Debt Free In 30

You know you need to improve your financial health. You might even know what you need to do - save more, spend less, pay down debt. So why does that not necessarily translate into healthy financial habits that move the needle? What's stopping you from achieving overall financial wellness?  That's the question asked in a recent study by Mercer Canada. The study found that while Canadians have a reasonably high level of financial literacy they aren't necessarily achieving financial wellness. For example, only 1 in 3 Canadian employees over the age of 50 have a strategy for their retirement. They know they need to save for retirement, they even know what the products are, but they don't have a strategy to reach their financial freedom goals. What is the solution then? How do you improve your financial wellness? My guest today is Jillian Kennedy, the Employee Financial Wellness Leader at Mercer Canada, a consulting firm that helps employers and organizations package and offer benefits to their employees. On today

For as long as debt has existed, society has judged people for failing to pay it back. Over the years, I've heard hundreds of honest, but unfortunate debtors tell me they are stressed out because they believe they have morally failed for being unable to repay their debts. But why is it that we attach a moral dimension to bankruptcy at all? Is bankruptcy morally and ethically wrong or is it more accurate to just consider filing bankruptcy to be a math decision? When you face financial hardship like an illness or job loss, and can no longer afford to make your debt payments, it's a math problem, not a moral dilemma. On today's show, I give you 5 reasons why bankruptcy is not morally wrong, despite what mainstream society would have you believe. Your lender collects interest Your lender prepares for risk Life happens You are the boss Bankruptcy is a necessary social safety net My full argument is on today’s podcast.

What causes us to spend beyond our means? While in some cases it's the result of a job loss or illness, in other situations, it's the Diderot Effect at play. The Diderot Effect is a social phenomenon where the introduction of a new possession that deviates from what you currently own leads to a spiral of even more consumption. For example, when you buy a new house, you don't just settle for the home. You now have to have new furniture, maybe a new deck, and so on. This creates a cycle of spending and leads to debt. How do we, then, prevent ourselves from becoming a victim of this effect? How do we control a spending spiral? My guest today suggests thinking critically about what we see on social media and on television is a great place to start. Robert Gignac works on behalf of advisors and financial professionals to help their clients better understand money management. He's also the author of Rich is a State of Mind: Building Wealth and Happiness: A Blueprint. In his experience, ordinary people become victim

Did you know that in Ontario, anyone can call themselves a financial planner? With this in mind, how can you make sure that you are getting expert and unbiased advice on money management? Should you trust the financial planners who work at banks? Are they credible or do they just want to sell you mutual funds? My guest today says that if you want an honest assessment of your finances, you should speak to an advisor who doesn't sell products, but rather, advice. My guest today is Jason Heath, a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and a fee-only financial planner, who explains how to select an unbiased financial planner. We also discuss if, as soon as your bankruptcy is finished and you can start saving money, you can afford to hire a financial planner.

Repaying debt requires a stable income. Even when you're in a debt relief plan like a consumer proposal, you need money coming in each month to make your payments. But what if you are faced with a sudden job loss and can no longer keep up with payments on your consumer proposal? Could you revive it after you find another job? What if you don't find work until after several months, could you restart your proposal then? My guest today says it is possible to revive a consumer proposal. Richard Howell is a bankruptcy lawyer, certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada. He has over 20 years of experience helping people resolve this exact issue, and has yet to face a situation where a proposal could not be restarted.

What if you could approach personal finance like most of us try cooking? Instead of learning a bunch of rules and principles, all you'd have to do is follow some tested recipes. Would this make it easier to save money, budget and build wealth? Today's guest thought so and the result was a new approach to money management he called Cashflow Cookbook. Instead of asking you to make sacrifices to save money, he compiled 120 ideas for you to be more efficient with your spending, while not having to worry about making drastic lifestyle changes. Unlike most money experts, Gordon Stein didn't have a career in personal finance. He worked in the tech industry and led large sales teams. But, his colleagues often asked him for advice on how to make ends meet. This prompted him to start thinking of creative ways to save money. Hear his story on today’s podcast.

Credit scores are a way for a lender to assess how well you handle debt.  To be able to set a credit score, the credit bureaus need information about credit use. This leads to a strange principle behind credit scores: the more access to available credit you have, the better your credit score will be. While that's good for your credit score, is that actually good for you financially? Are we too addicted to credit scores? The techniques needed to build a higher credit score can be surprisingly harmful to you. Sometimes having a bad credit score can actually be better. On today's show, my guest Ted Michalos helps us understand just how much credit we should really be using and why having a less than stellar credit score may actually be good for you.

Your credit report is a report card on your credit activity. While you can get a free copy of your credit report from many sources, not all credit reports are the same and not all sources provide full information. With so many free report providers, how do you know which one is accurate? My guest today stresses it's important to first understand what's actually on your credit report. Then you can take action to deal with any errors and omissions. Meg Penstone is a certified credit counsellor at Hoyes Michalos and has over 20 years of experience helping people with financial difficulty. She's also an expert on credit reports. On today’s show we also discuss the problem with “free” credit reports.

Divorce can be expensive. In my experience, it's also one of the many causes for insolvency. The reason for this is when you are living together, you only have one bill for rent, cable, and utilities, but two incomes. You are in a better position to save money. When you separate, suddenly all these expenses become yours. What's more, if it's not an easy separation and lawyers are involved, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars. It's no small expense and it's often funded through debt. But, is it possible to have an affordable divorce? Do you need a lawyer for the entire process? What if you're on amicable terms? My guest today suggests there is an alternative to costly divorce: mediation. Colette Fortin is a mediator with Fairway Divorce Solutions in Kitchener. She helps people who are facing a separation develop a plan for their finances and children, with a focus on reducing cost and saving time. According to Colette, the reason why a traditional divorce can be so expensive is because of how much longer

Once upon a time, if you had a lot of credit card debt and owned a home, you could get a second mortgage to consolidate and pay off your debt. Interest rates were low and home values were rising. You could borrow against your home equity and pay down your unsecured debt affordably. But interest rates are rising. What's more, in some areas now, home values are declining. Mortgage rules are becoming stricter which means more people are being turned down for a second mortgage and the cost of borrowing is getting higher. On today’s podcast Ted Michalos explains this alternative to refinancing with a very expensive second mortgage.

As a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, I'll always advise that you prioritize debt repayment. Why is it important to pay off debt first? So that you are no longer burdened by it. While that is the most prudent course of action, not everyone wants to wait until they are debt free before pursuing their dreams. For example, if you are a recent graduate, you might not want to delay starting a business until you've paid off all your debt. This is exactly the decision that my guest, Alex Grodnik, made. Still owing $75,000 in student loan debt, he left a stable job to follow his passion. But, should you follow in his footsteps? Alex says it depends on the kind of person you are and if you're willing to take risks. More on Alex’s story, and some practical advice, on today’s podcast.

Money management is hard. That’s why so many people don’t do it. Over the years at many credit counselling sessions with clients I’ve explained budgeting, and spreadsheets, and budgeting apps, and lots of other techniques to manage money.  Some of my clients love the process of recording every transaction.  Others, not so much. So, what can you do if you want to keep track of your money, but don’t have the time or the inclination to keep a spreadsheet or spending journal? You cheat. By cheat, I don’t mean “act dishonestly”, I mean “avoid something undesirable by luck or skill”, like eating healthy to “cheat” getting sick. On today’s podcast I give my thoughts on how to manage your spending without a budget, and I explain how the 80/20 rule, known as the Pareto principle, can be used in all areas of money management, and in life.

I've said it before: when it comes to credit rating agencies like Equifax or TransUnion: You are not their customer. You are their product. Your data and loan history are for sale to any lender who is willing to pay for the data. But what if this could be flipped upside down? What if you could own your own credit history and control who gets to see it? Well, our guest today says that can be made possible with the power of blockchain technology. Derek Silva is the head of community relations at Bloom Protocol. Bloom is an end-to-end protocol for identity verification, risk assessment, and credit scoring and it runs entirely on the blockchain. Is it possible that Equifax will be replaced by Blockchain technology? That’s our discussion today on Debt Free in 30.

In our latest bankruptcy study, we discovered that over the last 5 years women have been filing for bankruptcy in higher numbers. In 2012, 42% of women filed insolvency and by 2017 that number reached 48%. But, it's not that women are suddenly using more debt. What we've noted from our client data is that female debtors face a unique set of challenges that drive women to turn to debt to makes end meet and then prevent them from being able to keep up with their debt repayment. For example, two thirds of women are either single or divorced and struggle to manage expenses on a single income. Moreover, women earn 9% less than male debtors and are also 3 times more likely to be a single parent than a male debtor. This is what our average female client looks like. But, why is it that women are increasingly finding themselves in trouble with debt? What can they do to better tackle debt problems in addition to other life challenges? Sharing their expertise today are guests Gail Vaz-Oxlade, Kerry K. Taylor, and our Tr

How can you find a good place to rent, even if you have damaged credit?  Today’s guest runs her own property management company, and she gives us the inside scoop on how to find a good place, and how to convince the landlord to rent to you.

Credit card fraud affects many stakeholders. It's damaging not only to consumers, but also to merchants and financial institutions. In addition to losing money, credit card fraud can ruin a customer's relationship with a retailer as well. But with advancements in card security like having a chip and PIN, how does fraud continue to be such a big problem? How can Canadians protect themselves? What can retailers do to limit their losses? Those topics and practical advice on today’s show.

At the end of last year, Ted Michalos and I predicted three types of bankruptcies we expected to see more of in 2018: People will be denied for debt consolidation and refinancing. Ontarians will be dealing with lower home equity and as a result, end up filing for more proposals We will see crypto-currency related bankruptcies in the New Year. To review those predictions now that the year has started and to share his insight, I'm joined today by our Manager of Consumer Insolvency, Scott Terrio. We'll look at issues like whether the new mortgage rules impede Canadians' ability to consolidate their debt and what impact home prices will have on insolvencies.

Household debt to income levels in Canada continue to rise. We now owe $1.71 for every dollar earned. But, with no shortage of experts discussing the risks of high debt and how to repay it, why is it that we continue to spend? Why do we find it so hard to say 'no'? Are we just comfortable with debt now, as a society? To discuss these questions, I'm joined today by a panel of experts: Gail Vaz-Oxlade, Kerry K. Taylor, and Robert Brown. Using their years of experience and insight, we dig into why it seems no one is listening to debt warning signs. First off, should we even worry about debt? Let's say I'm someone who owns a home in Toronto. It's worth a million dollars today. My mortgage on the house is $500,000 and I make $250,000 because I'm a lawyer. My personal debt ratio is 2:1. But, that's not a big deal because the debt to income ratio includes mortgage debt. So, does it even matter if I owe so much? According to Gail Vaz-Oxlade, yes, it still does: When you are in debt, what you have done is eliminated y

Talking real estate isn't a first for the Debt Free in 30 podcast. We've had many experts like Hilliard Macbeth, Ben Rabidoux, and Alex Avery provide their insight on whether renting is better than buying and vice versa. But we've never had the most obvious guest to talk real estate: an actual realtor. On today's show, we're chatting with Scott Ingram. Scott's not just a realtor, though. He's also a Chartered Professional Accountant. But what really sets him apart is that he likes to empower his buyers by educating them. On today’s show Scott Ingram tells us how many realtors there are in Toronto (it’s a huge number), and he tells us what real estate statistics we should watch, and which ones we should ignore.

In early February, we released updated research that shows 3 in 10 Ontario insolvencies involve payday loans. Payday loans have been a fairly popular discussion in 2018, as the Government of Ontario changed laws lowering the cost of borrowing for these types of loans and the City of Hamilton stepped in to be the first municipality in Ontario to limit the number of payday loan locations. Yet despite all the warnings and changes, payday loan use among our clients is on the rise. Why aren't these changes working? Why are indebted Ontarians in fact taking out bigger and bigger loans from payday loan companies?  To answer these questions and discuss the unintended consequences of recent changes to the payday loan industry, I talk with my co-founder and fellow payday loan antagonist Ted Michalos.