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New survey data, just released in the US, finds that it is a good time to be over 65 or younger than 30 – but not such a great time to be somewhere in the middle.

The New York Times today reported data from the Pew Research Center which finds that senior citizens have generally been protected from the effects of the recession in the US, as have younger adults.

“The most vivid finding to emerge from this survey is that older Americans — most of whom have already retired and downsized their lifestyles — have been far better insulated from the current storm than those who need to worry about keeping their jobs and building up diminished retirement accounts,” write Rich Morin and Paul Taylor of Pew Research in their report “Not your Grandfather’s Recession – Literally.”

This finding holds true in Canada, as well. Recently-released consumer data from ad agency Bensimon Byrne (in their quarterly Consumerology report) show that while a national “culture of thrift” has emerged for Canadians, Read the rest of this entry »

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lingerie-300

Here’s a secret: your finances are like your lingerie. How so?

In the next four posts, I’m going to give you four principles for understanding how your approach to lingerie and your approach to your finances are related.

I’ve also thrown in four secrets of financial planning designed to, well, uplift and support you in this area of life.

Principle 1: Just like your lingerie, your finances are intimate.

Our current environment is one in which almost anything is fair game for public display and comment. But even in an era of persistent, pervasive TMI (”too much information” - when everyone knows Britney Spears’…um, Read the rest of this entry »

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This week, the following questions have come into my virtual mailbag:

  • I split up with my common-law husband, and so I filed my tax return as “single.” I noticed this changed the amount of Canada Child Tax Benefit I receive. Is what I did right?
  • My husband and I have a lot of debt. But we haven’t taken a family vacation in a few years, and now that we have started budgeting, I’d like to include an allocation for a modest vacation once a year. Is it OK for us to budget for a family vacation even though we have outstanding debt to pay off?
  • What is a business number and do I need to register one? When do I need a GST number?
  • What do others do with the Child Tax benefit? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to putting it into an account in the child’s name? Would it be better to have the CCTB deposited into an RESP, tax-free savings account or something different? I’m looking for a way to save for her future that will maximize her options, in terms of how she can spend the money. What do others do?

We will get to each of those questions in turn. But in the meantime, this is my announcement that your questions about any aspect of your financial life are welcome here. What’s on your mind? What do you need to know?

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The Vanier Institute of the Family, a national, non-partisan research and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the well-being of Canadian families, has published a research report on the financial health of Canada’s families each year for the past ten years.

Readers of The Wealthy Baker may be unlikely to see their families reflected in the 2008 report’s findings, which are drawn from up-to-date census and other data, and reflect national averages, not any one individual family. Nonetheless, I thought it might be interesting to provide a “snapshot” of family financial health across Canada. Where does your family fit?

Read the rest of this entry »

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