Horatio Alger1 was an American writer of novels about impoverished boys rising from humble backgrounds to middle-class security and comfort through hard work, determination, courage and honesty. His writings were characterized by the "rags-to-riches" narrative, which continues to have a formative effect on many entrepreneurs today.
Like many young adults, Lindsay took what her parents had to say with a grain of salt when it came to money. A new college graduate with an entry-level job, she was more interested in spending her paycheques than saving them. Saving was for later, she thought. Life was for living. When her father raised an eyebrow or offered advice, she brushed him off.
Then came the financial collapse of 2008. Lindsay lost her job and moved back into her parents' basement, regretting immediately almost every dollar she had blown.
The term 'empty nest' evokes different feelings for everyone. It may have happened way too fast or maybe it took far too long, but with all your children almost grown and out of the house, a new phase of your life is about to begin. As with every stage of your journey, finances will play a key role in what's possible for you during your empty nest phase. By fine-tuning your current financial strategy and looking ahead at future challenges, you will be better positioned to achieve the success you deserve.
When pondering the financial impacts of the Covid-19 quarantine and the resulting global economic shutdown, it helps to visualize dropping a pebble in a pool of water. As any child knows, the ripples start moving away from the point of impact until they disappear across the pond and finally dissipate, and the waters return to their calm state.
Most people mistakenly believe that they will never fall victim to financial or identity theft. The sad reality is that billions of dollars are lost each year to these crimes, and the losses are only getting bigger. Here are some steps you can take to reduce your chances of becoming a fraud victim:
Keep it thin. Don't carry extra credit cards, birth certificate, social insurance number card or passport with you unless absolutely necessary. This minimizes the information a crook can get about you when your wallet or purse is lost or stolen.
It appears that while many Canadians faithfully invest funds into their workplace retirement plans they are somewhat lackadaisical when it comes to determining their retirement needs as well as measuring their progress towards those needs.
In a survey conducted by Ipsos Reid in February 2015*, it was found that only 50 percent of Canadians are following a financial plan and only less than half are saving regularly for their long term retirement goals.
The fastest market correction in history, that started in the last week of February and bottomed in late March, led to the fastest bounce back over a five-week period, since about 1987 1. However, at the time of this writing, most of the major market indexes are still below their February 2020 peaks levels.
Much of what we do today is to improve our future financial position. As with anything, we can get better results by following a plan. This is why both an Estate Plan and a Financial Strategy are important for those who want to ensure better tomorrows for ourselves and our families.
Carl and Cathy are well aware of the substantial tax advantages of making charitable contributions as well as the good feeling they get by helping their favorite charity. In addition to their annual contributions, they would like to bequeath more substantial amounts to their chosen charity in their wills. Some of their more affluent friends do this. However, Carl and Cathy do not feel that they are able to.
Over the past several weeks, provinces across Canada have relaxed social distancing rules and begun the process of "re-opening" for business. Looking back over the past three months, while there have been many moments of stress and anxiety, there have also been moments to be thankful. What is there to be thankful about?
