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Let's borrow $1 trillion to pay off bad mortgages!
That doesn't make alot of sense
The financial news these days certainly isn't boring. The article below talks about how the U.S. federal govt is going to use $1 trillion in debt to purchase toxic mortgages and get them off of the banks balance sheets.
Why does this seem so wrong.. Isn't there a term for this? Kiting?!! Using debt to pay off debt?
If consumers use debt to pay off debt, that will affect your credit score pretty badly. It tells the creditor that you're illiquid and that you don't have cash savings to pay your debt.
Fundamentally using debt to pay off debt is just wrong. It may ease the pain for the short term, but ultimately it's going to cost everybody alot more. in real estate What they're doing is taking the burden off of the individual mortgage holders, and putting it onto the over all population. That's not right, and it's not fair.
People need to be responsible for their own mortgages. If you can't afford to pay your mortgage, move to a lower cost situation.. The existing credit market is designed to work with these cases. It's not politically correct to let millions of people default on their loans and mortgages.. however there is a system to work this through. The mortgage companies and banks made piles of money at the beginning of this free-for-all mortgage bubble. Now they don't want to take the losses associated with their misdeeds.
Accountability is what it's all about. The banks get bailed out, and the individual has to take it on the chin.
Geithner Relies on Investors for $1 Trillion Plan
By Rebecca Christie and Robert Schmidt
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration unveiled its long-awaited plan to remove toxic assets from the books of the nation�s banks, betting that it can revive the U.S. financial system without resorting to outright nationalization.
The plan is aimed at financing as much as $1 trillion in purchases of illiquid real-estate assets, using $75 billion to $100 billion of the Treasury�s remaining bank-rescue funds. The Public-Private Investment Program will also rely on Federal Reserve financing and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. debt guarantees, the Treasury said in a statement in Washington.
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Bicycling is cheap - and full of adventureI did my first 23 km bicycle ride yesterday.
I thought that for the first day of spring I should get out and bicycle some place. My favorite place to go is Southland Mall - which is an 10 KM ride, and then back home which is another 10KM.. (earlier in the day I went shopping on the bike which was 3 km.)
Along the way I stopped at Wascana Lake in Regina and took some pictures of the sites and people and geese on the lake.
 I can't believe how much I missed bicycling over the winter time. It's a time to get out doors, get some fresh air, see the sites and get exercise.
It's also a cheap way to travel. I spent $1.49 at Southland mall to purchase trail mix for the ride. Better than a car loan!!
I was pleased that I was able to ride 23 km in one day, and especially at March 20th.. Last year it took me until June or July to before I could go that far on the bike with out passing out.
This year I plan to travel to Moose Jaw and back, which would be 130 KM in a day. I also plan to do even longer runs, which will take more practice and getting into shape.
The benefits of bicycling last year - Summer 2008:
- I lost around 50 lbs
- My heart was greatly strengthened
- My leg muscles get strengthened
- I lowered my cholesterol down to normal
- I saved a bunch of money on car expenses.
- I enjoyed the summer probably the most in 25 years.
- I relieved a ton of stress
The benefits of bicycling have been absolutely tremendous. For such a low cost transportation, the benefits and enjoyment have been wonderful. I would say that I enjoy riding my bicycle even more than driving my Cadillac CTS.
During this economic down turn.. why not take your bike, instead of the car.? It will save you money and you'll really enjoy it. (After you get used to it ! )
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You've got to Live - Spend Your Money???I was listening to a radio talk show this morning and the fellow was talking about the economy. The radio announcer was complaining about Suze Orman and Suze's style of money coaching.
The comment came up that Suze recommends that people save their money and cut down on expenses. The announcer then indicated that people need to live their lives and spend their money!
I love that logic.. the announcer said, "well yeah, you need to save and pay down debt, BUT you also need to live your life."
Isn't that what got us into this problem in the first place?
Here's my point:
1) If you don't have sufficient cash reserves - you NEED TO sacrifice and start saving your money
What this yappy announcer failed to mention was this:
Most Canadians and Americans have really low savings rates. We love to spend our money , but hate saving it.
This becomes a huge problem in an economy such as this economic crisis. If all individuals had an abundance of cash reserves they would never be worried about losing their jobs . They wouldn't be worried about paying bills or paying down debt. Quite frankly, I don't think individuals would have too much debt if they had an abundance of cash saved.
For those who have no savings, and are in debt... It's my opinion these people should take a time out from spending, and put their money in the bank. Plain and simple... Just save it.
You have to live, I agree, however you need to have safety measures in place. Why are Americans so worried about this economic down turn? If they had sufficient cash reserves in place, and little debt, there wouldn't be much to worry about.
IE.. If Americans and Canadians were recession proof, they wouldn't have to worry.
What harm would it do to Sacrifice for a few years and save money ?
So you kids have less toys.. you have less vacations.. you have less consumer products.. you eat out a little less.. What would your kids say about that?
Your family might complain for a few years about not having any money to spend. At the same time, you would have less fights because of lack of money, less stress, and less worry about paying bills.
What's more important to you, instant gratification or long term peace of mind?
I wish that the media would get on board and stop asking consumers to borrow more and spend their way out of the economy. Consumers need a financial rest. They need to have their money take a time out and spend some lonely time in the bank account.
Ultimately this will make the consumer feel better, and eventually give them a more confident feeling when they start to live their life!
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AIG Bonuses - Don't eliminate the Trust Factor!I must admit that I think giving bonues to execs who've lost $68 billion is completely wrong. But as mentioned on the news, it's in their contract.
The federal goverment should have known about these bonuses prior to purchasing 80% of the company. They should have been away of the income statement and balance sheet prior to purchasing the company.
Where I think it's completely ridiculous to give these execs $165 billion in bonuses, I think it's worse for government to step in and renege on their contracts.
I would be furious if a government of any type stepped in and started dictating what I can and cannot do with contracts in my business.
IMO.... the government shouldn't be getting involved in private business. That's eroded alot of confidence in the market place. Having government involved in private business means that business can't operate on it's own and needs life support.
Having government interfere with private enterprise contracts is the next step to BIG BROTHER and socialism.
It will erode trust even further with businesses. Businesses will be concerned if they should do something lest the government jump in and act.
I know that this is an extreme example, but when contracts are legally binding, they should be allowed to carry out, in a lawful fashion.
According to:
http://news.hereisthecity.com/news/business_news/8869.cntns
(AIG) Staff Get 'Death Threats' Over Bonuses
The furore over the $165m in bonuses AIG is contractually obliged to pay staff at its Financial Products Group (the unit that basically brought down the firm) reached fever pitch over the last couple of days.
The Times reports that armed guards have now been placed outside the Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products, after staff there received death threats over the bonus payouts. Several staff are said to have refused to come to work, and others are thought to have quit. And we even had US Senator Chuck Grassley telling a radio audience earlier in the week that AIG executives should 'resign or go commit suicide' (he later clarified that remark, saying he didn't really mean that they should actually kill themselves, instead suggesting that they say 'sorry').
In the meantime, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hopes to enact legislation in the coming days in order to slap a heavy additional tax charge on the AIG bonuses (will effectively cancel them out), and Representative Barney Frank has suggested that the US government simply step in and assert its ownership of AIG. Frank told a group of reporters Tuesday that the government needs to say, as owner of the firm: 'No, I'm not paying you the bonus. You didn't perform. You didn't live up to this contract'. And Treasury Secretary, 'dim' Tim (Geithner), has said that he is looking into the matter (he may - like all his other schemes - have a plan for a plan, with more details sometime never).
How is anybody supposed to get any work done in this trustless environment. Who would want to work in the company after all of this headline news?
I think for next time, the AIG Bonus contracts should be reconsidered. However, at this time, pay the bonuses and keep to your agreements. Agreements and fulfilling agreements are the glue of the North American economy.
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Using Credit Cards as Income - A definitionIn my previous post, I talked about how you can use credit cards as a beneficial tool in your day to day finances.
In this post, I would like to talk about what using credit cards as income source means.
By allowing people to make minimum payments on their credit card debts, the credit card companies make it tempting to use credit cards as an income source.
The following are ways you could be using credit card as income.
1. Buying expensive items that you can't afford
2. Buying day to day goods on credit
3. Purchasing small items that you don't need and can't afford.
Buying expensive items that you can't afford
You say to yourself, "this item costs $1,000, but I can afford the minimum payments of $30".. I've heard this said so many times, and used as to how people justify their purchase.
What you're doing is giving yourself a $1000 payday bonus that's going to cost you alot in the end interest wise.
A better way to do this is .... Save up $30 per month until you can afford the $1,000 to make the purchase. It requires patience, however, if you really want the item then this is a better way to make the purchase.
Buying day to day goods on credit
You've spent all of your earnings and you still need money to buy day to day goods. You use your credit card to make up for the short fall in income.
This is a really bad trap to get into. What it tells the credit card company is that you do not have the ability to pay your bills, and that you're becoming a bad credit risk.
If you're running into this problem, it's a good idea to cut back expenses to the very bare minimum , and / or get another job to earn more money.
Even though access to cash advances on your credit card is easy to do ... trust me.. Using your credit card as income in this case will certainly cause alot of headaches in the future.
Purchasing small items that you don't need and can't afford.
You go to the mall and make several small purchases that you don't have the cash to repay.
You justify this by saying to yourself.. This necklace only costs $25. I can easily pay that off this month. The problem is you make several of these small purchases that add up. Eventually you start to carry a balance that you can't pay off each month.
IF YOU CAN'T PAY IT OFF EACH MONTH, THEN YOU'RE USING YOUR CREDIT CARD AS INCOME
Simply stated, you should always have enough cash in the bank to cover your credit card purchases. You should pay your account in full every month.
If you're carrying balances and paying interest, then you're using your credit cards as an income source.
I wrote this post to give people a new light to their credit card habits. In this economic crisis turmoil that's brought on by consumer spending and debt, I'm hoping that we can change the way people think about using their credit cards.
Use credit cards as a tool.. and not a source of income.
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Using Credit Cards as a Financial ToolAs I'm watching the economic news, it's hard not to hear headlines of credit card defaults, and other problems people are having.
People have been using credit cards as a source of income, when they should be using them as a financial tool.
The best example of using credit cards as income is when an individual purchases and item or service when you don't have the cash in reserve to pay off the balance in full every month.
This of course leads to individuals carrying balances on their cards, which usually increase over time.
I recommend that people use credit cards as a financial tool.
This means that you take advantage of the credit cards benefits, excluding being a source of income.
Some of these benefits are:
1. Convenience to make purchases online
2. Saving money on ATM withdrawals
3. Receiving rewards for credit card purchases
4. Receiving 30 days of free money
Convenience to make purchases online
This is one thing I use credit cards for all the time. I like to purchase software or training programs online, and of course I can't pay cash or debit card. Online companies only take payments from Paypal, credit cards or other online payment services.
Many of these services I cannot find locally, and in order to stay competitive in my business, I need to have competitive software and training for that software.
Saving money on ATM withdrawals
I learned this lesson the hard way.. I used to use my debit card at ATMs alot . I want to pay cash for things but my service charges were adding up quickly.
I decided to pay for what I normally purchase using credit card, and then promptly pay the credit card bill when I receive it.
The credit card companies don't make you pay service charges for purchases so you can do a bunch of them with out paying.
Receiving rewards for credit card purchases
I use my Canadian Tire Mastercard to buy things. I receive rewards with with I can use to buy things at their store. This is a great way to purchase household items using points.
At one point in my business, I was getting $100 per week in Canadian Tire points, and it was fun to go and spend them, as I knew the purchases weren't costing me anything.
Receiving 30 days of free money
If I make a purchase today, I generally receive 30 days or so before I need to make a credit card payment. That means that the money stays in my account for 30 days, and then when I make the payment it's one payment in stead of many.
In essence, I am using the credit cards money for 30 days while I earn interest on the money that's sitting in my bank account.
These are reasons why credit cards are actually useful. Again, credit cards shouldl never be used as an income. If you're using credit cards as an income source and don't have the cash reserve in place to make full payments each month, then you're probably in trouble financially.
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Mortgage Life Insurance in Canada One of the most significant purchases a family makes in the course of its life is the purchase of a home. Many of your monthly expenses are centered around the fact of owning that home: cable, telephone, electricity, water, and gas, not to mention maintenance, take a up a significant part of your monthly income. The bill that in many cases takes the biggest proportion of your income is the mortgage, your monthly house payment. And it is the bill that must get paid above all; the other expenses can be put off or lived without if necessary, but if the mortgage is not paid in a timely manner, there will be no home for the family to live in.
But a family might find itself in the tragic situation where one of the people responsible for making that monthly house payment is incapacitated or even dies, and your family becomes unable to pay the mortgage. In that case, your family might face not only the death of a loved one, but the loss of their home and credit, as well.
Fortunately, there are plans that can help you avoid this unfortunate eventuality. Mortgage life insurance is designed for just such protection. Mortgage life insurance is a low-cost, flexible method to protect one of your family’s most important investments. If you develop a terminal illness, sustain a serious injury, become disabled, your mortgage insurance can offer you several benefits:
- It can pay your outstanding mortgage amount. This is the chief reason that most people buy this type of insurance. If you die or become incapacitated, the balance of your mortgage will be paid off. You may, however, still be responsible for any over due payments that have not been made.
- It can pay up to five years’ worth of accrued interest.
- It can pay any property taxes that you owe when you die so that your heirs are not left struggling with taxes.
- If you are diagnosed with a terminal illness, it can give you an option to pay out early, so that you can be assured before your death that the house is paid off for your family.
Most people sign up for mortgage insurance at the same time they apply for their mortgage. This ensures that your family is protected even before you close on your mortgage, so that if something happens to you, they will still be able to move in to the new home you have planned.
Applying for mortgage insurance
The cost of mortgage insurance is based on how old you are when you apply for the policy and the amount of your mortgage. Your premiums will not increase as you get older, as long as the terms of your mortgage remain the same. They are also conveniently rolled into your mortgage payment, so you are not paying two separate bills each month. You are eligible to apply if you are a resident of Canada, between 18 and 69 years old, and have been approved for a Canadian residential mortgage.
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How are credit card companies treating you? - Economic CrisisI got a call from Kate Rutherford from CBC radio in Sudbury Ontario.
Kate was inquiring about how the credit card companies were dealing with the economic crisis situation. She was concerned about credit card companies increasing interest rates, service charges and even decreasing people's lines of credit.
Credit card companies make their money from interest and service charges. They base their interest rates and service charges on the level of risk that the individual is at.
This means that if your credit score all of a sudden decreases for any reason, they may charge you a higher interest rate.
American Express is charging me higher interest rates, even though I've got excellent credit
As a result of Kate's call, I contacted American Express. I have a Business Gold card with them.. The customer service rep indicated that my interest rate had increased from 14.99 % to 16.99 % even though my credit score hadn't declined. She indicated that this was because of the economy and the write offs that they're incurring.
Check your credit score with Equifax and Transunion.
If you want to understand why you've received a interest rate hike, or why you may receive one in the future..it's best to in vest $20-$30 to purchase your credit reports. This will tell you exactly where you stand with the credit bureaus. And you'll know what the credit bureaus are reporting to your credit card companies (and other lenders)
This is especially the case for workers who have been laid off in this economic down turn.. If you've used up your cash reserves, and are now using credit cards as income, this could adversely affect your credit score, thus driving up your interest rates.
I always tell people... if you're in doubt as to where you stand with the credit card company...it's worth it to take 15 minutes and call them up. After all , they are suppliers of credit, and should be there to give you the service you need.
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General Motors isn't a going concern - Deloitte & ToucheIn the last few days, Deloitte & Touche, a third party consulting firm, gave a report on the viability of General Motors. The consulting firm indicated that they have substantial doubt about General Motors future and their capability to generate a profit in the near future.
I give General Motors all the credit in the world for their fighting spirit, however, what does it take to bankrupt this company?
If they're not making money, then by the definition of free enterprise, they should be left to reorganize and downsize themselves to a point where they can start making money.
Here's what bothers me about their bailout...
We Lived on $60 per week in groceries - family of four (1993)
When I was first starting my business in 1992, our revenue was pretty light as you can imagine... we lived on $60 per week for grocery money. One week we were pretty desparate so I called social services and asked them if they could help out. Social services told me that I would have to sell my house, because that would provide me with cash!!
I needed money then to feed the family. I was furious at that reply. Here I was ... working 7 days a week, trying to feed the family and had genuinely asked for help. I was refused !! At that point, I said, NEVER AGAIN, would I ask for help from the federal government.
The Federal Government is giving Welfare money to GM
The federal government is now giving bailout / welfare money to people who make $50-$60 per hour. That doesn't seem right, in my opinion.
Is this the alternative to having these families on Employment Insurance? I'm not sure..
This situation is completely wrong IMO.. General Motors should be left to fend for itself. That is the painful choice, however it will be better in the long run, in my opinion.
I've been self employed since 1992.. This means that I've earned money the real way.. creativity, hard work and sacrifice. I've made money , and I've lost money. My family has experienced the severe highs and lows of being self employed. However, we've never asked for a dime since those start up days.
We've had to adapt to our situation as it has happened. We've learned to deal with expanding the business and contracting the business. It's been painful and in some cases it's taken years to do. That's the nature of business.
If you have to down size, then you get back in the saddle and innovate. You create enough value that your customers will start to buy from you again. Again.. some times this takes years, however, you need to do what it takes.
End of rant..
Good luck General Motors, your workers, your suppliers etc!
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Canadian Consumer Toxic Debt? What do we have to show for it?I am starting to research monetary policy and the money supply system.. in my travels I came across this Canadian money supply page that talks about how much savings Canadians have along with how much debt Canadian individuals have.
I was alarmed that Canadians have $412 billion in Consumer debt, and $1.3 trillion in debt when you add in mortgages.
I can understand the mortgages part of the equation as this debt is backed by real assets.
The $412 billion I would assume includes car loans, renovations loans, lines of credit and credit cards. I contacted the government of Canada and they couldn't give me an exact breakdown of the consumer debt portion.
What I'm really worried about is, what kind of assets do we have to back these debts? IE... are all of these debts based on highly depreciated assets?
The basis of my comment is the current collapse of the stock market.. the recent economy has been built on debt on all levels... now that the economy is crashing , there is alot of debt that we're dealing with, but it doesn't seem like this debt is backed up by solid assets.
So.... if our $412 billion in consumer debt isn't backed up by real assets, then how does that make our economy look?
It makes the Canadians balance sheet look pretty weak.
I should say that the it appears from the chart that the money supply in Canada (M2++ gross) is $1,735,973,000,000 ($1.8 trillion) so we have cash to back up the debt.
The point of this post is to express concern so that we can become a little more aware of what we're using consumer debt for. If we're buying holiday & travel, restaurants, and electronics which all have zero asset value after the purchase, then we're buying too many empty items with our consumer credit.
The other point I wanted to bring across.. if we're paying an average of 10% on our consumer credit... that's $41.2 billion dollars per year in interest. Is that what you want to be spending your hard earned dollars on?
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AIG Gets $30 billion more? - Let them go bankrupt!My pet project is to talk about General Motors and how the federal government should let them go bankrupt.
AIG Insurance company needs an additional $30 billion bailout after losing $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter.
So... we're debating whether to give General Motors $4 billion but we're easily going to give AIG Insurance $30 billion.
This is completely ridiculous... the problem is... I can understand a little about the car industry... I have no idea about the insurance business.. (I understand life insurance) I don't understand the high level complex financial products that AIG has created.
AIG MADE TONS OF MONEYThese companies who are getting bailout money enjoyed making alot of money during the hay days. They all enjoyed the upswing. Now, with the downswing they're not enjoying themselves.
From my understanding, capitalism is all about peaks and valleys.. You make profit in the good days, and manage carefully during the down times.
Nobody wants to take the lumps of a down market.
This isn't right. And it's going to cause more problems in the future.
As painful as it may be... why not let AIG fail and restructure. Isn't business about Caveat Emptor? If individuals and companies have insurance with AIG... let them buy insurance from other companies...
I know that's not as simple as it sounds, however, caveat emptor...
AIG performed badly and should be treated accordingly. It's customers should realize that they purchased products from a bankrupt company.
CAVEAT EMPTOR - A business term for capitalism
I think consumers are getting pretty sick of government bailouts... myself included.
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Stop Spending Money - Retail Stores? OY!!Lately I've been in the mode of not spending money. I have been bicycling to get around the city and have taken the mind set of not spending money on frivolous items.
I must say that I actually have spent money on a few things, like my juicer, some health books, and my membership to the Northwest Leisure Center ( for their weights and sauna ) but aside from that, I have been pretty austere. BTW.. these are purchases that I can well afford, and I am debt free.
I've been travelling around the city on my bike. If I need to go to the gym, or the library, I am taking my bike. The other day I travelled across town to buy a book at Chapters. That's a 5 mile ride and I needed to take a break to get rested.
Chapters Southland is located right besides the Southland Mall in Regina. The Southland Mall is the more upscale mall in Regina. I went in to look and of course there were thousands of people walking up and down the mall.
The thought that immediately occurred to me was, what am I doing in here. I don't really need anything, and I am walking through a mall. As I walked through the mall, I saw all the lovely gadgets and trinkets.
Then I walked by the electronics store. I must say, sometimes I do like electronics. Especially new computers with all the gadgets!! I started salivating at the new features on the computers that I haven't seen before.
SHOPPING MALLS ARE MEANT TO MAKE YOU SPEND MONEY!
I went from just taking a walk break into looking at computers and their accessories. The computer that I have works fine. It's got more than enough of everything, but it's four years old. Four years old means that it doesn't have all the NEW gadgets.! But for what I do on this site, it's WAY MORE THAN ENOUGH!
I thought to myself that I better write about this experience, as part of my stop spending money project.
There are so many people who buy unnecessary items at malls or stores etc. They go into the store because they're bored, or need something to do, and then start spending money.
FIND SOMETHING ELSE (FREE) TO DO
If you find yourself in a position where you are bored and thus are spending money to buy things to amuse yourself, why not change your behaviour and do something else.
There are lots of things to do to keep busy that are FREE
- Volunteer for a non-profit
- Help out with boy scouts or girl guides
- Go to the gym and work out.
- Go over to a friends place and play cards or another board game
- Write letters to people you haven't seen for a while
- Figure out ways to enhance the lives of others.
If you've got credit card debt and are continuously spending to stay busy, then my recommendation is to figure out more healthy options that don't require the use of your credit card.
Oh yeah, if you're bored, you've got free time. If you've got free time, why not take that time and figure out things to do. Study up on new things to do.
I would even recommend spending an hour or two each week, planning free activities. Things that are fun, interactive with others, and even helpful to others. This is what community is all about. You don't build community by hanging out in stores stuffing your face with the latest gadgets.
End of rant..
I will continue to blog about these ideas as I come across them.
NOTE: I've been in the same situation where I spent money to offset boredom. I always had the money to pay off my credit cards, however, it becomes an empty addiction. You spend more, but it never really makes you happy inside. Now I've stopped doing that, and am feeling better than ever!!
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How Can you Reduce your Taxes?No one likes to pay taxes, but our taxes go to fund many important things in our day to day lives. There are several strategies that you can leverage to assist in reducing your personal taxes. Here are some tax reduction strategies:
Join a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) for your Kids
If you have school age children, a RESP is a good way of reducing your yearly tax bill. Not that its tax deductable, but the earnings from the plan are not subject to tax for the next 25 years. Saving up to $2000 per child will earn you $400 grant per year, or 20 percent of your contribution.
Make regular RRSP payments
Arrange for your contributions to be deducted from your bank account and into RRSP every month. Monthly contributions offer slightly better returns than yearly lump sum payments. If for some reason you don’t have some extra cash to make RRSP contribution, you can save over time or even borrow in order to fund the investment. The long term compound interest benefits far outweigh borrowing costs to make a contribution.
Treat tax refunds as a bad sign
Whereas many of us would love to get a tax refund for all our tax contributions, any tax refund is a sign of bad tax planning as you are giving the government an interest free loan all year. And the worst thing is, you won’t get even a “thank you”. This is money that could be earning interest in an investment, or money that could be used for any one of your financial goals. You can remedy this by asking for a T1213 form from your employer and reduce the amount taken off your salary every month so that you come closer to zero when it comes time to file your taxes; no money owed and no money to get back in a refund.
Keep a track on all your medical expenses
By doing this you may find that you are entitled to a tax credit if the medical expenses reach the set threshold (the total amount must exceed $1,844 or 3 percent of the net income, whichever is lower). You can also drive up the figure to meet the threshold by adding the health-care premiums that you are paying at work. You can choose any 12 month period ending in the tax year that you are filing, so you may choose the period where most of your medical expenses were incurred.
Put caps on spending
This option is not always obvious to many who think of tax as only comprising of income tax. The truth is you pay GST and provincial sales tax in every purchase we make. So you want to reduce this kind of tax burden, spend less.
Claim those moving costs tax breaks
Since 2005, if you relocate at least 40 kilometers because of your job or to start a business, the costs associated with relocation can be deducted. Many people miss out on these deductions as they are mostly unsure of what they are entitled.
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Healthy Living like Personal FinanceAdmittedly I've been a little frustrated lately. I've been working on building up my health and am fighting with a few issues that I'd like to cure naturally.
The frustrating part comes in when I've scoured the internet and read countless websites and books, and they're all giving me different solutions for the same problem. To clarify, they're all giving me fundamentally different solutions for the same problem.
However, I've stuck with it, and am committed spending as much time as I need to on the subject. I am committed to doing what it takes to get this problem fixed.
REBUILDING FINANCIAL HEALTH TAKES TIME AS WELL
Sometimes I lose track of where people are starting from when they visit this site. They get into rough financial shape and desperately want to get back into financial health.
I will offer the same advice for those people. If it took you a few years to get into financial trouble, it will probably take you quite some time to rebuild your financial health.
Here's where the time factor comes in:
- Learning about your personal finances
- Learning about where you spend your money
- Paying down debt
- Saving up cash reserves
- Disciplining yourself to properly spend your money
- Learning about your credit agreements
- Figuring out ways to grow your money
You can't expect to fix yourself financially in two weeks or a month. It's going to take time.
My recommendation is to start your personal finance journey by doing the following:
- Taking stock of your spending and saving habits.
- Write down EVERYTHING that you're spending money on.
- Document all of your debts and how much interest you pay in total every month.
- Find all of your contracts that you signed to enter into ALL of your payment agreements. Including cell phones, rent, credit cards, mortgages etc. READ THEM!
- Study ways to get the most out of your savings.. IE which banks / mutual funds have the best interest rates.
CONCENTRATE YOUR TIME AND EFFORT ON YOUR PERSONAL FINANCES
If you're starting from the beginning, it's important to commit to the time required to do this. If you're not willing to commit, you're not going to make progress.
Getting back to my health analogy.
I have found the same thing with weight loss. I have slowly been working on weight loss over the last 6-8 months. I've made some good advancements as far as learning about and implementing new diets. I have lost a few pounds.
I have decided to get committed to losing weight now. That's all I'm going to focus on for the next 4 months is getting underway losing weight. I'm confident that after four months I will have lost a considerable amount of weight and will have changed my eating habits.
Good luck and stay committed!!
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Mortgage life insurance in CanadaIs your mortgage protected in the event of your premature death? Mortgage life insurance offers some comfort that the outstanding mortgage balance will be paid in the event that the mortgagor (the person who took out the mortgage) passes away for the family. The beneficiary of this policy is actually the bank that lends the money, allowing for its complete pay off. Most banks and other lending institutions offer this product as part of their mortgage lending. If you opt to take out a mortgage insurance policy, be sure that you properly understand the ins and outs before signing on the bottom line so that you and your family are ensured proper protection.
Mortgage insurance premiums are included in the mortgage payments and will thus be adjusted accordingly. Should the insured die, the bank offering the cover will then pay off the mortgage (up to a certain limit in some cases, like $750,000 for Canadian Life). The premiums are determined by the applicant’s age at the time of application and remain unchanged throughout the mortgage period.
As the insured pays the premiums, the financial risk reduces. When the mortgage is finally fully repaid, there is no risk and the insurance coverage will lapse. Mortgage life insurance surely has its critics, but it also has many supporters.
Premiums for mortgage insurance tend to be higher than for other insurance policies like life insurance. Some offerings by Canada’s 4 largest mortgage insurance plans lends some credence to this widely help view; these are, Bank of Montreal, RBC Royal Bank, Scotia Bank and TD-Canada Trust. Their monthly premiums range between $75 to 80 whereas a personal life insurance policy would cost about $49.
Usually, it is the lenders that insist that the mortgagor takes out the Mortgage insurance policy, and for obvious reasons. It’s perfectly understandable, and if it is done correctly shouldn’t cause much worry to the insured. In some instances, it makes sense to take out a joint mortgage life insurance policy, paying upon the first partner’s or spouse’s death. There are no guarantees however a joint policy will end up cheaper, it all depends on the terms of each policy, so it pays to do some shopping for the best deals.
In certain instances it might actually be unwise not to take out mortgage insurance, like where you have dependants and the mortgage balance is still high. Through this policy, you turn the family’s biggest debt item in to a formidable asset. And like we have seen above, the rates are far from crippling. The financial pressure that your family may undergo in the unfortunate event of your demise is just too great and it’s just not worth it.
No matter what you decide, it is recommended to protect your financial investment and your loved ones until your mortgage is paid off. Mortgage life insurance is a simple and viable option to accomplish this goal.
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Capital One Platinum Prime +4.9% Mastercard
Has Great Rates and Great Service
When was the last time that you evaluated the interest rates that you are paying on your credit cards? If you have not checked your credit card rates recently, you could be spending far more than necessary for the same service available at a lower interest rate. The Capital One - Prime +4.9 Platinum MasterCard is currently one of Canada’s lowest long term interest rate credit cards.
Sometimes it can seem like you should not bother to check your credit card interest rates, as you may feel like a drop will not make that much difference to you financially. I would like to point out that even the slightest difference in interest rates will save you your hard earned money. With an interest rate of 4.9%, Capital One’s Platinum Mastercard is a competitive rate that makes it easy to transfer over your current balances.
As you begin your credit card interest rate searching, be sure to take into account whether there is an annual fee associated with the credit card. Small fees add up to big dollars over the life that you are a credit card member. Capital One Platinum 4.9% Mastercard offers you low rates without an annual fee and allows you the ease and availability of transferring over any existing balances that you may currently have.
If you are carrying a credit card balance, even if it is small, consider transferring it to a lower interest credit card. The savings that you will have while you are taking the time to pay off your credit card will be tremendous. In fact, you can actually use the savings from your interest rate decreasing to pay down your debt even quicker. The Capital One Prime 4.9% Platinum Mastercard offers a competitive interest rate and the ease of being able to transfer over any current balances without any additional fees.
If you have spent any time looking for credit cards, you may have quit when you became overwhelmed with all of the available choices. The first step in selecting the best credit card option for yourself is to first find a competitive rate. Next, you will want to evaluate and compare extra options, balance transfer options and the total fees that they credit card charges you before you make your selection.
Credit card companies often offer a large selection of extras, added fees and choice for the consumer to make. Ask questions or read about the card and these items before applying and before you transfer over any current credit card balances.
Be sure to consider the Capital One Prime 4.9% Platinum Mastercard when you are making your selection as the card offers among the most competitive rates and free balance transfer options.
If you are ready to start saving money with a lower credit card interest rate, <-- --> Capital One - Prime +4.9 Platinum MasterCard is ready to take your application.
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Daryl Diamond : Author of Buying Time InterviewI had a nice visit with Daryl Diamond today at his office in Winnipeg.
The purpose of my call today was to just chat a little about what we are going to cover in our hour long interview on Monday, March 31, 2008 at 7PM. EST.
This is the interview that we did! Have a listen.
At first I thought I knew a little about Retirement Planning. After talking to Daryl for a few minutes I realized how huge the topic is and how timely his book - Buying Time - is.
Daryl's comment was this: People spend a life time accumulating assets for the sole purpose of giving themselves a stream of income to pay for their retirement years.
When Daryl sees a client, they've normally got assets in different shapes and sizes and all having different values. His job is then to help his clients consolidate all of these assets into the most efficient form to give them the best retirement income possible.
We talked a little about the following points:
- Process of transition from working to retired
- Consolidating assets to best take income
- Where are you going to use the income in retirement?
- How can we build efficiencies into your retirement programs.
While I am still a few years away from retirement, it got me thinking about the best way to handle things.
I can imagine that it's inefficient for people to have assets in different locations with different sets of rules etc. It would be a management nightmare and very cumbersome time wise.
Daryl Diamond's book about Buying Time helps the reader build these efficiencies, and make their retirement transition a smoother and more profitable one.
Questions regarding retirement planning for Daryl Diamond please post them here.
See my other post about the Daryl Diamond interview.
Get your copy of Buying Time by Daryl Diamond today!
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Saving Money - Bicycle TourI took my camera on my cycling tour of the city yesterday. I had to run to a bunch of places on errands and thought it would be fun to take some shots of my journey.
As cars were whizzing by me, I was able to take some time to get some pictures of places that I travelled to. It was nice and relaxed, and I was saving money by riding my bicycle.
Based on my new food life style there are places I can eat, and places I can't eat at.
A place that I can buy food from!
Eat Healthy Foods Store in Regina, Sk
Another place that I can buy food from!
Natures Best Foods Store in Regina, Sk
Places I Can't Eat At!
2-4-1 Pizza & Dong Khanh Regina, SK
Although it's my favorite, I can only have mint herb tea here!!
Tim Hortons Regina, SK
This is gorgeous scene that I got for FREE!
Geese on frozen Wascana Lake Regina, SK
Saskatchewan's Parliament Building
From across a frozen Wascana Lake
Canada Geese - Up Front and Close
At Wascana Lake, Regina Sk
This was a nice bicycle trip in Regina.
I did buy a new food juicer at Natures Best Health Food store!
This new juicer will allow me to make juice from fresh fruits and vegetables which are much cheaper to buy than canned and processed foods. Juicing is also really good for my health!
Cheaper and better for me!
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Capital One Reward Miles Platinum Mastercard helps You to Get What You WantAre you earning rewards points on your credit card purchases? If not, you are missing out on tremendous opportunities each time that you spend money on your credit card. You may have avoided getting a rewards credit card as you feared that there would be an annual fee. What if there were a way that you could reap all of the benefits of a rewards credit card without the annual fee? Capital One reward miles Mastercard is the answer that you are looking for.
While some credit cards provide you with points for certain volumes of monthly spending, the Capital One reward miles platinum Mastercard provides you with 1 point for ever $1 you spend on the card. Now, stop and think back to last year and how much money you spent on your credit cards. While you may not be in debt, you may use your card for daily purchases in order to have a consolidated bill to pay each month rather than a whole host of bills to pay. No matter which type of spender you are, you could have taken advantage of tremendous rewards points on your purchases.
One other question that credit card holders often ask themselves is whether or not there is some kind of ‘trick’ or restriction to the points that you earn on a rewards credit card. With Capital One reward miles platinum Mastercard, you will never experience a black out day or hassle trying to redeem your valuable rewards points. You will be able to redeem your points for travel, cash and even merchandise.
If you are like me, I have used my rewards points to buy gifts every year at Christmas and to buy myself the treats that I would never spend money out of my budget to purchase. Last year, I treated myself to an entire spa day. Imagine that, all from just charging my everyday purchases on my credit card.
When you are looking for a rewards credit card, one of the other features that you will want to ensure that the card has is no expiration date on the reward points. This is important for 2 reasons: you don’t want to lose valuable points, and you may want to save up your points over a longer period time for a bigger reward. If they expire, you will never be able to reach that larger target. Capital One reward miles platinum Mastercard provides you with the ability to use your points at any point, for anything that they have to select from.
The last thing that you will want to investigate when searching for a reward Mastercard is the ease of actually redeeming the rewards points. Can you call or use their online system? Is it simple and straightforward to use? Capital One reward miles platinum Mastercard makes this process a snap for anyone to redeem their valuable and hard earned reward points.
If you are ready to start building your reward points, Capital One reward platinum Mastercard is ready to offer you a credit card. For more information about
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Advance Fee Loan Scams - Alive and WellThis morning i got this email from Renee:
I am a victim of Advance fee loan scam myself and another victim found each other through rip off reports we have been working together to track down the criminals behind all of this we have alot of information to give to other victims we have been following all the latest scams and finding there up and coming scams we have made these criminals upset because we are putting a stop to them stealing peoples money.they have had very nasty conversations with them they have brought up our children into the conversations they have turned off electric services on one victim they have been into our online banking they have hacked into our computers they know everything about us. we do have a way to track them down but we need the voices of as many victims as we can We have a plan we just need someone to help us pull it together.Any help that you can provide would be great.Please call me as soon as you can to find out more information I have about 60 folders of useful information.Thanks Renee
This email led to this phone call that I recorded with Renee and myself.
Keep in mind that Renee lives in the U.S., however, she mentioned that many of the advance fee loan scam artists are picking up their money in the Toronto area. This means that the crime of bad credit loans is still pretty active.
Renee was scammed out of $4000, and she mentioned that she knows of others who were scammed out of sums between $900-$20,000.
She's reporting as many of these websites as she can find on www.ripoffreport.com
The thing that really scares me about this whole problem is the sub prime loan problem in the U.S... There are millions of people who are struggling to keep their homes and are looking for money out of desparation. This might lead them to these scam websites where the criminals are waiting for their phone calls.
Again, it's illegal for a loan company to ask for money up front before they give you a loan. They can't ask for money for any reason up front before they give you a loan.
GET IN TOUCH WITH RENEE IF YOU'VE BEEN SCAMMED
Renee is asking that if you've been scammed out of your money by an advance fee loan scam, she would like you to get in touch with herself and/or Jill.
Renee & Jill have set up a phone number for you to call. 248-673-0531 if you've had problems with bad credit loan scammers.
Here is Renee's list of websites that have been involved in Advance Fee Loan Scams
www.statewideloans.net
www.amshorefinancial.com
www.quick-personalloans.com
www.heritagelending.org
www.citizenfinancial.net
www.triliumfinancialgroup.com
www.equitrust.org
www.brimmley-lending.net
www.personalloanz.org
www.allsfg.com
www.quardianloans.org
www.libertyinvestmentgroup.net
www.getnorthamericanlending.com
Here is Renee's list of companies that are scams:
Hartford Lending
North Point Lending
Credit Solutions
Tripar Financial
Vanguard Financial Corporation
Altimax Financial
Canadian Loan Group
Pacific Financial
Levitate Financial Group
BWP Financial
United Credit Corporation
Prime West Lending Group
Southfield Financial Group
First Finance Stream
Performance Financial Services
Kennedy Lending Services
Forest Hill Lending
Wells Financial
GA Trust Financial
Thunderbird Financial Group
United Capital Associates
Rawliff Incorporated
United Capital Services
Allied Financial Future
Fidelity Lending Group
Trend Lending Group
Tri-Star
Century Lending
First American Consulting Group
Spherion Group
Brace Lending Group
Rockworth Financial Lending
Apacer Lending
Samtron Advisors
Metro Financial
Equitrust Financial Services
Citizen Financial Group
Tribeca Lending group
Azera Loans
Ameritrust Lending
Linddeberg Financial
First Point Loan
Ulitimax Financial Group
First Capital Financial
Royal Oak Financial Group
United Capital Investment
Packard Financial
Richmond Investment group
Government Grant Processing
Barons Financial
Pavillion Capital Group
Financial Destination INC
Alymer Financial Group
Powerpoint Financial
Loans R US Financial
Mt.Prospect Lending Group
Ultimax Financial Group
Royal Finance Group
Liberty Financial INC
Hawkins Group
Richmond Investment Group
Royal Comm Financial Services
American General Financial Services
Herrington Trust Financial
Guardian Financial Group
Certified Lending
Delmont Financial Group
Allstate Financial Group
North American Lending
Heritage Commerce Trust Corp
Atlas Financial Associates
American General
Premier Lending
Certified Lending
Omni Lending Group
Superior Financial
Vision Financial
Cornerstone Lending
United Cash
Green Tree Savings
Prudential Lending
Centerline Financial
Silvercrest Loans
Birk Atlantic Financial
Tribute Financial Group
International Trust
Laselle Financial
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- Posted March 25, 2008 by Monty Loree
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Platinum MasterCard®: 9.99% Guaranteed for 3 Years (as long as you pay your bills on time)!
Has Great Rates
Are you looking for a credit card that offers the lowest interest rates? When searching for a credit card with the lowest rates, another important issue to be considered is the annual fee. You may be surprised to learn when comparing credit card that while most cards offer the same benefits and privileges, there are some that do not charge annual fees.
The lower the interest rate, the better it is for your finances as you spend less amount in interest fees when paying for your purchases.
The -->with a 11.9% Interest Rate is currently Canada's lowest long term interest rate credit card. Other benefits include:
- Enjoy the certainty of a low, long-term rate of 11.9% on purchases and balance transfers, guaranteed for 3 years (as long as you pay your bills on time)
- After that, your rate will stay low and become a variable rate of Prime +9.9% on purchases and balance transfers
- Annual interest rate for cash advances is 19.8%
- Save money when you transfer high-interest debt with the no-fee balance transfer service
- $19 annual fee
With a rate almost near 0%, the Capital One Platinum 0.9% Mastercard is a fantastic way to save you money every month on your spending charges. Capital One Platinum 0.9% Mastercard offers you low rates without an annual fee.
In case you have found a credit card with a lower interest rate compared to your current plastic, of course the more practical thing for you to do is to transfer your current balance to the new card. By transferring over your balance to a lower interest rate credit card, you will be able to use the interest charge savings per month to pay down your credit card debt even quicker. Capital One Platinum 0.9% Mastercard offers you the lowest long term rate in Canada and gives you the ability to transfer over your existing balances to the card once you are approved. In fact, they won't even charge you a fee to transfer over balances.
For more information about
With all of the credit card options available today, it can be confusing to many consumers to choose the one that is best suited for their personal needs. One of the most important things to take into consideration before you make any choice are the fees. If you plan to carry any balance on your credit cards, you may want to choose a credit card with the lowest interest rate. With the lowest long term rates in Canada, the Capital One Platinum 0.9% Mastercard is the best option available.
After rates, the next most important things are the additional benefits that the credit card provides. Credit cards are very competitive in today’s market environment and it is important that you take the time to research the best available options. You will find that the most competitive credit card available in Canada is the Capital One Platinum 0.9% Mastercard.
If you are ready to start saving money with a lower interest rate, --> Gold MasterCard® with a 11.9% Interest Rate is ready to take your application.
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Bruce Cohen - Author: The Pension PuzzleThe big question that this book answers is
How Much Money Do You Need To Retire?
According to Dictionary.com a pension is defined as:
- a fixed amount, other than wages, paid at regular intervals to a person or to the person's surviving dependents in consideration of past services, age, merit, poverty, injury or loss sustained, etc.: a retirement pension.
- an allowance, annuity, or subsidy.
- (in France and elsewhere in continental Europe)
- a boardinghouse or small hotel.
- room and board.
–verb (used with object)
- to grant or pay a pension to.
- to cause to retire on a pension (usually fol. by off).
This book The Pension Puzzle (Third Edition) by Bruce Cohen & Brian Fitzgerald looks at the technical details behind pensions. These can include pensions and government pensions and government benefits and RRSPs.
To be honest, being 20+ years away from retirement I am guilty of not spending much time reading books about pensions. I'm also self employed and don't plan to ever have a employee pension as such.
This book does set out the guidelines and frame work for those who are / have been employees and who are looking forward to their companies helping pay some of their retirement costs.
According to the book cover, The Pension Puzzle explains what pensions are; how all the different types work; how government, employer plans, and RRSPs fit together; and how to judge if your employers plan is a good one.
RETIREMENT STARTS AT 65
Retirement for most people starts around 65 years of age. At that point you're going to need to know how much money you've got coming in to pay your post retirement bills.
As well, if you've got a certain lifestyle, such as travelling , in mind that costs a few extra dollars, you'll need to have some sort of pension in place to cover these costs.
The Pension Plan helps you understand such pensions as your employers pension plan, Canada Pension Plan (CPP) or Quebec Pension Plan (QPP), Old Age Security (OAS). This will give you the ability to better plan how much money you'll actually have coming in when you retire.
The First Seven Chapters are as follows:
- Chapter 1: How much, How Long?
- Chapter 2: Are you on a Bicycle or Tricycle?
- Chapter 3: Government Benefits: Cash for Life
- Chapter 4: CPP: Pension Plan or Pyriamid Scheme
- Chapter 5: The Tax Shelter Umbrella
- Chapter 6: Employer Plans: Overlooked Value
- Chapter 7: Defined Benefit Plans: Promises, Promises
I must congratulate Bruce Cohen on writing The Pension Plan. He wrote it out of need for a book with this specific information that affects 4 million Canadians. I was able to easily read portions of the book as it was especially written in mind for the lay person to understand.
Now that this book has created new questions with me, I'm going to have to study this pension puzzle guide for myself!!
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Getting Healthy is Like Saving MoneyAs part of my NOT SPENDING PROGRAM and GETTING HEALTHY PROGRAM I've seen some similarities between the two.
I CAN'T EAT 95% OF WHAT'S IN THE FOOD STORE!!!
Lately, I've been cutting the sugars, and rich foods out of my diet. This is in aid of losing weight and feeling better. I walked into the food store the other day and looked around. I thought to myself, based on my new diet, I can't eat 95% of what's in here!!
I can't eat canned or processed foods, foods with sugar, red meat, breads, cheeses and dairy, desserts etc. (This is part of a stricter diet that I'm doing for a few weeks.)
It's been an extreme contrast in what I can eat and what I used to eat. I must say that I've cut down alot on food over the years, but I still have tended to eat the foods with sugar, and rich foods such as pizzas etc.
This new diet that does allow for:
- Green Vegetables
- Rice
- Beans
- Eggs
- Turkey meat, chicken meat
- Oatmeal with soya milk (no sugar)
- Nuts, almonds
- Hemp seeds
- ... Any thing without sugar
As you can see, this diet is pretty limited!
I was a little shocked when I first looked at it. It's not a rich diet by any means.
In the first few days with the unsugar diet, including NO COFFEE, my system sank into the floor. I had no energy, headaches, and was basically uncapable of working for the 3-4 few days.
This told me that my system was used to powering itself with sugar and high carbohydrates and caffeine.
I was even more impressed with how I felt after this withdrawal period. I started to have a more even energy, and was not craving sugars like I used to! This is VERY IMPORTANT to weight loss in my opinion.
To be honest, I still miss alot of the foods that I liked, but I feel much stronger that I can do with this diet for a while to see how it works.
How does this relate to MONEY?
It's directly tied into money, in that the foods that I'm eating are dirt cheap. They are the cheapest in the store. They are the least processed foods, and thus the cheapest foods.
SO... In order to lose weight, I am forced to buy the cheapest foods possible, which incidentally are the healthiest foods possible.!
RICH LIFESTYLE MEANS SPENDING ALOT OF MONEY
When I was driving my Cadillac to my air conditioned office building and eating at the restaurant 2-3 times per day, I was enjoying about as much convenience as anybody could. This was the rich lifestyle that I was looking forward to all of my career.
Nowadays, I'm riding my bicycle, I work out of my house, and I'm eating the diet talked about above. My expenses are lean and I have never been happier in my life.!!
I need to ride my bicycle to lose weight, so I'm NOT purchasing a car for a while. I need to eat this basic food so that I can get in control of my weight problem. I cannot spend money on the old things I used to enjoy. Thus I am starting to lose weight and feel better.
I've slowed down my lifestyle enough to be able to sustain these new life style choices. This means that I look forward to bicycling, and to cooking my non-sugar diet. So far I am very pleased to do these things because I know they'll have long term benefits.
I am saving money, eating well and exercising. I've probably even lost a few pounds by now.
I'm writing about this in my money blog because there are alot of people out there who live a rich lifestyle as well, and they seem to be addicted to it. It might take slowing down your lifestyle and learning to really enjoy the more basic things of life to get you off of the rich, fast life style that is building up your debt load. Just a thought..
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What is TD High Interest Credit Card?
Even though there are people trying to save their money, they still get a high interest credit cards that the market is offering with the least interest rate possible. You must be wondering why people are buying these high interest credit cards. Below is discussed the features of the TD high interest credit cards.
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There are people who are getting the TD high interest credit card. Those TD high interest credit cards with no fee at all are the cards that people are looking for because they can save money on these credit cards even if they are paying a high interest rate to maintain these credit cards. Most of these credit cards will need some minimum balance that is required to keep your card running.
The TD high interest credit cards do not require this minimum balance that costs around thousands of dollars. This is an advantage that most of the users like about the TD high interest credit card. Also, the TD high interest credit cards have lots of free features which includes stuff that is related to finance. You do pay frugally to live more happily with these TD high interest credit cards.
The TD high interest credit card does not charge for balance transfers. This feature entices people to own this type of credit card. You also do not have to worry when you travel because travel fees are reduced and more services are given to you free of charge. You do not have to pay so much when you are traveling. and can save a lot of money at the same time. The TD high interest credit cards can calculate the savings that you can make. This is a great feature that TD high interest credit card is offering.
The TD high interest credit cards has a high interest rate but compared to other credit cards that are available in the market with the same category, TD high interest credit card is still lower. There are lots of benefit TD high interest credit card is offering. If you are frequent traveler, then TD high interest credit card is definitely for you even though you will pay a high interest rate, you will get more benefits when you use this card.
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Legal Action - The Truth ExposedThe people I talk to are always concerned about a lawsuit, I should state first that I am not a lawyer and this article is not legal advice and should not be used as a substitute for the advice provided by a licensed expert. This article is for informational purposes only and based solely on my 14 years of debt management experience.
Anytime you borrow money as a loan or in the form of a credit card you are entering into an agreement. Creditors use high priced lawyers to draft carefully worded agreements so they do not lose their money. You need to understand that ANYTIME you are in breach of a contractual arrangement you are exposing yourself to a lawsuit.
The fact of the matter is there are hundreds of thousands to literally millions of contacts broken for not paying debt daily in North America. The creditors simply do not have the resources or the capacity to sue every person that does not pay.
But they can certainly threaten a lawsuit to everyone that does not pay. Typically a very tiny percent of people ever get sued for not paying their debts, most just get harassed by bill collectors and get nasty collection letters that typically are not worth the paper they are written on.
Launching a lawsuit to collect a debt is generally a business decision and not a personal one. A creditor must incur more debt in the form of legal fees and court costs to even begin the process, not to mention the time needed to gather the evidence and put it all together. In making this decision a creditor will weigh out if it is worth their while to throw more good money after bad trying to collect debt with a lawsuit or just letting collection agencies irritate you hoping to be paid at some point later.
They are not concerned with if they will win or not. If you borrowed the money and did not pay, they will win.
What creditors are concerned with is whether or not they can collect on the judgment once they win. A judgment allows the creditor to take the money from you without asking. It can be in the form of a lien on your home, bank account or garnishment on your wages. But if they have no idea where to collect on a judgment it's a pretty bad business decision to sue someone with nothing.
The 4 main things to consider when launching a lawsuit is:
Can they find you?
This may seem obvious and silly but if they don't know where you are, it's a mistake to waste time and money getting a judgment they can never collect on.
How much is owed?
Generally speaking anything less then $1,000 is a colossal waste of time; they will usually pass on suing these balances. Debts under $10,000 fall under the small claims courts laws in Ontario (check your region) and are fairly easy to sue, they don't consume vast resources. In fact I have seen creditors limit their claim to $10,000 when slightly more is owed so they can take advantage of the small claims court rules. If you owe $10,000 or more it will take much more in the way of resources to obtain a judgment so only those people with sufficient and clear assets to pay a judgment are usually ever considered. But if you do have to answer a lawsuit for $10,000 or more you are liable for a lot more court costs and legal fees incurred.
What assets do you own?
If you are a homeowner with any equity you are a primary target for a lawsuit if you aren't paying your debts, you can't pick up a home and move it. It's great security for a judgment. You can't do any financing or sell it with a lien on the title so it is almost 100% guaranteed to be paid. Cars, boats, household goods, furniture or any other goods that can be moved and hidden are almost never targeted to satisfy a judgment. Another problem with these items is they generally depreciate and are worth next to nothing after factoring the cost to collect and sell them.
Do they know where you work?
Employment income can be garnished. There is no fixed amount of your pay, it's up to the courts to decide but usually less then 20% of your pay is common. The problem here is the creditor must first know where you work, and further to that if you quit your job they are left with nothing unless they can find out where you end up next. Finding out where someone works can be next to impossible sometimes however it can be done. They will also consider the type of job you have, more secure, higher paying, longer running jobs are more attractive to garnish then short term lower paying jobs.
If you are having difficulty in paying your bills and are afraid of a lawsuit, it's probably a good idea to limit your communication until you have sufficient resources available to pay the debts. Bill collectors are very good at probing and getting information from you that can be used later on for a lawsuit. Talking about your job, your home or other assets can only increase your chance of getting sued.
If you owe debt, deal with it. After food, shelter and your basic life needs, paying debt should be your next priority. Sitting on debt longer only costs more, closes doors and limits your options in life. Do it on your own, but if you find the balances keep going north and haven't come down then seek help now. Bankruptcy and Debt Settlement are great options if you owe more then $10,000. Anything less then that is a good candidate for credit counseling. But the bottom line is don't contemplate doing something about it, eliminate it.
Richard Cooper is Founder & CEO at Total Debt Freedom Inc. Canada's most respected debt settlement company. Total Debt Freedom offers debt settlement plans that can save you 50-70% of what you owe and get you debt free in 1 - 3 years. http://www.totaldebtfreedom.ca
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_G_Cooper
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Understanding Canadian Term Life InsuranceAre you adequately covered with life insurance? The truth is that most families are underinsured against an unforeseen premature death. While this is not a topic that most like to discuss, it is important to consider and take action to resolve. Protecting your assets and your loved ones typically involves purchasing life insurance. There are many different types of life insurance to become familiar with, although today we are just going to discuss Canadian term life insurance.
What is term life insurance? Term life insurance is a life insurance policy that protects the insured party for a specific time period, called the term. For example, if you purchase a 1 year term life insurance policy, the policy will protect the insured individual for the entire 1 year period of time. If anything were to happen to the insured party during the term, the insurance company would pay out the death benefit to the beneficiaries. The beneficiaries are determined at the time of the insurance application, although they can be changed in the future.
There are many reasons that Canadians buy term insurance. To start, it is generally the least expensive type of life insurance. If you are looking to insure yourself for a large amount, this will be the most affordable option. In addition to the price, Canadians also buy term insurance to protect people and things during a specific duration of time. For example, suppose that you want to insure your family for a higher dollar amount until your children graduate from high school. Or, maybe you want to make sure that your spouse is protected until you both reach the age of retirement. There are many reasons such as this that a Canadian term life insurance policy would be the most appropriate option for you to consider.
One downside to term insurance is that when the term is up, you will have to renew at the insurance rates at that time. Due to that time being at a point in the future, the rates are almost always substantially higher. The best thing to do when you are planning to purchase Canadian life insurance is to plan ahead and choose the most appropriate term length for your personal needs.
When you are starting to shop for Canadian term life insurance, you will find great rates by shopping online. Search the major insurance carriers and trusted sites to gather information and to compare rates. For more information right now on rates, Click Here.
As you are shopping, keep in mind that your Canadian term life insurance rate will be determined by the life insurance company, your age, your health status, whether you smoke or not, your gender and the amount of life insurance that you have requested. Be as accurate as possible on the insurance application and when you are getting rates. Research companies, compare rates and make the best selection for you and your loved ones. If you have questions now or want to get a ballpark of what Canadian term life insurance will cost for you..
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Capital One Secured Credit Cards
help Immigrants Build Their Credit Score
Are you new to Canada and looking to build your personal credit? If so, you are not alone. Moving to a new country is a challenge, but learning the financial system can be the largest challenge of all. Imagine, you were seasoned financially in another country only to find out that your move puts you at the bottom of the credit totem pole. -->Capital One - Secured MasterCard Credit Cards can help.
Capital One secured credit cards are very helpful to immigrants as they can help you to build your credit score. If you are new to the country, you are starting your credit from scratch. Even though you may have had excellent credit in your previous country, your credit score does not come with you. Other than the basics of building credit through on time utility payments, you are going to need some help. Capital One provides pre-paid credit cards that have guaranteed acceptance.
What does that mean? It means that no matter what, as long as you fund the card, you will be accepted. Also, you can start your card with as little as $75. After your move and your fresh start, you may be short on extra capital. The Capital One secured credit card is affordable, easy to acquire and easy to use.
The worst thing that you can do for your credit is to apply for multiple traditional credit cards when you get to Canada. You will get denied since you don't have any credit history as of yet, and this can actually damage your score before you really even get started. However, applying for a Capital One secured credit card will get you started on the right foot by allowing you the opportunity to build a credit score with responsible spending and payments.
Once you receive your approval from Capital One secured credit cards, you will be asked to fund your initial balance, often as low as $75. After you fund your secured credit card and begin the process of using the card and paying it ever month, over time you will be able to apply and get approved for a traditional credit card. Beyond that, when you build your credit, you will be eligible for bank loans and ultimately a home loan to use when you are ready for that financial step.
Other than the ability to help you to establish credit, a Capital One secured credit card will help you to manage your spending. It is not uncommon for consumers to overspend, and by having a pre-set limit that you have to pay for in advance, you can determine how much you are comfortable with spending each month within your personal budget.
If you are ready to build your credit in Canada, Capital One secured credit cards are ready to help you. -->
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Review of an Equifax Credit Report - VIDEOAfter the other day of spending an hour trying to get my Equifax Credit Report online, I thought that I should get some value out of that and do an review of my credit report. This way people can see an actual credit report from Equifax, if they haven't already, and familiarize themselves with the information Equifax reports.
Equifax Credit Report Tutorial Video
Duration: 16:20 minutesThis video is a quick way for you to see what is actually listed on a credit report. The video covers my credit report which I purchased online last week.
There are alot of items on your credit report that you need to know about such as credit item information:
- Your credit score!!
- Date Credit Item was Opened
- Months that the credit item has been reviewed
- High Credit / Credit Limit
- Account Status
- Date of Last Activity
- Much More
In this blog post I listed the 49 Things that are listed on your Equifax Canada credit report
In this video we see the actual items, along with your personal history, public records, bankruptcies, collection activities, and hard inquiries and soft inquiries.
I WANTED TO CHECK FOR IDENTITY THEFT:
One of the reasons I purchased my credit report this time was to make sure that there wasn't any funny stuff like Identity theft on it. After hearing stories about identity theft and the fact that everyone is vulnerable to it, i thought I should check. Fortunately everything was as it should be and there was no traces of people stealing my identity.
Just knowing that everything was ok with my credit report gave me instant peace of mind.
This is a video is a must watch if you're thinking about purchasing your credit report with Equifax, or you have questions about your credit report.
Questions about your credit report?
Buy My DIY Credit Repair Ebook for Canadians Part 2
BONUS!!
I'll give you DIY Credit Repair Ebook for Canadians Part 1 absolutely FREE!
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Tim Cestnick - Author:
101 Tax Secrets for CanadiansAlong with the income tax rules and regulations given to us by the Canadian Federal Government, there are pieces of advice that we need to plan for our taxes.
Tim Cestnick - Author: 101 Tax Strategies for Canadians gives us quite a few tips and strategies that we need to know while we're planning our life's activities.
ABOUT TIM CESTNICK:
Tim Cestnick, FCA, CPA, CFP, TEP is the best selling author of the Tax Freedom Zone, Winning the Tax Game, Winning the Estate Planning Game, and Winning the Education Savings Game, and co-author of Death & Taxes and Your Family's Money. Tim's a frequent guest on national media. He writes a bi-weekly column in the Globe and Mail and regularly appears on Canada AM, BNN, CBC Newsworld, and many investment programs on both television and radio across the country. Here are the first 7 Tax Tips & Secrets
- Avoid taxes like the plague but don't evade them
- Understand this thing called your marginal tax rate
- Know the difference between a deduction and a credit
- Always wait to trigger a tax hit
- Pay your taxes on time, but not ahead of time
- Think of taxes when big things happen in life
- Dispute your assessment when you think you're right
I like Tim's thinking on these tips. He's taking the idea of knowing the income tax regulations a step further by saying, "I know my way around taxes, and I want to plan for them and strategize for them.
Example: In order to dispute your tax assessment, you have to know the rules regarding taxes, and what you can do with them. And, of course, I agree, dispute your assessment if you don't agree with it.
Avoiding paying taxes like the plague means that you're in the trenches thinking about them on a daily basis. This is a take action approach that will help you save money on taxes over all. I agree with Tim that evading taxes is not the same as avoiding them.
Avoiding taxes means that you have a choice between doing one thing and doing another financially. Choosing the right options will help you avoid paying more taxes that you need to.
If you're in a good income bracket and faced with paying taxes each and every year, I would recommend this book 101 Tax Secrets for Canadians.
The nice thing about it is that is written for Canadians and based on Canadian Tax Laws.
One of the benefits of this tax book is that it is Up-To-Date with Late-Breaking Tax Changes Announced in October 2007!!
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Christie Henderson - Author:
Tax Tips for Canadians for DummiesToday's post is about Tax Tips for Canadians for Dummies 2008 Edition.
I usually cringe when I have to think of taxes, not because I don't like to pay them, but because they have a lot of detail to learn. - This new Dummies book is authored by:
- Christine Henderson, CA, CFP, TEP
- Brian Quinlan, CA, CFP, TEP
- Suzanne Schultz, CA, CFP
- Leigh Vyn, CA, CFP
The thing I like about Dummies books is that they are full of information, however, the content is boiled down to make it understandable and fun for the reader. There's nothing worse than having to pour through hundreds of pages of technical tax information in order to learn a subject that's forced on us by the federal government. This book answers the five most commonly asked questions tax questions:
- Where do I file my tax return?
- When is my tax return due?
- What happens if I file my tax return late?
- Can I change my tax return if I find a mistake?
- Where can I get missing tax forms?
For some people they take their taxes into H&R Block to be processed. Other people like to do their taxes on their own. If you're the type of person that wants to do your taxes by yourself, it's great to have a book that gives you the basics and fundamentals of income taxes.
I first noticed that Christie Henderson is a CA, CFP, and TEP. These credentials stand for, Chartered Accountant, Certified Financial Planner, and Trust and Estate Practitioner. She's also completed CICA's Tax Course, the Canadian Securities Course, and the Canadian Investment Funds Course. This tells me that she's got a pretty good grasp on money and taxes!!
Taxes is all about trying not to pay any more taxes than you have to. There are different types of income that a person can make, and different types of expenses that people can deduct.
In many cases a person works at a 9-5 job and has only the basic deductions. In other cases, people are self employed with income coming in 5 different ways, and they've got alot of different deductions that they can declare. So it goes from easy tax preparation to more complex tax preparation.
The following are the 5 Parts of Tax Tips for Canadians - For Dummies
- Part 1: Getting Ready to File
- Part 2: Tax Preparation Tips: Reporting Income
- Part 3: Tax Preparation Tips: Claiming Deductions and Credits
- Part 4: After You've Filed Your Tax Return
- Part 5: The Part of Tens
The thing that I like about this book is that it's for Canadians and based on Canadian Tax Law. This is helpful especially if you go online to amazon.ca or Chapters.ca and start looking for tax books. Usually you get 100 American tax books for every 1 Canadian tax book
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Douglas U Idugboe - Author - Credit Miracle for CanadiansI bought this book - Credit Miracle for Canadians after one of our members recommended it to me.
This book contains some fundamentals of getting out of debt, and that's why I thought it would be important to review.
The goal of this book is to help Canadians build or rebuild their credit. It also has the goal to put us into good standings with the banks and make them "beg us to borrow from them"!! I like the book because it covers some aspects that my DIY Credit Repair Ebook for Canadians doesn't offer. My ebook is more about doing credit repair and fixing items on your credit report.
Credit Miracle for Canadians has more of a full version of doing credit repair, AND then paying down debts, saving up money and getting in good shape for future lenders.
I can empathize with Douglas U Idugboe, in that I have spent hundreds of hours as well researching and learning about the credit system in Canada.
I would recommend this book to our readers as it is a good reference manual to have.
Chapters 1 to 7 are as follows:
- The Credit System
- Credit Bureaus
- Evaluating Your Current Credit
- Establishing A Strong Credit
- Repairing Bad Credit
- Making Good Credit Better
- Dealing with Banks
Video of Douglas U Idugboe, author of Credit Miracle for Canadians
Duration: 9:30 minutes
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Sandra E Foster - Author:
You Can't Take It With YouToday I am reviewing Sandra E. Foster's book You Can't Take It With You - Common - Sense Estate Planning for Canadians.
This is the fifth edition (2008) of Sandra E Foster's book with over 100,000 copies sold!! The first edition was published in 1996. It contains some solid and practical advice about estate planning for Canadians.
Unlike retirement planning which talks about how to manage your money for the time after you retire, estate planning is the step beyond retirement. This book talks about putting your finances in order before you die, and where and how to distribute you assets after you die. As the title of the book states, "you can't take it with you". Through out your life you accumulate assets as follows:
- Your House
- Your savings, either mutual funds, cash, stocks, investment properties etc
- Furniture
- Coin collections and other valuable collections
- Vehicles
- Business Assets
- Much More...
There are many issues that come into play when a person with assets dies. The assets have to be distributed to people named in the will. For tax purposes the assets must be valuated and then declared.
If you're accumulating assets, the time to learn about and work on your estate planning is while you are accumulating your assets.
As Ms Foster states in her book, "If you fall ill, I personally believe that the priority then is to be able to put time and energy into your health and your family and not worrying about estate planning or money in the last few days.".
This is what really attracted me to the book. I always like a common sense title like "You Can't Take It With You". We're all going to pass away at some point, and if we value our assets we should be starting now to figure out what to do with them when the inevitable time comes. Here are the titles of the first 7 chapters:
- Chapter 1: What is Estate Planning?
- Chapter 2: Dying Intestate: Distributing Your Estate without a Will
- Chapter 3: Distributing Your Estate With a Will
- Chapter 4: The Format of a Will
- Chapter 5: Giving Away Your Estate Now
- Chapter 6: Probate
- Chapter 7: Power of Attorney for Finances
Estate planning is all about valuing your assets and your loved ones. The worst thing you could do with all of the assets you've accumulated is let them get be distributed without a will. There are delays to distribution, higher administration costs, additional income taxes paid and more.
WANT TO ASK SANDRA E FOSTER YOUR QUESTIONS?:
I will be interviewing Ms Foster in the next few weeks, and am looking for questions from our visitors for her.
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Capital One Canada - has a new Logo I don't know if you've noticed, but the Capital One credit cards have new logos. It's part of Capital One's rebranding.
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Here we go again! - Having Trouble Ordering my Equifax Credit ReportOMG... I forgot how frustrating this was!!
I logged on to Equifax Canada's website Equifax.ca to order my credit report online.
I thought I would take the plunge, pay their $23.95 fee to get my credit report and credit score. I also wanted to see if there were any errors reporting on my credit report.
I couldn't log into my equifax account. My username and password aren't being recognized. Then, I went to order my credit report using a new account... I get this message
We're sorry! We are having difficulty verifying your identity. In order to complete your order, please contact our Customer Care Centre at 1-800-871-3250, 7 days a week from 8:00am to 12 midnight Eastern Standard Time.
I then called the toll free number: 800-465-7166 to get the free credit report. They had trouble verifying my information, and said "for security reasons we cannot give you your credit report using this over the phone method"!!
I am currently on hold with 877-323-2598 #7 which is Equifax's Customer care number.
I'm talking to customer care who has indicated that my address shows and other personal information shows exactly as I've said it to be.
So... why can't I get my credit report with Equifax Canada?
I am going to get to the bottom of this.
Again, it's frustrating as heck trying to get your credit report if something has gone bad in their system.
UPDATE:
I called Equifax's Technical Support at 800-871-3250 phone number and after verifying my personal information the customer service rep reset my account. I was then able to log on and order my credit report.!!
I'm so excited... my credit score with Equifax Canada is 777!
I think what I'm going to do is a tutorial where I go over my own personal credit report and talk about it. It's mostly good, so I don't mind showing it off! It will be a good tutorial for our members and friends.
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Daryl Diamond - Buying Time
Interview about Retirement Planning!In our upcoming Canadian Money Advisor series, I will be talking to Daryl Diamond the author of Buying Time - Trading Your Retirement Savings for Income and Lifestyle in Your Prime Retirement Years.
This book, written in 2008 is the second edition which means that it's popular and practical enough to write another edition.
This is the interview we did, have a listen!
ABOUT DARYL DIAMOND:
This is on the back of the Buying Time book cover.
Daryl Diamond is a recognized leader in the financial services industry. His practice, Diamond Retirement Planning Ltd., focuses on advising preretirement and retirement clients on the income structures, investment strategies, and estate conservation issues that are unique to that group. He is also active in educating both advisors and their clients on retirement planning. Daryl Diamond develops educational materials for the financial services clients, and isa frequent speaker at industry conferences. He has also created a training program for financial advisors on retirement income planning, called Maximum Income Strategies.
This discussion goes to people who have set aside funds for their retirement so that they can financially afford to live the lifestyle that they're used to.
This book is specifically for Canadians as it deals with Government Retirement Plans, Pension Plans, Life Income Funds (LIFs) and Locked in Retirement Funds (LRIFs). These are all regulated by Canadian government which makes them different than retirement books from other countries.
As the title "Buying Time - Trading Your Retirement Savings for Income and Lifestyle in Your Prime Retirement Years." says, you've got to spend money while you're retired, and the more money you have , the better lifestyle you'll be able to afford. As the book says, "you'll want to have a more meaningful retirement."
This means that you can have, but have to plan for a more meaningful retirement.
Get your copy of Buying Time today!
In this interview with advisor.ca's Geoff Kirbyson and Daryl Diamond, Mr Diamond says, "It's not uncommon for people to have this idea, "Boy, I'd like to retire. I'm going to have all this spare time." But what are you going to do with it?".
This idea of retiremenet and spare time is pretty common with Canadians. Mr Diamond then continues by saying, "Clients have to tell us what's important to [them], what [they] want to accomplish in the next year, two years and five years. We need to make sure we structure financing to do it and use their resources and assets intelligently to help them do what they want to do while they have the health and ability to do it."
I'm sure most people know people who retire and relax for a few months and then get bored. They then need activities and events to keep them alive and active.
That is what this books Buying Time is all about. It's the nuts and bolts of what to do grow your money prior to retiring, and then what can do to grow and conserve your money after retirement.
HAVE QUESTIONS FOR THE AUTHOR DARYL DIAMOND ABOUT MANAGING YOUR RETIREMENT SAVINGS?
I will be interviewing Daryl Diamond in the near future and am collecting questions that you can ask, and listen LIVE to the answers!
Post Your Questions Here for Daryl Diamond here
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Healthy food choices LIKE healthy credit/cash choicesWithin the last few months I've been steering my lifestyle over to more relaxed and more wholesome.
As I've mentioned on my blog, I've been walking and riding my bicycle since mid January 2008. I'm starting to feel better, and now it's time to take a look at what I'm eating.
As you can imagine, it takes a lot of energy to keep this website going, and build it so that it's enjoyable for the members and visitors.
In the last few years, I've burnt the candle at both ends trying to get the site built and to a point where I'm happy with it. I took on this project as something I was interested in, however, it got out of hand. Being one to finish my projects, I saw the site to its completion. This cost me a great deal in healthy living choices.
While I was building the site, I would eat at restaurants and I would eat food that would spike my energy, just so I would have enough to learn the programming language and concepts of website building.
These spikes of energy meant that I was eating fast foods, and mostly unhealthy foods.
On top of this, I sat on my but 7 days a week for 7 years and didn't exercise!! Very unhealthy choice.
Sadly, while I was doing this website building process, I was addicted to foods that spiked my energy and gave me the mental time to do the job.
I'M HEALTHIER THESE DAYS
As I mentioned I started walking in January, and bicycling at the beginning of March.
I decided on February 17th that I was going to start my healthy process by cutting out red meats, breads and potato chips for 30 days. This was tough because I love cooking with steak, hamburger, and would have toast each morning with my coffee.
I noticed that all of a sudden, my natural energy started to spike! And after 30 days my cravings for meat, bread and potato chips is gone.
I'VE BEEN FIGHTING CANDIDA ALBICANS FOR YEARS
Several years ago, I realized with the help of some naturopaths and blood analysts, that I've got a case of candidas albicans. This is yeast poisoning. It gives me head aches, saps my energy, causes depression etc. I'm not going to explain it here, here's a link to google. candidas albicans
I've always done a poor job managing my affliction with Candidas, but now that I'm doing my Not Spending Money project, coupled with my healthier lifestyle project, I feel it's time to take on the fighting candida project.
The problem with fighting candidas albicans is that it's a very restrictive food process. Along with red meats, breads, potato chips, I've got to cut out about 75% of the rest of what I like to eat.
Here's a list of what I CAN eat:
Wheat, rice, corn, barley, beans & peas, sweet potatoes, squashes, turnips, parsnips, green leafy vegetables, vegetable juices (without sugar)
Here's a list of what I CANNOT eat:
Sugar (any products with sugar), yeast products, sugarry fruits, canned foods, restaurant food (unless I'm just eating lettuce and vegetables), coffee, soft drinks, cheese, mushrooms, processed meats, and any red meats.
I bought a membership over at www.thebestdayever.com , David Wolfe and Len Foley, which is a raw foods only website. This site is about people who call themselves raw foodists. They only eat raw foods. Nothing cooked.
THE POINT:
While I have tried to cut down the amount of food I eat over the years, and have stopped going to restaurants for about six months now, my diet is still causing me problems. I've had to take on some drastic measures to get my health in order and regain some of my high energy.
It's a struggle, and I am a little unhappy that I have to eat "bland" food in order to get healthy.
CREDIT ADDICTION IS THE SAME
There are many people who are addicted to spending and charging up their credit cards. It's a delicious lifestyle that is much more exciting and fun that saving up money and being fiscally responsible.
If a person, who is is addicted to spending, is going to change their ways, they're going to have to change their life the reasons around why they're spending so much.
In order to get my health back, I've had to develop a more relaxed lifestyle. I've had to learn how to cook, and now eat raw foods with a very limited diet. It's not my favorite, but it is the only solution.
Same thing with spending addiction. My advice is: why not try a strict cash only spending budget for 30 days and see how you feel about it. Make sure you think about the process during the 30 days. Every 30 days with your cash only diet, you can evaluate how you're doing.
Changing our ways takes time, and is only achievable 1 day at a time. 30 days at a time.
I'm not expecting to regain my health in 30 days. I've got alot of work to do, and am giving myself 365 days to do some good work. That's my time line.
Anyway... I hope that my example will shed some light on the things a person needs to do to get into better health.!!
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www.777.com : SITE REVIEWI think it's amusing that www.777.com wants me to advertise their gambling site. They're paying me money to talk about their site. Ok, I'll take their money, however I'll give my conservative point of view.
As far as I'm concerned, world poker crown is entertainment and should only be participated in by professional gamblers or people who have all of their debts paid off AND cash reserves fully in place.
Further, poker tournaments are for people who do not have gambling addictions of any sort.
Gambling is for entertainment purposes only.
This explains the event:
$3 million prize pool guaranteed… $1 million first prize… And a real crown.
Here's how you get a 1 in 30 chance (the best chance anywhere!) to win a $1,000 seat in the final event of the 888 WPC:
1. Download the 888.com Pacific Poker software - FREE
2. Register as a money player to Pacific Poker until March 20 and you will be sent an invitation to the first exclusive 777.com WPC Freeroll – FREE
3. Play and win the freeroll!
Date & Time: 2nd freeroll - Sunday, March 30 at 19:00 GMT
777.com will hold a 30-players limited freeroll for each group of 30 players that successfully register. Freerolls are restricted for first time depositors only.
This sounds appealing. I mean, let's face it.... A poker website, and especially www.777.com is a very profitable website. They're going to hook you into you some free activities to get you into the paid events.
IS YOUR FINANCIAL HOUSE IN ORDER - BEFORE YOU PLAY?
I strongly recommend that you only get involved in these events if you've got all of your DEBTS PAID OFF, and have ALL OF YOUR CASH RESERVES included.
These cash reserves include:
Short Term Reserves: 6 months savings in the back. IE enough cash to pay 6 months of bills and rent.
Intermediate reserves: to pay for things like new down payment for a car, new appliance if one breaks down, etc
Long Term reserves: Retirement savings to carry you along after you're retired.
If you don't have your cash reserves set up, be responsible and set your gambling limit to be a portion of your entertainment budget. IE: Your entertainment budget is $200 for the month. Gambling could be $50 of that budget. This is if your spouse agrees to that expense.
Oh yeah, www.777.com wants me to include this youtube video into this review:
I'VE LOST MONEY AT THE CASINO - $20
To be honest, here's my gambling story. I've lost a total of $20 at the casino. I was horrified about it.
I have played poker at parties that I've actually organized. The buy in is $20 per game and that's all you could spend. Everybody was respectful of that, and we had a wonderful time of socializing and competition.
I like poker as it's a competitive sport and you're playing against other people. I've lost most of the games that I spent $20 on, however, I had a great time and could fully afford the $20 purchase. In that sense, poker is alot of fun and a way to get together with friends.
Here's what I don't recommend:
Don't spend money you don't have. Don't play poker and put the expense on your credit cards if you short of cash. www.777.com is a profitable website, which means that it makes alot of money off of the players who visit their site!
That's the end of my preaching and this site review.
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The Canadian Personal Finance Authors are Coming! What do Daryl Diamond, Douglas U. Idugboe, Tim Cestnick, Bruce Cohen, Christie Henderson, and Sandra E Foster have in common?
I am in the midst of discussions to do interviews with each of these authors for this site! It's pretty exciting!!
The following is the authors and their books:
- Daryl Diamond - Author - Buying Time - Trading Your Retirement Savings For Income and Lifestyle in your Prime Retirement Years - Second Edition
- Bruce Cohen & Brian Fitzgerald - Authors - The Pension Puzzle - Third Edition
- Christie Henderson - Author - Tax Tips for Canadians for Dummies
- Tim Cestnick - Author - 101 Tax Secrets for Canadians - 2008
- Douglas U. Idugboe - Author - Credit Miracle for Canadians
- Sandra E. Foster - Author - You Can't Take it With You - Common Sense Estate Planning for Canadians
These are all brand new personal finance books published by Wiley publishing.
I am in the midst of contacting & organizing interviews with these authors, so if you have any questions for these authors, you can put them in the comments sections of this post.
As I arrange the interviews, we'll more then likely do them live, and will invite all of our readers to join in and listen.
This is the start of our doing interviews with personal finance authors, industry experts etc. We are bringing higher quality content then ever before!
Again if you have any questions for these authors, please leave them in the comments page.
Also, we are doing a survey to ask questions of what you'd like to see more of on this site. Have a suggestion for topics or site features? Take this survey today!!
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Upgrading and enhancing the site
- Can you help?!I haven't been posting near as much as I would like lately. I've been involved in a few huge learning curves, for the purposes of getting ready to enhance this site.
I'm going to start doing regular interviews with industry experts and authors, and regular folks who are good at managing their personal finances.
I've been planning this for a while, however, it's taken me all of that time to put the structure in place.
I NEED YOUR INPUT:
I am hoping to get your opinions and thoughts on what you'd like to see on the site. In order to give you the most value for your time, I am doing a survey to see what you'd like to have more of on this site.
Which of the following topics would like you like to see on this site?
- Retirement planning
- Tax tips for Canadians
- Mortgage planning and saving
- Insurance tips.
- How to pay off debt quickly?
- More information on credit cards
If you are able to take this quick survey, it will a minute or so, and give me valuable information on what you want!
Take this Survey Now!
There is alot of valuable information that we can provide for you. We can do tutorials, interviews with authors, blog posts, and more. I'm pretty excited about the new opportunties, and giving our visitors more of what they want to see.
My mission is to help people plan their money from Now Til Retirement.!!
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PayDay Loans - Have a place in lending?I was asked to do a review of a payday loan site, http://www.powerpaydayloan.com, that only services the U.S.
Payday Loan is described by the publisher as: A payday loan or cash advance is a small, short-term loan that is intended to bridge the borrower's cashflow gap between pay days.
They wanted somebody to explain why somebody would want a faxless payday loan?!!
Pay day loans do have a place in today's personal finance sector. It's not because I promote them, it's because people are using them. I am just stating a fact.
There are some people who live pay cheque to pay cheque. They're either very disorganized, or they don't have any cash saved up whatsoever. They have bills to pay or creditors or collection agencies to pay off, and they want immediate relief from these short term problems.
http://www.powerpaydayloan.com has articles and information about high interest rates that will be charged and other pertinent pieces of information. I still recommend that a person does a great deal of research when it comes to payday loans and their actual costs.
If you need a cash advance and have done your home work with relationship to the costs and requirements, then this may be the site for you to shop at. ( U.S. Residents only)
Yes, people are using payday loans. Honestly, they're not a healthy long term solution, however, they will help with very short term pain relief, but at a high cost.
Disclaimer: I have no personal knowledge of the site owners of whom I am reviewing. I have visited their site, and it looks professionally done. I still urge you do to your due diligence before using this site and its pay day loan products.
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Monty Loree - Doing a credit repair seminarAnother oldie goldie.
Monty Loree - Doing a credit repair seminar - 2004We decided that we wanted to host a FREE credit repair seminar back in 2004 to get the word out for our service. I sent out the appropriate advertising, etc. I think we got about 20 people to attend over a 3 night period.
Again, I got the feeling that credit repair wasn't something that people thought much about in Regina, SK.
This was another strong reason that I developed this website... to get more information out to the public regarding credit repair, credit bureaus, collection agencies etc.
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Monty Loree - Doing a credit repair mall displayMy Oh My!!
This picture was taken in 2004. We decided to do a mall display in Regina, Sk to see if we could drum up some credit repair business!
Monty Loree - Working a Credit Repair Mall Display in 2004What I soon found out is that people don't like to publicly talk about their money. We barely found many people who knew who Equifax Canada was or TransUnion Canada was let alone what a credit report was.
This was a time prior to putting up the Canadian-Money-Advisor.ca website. I realized that in order to get the message of credit repair across, we were going to have to develop this website and get the word out in a stronger fashion.
That is one of the reason's I enjoyed talking with Gail Vaz-Oxlade. She's been a leader in getting people to become more public about their dealings with their money.
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Benefits of Saving Money
while Paying Off Credit Cards
Tutorial Watch Now! FREE Video Tutorial Duration: 27 minutes
I finally finished and published my tutorial about the benefits of saving money while paying off credit cards!!
This is a good video. I've tried to make it as comprehensive as possible about the benefits of saving money vs paying off your credit cards.
My feeling was that if I do a quick illustration about paying off a credit card and then another illustration about saving money.
At first it looks like it's much better pay off the credit card all at once, but then as we see the saving money illustration, we get a picture of what happens with our money as time goes buy.
You'll see by the illustrations that as the months go by your financial situation will strengthen .
If you've never saved any money, and are loaded up with credit card debt, this is a good tutorial to watch.
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Gail Vaz-Oxlade teleseminar
recordings - Listen Now!!Here are the Gail Vaz-Oxlade teleseminar recordings from March 4, 2008 There was so much discussion it's hard for me to write about it!
Gail and I talked for 73 minutes ! We started off by answering some of the questions on this Q&A discussion area.
Some of the high lites for me was the discussion about the practicality of saving money vs paying off your credit cards. I also enjoyed hearing what Gail had to say about how people should think about their money. IE.. If you have a house, you need to budget for maintenance expenses.
If you have a baby, you need to be able to afford to go on maternity leave. If you can't afford to go on maternity leave, then don't!!
I'm curious to know if Gail Vaz-Oxlade does credit counselling for individuals.. I should have asked her.
Gail's approach was very practical and straight forward regarding paying off credit cards. Pay off your highest interest credit cards first, the ones that are costing you the most.!!
The picture that I got was this... Take time to manage your money. If you spend money, then you need to spend time managing your money! Make time for yourself to manage your money.
Gail was able to talk about some of what goes on on her show Til Debt Do Us Part on Slice TV... that was alot of fun! I am appreciative of the fact that there are courageous people who are willing to bare their financial lives for the rest of us to see. Gail mentioned that people would rather talk about many other things than discuss their financial lives... Til Debt Do Us Part is helping make it more acceptable to open up and talk about your financial life, even if you're in the worst shape.
Gail Vaz Oxlade podcasts
At some point I might get a transcription for the show so that people can listen to it, but for the moment, it's worth every minute of time listening to this podcast. I've broken it into 20 minute segments so you can listen to it at different times!
Please give me some feed back in the comment section.
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Interview with Yvonne Sutton- MNP.ca
New Canadian Bankruptcy LawsI had a nice visit with Yvonne Sutton of Meyers Norris Penny Ltd ( MNP.ca ) about some of the new changes to the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act
Ms Sutton has 25 years experience as a licensed trustee in bankruptcy and a chartered insolvency & restructuring professional. Her main focus is with the consumer and small business owner.
I asked Ms Sutton about the fact that bankruptcy is a hard choice for many people who are overwhelmed. I've heard it said that bankrutpcy trustees are like funeral directors in that you don't really ever want to meet one!! :)
I was reassured with our discussion in that if a person has overwhelmed themself with debt, she'll be able to help you work through the situation with a consumer proposal, bankrupty protection, or maybe just a referral to a money counsellor.
According to Ms. Sutton, "The bankruptcy legislation is there to help a debtor who has an overwhelming amount of debt get a chance to start over again. To most people this is the choice of last resort, There are few people that actually find this process easy."
She continues, "There are people who say that the easy way out is to declare bankruptcy, but really it is not."
I must caution the listener to this bankruptcy podcast that it is a bit technical, but Ms Sutton does explain the new changes to the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and how it may affect you.
This is a good podcast to listen to if you're thinking about overwhelmed with debt and thinking about declaring bankruptcy, or if you're another bankruptcy professional and are curious about the new canadian bankruptcy legislation.
According to Ms Sutton: "There is something to help out all of the parties involved in a bankruptcy with this new legislation. The consumer, the trustee, and the creditors."
Ms Sutton mentioned that there isn't an exact date when the law is going to be in effect. She said that maybe towards fall 2008. This will give the federal regulators enough time to get their software and employees trained and in place.
Meyers Norris Penny Ltd
Bankruptcy Trustees
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Monty Loree - Snow Cycling in MarchI took my bicycle in for a tune up and got it back today. I am so excited.!!
This is part of my not buying a car until I lose 85 pounds project. And also my Not Spending Money Project.
I took my bicycle over to Dutch Cycle on Lorne St in Regina. They had it tuned up and only charged me $30.00. There wasn't much wrong with it, however, I wanted to start the year with everything adjusted properly.
So.. my expense to ride the bike so far this year is $30.00... That's pretty darn reasonable.
I guess I should include some of the winter wear that I purchased to make winter cycling a little more bearable.
Other than that, I enjoyed the ride home from Dutch Cycle, and was sweating by the time I got home. I actually walked over there, 40 minutes, and then cycled back, 12 minutes.
This is just another illustration of what it's like to go to the extremes and save money. It's not actually extreme, because I've got warm clothes on and it was like cycling in summer. (Except my face got a little cold.) I have a nice balaclava to keep my face warm if it gets to windy out.
When people say that they need to spend money on things, I'm trying to illustrate that you can do with less, and sometimes do better for it.
By spending less money on a car, gas, insurance, maintenance etc, I am riding a bicycle and walking which is making me feel better physically, mentally, and is helping me take the pounds off.
It's not as exciting to ride a bike and may be perceived to be welfare mode, but it's actually not. It's helping my quality of living!!
I'm looking forward to a whole spring and summer of riding my bicycle, and gaining the benefits from it. It's going to be a fun ride!!
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Gail Vaz-Oxlade Teleseminar - DetailsI am posting the details of the Teleseminar being held tomorrow night:
Gail Vaz-Oxlade is the award winning host of the TV show, Til Debt Do Us Part, on Slice TV
EVENT: Gail Vaz-Oxlade Teleseminar
DATE: March 4, 2008
TIME: 8 PM EST, 7 PM CST, 5 PM PST
DURATION: 1 hour
WHERE: CMASeminar.com this will redirect you
CALL IN: 724-444-7444 Call ID: 13373#
CMASeminar.com redirects to talkshoe.com which is the site that we're using to host this event.
TELESEMINAR INSTRUCTIONS
- Click on CMASeminar.com. This will take you over to talkshoe.com..
- You can listen to the audio on your computer speakers for the whole teleseminar event.
- There will be a chat area available, so you can instant message with the other participants, myself, and Gail.
- If Gail decides she has enough time for some call in questions, then you can call PH: 724-444-7444 Call ID 13373# to ask her your questions in person.
- You can also call this number if you don't have audio on your computer to listen to the teleseminar by phone.
- There are 250 spots available, so tell your friends to join us..
- IMPORTANT: If you are unable to make the live event, we will have the recordings on itunes as well as post the podcast recording on this site.
This is going to be a one of a kind event as Gail hasn't done a teleseminar of this type before. It's a way for us to reach Canadians, and actually have them interact with Gail live!
INTERACT WITH GAIL LIVE!
It's exciting that we'll have three ways for you to communicate with Gail one on one. First, Gail will be answering questions that were posted in our discussion forum. Second, if Gail has time, we'll take some questions from our callers by phone. Third, you'll be able to post questions for Gail in the chat area of CMASeminar.com
THE EVENT WILL BE RECORDED FOR LATER LISTENING
If you are unable to make the live event, we will be recording this event and making it available on itunes as well as posting it as a podcast recording on this site.
Talkshoe.com allows us to host the teleseminar event, have people call into ask questions, but also stream the audio so that people can listen from their computers without calling in.
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2012-11-13 23:08:19
Cbv Collection Services Problems
same deal,,these criminals sent a bill saying i owe 18,000$..hilarious,,they call me 5x per day..i am taking rogers to court..small claimes..why not y
Comment By:karen cliff
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2012-11-13 13:18:44
Retail Theft Could Get You Sued
I keep receiving emails and phone calls from people who think they can simply ignore the letters from these Civil Recovery lawyers.
Don't.
They
Comment By:Gerry Laarakker
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2012-10-18 08:23:07
Retail Theft Could Get You Sued
Bank statements can be demanded or balloon a day even fail to repay the debts incurred from the varied lenders. The offered amount in such cash untill
Comment By:Spadiatrere
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2012-10-09 12:42:44
Credit Repair Canada 3 Things You Should Know
to , take up a new job. Also, reflect on investing in generating a payday advance loan while using classmates and more, typically the segments. The in
Comment By:WarbabsjamY
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2012-09-30 20:03:01
Cbv Collection Services Problems
I had a telus pay as you go phone from 2003 2008 and now cbv collectons is claiming that i owe over 1500 dollars, the last time they called i called
Comment By:marcus
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2012-09-25 10:19:31
Cbv Collection Services Problems
Had a bogus 'roaming charge' bill from Telus a few years back. Got mad at them and switched providers. It went to CBV. Yes, they are persistent and
Comment By:Scammed
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2012-09-23 07:37:50
First Canadian Finance Scam Site
While these aforementioned dangers are a cause for legitimate concern, there are other dangers that derive from perceptions that often have no basis i
Comment By:effomicok
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2012-09-16 16:42:15
Retail Theft Could Get You Sued
I am sick of all you so called legal counsel, wanting money from me , there was a reason i was stealing the items in the first place, i have no money!
Comment By:a shopplifter
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2012-09-13 11:18:04
Car Repossessed Trouble With High Risk Car Loans
Our car loan was with wellsfargo to begin with then transfered to carfinco,. Have never had a problem with them yet and have less than 2 years left on
Comment By:Darlene Fougere
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2012-09-02 18:27:17
15 Blog Post Articles That Talk About Equifax
obviously like www.canadianmoneyadvisor.ca however you need to test the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling p
Comment By:promotion site
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2012-08-31 11:32:19
Retail Theft Could Get You Sued
so i went in zellers and i baught bus tickets. then walked around playing with toys, and i was with a friend, we're both adults who like stupid toys.
Comment By:Aj.
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