If I go bankrupt, do I have to pay back my student loans?

The Canadian Federation of Students estimated in September 2012, that the average student debt in the country is $27,000 with most students needing 10 years to pay it off…

Consequences of Impulse Buying

When your family doesn’t have a budget in place and daily spending is not monitored and tracked, it can be easy to find yourself purchasing items that are unnecessary, or at least not essential. These purchases are often called “impulse buys” and in today’s economic climate, when money is tight and household budgets are stretched to the breaking point, the consequence of these “impulse buy” can have severe ramifications for any household. Personal debt loads in Canada are at historic highs and impulse buys can add up to cause serious debt and financial problems in both the short term (broke [...]

Creatively Tackling Your Debt

I was reading a news article recently on the creative ways that individuals tackle their debt problems. Being a professional that helps people with their debt problems every day, this article added to my admiration of the human spirit and the creative ideas it lends people as they try to pay down their debt. When facing debt problems, of course, the first step is to stop adding more debt. This can be hard to do, but one has to find a way to put away credit cards and refuse to use any other credit, such as a line of credit [...]

Bank Survey Identifies Lurking Debt Issues

A recent survey conducted by the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce indicate that nearly 50% of Canadians that are in debt are trying to determine a way to pay off  their debts ahead of schedule. The results show that Canadians are focused on trying to reduce their debt and that 50% of those surveyed had made a large lump sum payment in the last year to try and reduce their debt levels. The survey also indicated, however, that many Canadians are not seeking financial advice or guidance regarding the management or reduction of their debt (click here for the full story in [...]

Being Debt Free is Leading Goal for Retirement: Study

A recent poll conducted by Research House for Manulife Bank of over 2,000 Canadians between the ages of 39 to 50 indicated that 87% of respondents stated that being debt-free at the time of retirement was more important than living near family and having sufficient income. Being healthy at retirement was the only item listed as being more important (click here for details of the study). As debt ratios for Canadian households continue to rise, the dream of being debt-free at the time of retirement, may grow to be out of reach for many Canadians. With increasing interest rates, this point [...]

High Percentage of Home Equity Backed Debt a Risk

On February 22nd, the Bank of Canada (BOC) Governor Mark Carney cautioned Canadians saying that many families could “experience a significant shock if house prices were to reverse”. With some in Canada worrying about a drop in house prices similar to what has happened in the U.S., the Bank of Canada’s warning is worth paying attention to as Canadian deal with record high personal debt levels. In a press conference, Governor Carney identified that 50% of all Canadians’ credit and debt in 2011 were home equity loans. These lines of credit and loans are backed, or secured, by the equity [...]

Bankruptcies to Rise in 2012 Says CIBC

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) told Canadians on February 9th that it is predicting personal bankruptcies to rise in number over 2012. The bank indicated that it felt bankruptcies would rise due to poor growth in peoples’ incomes, expected for the remainder of the year. Reasons given for this poor income were the decreases seen in the job market in higher paying public sector jobs and the increase in part-time and “forced self-employment”. CIBC’s predictions for rising personal bankruptcies comes at a time when the bankruptcy rates in Canada are at their lowest level since 1993.The low level [...]

Canadian Consumer Agency Warns Public about Debt Settlement Programs

A Canadian consumer protection agency of the federal government, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC), issued a consumer alert on January 10, 2012 of significant interest to those struggling with debt problems in Canada. The alert named “Debt Reduction Companies: Beware of ‘Too Good to Be True’ Offers”, warned the public to be aware of ‘debt settlement’ companies in response to a growing problem being witnessed across the country. The full alert can be read on-line and provides critical information for those looking for debt help solutions (click here to read the full alert). The FCAC’s alert stated that [...]

Consumer Proposals Offer Newmarket & the GTA a Debt Consolidation Option

In September 2009, changes were made to the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (BIA), the federal law that regulates the debt settlement profession in Canada. The end result of these changes was that it became more expensive to file a personal bankruptcy as a means to solve debt and financial trouble in Canada. As a result, fewer Canadians have been going bankrupt since this date, with 2010 seeing an 11% drop in the number of personal bankruptcies signed in Canada. Those with debt and financial troubles have, instead, been looking for other alternatives to solve their debt problems. Of particular interest [...]

‘Debt Settlement’ Plans vs. Consumer Proposals in Newmarket and the GTA

Newmarket and the areas bordering Toronto have seen a significant increase in the volume of advertising from companies promoting ‘debt settlement’ plans. With large advertising budgets, the companies selling these ‘debt settlement’ plans have captured a lot of public attention with extensive newspaper and radio ads suggesting they can “cut your debt by 85%” and help you “avoid bankruptcy”. These attractive sounding ads have convinced many people with debt and financial troubles to try this approach to solve their debt and money problems. The worry this situation creates, however, is that people might make decisions on how to try to [...]