you're about to hit your credit limit. That helps people really stay on top of their accounts. It can also help with fraud. Yes, we have actually – one of the works that I find is great is you can say if anyone uses my card outside of Canada, I want to be notified and we'll do that. That can also help you keep track of, if there's fraud happening on your account.
Low Interest Credit Cards for Canadians
Listen to podcast with Laurel Ostfield - Capital One Canada
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interview with cleo from hr block tax services part 2
- Posted March 02, 2010 by Monty LoreeInterview with Cleo from H&R Block Tax Services - Part 2
Cleo Hamel is a Senior Tax Analyst with H&R Block
Monty: Okay. I was wondering what are some of the major issues that you're finding in your research and dealing with your clients as far as tax goes? What sort of questions are you feeling, things like medical expenses and deductions and so on?
Podcast Interview with H&R Block
Cleo: Medical expenses tend to be one of the biggest ones that we've been dealing with. Probably over the last few years, there are two parts to medical expenses. One of the general things - you go to the doctor, dentist and if you've got kids who have braces, you're probably making payments on a monthly basis for that. Or if you're fortunate enough to have a plan at work, part of it is being paid for through that private health plan. But you're still paying some money out. Those types of things don't feel like a lot when you pay them every month, but if you look at them at the end of the year, there's some money there to be saved. So we're getting people asking us, "What types of expenses outside of the dentist and the doctor can I claim?" There's glasses, contact lenses. If you wear a hearing aid, if you have to buy batteries for that hearing aid.
You went to the chiropractor, massage therapy. So there are a number of medical practitioners that provide a service and you may be paying for them, whether it's $30.00 or $40.00 every month or maybe it's more. Other things they're asking or just finding out about is if you pay for a private health premium through payroll deduction, whether that's a couple of dollars every pay, that amount at the end of the year adds up and you can claim that as a medical expense as well. People are really surprised to hear that. The other challenge they're finding now is they have all these expenses, they put them all together and they go, "Now what do I do with it?" One of the rules you have to know about medical expenses is the amount of your medical expenses has to exceed 3% of your net income. As a tax tip, in a household with a couple, make sure that the lowest income earner in the family claims medical expenses because you get more for it. It's really good; they do add up.
Interview with Cleo H&R Block Part 1
The other one too then, is we go to another level of medical expenses when we talk about disabilities. Unfortunately, there are families out there that have a family member with some kind of a disability. They range from a number of different things. We've seen some who've gone on kidney dialysis. We've seen families who have a member who's got Celiacs disease. Maybe it's something a little bit more, deaf or blindness or some other kind of mental or physical handicap. The government actually has a tax credit available to those families and individuals. However, you have to get a form filled up, your doctor has to fill up this form and you have to send it in to the Canada Revenue Agency and they approve it or not. We have a lot of questions coming in because people say,
"You know what, I don't know if it's worth my time and realistically, if you qualify for a disability credit you can be saving about $1,000.00 in taxes - whether you're the person with the disability or maybe you're caring for someone with that disability. I think that's a lot of money, and I think that's well worth filling up that form and sending it in. I do caution people in that your doctor might qualify and say that, yes you have a handicap or disability, but remember it's the Canada Revenue Agency that actually approves it. They have a list of rules they go through. But that tends to be a really sensitive issue so we'd really like to put that message out to anyone who thinks they might qualify, don't hesitate. Get the form; it's called the T2201. It's a disability certificate. You can download it from the Canada Revenue Agency's website. You can even pop into one of our offices and someone can print one out for you. But I think it's well worth it.
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interview with cleo from hr block tax services part 1
- Posted March 02, 2010 by Monty LoreeInterview with Cleo from H&R Block Tax Services - Part 1
Monty: Hey folks this is Monty Loree here from Canadian Money Advisor. My goodness it's tax time coming up again. Everybody loves tax time and I think millions of Canadians just actually cringe. Who actually ever wants to sit down at the kitchen table and do their taxes? I've got somebody here who I think can help us out. I've got Cleo from H&R Block. I found it interesting about H&R Block - over 50 years ago brothers Henry and Richard Bloch founded the company known today as H&R Block. In 1964, H&R Block opened its first franchise operation in Canada. The next year, it opened its first company-owned operation. Today, H&R Block Canada prepares approximately $2 million returns annually, making it Canada's leading tax preparation firm. It's headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and the company serves the tax-paying public in more than 900 offices across the country. Again, I have Cleo here and Cleo's going to tell us all about it. How are you today Cleo?
Podcast Interview with Cleo from H&R Block
Cleo: Really good, Monty. How are you?
Monty: Good. Thanks for visiting on our podcast today.
Cleo: No problem.
Monty: Well you must be under pressure these days because tax season is coming. You must be feeling a lot of questions.
Cleo: You know, this is that time of year where taxes start creeping into people's minds and the question is not so much, "I'm in a hurry to get it done." It's more a matter of, "I have to get it done. What do I need to know or what are the things that I need to get together?" We're fielding a lot of questions and more on a research basis. People this year seem to be really interested in finding ways to save money on their taxes. I don't know if that's because they've had a bad year and lost jobs or had to take a part time job. Whatever that is, they're really looking to save some money. We actually did a survey and a lot of people in our survey said yes, we need to know more information before we do our taxes this year.
Monty: Okay. Is it a trend that because of the economy, the crash in 1998 or is it an aging population thing or just people losing their jobs?
Cleo: I think it's people are being a little more careful with their money, whether it's because they're earning less or they have to make it go further. There is something there. But people are realizing that if they can't make any more money at work, then they've got to find a way to keep more of their money in their pocket. Tax time is one of those times when you really feel like you're putting a lot of money out. So you need to find out what you can do. I know that you have tax withheld from your pay check every two weeks or bi-monthly or how often. So you already feel that little bit of a pinch happening then. But when you do your taxes at the end of the year and you have to pay more money, it just hurts that much more. We need to start finding ways not to have that happen.
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your crash course in market investing
- Posted February 25, 2010 by Monty LoreeYour crash course in market investing
Jean Chatzky's five tips to help you overcome your anxiety of the stock market
As an individual who travels the country on the speech circuit, I hear a lot of excuses for why people don't have firm control over their finances. One of the most common excuse is a fear of investing.
I can surely understand why. The stock market just appears way too big for most of us to wrap our heads around - it is certainly not as easy as paying your bills on time or balancing your checkbook, and because there are no certainty -- even people who claim to know which stocks will go up and which stocks will go down are often wrong - it can be pretty scary.
That is why, at some point or another, the market has intrigued most of us. I certanly was, as well as Karen Blumenthal, who admits that even after 2 decades as a Wall Street Journal reporter, she still did not quite get it. So she allows herself through a crash course of sorts. She made a decision that for a full year she was going to follow one of the country's hottest stocks - and then write a book about her experience.
Her pick? Starbucks. Her book? "Grande Expectations." Why made her decide on America's favorite coffee shop as a model? To begin with, the innumerous number chain of stores is hard to avoid, especially in a big city. But Blumenthal says she really decided on the company because of the profit it generated for early investors - those who bought the stock when it went public in 1992 have undergone a gain of about 6,500% on their initial investment.
Of course, she admits, not everyone has that kind of luck. But her experience in the trenches did produce a few lessons that all investors should take to heart when they are ready to dip a toe in the market.
Consider your options
That does not mean you have to walk through each and every stock on the market. Toan Tran, editor of the Morningstar Growth Investor, advise, "Stick inside your circle of competence." One of the most important key is to know the company you're investing in, and that will be a whole lot easier if you choose a business that already makes at least a bit of sense to you. Think retail versus biotech. Then, answer a few questions:
Is the company and its products or services likely to be in demand for a long time? How does the company liken to its competitors? Does the stock's value accurately reflect what its worth?
Research
Study the annual report, which will give you the previous year's earnings summary as well as an overview of the goals they have set for the future.
It will outline how and where they intend to expand (Blumenthal says China is Starbucks top priority), and any new products they plan to launch in the near future. Besides that, another good way to get an inner look at the inner workings of the company is by listening in to investor conference calls that are often re-broadcast over the net. This will give you access to the same set of information the big-timers get.
At the same time, don't believe everything. You cannot rely solely on information straight from the horse's mouth. It would almost be like letting your kid fill out his own report card. To get a weighted view, check out other sources as well. Besides Morningstar, Toan suggests surfing Yahoo! Finance and the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings on www.sec.gov.
VIA MSNBC
Keyword: Stock Investing
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coming to terms longterm investing
- Posted February 25, 2010 by Monty LoreeComing to terms: long-term investing
Q: I have heard an advice that you should invest in stocks for the long term. Just how long is that?
A: For tax purposes, you should aspire to hang on for at least a year and a day, so that any profits qualify for the long-term capital-gains rate, which is currently 15% for most of us. (Short-term gains, from holdings of a year or less, are taxed at your ordinary income rate.)
In general, most investment professionals say you should aspire to hold on for at least several years, if not many years - as long as the company stays healthy and growing, and as long as its stock has not gotten way ahead of itself. Many fortunes have been borne by people who invested in various companies for decades.
The Motley Fool
VIA Qondio
Keyword: Stock investing
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