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3 in 10 Canadians couldn’t pay bills if they lost job due to coronavirus, per Ipsos survey
According to an Ipsos poll, commissioned by Global News, which shows that while the average person has nearly three months worth of savings, “a significant proportion of Canadians have almost no capacity to pay for their bills without an income.”
Home owners applying for mortgage deferrals are instead finding confusion and delays
Since the big banks announced mortgage deferrals that allow home owners facing financial pressure as a result of the pandemic to skip payments for up to six months, hundreds of thousands of Canadians have scrambled to apply for the program.
Advisors step up to provide free advice to Canadians impacted by COVID-19 fallout
David O’Leary, founder and principal at Toronto-based fee-for-service financial planning firm Kind Wealth, wanted to do something constructive as the COVID-19 pandemic began to disrupt people’s lives. So, as businesses closed their doors and layoffs spread across the country, he launched the Coronavirus Relief Effort to offer free personal finance consultations for anyone struggling with the economic impact of the pandemic.
“Obviously, people are concerned and have a lot of fears. And as financial planners and financial advisors, there’s an expertise and a skill set we can bring to the table,” Mr. O’Leary says. “I don’t expect we’ll be able to solve a cash-flow shortage, but we [can offer] words of advice, a non-judgmental ear to listen and a framework to help [people] think about how to make decisions.”
Rona Birenbaum, founder and certified financial planner at Caring for Clients, a fee-for-service financial-planning firm in Toronto, also saw Mr. O’Leary’s call for volunteers and got in touch.
Is the coronavirus ravaging your investment portfolio? Here’s what you need to know
As the coronavirus continues its global spread, Canadians are worried not only about their health but also about their retirement plans. Many people’s hard-earned investment portfolios have already taken a beating as stock markets plummeted this week over concerns of the virus’s impact on the economy.
How’s an ordinary investor supposed to save for retirement in these crazy markets? Four experts share their views
The point of investing is to grow your money. Financial markets today look like they’ve conspired to prevent this from happening. What’s an ordinary investor saving for retirement supposed to do? Let’s check in with four experts who have seen plenty of past market corrections between them.
When tapping into an RRSP for a home or education makes sense
The Home Buyers’ Plan (HBP) and the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) are two advantages of investing in a registered retirement savings plan (RRSP), as they allow Canadians to pull funds from their RRSPs – interest- and tax-free – to buy a home or get educated, then pay it back over 15 years for the HBP or 10 years for the LLP.
An action plan if things get worse for stocks and the economy
Last week was stock market nastiness at its worst. Prepare for the possibility of more to come. How, exactly? Veteran financial planner Rona Birenbaum has some thoughts.
Fee-only pioneer marvels at growth of business model 20 years on
Rona Birenbaum remembers vividly what it was like starting her own fee-only financial planning firm in Toronto two decades ago as a young mother in her 20s. At the time, Caring for Clients was one of only a handful of its kind in Canada.
Tax Time: Should You Take Out a Loan to Contribute to Your RRSPs?
There’s just one week left to make a contribution to your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) for 2019, with March 2nd being the deadline for doing so.
Should you withdraw extra $ from your RRIF to fund your TFSA?
Scroll to the bottom of Global News Money 123 to find out.
