Sick Financial Life

Financial problems come from all sorts of sources and can create havoc in quite a few different ways.  I just want to let everyone know about some of the most common and harmful financial situations that we see on a regular basis.

• Too much consumer debt – It has been a very tough 18 months for many people, with lay offs and reduced wages for many households.  Unfortunately, during the boom times, many households were buying vehicles, expensive toys, and going on vacations and did not put much away for a rainy day. 
  

FP - Golden Years Postponed

Just a few articles from various sources this past week that I thought you might find of interesting.

Financial Post - Golden years postponed
Globe Investor Blog – How to avoid taking on too much mortgage debt
Financial Post, Wealthy Boomer – Canadians flunking test on TFSA
Financial Post – Crack that nest egg

I'm not trying to create a downer of a post, it's just that the articles came out that way this week.
Jerry

New Mortgage Rules Coming

The Canadian government is reacting to suggestions from the Big 6 Banks, the Bank of Canada, and a wide variety of economists by making it a little more difficult to get into mortgage debt.  The reason so many organizations want to make it more difficult to get into a mortgage is because of the climb in housing prices over the past several months.

In 2007, Canadian housing prices reached an unaffordable level for over 30% of households based on several different indices.  What these indices looked at was the average household income and the average household mortgage payment.  Once the mortgage payment crosses the 40% of income point, this means many households will have a lot of difficulty making the payments.

Youtube Budget Series

There are quite a few sources for people to turn to when trying to learn about budgets and finances.  As a part of trying to help our members have the best knowledge and advice available Rocky Credit Union created this blog.  Now we are also doing Youtube videos.

The first videos are about budgeting.  With this difficult economy it’s a topic that many people just don’t know enough about.  We hope our videos can help.  We will also be doing videos about saving and investing, what to look for when getting a mortgage, and quite a few other topics as well. 

Check out our Youtube videos at myrockycu.
Let us know what you think.  Jerry

Good Financial Articles

There are a  lot of good articels to read around the internet, and this week seemed to have a lot worth reading.  The following are a few I thought were interesting and worth sharing.  I don't always agree with everything on these websites, but I think the linked articles would be of benefit for our readers.

FP Magazine Daily - Men and women see retirement differently
Globe Investor Blog - The cost of bad habits
FP Wealthy Boomer - 20% betting that CPP, lotteries or inheritance will make up for failure to save in RRSPs
Globe Investor Blog - Many couples don’t share same retirement dreams
Macleans Magazine -Awash in a sea of debt- Oblivious to the risks, Canadians are piling on record debt loads
FP Wealthy Boomer - "I need $1 million to retire " and 5 other popular retirement theories that need a rethink

Each one of these articles deals with an important area of financial education.  I hope you enjoy them, and feel free to comment on this blog about books and articles that have helped you in your progress towards your financial goals.  Jerry

Good advice, or just taking your money?

There are some very good financial advice books out there.  I personally like The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton & Findependence Day by Jonathan Chevreau.  Both are Canadian books that describe the Canadian tax situation, with Findependence Day being the more recent of the two books.

A popular book for the last decade has been Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki.  He has some very good advice in this book about how to think and act differently with money.  I do not agree with everything, but I do like most of the concepts, and overall I think it is a good book.

As people look at buying these books for their advice, and try to figure out how to make more money for themselves, they often are willing to pay a small fee to take a seminar from a trusted author or organization to help motivate them and teach them how to make or save more money.