Browsing Tag

interest rates

Credit Cards

All You Need To Know About Credit Cards

Everyone always talks about credit cards. You’ve probably seen the term when buying things online. No doubt you’ve also come across the term on this site! But what are credit cards? There’s a lot to understand about credit cards. So, I’m going to talk about what they are and some of the key things you need to know.

What Is A Credit Card?

Credit cards are a great way for people to spend and, potentially, save money. If you have a credit card, then you’ll be given a certain amount of credit each month. It’s a very easy way for you to pay for pretty much anything you want. Essentially, you’re borrowing money from your bank, in a safe manner. It’s also a far safer way of paying for expensive items when compared to a debit card.

October 13, 2015

Debt

How To Make Mortgage Shopping Easy

If your mortgage is up for renewal soon, or you are looking to buy a new home, you will want to do some research in order to find the best possible mortgage rate. For Canadians, I would recommend that you check out the Ratesupermarket website. It is very easy to use and once you fill in some basic information, it will find the results in your local area quickly.

The results will include the approximate amount of your monthly payments, how much interest you would expect to pay throughout the mortgage term assuming the rate remains the same, and more.

December 13, 2010

Debt

What We Do When Interest Rates Rise

As most of you know, the Bank of Canada raised interest rates again on September 8^th and as a result, my husband and I decided it would be a good idea for us to put another $5000 towards our open variable mortgage. Although our interest rate is only at 3%, we know that we can get less than half of that in interest if we keep it in a savings account.

If our plan was to stay in our existing house for another 5 years or more, it would be really tempting to just fix our mortgage as the fixed interest rates are still really reasonable right now, and it is certain that the interest rate on our variable mortgage will continue to rise, albeit more gradually for the next little while.

September 20, 2010

Debt

Do You Want To Retire And Still Be In Debt?

According to a poll carried out by Investors Group, 62% of Canadians plan to retire while still being in debt. In fact, many people polled indicated that they were willing to retire regardless of whether their mortgage was paid off.

As well, the poll results indicated that Canadians seem to be worried about rising interest rates. There is a big concern right now that Canadians are taking on too much debt at these incredibly low interest rates, and then when interest rates begin to rise, it will cause many Canadian households to be under financial stress due to increased interest payments.

We as Canadians need to become more responsible for the amount of debt we are taking on. Although it may seem really affordable right now, we have to remind ourselves that we are enjoying historically low interest rates. They won’t last forever. In fact, the Bank of Canada may even increase their rates as early as June 1^st.

May 2, 2010