Monthly Archives: June 2015

Eternal Truth #3: Get out of Debt

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Eternal Truth #3

The third of the seven-part series on the Eternal Truths of Personal Finance is in the Wednesday Financial Post today, as well as online under the headline The No. 3 eternal truth of personal finance: Pay off Your Debt First.

Part 1 ran last Wednesday and Part 2 on Saturday. You can find links both in the Hub’s weekly wrap on Saturday.

As I noted this morning on Twitter, it’s ironic that Christie Blatchford’s piece on Mike Duffy today revealed that the beleaguered former broadcaster was unable to live within his means, despite drawing a not-inconsiderable salary of $120,000 a year: Audit shows Mike Duffy was unable to live within his means.

Not for nothing did we kick off the Eternal Truths series with Live within your means!

A Mother’s View on Increased TFSA Limits

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By Michael Drak,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

“I want you to get up right now. Sit up – Go to your windows – Open them and stick your head out and yell – I’M AS MAD AS HELL AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!

Then we’ll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first, get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it I’M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I’M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!”

The above scene is from the 1976 film, Network, and my mother thought it might be an appropriate response to Jonathan [Chevreau]’s recent article on TFSAs:  “Memo to Liberals: lots of older middle-class Canadians have $10,000 TFSA capital “lying around.”

Here is her story.

‘I don’t have to tell you things are bad. Everyone knows things are bad.”

My mother currently resides in a retirement home and is able to afford the hefty monthly rental payments via a combination of CPP/OAS and unregistered savings. Continue Reading…

5 things your advisors should be doing to protect you from identity theft

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Rick Hyde pic Mar 2015
Rick Hyde

By Rick Hyde

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Most articles about identity theft will offer practical insights and steps that you can take to protect your self. But what about all the other people that handle your personal data – the financial advisors, accountants, lawyers and health professionals, to mention a few – what are they doing to protect YOUR privacy?

Identity theft and fraud is growing

As the use of digital systems for storing personal financial and health data has grown, so has the problem of fraudulent access to that information.

Identity theft and fraud has been growing steadily in the past 10-20 years, according to reports in the US and Canada. So far in 2015, the US-based Identity Theft Resource Center reports almost 300 incidents involving data on over 100 million individuals.

You are your account numbers

Continue Reading…

What is financial freedom?

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Wooden signpost with two opposite arrows over clear blue sky, Debt versus Financial Independence messages, Personal Finance conceptual imageBy Jack Crew,

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

For the majority of young adults, the most common New Year’s resolution is to earn financial freedom. Unfortunately most of them fail to achieve what they set up as a goal on New Year’s Day.

That’s because they have only a vague idea about what financial freedom is all about. For most of us, financial freedom means having enough money that we can us spend on whatever we want. While earning a lot of income and enjoying control over expenses are important financial objectives,  this by itself cannot be a true definition of financial freedom.

A precise definition is not universal, as many pundits have different takes on the subject. Here ’s what I think about ‘Financial Freedom’:

Winning Fear

Continue Reading…

Weekly wrap: Eternal Money Truths; millionaire bloggers; perils of early retirement

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Young business woman is saving money for the company

On Wednesday, the Financial Post ran the first of seven articles by me that we’re calling The 7 Eternal Truths of Personal Finance: Eternal Truth #1: Live Within Your Means.

The second instalment ran today (Saturday): Eternal Truth # 2: Pay Yourself First.

Some of the background and rationale for the series ran earlier this week here at the Hub. I believe the series will run online and in the paper once or twice a week over the summer. Each episode is accompanied by a one-minute video.

Note that this is being housed under the Post’s “Young Money” category, which makes sense because the need to live within your means is especially apt for millennials and younger folk.

Meanwhile, on a related topic, the Globe & Mail Friday ran on update on a national strategy for financial literacy unveiled this week, titled Count Me In, Canada. The piece is titled To Bridge the Knowledge Gap, Financial LIeracy is a Two-Way Street.

Watch out, Economist warns

The cover story on the latest issue of The Economist, out mid Thursday, warns readers to Watch Out: The World is Not Ready for the Next Recession. But its briefing on the American economy in the same issue is more upbeat: Better Than It Looks.

Millionaire bloggers

Continue Reading…