A TFSA high on weed stock + MORE May 24th

Nearly three quarters of Canadian homeowners say they would have difficulty paying their mortgage if their payments were to increase by more than 10 per cent, says a new survey by Manulife Bank.
Thirty-eight per cent of those polled say their mortgage bills could rise between one to five per cent before they would have financial difficulty; 20 per cent say they could sustain an increase in payments between six to 10 per cent before having trouble; and 14 per cent say any hike would be a problem.
Twenty-two per cent said they could handle a payment increase of between 11 to 30 per cent, while the remaining seven per cent didn’t know or were unsure.
“What these people don’t realize is that we’re at record low interest rates today,” said Rick Lunny, president and CEO of Manulife Bank (TSX:MFC), adding that a 10 per cent increase in mortgage payments could be the result of as little as a one per cent interest hike.
“When you put it into that context, they’re not really prepared for what is inevitable…

TORONTO — Home Capital Group says it has drawn down a further $250 million this week from its emergency line of credit to repay deposit notes due Wednesday.

That leaves the Toronto-based mortgage company (TSX:HCG) with $350 million left from a $2 billion line of credit provided by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan late last month.

The pension plan provided the loan after Home Capital’s customers began to drain their high-interest savings accounts.

The flood of deposit withdrawals followed allegations filed against Home Capital in April.

Home Capital has denied accusations that it misled investors in statements and comments issued by senior executives, including two former CEOs and a third man who was the lender’s chief financial officer at the time.

The Home Stretch
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TORONTO — Nearly three quarters of Canadian homeowners say they would have difficulty paying their mortgage if their payments were to increase by more than 10 per cent, says a new survey by Manulife Bank.

Thirty-eight per cent of those polled say their mortgage bills could rise between one to five per cent before they would have financial difficulty; 20 per cent say they could sustain an increase in payments between six to 10 per cent before having trouble; and 14 per cent say any hike would be a problem.

Twenty-two per cent said they could handle a payment increase of between 11 to 30 per cent, while the remaining seven per cent didn’t know or were unsure.

“What these people don’t realize is that we’re at record low interest rates today,” said Rick Lunny, president and CEO of Manulife Bank (TSX:MFC), adding that a 10 per cent increase in mortgage payments could be the result of as little as a one per cent interest hike.

Many millennials are unprepared to deal with a financial emergency due to a lack of financial literacy and soaring amounts of debt…

Housing affordability questions have placed homeownership and public policy near the top of the national agenda, as mortgage brokers know. Most of the commentary has been focused on the extent to which government policy, particularly with regards to supply, is contributing to the affordability challenges. This debate is ongoing and will not be resolved here. […]

Stella & Mat
Stiver-Balla
AGE: 28 and 32
PLACE: Toronto
TFSA TOTAL: $77,210
STRATEGY: Growth and blue-chip stocks

Me and my TFSA
Four years ago was an important time for Mat Stiver-Balla. In 2013 he married his wife Stella, 28, and he began investing in his TFSA.
Like most young investors, Stiver-Balla started his TFSA without really knowing much about investing. The money sat in cash in his account for the first two years until his day, a mortgage broker, started giving him a few pointers on what to do with the account. That was the push Stiver-Bella need to start following the stock markets in newspapers and magazines. “I started teaching myself how to read balance sheets and I started picking stocks based on what numbers I thought looked good,” says Stiver-Balla. It was enough to make him more comfortable with stocks and investing.
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He credits MoneySense with his ability to read a balance sheet—especially when it came to understanding key stock metrics and ratios like price-to-earning and price-to-book ratios…