Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Blog, page 4

March 15, 2016

Alone Again Naturally

Nobody likes the feeling of being lonely. And while we think of ‘loneliness’ as an emotional thing, it turns out it isn’t any good for us physically either. In fact, it may be worse for your health than being obese.


Researchers at the University of Chicago have found that a lack of social contact can not only weaken our immunity but it can push our blood pressure into the danger zone. They tested men and women over the age of 50 and found that their CTRA genes which are part of the immune system are more active in people who felt very lonely. Those genes suppress the immune system leaving the lonely less able to fight of viruses and more susceptible to inflammation.


It seems loneliness begets loneliness. Being lonely doesn’t just lead to more CTRA genes, having more CTRA genes leads people to feel lonelier. It might be that the onset of ill health further isolates people, the researcher aren’t sure. But as we watch our population aging, we need to come up with strategies for keeping people connected so that loneliness — and all it’s accompanying ailments — doesn’t become an epidemic.


To stop that sense of isolation and the accompanying feelings of loneliness people really need to make an effort to connect with others: join a group of like minded people to share what you are reading, to garden or to take a walk. Find a local organization that needs volunteers and get out. Coach a children’s sport, read to the blind, get busy. And at the very least get a pet; fur babies help offset loneliness too.


If you haven’t watched this TED talk, I encourage you to. Here’s the intro to it: What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.

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Published on March 15, 2016 00:18

March 14, 2016

Saving Money on Groceries

One of the questions I’m always hearing is, “How much should I be spending on groceries?” I don’t know. How many people are you feeding? Do any of them have special dietary needs? Do you make a lot of money, or are you barely putting food on the table?


There are so many variables involved. People who are determined to eat organic will pay more for their food. People who survive on pasta will pay less. If you’re a big meat or fish eater and only like the best, your grocery bill would stagger the single mom of three making her own pizza at home.


According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian family spends $9,630 a year on food, which would work out to be about $185 a week. And that’s just food. It doesn’t include personal care, household cleaning, tobacco, alcohol or lottery tickets – things we often add to our carts.


There are 11 ways to trim your food costs.



Buy in bulk: Know what stuff costs so that when you see a deal you can buy in bulk. When salmon hits 99¢ a tin, when coffee goes on sale, when toilet paper is a bargain, stock up. It’s not going to spoil so buy more than a week’s worth.


Compare per unit costs: Since companies use different sizes and formats for their products, it’s easy to get confused about which package offers the better deal. Just think of all the different versions of laundry soap out there. Whew! If you don’t calculate the per unit cost, it is virtually impossible to tell what is a deal and what isn’t. Just because the package is bigger doesn’t mean the cost is lower.


Get a raincheck: If you go shopping and something you’re looking for that’s been advertised is not in stock, make sure you get a raincheck so you extend the sale and get what you wanted at the best possible price.


Shop in less-expensive stores: Do most of your shopping in a discount grocery store. Did you know that you can save up to 30 percent off your grocery bill just by switching your supermarket. That would be $45 in savings on a $150 weekly bill. Over a year, that’d be over $2,300. That sounds worthwhile, doesn’t it?


Take your own bags: Are you still paying for your grocery bags every time you go to the store? What’s wrong with you? Why would you build the price of shopping bags into the cost of your food? Make a habit of putting your bags back into your car after you unpack them, or fold them all neatly into one bag if you’re hoofing it.


Look for deals: Cuts of meat at 30-50 percent off are a great way to save; just take them home and throw them into the freezer. If you buy big on sale, then cook up what you’ve bought and divide it into individual portions for the freezer. Not only will you save money, you’ll save time by batch cooking.
Reward yourself: Take full advantage of the rewards programs offered by grocery stores to convert food purchases into gifts, travel savings or money off future grocery purchases. I even buy my gas at a station associated with my grocery store so I save 2¢ on my gas, which I immediately apply to my groceries.


Shop with coupons: Speaking of coupons, collect and use them. You don’t have to be rabid about this, but at least collect coupons for the products you usually buy and use them to save. Improve your odds of saving by visiting sites like GroceryAlerts.ca, SimplyFrugal.ca, WebSaver.ca and Save.ca to check for coupons that match your shopping list. I particularly like to use the coupon when the item is on sale since I feel I’m getting even more bang for my buck.


Get in the groove: Most folks don’t realize that stores don’t drive sales, manufacturers do, and items typically go on sale in 12-week cycles. Smart shoppers keep track of sales cycles to stock up with enough to last until the next great sale.


Take advantage of price-matching. No one wants to have to drive all over hell’s half-acre to get all the deals in the fliers that come to the door. And you don’t have to. Simply shop at a store with a price-matching policy and you can show any store’s flyer and get the best deal going.


Shop with a list. This is the single best way to manage your food budget and not give into the temptation to overspend because you see things you want to throw into your cart impulsively. Over and over I’ve assigned the “shop once and with a list” challenge to people on my TV shows and they are gobsmacked to see how much they save.

 


 

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Published on March 14, 2016 00:13

March 11, 2016

Learning to be Patient

People have no patience, y’know. Young people graduating from school think they should be able to get The Job right off the bat. People buying a home for the first time want a place that’s bigger and shinier than the home they grew up in. And as for luxury vehicles… how can anyone just starting out think they deserve to drive a car that sets them back $500 a month or more?


In our culture of immediacy we are urged to download INSTANTLY and get what we want ON DEMAND. We drive-thru to get our food fast. We substitute movies for books so we can get to the end of the story in two hours or less. If we get to a web page that takes more than 20 seconds to load we move on. And if we have to wait in a line, we tap our foot and huff and puff because things are just taking too long.


I caught myself complaining about the traffic in Brighton a few days ago. It took me about two minutes to make a turn because of “all the cars” going by. This is in Brighton. OMG!  Now, I don’t usually get into a flap over traffic. And when I drive in Toronto I make a conscious effort to stay chill. I think it was because I was home in my small town where I didn’t expect traffic that it had an impact on me. But, let’s be real, what’s two minutes in a life? Time enough to admire the neighbours’ lilac bushes in full bloom. But not so much time that you have to get yourself into a lather about all the time it’s taking.


Our tendency to be impatient and our skewed sense of what constitutes a “reasonable” amount of time spills into how we manage our money. We want stuff and we want it NOW. The very idea of accumulating some cash to buy a thing is foreign to us. Why wait when we have a perfectly good credit card with some room available to satisfy our Immediacy Itch.


Sometimes it means we give up too soon because everything doesn’t fall into place tickety-boo the first time we try. Like living on a budget. There are folks who throw up their arms because the numbers aren’t working from the get go.


And then there are the people who leap into investments they know nothing about, or don’t have the risk tolerance for, simply because they don’t have the patience to watch their money grow slowly.


Most worthwhile activities take time. With some time, budgets can be finessed. With some time, investment portfolios can smooth themselves out.  And with some time, you can accumulate the money you need for that family vacation and come home without worrying about a credit hang-over.


The next time you hear yourself saying (out loud or in your head), “that’ll take too long” stop and take a breath. How long is too long? And what are you losing by not waiting?


Waiting for things to go on sale means you can anticipate getting a bargain. Waiting to be sure that the thing you think you want, you know you want means you’re sure you’re using your money wisely. Waiting for the next part of your life to start unfolding as opposed to rushing to the next whatever means you can enjoy where you are, not just where you’re going.


One of the key differences between people who can’t wait and those who can may be the sense of deprivation some people feel when they can’t scratch their itch immediately. Those who can wait embrace anticipation… they enjoy the not-quite-there-yet feeling, imagining the potential pleasure they’ll derive and looking forward to bringing their wish to fruition.


Patience is an important lesson to learn. It can be hard sometimes. But waiting gives us the time to evaluate whatever it is we want against all the other wants that will crop up in the meantime, so it makes us better at prioritizing. And if we learn to enjoy the pleasure of waiting, we can revel in our anticipation right up until we scratch the itch.


 

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Published on March 11, 2016 00:10

March 10, 2016

This & That: Kids & Money Edition

L Wrote: Thank you for reading my email. I read one of your books about Kids and Money and implemented an allowance system for my kids. I passed the book along to another mom and haven’t seen it since and now have a dilemma. My daughter is now 17, soon to be 18, graduated and taking a job in summer. She’s very independent now, planning to move out west for a year with a boyfriend, making her own hours etc. I am wondering when it makes sense to stop the allowance. She buys most of her clothing, entertainment, phone bill, and make up with this money. One of the things at work here is that her dad, who used to give her money to buy friend’s birthday gifts, is now saying your mom has all the money ask her. At this age I have a fundamental problem with buying her friends’ gifts. I used to do it when she was younger and it made sense. Doesn’t seem to now. What would you advise re weaning kids off the allowance and at what age?


Gail Says: This is a great question. I think when young people are heading off to set up their own lives, they need to accept personal responsibility for those lives. So if she were going to school and still on your ticket, you might keep giving her money. But if she’s working full time, planning on living with a boy, and moving into the next stage of her life, you’re off the hook mommy. 


 


S Wrote: We have 3 adult daughters. We have paid for all their education. We are doing quite well financially. Retirement is all set up and with the plan we would have a good sum of money left over when we turn 85.

I would like to know if we should help with the purchase of homes and how much to help with weddings? I see all of this coming up soon.


I want to help and at the same time want them to be financially independent. Very confused about what the help should look like!


Gail Says: Clearly you’re not just smart about money, but about life too. I think you can set a specific amount that you’re prepared to help with. (I told my daughter if she eloped I’d give her the money to use for travel, a home, whatever. I think the whole wedding thing has people acting completely stupid.) My friend who is a doctor and can afford big weddings has made it clear that he thinks they’re a waste of money and will kick in only about $2,500 per kid. As for down payments, encourage your young’uns to get to 20% down, and not to buy more home than they will reasonably need. Spending vast amounts to then be house poor is a sad way to live. Again, you must decide how much is enough so that each gets a fair “gift?” So look at what extra you have and divide it equally between the children for whatever purposes they choose to use it (or you choose to gift it for).


 


A Wrote: We have a 10 year old son with severe Autism. We had set up an RESP when he was a baby. We cannot transfer his RESP into an RDSP since his RESP is not with a bank. Instead we will likely transfer the RESP to his younger sister. My question is, should we open an RDSP to save for his future? Or is there a better way to save?


Gail Says: Yes, I would certainly do that since the government contributes generously. Your son must quality for the Disability Tax Credit to be eligible. Then, for every $1 you save, the Feds will match up to $3, depending on your family income. If your family income is more than $87,907 you’ll get a 100% match on the first $1,000 each year (until your son turns 49). If your family income is less than $87,907, you’ll get 300% in matching grants on the first $500 and 200% in grants on the next $1,000 of contributions. The maximum grant money is $3,500 per year and up to $70,000 over your son’s lifetime.


Since you haven’t started an RDSP yet, you can claim for previous years so your son may be eligible for an annual grant as high as $10,500.


The RDSP doesn’t affect disability benefits. There are no restrictions on what the money can be used for so your son can spend the money on anything he needs. There’s no annual limit on how much you can put into an RDSP but there is a $200,000 lifetime limit. 


There’s also a Canada Disability Savings Bond (CDSB) where family income is less than $25,584 that’ll give an additional $1,000 in government money annually for up to 20 years (or until 49)—regardless of contribution amounts. When your son reaches the age of majority, HIS income will be used to make this calculation.



B Wrote: We just started an RESP for my daughter who is already 15. Is it true that I can’t get any of the government incentive because she is too old? I was sent a letter saying so but I was under the impression you could collect it all as a sort of “claw back” Am I missing a loophole or hoop I need to jump through?


Gail Says: You’re squeaking in under the wire m’love. As long as you make a contribution of at least $2,000 before the end of the calendar year in which your daughter turns 15, you can still grab a little of the grant money. Get busy girlfriend.



E Wrote: Given your obvious loves of kids, books, and money, I wonder if you might be able to suggest a book or series of books for a young friend of mine? He is a 13 year old, very bright boy who has always had a keen mind for money and investment and the like. He is fairly introverted, and enjoys chess and basketball. He has a wry sense of humour. His latest read was Kevin O’Leary’s COLD HARD TRUTH On Business, Money and Life, and he really enjoyed it. His Mom, however, would prefer that he read “kids’ books” – something a smidge more age-appropriate. I thought maybe YOU would know of something that marries, or at least falls in between, their differing desires for what he reads?


Gail Says: I don’t think she should be “dumbing down” his reading. If he’s enjoying reading at an adult level, he should keep it up. At his age I was reading well above “child” or even “teenager” level. While Young Adult books have improved significantly since I was a child, the problem with money books for kids is that they tend to aim very low. What she could do is find him a book that’s more about personal finance…the day to day of handling money…since I know Kevin’s book had a lot of “biz” stuff in it. Though an early introduction to the concept of entrepreneurship can’t hurt.



P wrote: I can help my niece with an interest free loan so she doesn’t have to pay such high credit card interest. I don’t believe she has a handle on money. She claimed bankruptcy years ago, has a racked up another $6,500.00 in credit cards, and $3,000.00 in personal loan. Banks won’t consolidate her bills. She is a dreamer and thinks she’ll make all kinds of money through Melaleuca, and other sales that end up costing her more than she makes. Will I be doing her a disservice by trying to help her? Wish I had your No Nonsense approach, but she tends to anger quickly and gets defensive when I try to talk money.


Gail Says: You may not actually be helping her if you give her this money since you already know she doesn’t have “a handle on money.” So you’ll just be throwing good after bad. It would be far better if you rewarded her for creating positive financial habits. (Know that if you share this money with your niece, it may end up being a “gift” not a “loan” so if you can’t afford it don’t do it.)


This WILL necessitate a conversation and your niece’s commitment to doing things differently. First of all, she must complete a spending analysis, looking at how she’s been using her money over the past six months. Completion of this challenge will earn her $500 toward your interest-free loan. Then she has to drop the numbers she’s come up with into a budget — a realistic budget with ALL the appropriate categories — and make that budget balance, including a) savings for the future, b) savings for an emergency fund, and c) 1/36 of the amount she is “borrowing” from you. Successful completion of this challenge earns her another $500. She must start using a spending journal and each month, she must enter her spending journal entries against her budget so she can see how closely to the plan she is working. Successful completion: $1000 for each month the spending journal & budget are used appropriately…no short-cutting. You get my drift right.


If you’re going to lend this girl-child money, you have a right to set some rules. If she doesn’t like the rules, she doesn’t get the money. If she doesn’t like talking about it, she doesn’t get the money. If you just give her the money to pull her out of the mess without having any expectations, you’re contributing to the problem.


 


L Wrote: I have been quite disciplined with my finances all my life and I think I am a success story. My only debt is my mortgage. But now, my son has a greedy fiancé. There is not one conversation with her she is not trying to get money. Give my son his inheritance while I am alive, sell my building and put all the money in their future house so they can afford $1.5 million+ home, sell them an apartment in my building in form of condo so she can resell, etc. She also wants a big Italian style weeding, she wants to travel every year, she does not want to work full time but continue to study forever, and have children. And do not talk to her about savings. It takes too long. Is there a way, a clause I can add to my will that she will not get any money? I also have other children and my inheritance will be split equally between them. I foresee a lot of trouble to come when I die. Can I create a trust for my future grandchildren instead? Can I create a trust for my son to give him limited access to his money? My son has a very good salary but not enough for all his future wife’s needs I am afraid.


Gail Says: Oh dear. This sounds like a major mash-up waiting to happen. I’m sorry you’re feeling so frustrated. You don’t say how old you are so I hope this has time for everyone to figure out their roles and resolve them before you have to shuffle off.


Yes, you can create a trust that helps to protect your son long term. But you will have to seek very specific legal advice to make sure you do this in the right way. You must go to an estates lawyer and he/she has to know the law in and out to make sure your will and the trust you set up will hold water. If you want to do that and you don’t know where to go, send me a note with your net worth and I’ll try to help find you someone good in your income-range. (There are estate lawyers, for example, who only deal with estates worth $10 mill + so I have to know where you fit.)


If creating a trust (and then the management of that trust) is too expensive for you to manage realistically, then know that any money your son receives is his alone unless he puts that money into the matrimonial home or makes it a joint asset in some other way.


 

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Published on March 10, 2016 00:04

March 8, 2016

Sticky Chicken

When I’m making chicken stock for my homemade chicken soup I usually buy legs/thighs on sale. Before I drop those puppies into a big pot to boil for hours with onions, green peppers and carrots (sometimes broccoli stems or whatever veggies are approaching their best-before dates) I take time to cut some of the dark meat off the bone. I’m not manic about this, desperate to get every last big. But I do take off the big chunks, stick them in a plastic bag and freeze them for another day.


So another day came. Alex was coming home for a few days and wanted Sticky Chicken – her words – for a meal. So here’s what I came up with:


 


Sticky Chicken



2 tsp fresh ginger, grated or chopped very fine
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbs ketchup
1 tbs cider vinegar
2/3 cup apple cider (you could use juice too)
1 tbs soya sauce
2 tbs garlic olive oil*

 


Combine all the ingredients in a small pot and simmer for about 20 minutes. Let cool.


Add chicken (dark meat: Pieces, legs and thighs, whatever is your preference) to a plastic bag and pour in half the above sauce to marinate. Leave overnight or at least 4 hours.


Warm garlic oil in skillet. Add chicken with marinating sauce to the pan, stirring often so the meat doesn’t stick to the pan. As the sauce thickens, add a little more from the reserve until all the sauce you made is used up.


Serve with rice. (You can use plain white rice, or wait for the Caribbean Fried Rice coming in a couple of weeks.)


 


*I make my own garlic oil by filling a small jar with olive oil and adding two smashed cloves of garlic. I make sure to use it up weekly so it stays fresh. I don’t make too much at once. It’s always easy to add a little more oil to get through the week.


 


 

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Published on March 08, 2016 23:37

March 7, 2016

Suicide Isn’t the “Easy Way Out”

Suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death for all ages in the U.S. with a suicide occurring every 13 minutes. So in the time it takes me to do this rant, someone else will have died by their own hand. Suicide claims twice the number of lives as armed conflict. And among 15-24 year olds, suicide is the second leading cause of death accounting for almost a quarter of all deaths. You don’t this this is a crisis?


While depression is often seen as a “woman’s” illness, suicide among men is 4 times higher than among women. What’s even more heart-wrenching is that one in 100,000 children age 10-14 commits suicide each year. Our babies are killing themselves and we’re doing an damn awful job of getting a handle on this problem.


This isn’t just a North American problem. The U.S. shows up 50th on the list of suicide by country. So there are 49 other countries with higher suicide rates. Holy Hannah!


So if this is such a huge problem, if more people die by suicide than from breast cancer why don’t we have the same kind of effort being put out to help deal with this? If more people die from suicide than from natural disaster, why are we pretending this is same-old, same-old? And if more people die from suicide than from homicide, why do we have a state-paid investigative unit for murder and so little effort going to mental health?


Perhaps part of the problem is that we don’t want to talk about it. Suicide is mentioned in whispered tones. Depression is seen as a character defect. And along with other illnesses like bi-polar disorder and anxiety disorder, it’s not a real sickness anyway, right? Those people just need to get a grip on their lives.


When I tell people I’m a depressive they gasp. But you’re such a happy person, Gail, they say to me. Listen, depression is not the same as sadness. But it is our use of these two words as synonyms that may be part of the problem. I can be sad without being depressed. When my last marriage ended I was sad. When my best friend died, I was sad. When I had to leave the great group of people I worked with on set, I was sad.


When I was depressed I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t make a decision to save my life, I couldn’t cope with the barrage of thoughts that kept running through my head. I remember taking my children to school one day, and returning home, I sat on the bottom step of the staircase trying to decide what to do next. I was still there when it was time to go pick the kids up. That’s depression.


Depression is pain. Depression is an inability to see clearly because everything is shrouded in grey. Depression is all consuming. When someone finally takes their own life, it’s not a cry for help or the act of a chicken. It is the final step to end the pain. And until we get that through to the people who have never experienced depression, we’ll keep blaming the problem on the people who have killed themselves.


We know the need to survive is a strong one. People will go to extraordinary lengths to keep themselves alive. So when someone kills themselves, you have to know the pain was so huge it overcame the natural instinct for survival. It was the only remaining option.


Sometimes people kill themselves because they’re getting better. In the worst of their depression they had neither the energy nor the will power to plan their suicide. But as they begin to lift out of the fog, they get just motivated enough to ensure they never have to experience that kind of pain again.


Depression is an illness. Suicide is the result of that illness. And if you’re thinking to yourself, “Hey, I’m okay Jack,” watch out. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association, 1 in 5 people in Canada will experience mental health issues in their lifetime. Think about people you know and love. If it isn’t you, it’ll be one or more of them. You better start talking about it.

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Published on March 07, 2016 23:35

March 3, 2016

Life Isn’t a Straight Line

Lots of people are under the misconception that getting from here to there is a straight line. Sure, that’s the shortest path but it isn’t the only path, and setting that high an expectation can be self-defeating.


You may have decided to live within your means, get rid of your debt, or build up a savings pool to buy a home. You’ve laid your plan. You know what you have to do. But, damn, life just seems to keep getting in the way. That’s when you have to remember that getting from where you are now to where you want to be is not a straight line.


While you may be eager to start along the road, and full of the excitement of finally reaching your destination, thinking the road is a straight and smooth is unfair to yourself and your goals. If each time something comes along to push you off your path you see it as an affront, you’ll get frustrated and angry. You may even give up.


Sure, you may not have done all the things you were so enthusiastically determined to do when you got started but you’ve done something, and you should be proud.


Don’t beat yourself up over what you haven’t accomplished. That’s demoralizing and counter-productive. Focus on what you have achieved. And even if it is taking a little longer than you imagined, don’t sweat it.


In fact, knowing you’re only human, you should expect lapses and plan for them. Failure, after all, isn’t tripping and falling. That happens to the best of us. Failure is staying down. Having the tenacity to get back up, the determination to pick up, brush off and get moving again, now that’s really something to be proud of. So accept that there will be stumbles and have a plan for how you’ll refocus and get moving again.


No matter how disappointed you may be in your recent actions and how off course you’ve gone, look at that disappointment as a kick in the pants, not as a reason to give up. Your goal hasn’t changed, right? So being temporarily sidetracked just means you’ll have to redouble your determination to move forward. Give yourself a hug and get going.


Make sure that as you move forward, you don’t view what you’re doing as “punishment” for the mistakes that you’ve made. Rather, it should be “desire” to have what you want next. If you take the attitude, “Well, I can’t buy anything for a million years because I have to pay off all that debt I racked up,” you’re much more likely to fall off the path. Instead say: “I’m going to consciously cut way back on my spending so I can pay off this first credit card within the next three months.” Now you’re moving towards something positive.


Looking at the small successes you’ve achieved will help to keep you motivated. “Yes, I fell off my budget when I went out for dinner with the girls, but I’ve not spent my clothing budget yet, so I’ll move that around, and come out even in the end.” Or “I did it, I paid off that first credit card balance. Now I can snowball that amount to my next debt.” Celebrating successful completion of each step sets you up for a series of successes.


It helps if you find a way to remind yourself of how great you felt when you made the decision to get from here to there. Having a picture of your goal up on the fridge, creating a goal board, or charting your successes can help. So too can choosing a reward you’ll give yourself when you achieve your goal, and measuring how much closer you are to that reward. Perhaps once you have 1/3 of your debt paid off you’ll take a day off just for you: get up a little later, have lunch with a friend, go for a swim, make yourself a special treat. Or you’ll give yourself a Movie Monday, forgoing chores for a marathon of rented movies you’ve been dying to watch.


Remember, lapses don’t mean you’ve failed, that you’re an idiot, or that you’re a loser. They simply mean you’re human. Give yourself a kiss. Then figure out what you’re going to do to make up for your detour.


 


 

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Published on March 03, 2016 23:27

This & That: Kitchen Sink Edition  

T Wrote: The company I work for will be closing early next year and I will be laid off either right before or just after my mortgage comes up for renewal. My husband and I have had our mortgage with the same lending institution for the past 15 years (since we bought the house). If I have received notice from my employer about my impending lay off before I go in to renegotiate with this lender am I required to disclose that info? (i.e. I would still be working and receiving income at the time of renewal.) In the scenario where I have would already be laid off at the time of renegotiation is it likely that we will be denied even though I would be receiving Employment Insurance benefits? (And my husband also has a job) To me, that would seem unfair because I will probably literally have just been laid off in this scenario, without much time to look for another job.


Gail Says: If you’re shopping for a new mortgage you have to give all the detail of employment. If you’re renewing, you’ll likely just get a notice in the mail and have to choose your term, but you won’t have any “negotiating” room. 


 


S Wrote:   My husband will be starting a new job next week with a very nice pay increase. In the past, he took a 2nd job to pay off a consolidation loan but had to pay income taxes at the end of the year, the next year, he did put extra RRSP thinking not to pay but never put enough as he paid taxes for the next 4 years. Anyways, that’s all paid off now but I’m afraid that might happened again with his increase. Is there any way to know how much $$$ he should put in RRSP NOT to pay taxes again? New salary: $58000 and puts $170/month in RRSP now


Gail Says: You don’t say what province you’re in so I’m going to base this on Ontario, which is where I am. On his $58,000 in income, he’ll pay about $11,000 in income tax (joint fed and provincial). As long as they’re taking enough off at source, he shouldn’t have a tax bill. If you want to reduce the amount of tax he pays, an RSP is a good idea. That $170 a month in contributions right now will mean an annual contribution of $2040, which will reduce his taxes by about $600 for the year. If he up his RRSP contribution to $300 a month, he’d shave just over $1000 off his taxes. Here is a fab calculator you can use to do the calculations for yourself: http://lsminsurance.ca/calculators/canada/income-tax  


 


S Wrote: Love all of your shows and watch them regularly…repeats included! My partner and I are at odds as to which way to go with this problem. I am 66 and she is 64 and we’ve been together for 40 years so there is little danger of a breakup in the relationship. I am fully retired as of June 30, 2014 and she will retire at the end of 2016. Between our two pensions (HOOPP) and CPP etc. our monthly income will be approximately $9000. What is our problem you are asking (LOL)! Well, it is this. We have a Credit Line balance of about $50000 and we have $64000 in our Tax Free Savings Accounts. I want to pay off the debt but my partner says we have more than enough to continue paying off the Credit Line and leave the TFSAs alone. I see her point but hate the thought of both of us retired and still owing money…you never know when things could change. We own our townhouse and have other investments too so we are doing well. Any advice?


Gail Says: Your partner is right from strictly a mathematical point of view. But your concerns are also valid since emotion plays a big part in feeling “safe.” Why not take the middle road: use half your TFSA money to pay down your debt, but keep your debt repayment amount the same so you get that line paid off licketysplit. Once the line is gone, take the same payment amount and recontribute it to your TFSAs until you are caught up again. You’ll save scads in interest, keep enough in your TFSAs for any caca that might come along and serve both your needs.


N Wrote: My husband and I have a mortgage of $350,000. We have a small car loan and no other debt. We were advised 5 years ago to put critical illness insurance on our mortgage which costs $200.00 per month. We currently have approx. 15 years left on the mortgage as we increase our payments on a weekly basis. We both have good jobs with long term disability coverage and strong pensions. We are not risk takers, but perhaps feel the $200 per month would be better paying down the mortgage more quickly. Just wondering what you think?


Gail Says: Banks make a crap-load of money off their insurance products. They are one of the worst purchases you can make since they cost up to 3x more than buying private insurance. If it were my money, I’d cancel the critical illness insurance and plop the extra $200 a month against the mortgage.


 


A Wrote: I love that you found the appropriate media formats to get your message across to everyone. If they don’t hear you on the radio, they can see you on TV, and if they miss you there, you can always be read in your publications. You are the “Queen of All Media.” So much so, that when planning things around my money, I hear you in my head.


I am very Money Stupid though and am quite embarrassed about it. I need some advice of how to handle a situation I got myself into, that may come naturally to most. My Partner suffered a set-back and began working again, at a fraction of his former income. He accumulated some debt with the government, tax related and was looking for some assistance, as he wasn’t getting any from his bank.


I have been employed with the same government job for almost 27 years, and bank with the local Credit Union. I received notices from my Credit Union, that I qualified for this and that from time to time, so my partner asked that I apply for a Line of Credit. We did, online for $15,000.


Everything gets a little confusing, on the Credit Union’s part, after that. I had to contact them a month later, as I hadn’t heard anything, only to find out they hadn’t even received my application. So I asked them to proceed and waited over a week, and had to contact them again, just to find out I got accepted, and had to come in to sign paperwork.


When I arrived, nothing was ready and I sat there as they clicked on the computer for 20 minutes. Then I had to sign here, sign there, here, there etc. any questions??? I left thinking I would read up on everything when I got home and ask questions later, as I couldn’t repeat anything she had mentioned, only 5 minutes ago.


My partner and I went online to my Credit Union Account to see how it was laid out as I had no idea how to access the Line of Credit. I mentioned putting it into my Checking Account for now, if they could, as my paycheques are deposited there.


Well we found out that I had received a Loan for $15,000. Laid out over 36 months at 7 %, and then almost $2,000 in Insurance Coverage tacked on. Life, Disability and Critical Illness.


Am I best to keep the Loan the way it is, keep the loan and cancel the Insurance, or should I/can I, cancel the loan and just get a Line of Credit period?


Gail Says: You should insist on what you asked for and you should raise a rip-roaring hell over a) their unprofessionalism and b) their claim that their clients are so important to them. This is the credit unions point of differentiation: that they really listen. Doesn’t sound like it to me. Shame on you for not reading the paperwork though. Why would you think they wouldn’t try to put something past you? Every financial institution in Canada is only as good as its worst employee. Go right back, demand to speak to the manager, repay the loan, insist any interest or insurance premiums be cancelled and tell them you’ll take your business elsewhere if they don’t give you the service they purport to give.


 


On another note, why are you applying for a line of credit? If it’s just to have credit available, that’s a bad reason. If you need an emergency fund, save one. If your partner wants credit, tell him or her to get it in their own name. These products act like quicksand and quickly drag people under.


 


 


A Wrote: I enjoy reading your books and looking forward to many more! I have become more knowledgeable in my personal finance through your easy to read books.


My question is regarding “Charitable Donations.” It was introduced to us by our Financial Advisor (FA). We got involved in two of them many years ago. It gave me a wake-up call when we received CRA’s letters stating that my husband (he was involved in one) and I, were being audited.


Each time we received a letter, I informed my FA and he reassured me that it’s ok. He sent me a Notice of Objection to complete and to be sent to CRA.


This has been going on for the last 5 years and the amount owing ($42K) and my husband ($5K) is hanging over my head and making me sick to my stomach as the interest is just climbing higher and higher.


I am with another FA who represents a Credit Union bank. I recently asked him if it’s better to pay off this HUGE debt with our TFSA high savings accounts ($15K) and unregistered Mutual Funds (FL and DSC) (about $15K). He stated that it was not a good idea because I should take advantage of a line of credit as the rates are pretty low right now. He is saying the Funds are getting a better return (5-7%) and if I take it out, then, I will be paying the capital gains. What is your take on this?


Gail Says: Shame on your FA for putting you into a tough spot with the tax man. When we rely on FAs, we expect them to be advising from a place of knowledge. As for whether you should cash out investments to settle up with the tax man, first I’d make sure you actually owe the money. So you need to go to a reputable accountant who can give you the right advice about what to do next. If the money is payable, then you must pay it off as soon as you can. And if you must sell investments to get out of the hole.


 

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Published on March 03, 2016 00:03

March 2, 2016

Book, Books, Books

A Long Time gone by Karen White is all about Vivien Walker who left home in the Mississippi Delta swearing she’d never to go back. Well so much for that. Nine years later Vivien is back, fleeing a broken marriage. She’s running to the arms of “Bootsie”, her grandmother who raised her, to make everything all right. But iBootsie is dead and instead Vivien finds her mother with whom she’s had a very difficult relationship. And then there’s the fact that her mom is suffering dementia. The icing on the cake: a huge storm uncovers a long-dead woman buried close to her home. What secret lies in those bones and what will they mean for Vivien.


I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes is a terrific thriller. When a young woman is murdered in a sleazebag motel, she can’t be identified. Her features have been dissolve by acid. How that’s connected to a public execution and the smoldering remains on a remote mountainside in Afghanistan is at the core of this plot to commit a horrible crime. Terry Hayes takes his time to set up the story and unveil the characters. If it feels a little slow or disjointed at first, hang in there, it’s great. Lots of gotchas and a breakneck pace as the story heats up and heads to the finish line.


Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson is a deeply disturbing story of a girl who wakes up every morning not knowing where she is or who the man lying beside her is. Even the face in the mirror is unfamiliar to Christine who is suffering from the inability to lay down new memories after a terrible accidents twenty years before. When Dr. Nash calls her and tells her about her hidden journal, she begins to get flashes from her former life. With each reading of the journal Christine begins to relearn the facts of her life. But why do her memories differ from the stories her husband, Ben, tells her? Where is her best friend? And what exactly was her accident? This is a thriller that truly thrills… and chills. Since this is the first book by SJ Watson I can hardly wait to see what comes next.


My Own Miraculous by Joshilyn Jackson is actually a short-story but no less a delight. Shandi got pregnant at 17 and when her son was born she fell for him hook, line and sinker. It happens. Four years later, still living with mom and dad who pay her bills and cook her breakfast, Shandi comes to suspect that a stranger’s interest in her savant son may be putting her darling boy at risk. She’s got to figure out how to protect him. Despite being a short story, the character development is strong. And if you fall in love with Shandi and her son Natty, you can spend more time with them in the novel that follows called Someone Else’s Love Story, which I also thoroughly enjoyed.


Lord of All Things by Adreas Eschbach translated by Samuel Wilcocks follows the lives of Charlotte and Hiroshi who meet when they are children and continue to move in and out of each other’s lives all the way to the end of the book. But this isn’t a traditional love story. This is story about a brilliant geek who may save the world and the girl he can never forget. With lots of plot twists, it keeps you on the hook to the very end.


Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson was another delight by a lovely writer of good chick lit. This story is all about Arlene who is carrying a secret so desperate that she’s made a deal with God. She won’t mess around with boys or tell another lie, and she won’t go home, if the Almighty keeps her secret hidden. And then there’s Burr, her black boyfriend who wants to meet her very white family. Confronting her redneck roots seems to be inevitable for Arlene as is facing her demons. The characters are great, the writing funny. As I said before, a delight.


 

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Published on March 02, 2016 00:01

February 29, 2016

Mother Links

Mothers and their children are connected not only psychologically but also physically. Research shows that even after we’ve cut the cord mothers continue to carry the cells of their babies. And the cells of mothers, and of siblings previously carried, inhabit the bones and brains of subsequent children.


How far back does this cell-sharing — it’s actually called fetal-maternal microchimerism — go? Who knows. Your mother had her mother’s cells, and your grandmother had her mother’s cells… so… well, potentially a long way back.


Scientists are just beginning to study this phenomenon. What they’ve found so far is that in a study of women who had died in their 70s over half of the women had male DNA — presumably from their sons — in their brains. Finding a son’s residual DNA in mothers is easier than looking for a daughter’s DNA; imagine how much higher the number would be if we also counted daughters’ DNA.


Those fetal cells don’t just live in mother’s brains, they’re in their blood too. When studying women who were potential stem cell donors researchers found male DNA, which may make parents better donor candidates for their children than strangers.


Still other studies have found fetal cells in a mothers’ bones, liver, and lungs. Yup, those little buggers just find a warm place and cuddle in. The good news is that these fetal cells may possess the ability to turn into lots of different kinds of cells and may be able to help repair a damaged heart, liver or thyroid.


The news isn’t all positive; these same cells also seem to play a role in autoimmune disorders. In fact, fetal cells are suspects in a wide range of afflictions, including morning sickness and postpartum depression. Even early onset menopause might be fetal cell efforts to secure the most resources.


We used to think of cell traffic as travelling on a one-way street: from mother to child. But these new discoveries show that fetal cells cross the placental barrier and can not only affect the health of the mother but of subsequent children.

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Published on February 29, 2016 23:59

Gail Vaz-Oxlade's Blog

Gail Vaz-Oxlade
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