financial strategies

Give your finances a boost this new year. Here is a list of financial resolutions to help you become better off at the end of the coming twelve months:

Eliminate personal debt. - Brad and Angie had fallen into the very common habit of buying lots of 'stuff' with their credit cards and soon were carrying a balance from month to month. At 19.9%, it is very expensive to live this kind of lifestyle. And any new purchases attract the same financing charge from date of purchase.

History tells us about half of marriages in Canada end in divorce. Andrew and Sara are about to end theirs and are concerned about the changes that will have to be made to their financial and estate plans. Some financial and estate issues they need to consider are:

With so many doom & gloom news headlines, it is refreshing to know Canadians can still get very low fixed rate mortgages. A recent Financial Post article (March 9, 2012) explains that with big banks competing strongly for new mortgage business, now is a great time for Canadians to refinance their mortgages to improve personal cash flow.

Some financial decisions get made without enough thought given to the long term consequences. Here are some financial mistakes you can avoid:

Mortgage amortized too long:

With lenders offering 30 year amortization periods, it may look attractive to go with a smaller monthly payment to get into a larger house, but the extra interest charges only benefit the lender.

A recent TD Canada Trust survey found that 10% of Canadians are considering the purchase of a condominium for their adult children. This is up from 5% just a year earlier and certainly reflects drastically increasing housing costs over the past decade.

For the book The Millionaire Next Door, researchers asked the question, 'Do you know how much your family spends each year for food, clothing and shelter?' Almost two thirds (62.4 percent) of the millionaires said 'yes.' Only about 35% of non-millionaires said they did, even though they are high-income earners.

The millionaires also budgeted very carefully for savings and most save 20% or more of their gross income. Few save less than 15%. 'Why save so much,' you ask? Quite simply, for emergencies, opportunities and to provide future income.

Jack and Diane want to improve their financial situation and feel that making financial New Years resolutions and implementing them is a good start. To help identify their priorities, they made the following list:

Set Objectives - Goal setting is the foundation of achieving financial success. If they write down their goals, it will help Jack and Diane clarify them and establish their personal and financial priorities.

Statistics show that about half of marriages end in divorce. Ed and Liz are ending theirs and are concerned about changes that will have to be made to their financial and estate plans. Some considerations, also in common-law relationships, are:

Now that summer has officially arrived, many of us start to think about home renovations, garden projects and summer vacations. But while we often know what we want to accomplish, sometimes we are not sure where the money will come from. If you're planning for a large expense this year, consider some of the following issues:

Budget management

On October 30, the federal government presented a 'mini-budget,' which outlined a number of initiatives designed to create tax savings for Canadians.

Tax cuts were the main thrust of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's announcement, which means there are a few new ways you can save your money. In case you haven't had time to follow the media coverage on this issue, the summary below outlines the recent tax changes and how they'll benefit you and your family.