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How to fund accessible home renovations in Canada Jul 7th
My house, as I told my insurance broker recently, is the Canadian housing equivalent of ancient. Built in the 1910s in Saskatoon, this house has many foibles. To hang pictures, I have to use wood screws lest regular nails bounce off of the layers and layers of paint. My basement is a little more tha.... More »
What is Wedding Insurance and Do I Need It? Jun 24th
If you’re shopping for wedding insurance, chances are the big day is quickly approaching. So, congrats! Planning your wedding can be a very busy time and there’s a lot of stress. You want your day to be perfect and you don’t want to worry about what could go wrong.
What if the gown is dama.... More »
Preparing taxes for someone who died Feb 9th
When you are managing the tax affairs of someone who has died, there are important steps to take to notify the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), represent the deceased taxpayer, and finalize their tax filings.
Contacting the CRA
You should contact the government as soon as possible. This incl.... More »
BREAKING: Ontario Car Insurance Rates Have Increased Oct 18th
Here at RateSupermaket.ca, we keep you in the loop of different ways to save, whether it be on your mortgage, through investments, or on your car insurance. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has reported that Ontario car insurance rates have increased by 2.06 per cent on average..... More »
How Small Businesses Can Stay Safe Against Cyberattacks + MORE Oct 19th
Today’s cyber thieves aren’t lone hackers working from their basements. Cybercrime increasingly has become full-fledged enterprises, complete with CFOs, HR teams and research and development budgets—and this “professionalization” of cybercrime presents a growing risk for small businesses, .... More »
Term life insurance vs. universal life
– moneysense.ca
Q: My wife and I have two joint life insurance policies. The first one is term life with a death benefit of $250,000 that we purchased in 2004 and the second one is a universal life with the death benefit of $500,000 that we purchased in 2009. The current fund value of UL is $11,051. The premiums that we are paying are $150 for UL and $25 for term life. Our term life policy matured this year and our premiums for the new term have increased to $73. We would like to keep one policy and cancel the other but we don’t know which one we should stick with. We have two kids ages 10 and 8, $100,000 worth of mortgage remaining, $40,000 in car loan and no other debts.
—Sam K., Toronto
A: The first step is to determine how much coverage you need. For that, you can check out a needs analysis calculator.
The downside of cancelling the universal life plan is there may be penalties if you draw out the cash surrender value. Also, if the universal life policy has a guaranteed cost of insurance, the pricing could be very favourable because you were younger when you took the policy…
12 Months to Being Debt Free – When Emergencies Arise
– ratesupermarket.ca
When you’re trying to get out of debt, the last thing you want is a financial setback. Unfortunately, life can throw us a curveball every so often, and this comes with unforeseen expenses. Your car could break down and require expensive repairs, you might throw out your back and need several sessions with a chiropractor, or you could chip a tooth and undergo costly dental work that your insurance doesn’t cover.
These types of emergency expenses are things that you can’t plan for in advance. For that reason, they often cause people to go into debt since they don’t have the cash put aside to pay for these costs and must turn to their credit card.
If you’re trying to get out of debt by the end of 2016, the last thing you need are unexpected expenses derailing your plans. Not only will that add to the challenge of repaying your debt, but it can push you to go further into the red if you can’t adjust your budget to absorb the costs.
So, what can you do to deal with an emergency expense and stay on track with your goal of becoming debt-free by the end of this year? Here are a few suggestions:
Find Ways to Cope with the Cost
If you experience an emergency while you’re in the process of paying off debt, if possible try to delay the expense until you can afford to pay for it with cash…
