by Owen | Jul 3, 2017 | Behavioral Finance, Financial Planning
There was a great personal finance question from a user on Reddit the other day that basically asked if it was even worth saving money in your 20s. The user asked r/PersonalFinanceCanada “is it even worth saving money while you’re young?”
This is a GREAT question. The quick answer is YES!
There were few good responses that covered the three main reasons why saving now, even on a lower income, is still the right thing to do.
Let’s review the three reasons why saving while you’re young is so important…
by Owen | Jun 5, 2017 | Financial Planning, Tax Planning
Children are expensive. There are the obvious expenses like day care, clothing, food and diapers. Then there are the not so obvious expenses like owning a larger home or a larger car.
For low and moderate income earners, there is a special benefit called the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) that can help offset some of these expenses.
The benefit starts at a maximum of $6,500/year for each child under 6 and $5,400/year for each child between 6 and 17.
These amounts get reduced as soon as a family’s taxable income passes $30,000. For someone with two children under 6 the benefit disappears entirely once the family income crosses $207,000.
Because the child benefit gets clawed back for each incremental dollar in taxable income. It works essentially the same as a tax rate. Except its effect is slightly hidden.
by Owen | Jun 1, 2017 | Budgeting, Emergency Fund, Financial Planning
A lot. That’s how many.
Last year 64% of millennials said that they feel stressed about their finances!*
Financial stress impacts us more than any other stress factor. More than our family, more than our health, more than our job, we stress about money the most.
This isn’t too surprising.
Money is at the center of everything we do. Without money, we can’t survive. In the past, it was possible to get by without money. You could barter, trade, do it yourself. But in the 21st century that’s not realistic. Are you going to build your own smart phone? Everyone needs money.
Because everyone needs money everyone is at risk of feeling financial stress. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are five ways to reduce your financial stress.
