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Finance Series – Part One: An emergency fund

If this year has taught us anything, it’s just how important an emergency fund is. An emergency fund, also known as a contingency fund, is money you set aside to pay for unexpected expenses. The reality is, most of us will likely have to deal with a financial emergency at some point in our lifetime.

Here are a few tips for getting started with an emergency fund.

Continue reading “Finance Series – Part One: An emergency fund”

It’s Financial Literacy Month

We’re celebrating Financial Literacy Month!

Join Senior Economist, Ted Tsiakopoulos and Mortgage Broker, Steve Garganis Thursday, Nov 12, 2020, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time for a chat about budgets, savings, debt, and more.

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Register Now: https://buff.ly/3lhmUl3

Hot Topics:

  • Interest Rates, Savings, Debt and Budgeting trends
  • Good debt vs bad debt: How debt affects the economy, housing prices and financial stability
  • Bankruptcy vs Consumer Proposal.
  • Bank of Canada interest rate policy now till 2023 – Risks??
  • Why the second line of defence (macroprudential policies) is necessary despite the recent rise in savings
  • Where does the problem lie? Disaggregating debt to asset ratio by age and income
  • Trends in financial literacy
  • Disruptions coming post-COVID & importance of financial literacy & skills
Rental properties as a secure long-term investment

Real estate may not be sexy, but…

Rental properties as a secure long-term investment

Rental properties are a secure long-term investment. Note the emphasis on “long-term”.

Check out any seven-year period over the past 50 years (anyone who has read this news site knows that I always recommend buying and holding for at least seven years). Property values have almost always risen.

Sure, the last five or 10 years have seen fantastic appreciation in almost every part of Canada. But, let’s leave capital appreciation out of the equation for now.

Why aren’t we talking about rental income? Or, how about the equity growth through your mortgage being paid down each year?

RENTAL INCOME IS UP, UP, UP!

Part of what makes rental properties attractive is that rent rises with inflation (or even higher, in many cases, as we have seen in urban markets like Toronto and Vancouver). This is how you create your own pension or retirement income! Continue reading “Real estate may not be sexy, but…”

It’s war. Mortgage Rate Wars. You could win with Big Rate Cuts!

Blog Image, Rate Wars, May 2019

We’ve seen mortgage rates drop steadily over the past three months. At the beginning of this year, we saw fixed rates approaching 4%. And, today, we’re seeing them sit around 3%.

WARNING: These rate wars could come to an end as recent employment figures skyrocketed all estimates… stay tuned!

This is like the perfect storm. Fewer mortgage transactions across Canada + Declining investor confidence + Inverted bond yield curve. Put it all together and you get a rate war. And for a refreshing change, consumers aren’t the victims. The banks are settling for a smaller profit margin.

Continue reading “It’s war. Mortgage Rate Wars. You could win with Big Rate Cuts!”