The Hardest Part About Burning Your Mortgage + MORE Mar 16th

OTTAWA — The amount Canadians owe compared with how much they earn has hit another record high.

Statistics Canada says the amount of household credit market debt crept to 167.3 per cent of adjusted household disposable income in the fourth quarter, up from 166.8 per cent in the third quarter.

That means there was $1.67 in credit market debt for every dollar of adjusted household disposable income.

Canadians’ household debt hit yet another record high in the fourth quarter of 2016, Statistics Canada says. (Photo: getty Images)

The increase came as income rose by 1.1 per cent, while household credit market debt gained 1.2 per cent.

Total household credit market debt, which includes consumer credit, and mortgage and non-mortgage loans, totalled nearly $2.029 trillion in the final quarter of last year.

Mortgage debt accounted for 65.5 per cent of the total. — This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

Mortgage volumes in the broker channel continued to grow in the fourth quarter. D+H data reportedly confirms that brokers did 12% more business in Q4, versus the same period last year.  Some of that business was an attempt by borrowers to beat the government’s mortgage rule changes. Those policies came into effect on October 17, 2016 (new high-ratio insurance restrictions), November 30, 2016 (new low-ratio insurance restrictions) and January 1, 2017 (new insurer capital requirements). But these weren’t the only headlines last quarter. The top 10 broker channel lenders now account for a whopping 87.1% of broker volume, as of Dec. READ MORE

Similar to a sweet dream, paying off a mortgage loan valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars is a goal that sometimes seems so out of reach.
But it is possible.
A little over a year ago, I paid off a 30-year mortgage on a home I had bought only three years earlier. I now live mortgage-free in Toronto – Canada’s second most expensive real estate market. I celebrated by throwing a big party with my friends where I burned my mortgage papers – literally.
In my new book, Burn Your Mortgage, I share my secret to my success: simple yet effective lifestyle changes that anyone—from new buyers to experienced homeowners — can make to pay down their mortgage sooner. My tips won’t suggest you eat baked beans and Kraft Dinner every night. Rather, they’re seven simple ways to pay off your mortgage sooner, yet suited to work around your own income and lifestyle.
So go ahead and pinch yourself, because this dream can become a reality. The hardest part, though, is staying motivated.
Staying motivated to pay off your mortgage is hard
I can’t lie; Paying down my mortgage quickly wasn’t easy…

OTTAWA —The amount Canadians owe compared with how much they earn hit another record high last year.
Statistics Canada said the amount of household credit market debt rose to 167.3 per cent of adjusted household disposable income in the fourth quarter, up from 166.8 per cent in the third quarter.
That means there was $1.67 in credit market debt for every dollar of adjusted household disposable income.
“After slowing to a stable year-over-year pace by late-2013, growth in this debt ratio has since accelerated again alongside torrid gains in the Vancouver and Toronto housing markets,” said Robert Kavcic, BMO Capital Markets senior economist.

One family’s strategy for killing debt »

Fuelled by mortgages and low interest rates, household debt has been climbing steadily in recent years. Policy-makers have raised concerns about household debt and see it as a key risk to the economy.
While interest rates have been low for years, making borrowing money cheap for Canadians, some have expressed concerns about what could happen when rates rise or if there is a shock to the economy that results in a large number of job losses…

What’s the financial state of Canadian women in their 40s?
Chatelaine asked 1,000 Canadian women between the ages of 35 and 45 to share how secure they feel about themselves as part of their This is 40(ish) project. They asked them if they’re on top of their money (53% say they are, while 4% say their bank accounts are a mystery to them), whether they tell their partners exactly how much money they have (a third said they don’t), among many other things.
Some interesting statistics from the study? Of the women who borrowed money from their families, 87% paid it back. And of those surveyed, 29% borrowed under $250, while 26% borrowed between $1,001 and $5,000. Overall, it seems that most women (51%) think they’re better with money than their partners.
Well isn’t that good news! For most people, the 40s is when pay cheques climb and debt tumbles, creating some welcome financial breathing room. However, there are plenty of big ticket savings items that women in their 40s must deal with: saving for their kids’ education and paying down their mortgage…