Beware of scary Brexit headlines pushing you to buy gold + MORE Jul 11th

Q: I just went on long-term disability but I’m worried. I didn’t get mortgage insurance, can I still get this type of insurance?
— D. Evans, Ontario 

Steve Garganis, mortgage broker and editor of CanadaMortgageNews.ca:

The answer is probably not.  However, to be sure, check with your insurance provider.   
Sadly, your situation is another person’s lesson.  For those that are about to get a mortgage, here’s a tip:  Take the mortgage insurance offered when their mortgage is arranged.  It’s not the cheapest, but it’s easier to get approved. But don’t stop there. Next, speak to an insurance advisor to see if you qualify for cheaper coverage. Once you qualify for more cost-effective insurance coverage, cancel the mortgage provider’s insurance. Most insurance providers allow you to cancel and get your money back within 30 days.
The good news, if you discover during the course of applying for term life or disability insurance that you have a previously unknown condition, at least you will have coverage with your mortgage provider…

MILAN – Italian bank UniCredit said Monday it is launching an “in-depth strategic review” under its new CEO Jean Pierre Mustier, a move that comes at a time when the financial health of the country’s banks has come under increasing investor scrutiny.
Italy’s largest bank by assets said in a statement that the review of all areas of the bank’s operations will seek “to reinforce and optimize the group’s capital position, (and) improve profitability.” The moves will include further cost-cutting, optimizing capital and reducing risk, the bank said.
The bank identified German subsidiary HVB, its central and eastern European operations and corporate investment bank as strategic operations, and said that the bank’s “strong Italian roots make the Italian bank absolutely core to the group.”
The bank also announced Monday that it will sell up to 10 per cent of its stake in its internet banking subsidiary FinecoBank. It currently holds a 65-per cent stake, and said it would retain a majority share…

(Johner Images/Getty Images)
The British Columbia government will support the city of Vancouver’s request for a tax on vacant housing.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong says the legislature will meet July 25 to consider revisions to the Vancouver Charter that would allow the city to create and collect the tax.
De Jong says the levy is aimed at improving the supply of rental homes across Metro Vancouver’s superheated real estate market.
He says a vacancy tax is a reasonable request to try to regulate the rental market while waiting for new construction to come online.
De Jong says he spoke with Mayor Gregor Robertson before the announcement and believes he is pleased with the province’s efforts to respond quickly to the housing affordability crisis.
NDP Housing critic David Eby says he will have to see what de Jong puts forward in the legislature before he decides whether to support it.
— The Canadian Press
The post B.C. supports housing vacancy tax in Vancouver to assist with rental shortage appeared first on MoneySense.

If you thought the Brexit vote was scary, check out the full page newspaper ad that recently appeared in The New York Times recounting all the horrors in the present tense, as if they were still unfolding: The vote “topples” the British government, “crushes” the pound and “wipes away” billions in stock market wealth.
Then came the purpose behind all the panicky prose.
“Buy Gold Now!”
Investors have done just that, pushing up the price of the metal to a two-year high. But before joining the rush, experts warn, beware that assets marketed as conservative and safe bought in a panic can sometimes wallop investors with losses they were trying to avoid.
The ad was from a company selling gold coins that is run by is Philip Diehl, a coin expert with an impressive pedigree. He was the staff director of the Senate Finance committee, chief of staff at the Treasury Department, then head of the U.S. Mint, the government agency that stamps out dimes and quarters and other coins.
The company he heads, U…

Global glut of supply and expense to build B.C. infrastructure will hold investment back