Thoughts & Happenings

If you’re thinking about taking a trip down south, you’ll need to know about the “currency surcharge” tax that many tour and trip operators are changing Canadian travellers. An additional $35 fee on travel trips (sometimes more, depending on how much you spend) to make up for the difference between the Loonie and the Dollar might not seem like a lot, but if you’re travelling to multiple destinations those dollar signs begin to add up.

If you’re wealthy and you want to retire in the near-future, unless you want to keep working throughout your golden years, you’ll need around $2.3m to retire comfortably. Yep, that’s right, wealthy people actually have to save twice as much as the average Canadian just to keep up with their current standard of living. If you don’t have that much set aside, you’re going to be in for a world of hurt later.

If you’re thinking about upgrading your home to save on energy, you might be surprised what you can do with a few tweaks to your daily routine. You’re going to need to look at your appliances, how much you’re spending on idle power consumption and if you’re really heating and cooling your home effectively.

Did you know that you can donate your unused loyalty reward points to bring down just how much you owe at the end of the year – and the more you give, the more you save. If you have miles or points on a card you know you’re never going to get around to using, it might be time to donate ‘em and actually get rewards you can use, like a lower tax bill in 2014.

We’ve all done it: a quick pop over the border to snag some nice gifts for friends, family and even ourselves. The last couple of years Canadians have had a competitive edge: a strong Loonie. But now the Loonie is trading at 94.16 U.S. cents, the lowest it’s been in the last two years. If you’re thinking about popping over the border to take advantage of some of the great deals, make sure they’re really worth it.

We all know that one person in our life, that person that is so frugal with their money that they’ve excised the joy in their life – no one wants to be that guy! If you want to buy the luxury home you’ve been dreaming of looking at what you need versus what you want can help you get there, but you have to make sure that your frugality doesn’t take over your life. Here we’re going to talk about how budgeting is healthy but over budgeting isn’t. Let’s get started!

A new study conducted south of the border has shown that pre-purchase mortgage counseling greatly helps people understand their mortgage, even if this is their second or even third time purchasing a home. If you want to be able to stay above the default line (it can happen to everyone) and make sure you don’t borrow more than you can afford, it might just be the right thing for you! Here we’re going to go over everything you need to know about mortgage counseling and how it can help you.

If you’re part of Canada’s better half that likes doing their taxes, you’re not alone. A recent study showed that about half of all Canadians liked filing their returns each year, a startling contrast with what we normally think of when taxes come due. The highest source of happy tax filers is actually the Greater Toronto Area – but it could just be due to the fact that so many are getting tax refunds. Either way, it’s a little refreshing. Here we’re going to go over some of the stats and see what people are using their returns on this year.