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S C

Youth unemployment: a serious problem in Canada - Yahoo! Finance Canada - 1 views

ca.finance.yahoo.com/...-problem-canada-182837006.html

youth unemployment canada yahoofinance

shared by S C on 16 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Canadian job market is faring well unless you're a student seeking well-paying summer work or a graduate
  • Canada's total jobless rate currently sits at an acceptable 7.4 per cent. But for those in the 15- to 24-age bracket, the unemployment figure is much higher: 14.7 per cent.
  • Typically, youth unemployment is double that of the national average
  • ...24 more annotations...
  • the obstacles youth must overcome to finding gainful employment — be it temporary summer work or a permanent position — has never been more daunting.
  • the youth are always the hardest hit and they take the longest time to get out from under the recession impact on employment.
  • There's just not enough (jobs) to go around. So if students aren't out there early and aggressively they won't get one
  • f you've graduated (from college or university) and you want to start paying off your (student loan) debt and get on with your life, it's very difficult to do that on a part-time job."
  • "There's a lot of part-time activity happening but i
  • Parents would've expected their 20-something children to be independent but they're just not able to do that
  • "Hopefully, both parents are working and they're able to stay at home but for a lot of young people that's just not possible."
  • in big cities like Toronto, there are more youth seeking out homeless shelters
  • Job experience tends to be the biggest hurdle for the 15- to 24-year-old age group when it comes to impressing an employer.
  • "There are a lot of youth that are still demanding that they get paid for entry-level work assignments. I think that that is a bad choice for youth.
  • The first couple of jobs they do by way of an unpaid intern gives them a leg up," Parker says.
  • Many of those unpaid intern programs end up as full-time, paying careers for them and every major employer across the country has dedicated unpaid intern programs.
  • Work experience is absolutely critical. No matter what you graduated with, if you don't have real work experience you're going to have a challenge."
  • Meanwhile, there's little help coming from provincial and the federal government these days it seems. Austerity budgets at the both government levels are seeing civil servants laid off.
  • there's no encouragement at this point by the federal government for the private sector to do job creation (for youth).
  • What you study can be the difference
  • If young people choose to go the route of college, they can get excellent job skills and they have a higher placement rate directly from college into work.
  • current and future post-secondary students need to take a hard look at what their course of study is and whether or not it'll lead to employment upon graduation.
  • "When I talk to high school teachers and guidance councillors about the kind of programs being offered to youth talk about 'what's your dream job?' versus educating kids on what jobs will be available to them," she says.
  • Know how to sell yourself
  • the secret to landing a job is in knowing how to sell oneself.
  • "You have to be as competitive as someone who's been in the job market for 10 years," she says. "You've got to know how to do a job search, how to write a résumé, and you need to convince the employer that even though you haven't done a job before that you're a quick-learner and you're creative."
  • *Target respected employers that best matches your skill set
  • *Offer to do free summer work for the sake of gaining experience and don't be picky about what's offered *When applying to post-secondary institutions, choose schools that provide intern programs *Be knowledgeable about where employment demand will be in the future and ensure your skills are also in demand
  • S C on 16 Jan 13
     
    Youth unemployment is high because of little or no job experience, type of major isn't in demand, and not knowing how to sell oneself, which causes problems like 20 year old people living with their parents
lebiez piranaj

Car loans drive Canadian consumer debt to record high $26,768 - The Globe and Mail - 2 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article5248875

consumer debt auto loans higher

shared by lebiez piranaj on 18 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Canadian consumer debt hit a record high in the third quarter, driven by loans to purchase new cars
  • The average Canadian’s non-mortgage debt reached $26,768 in the third quarter
  • fastest pace of debt accumulation in nearly two years
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • ransUnion said Wednesday that consumer debt in the third quarter increased at its fastest rate since the end of 2010, jumping 4.6 per cent on an annual basis and 2.1 per cent from the previous quarter
  • the debt levels are certainly moving in the wrong direction
  • Auto borrowing debt climbed 11.25 per cent from a year earlier and 1.84 per cent from the previous quarter
  • One possible reason, Mr. Higgins said, is that during the recession, Canadians held off getting new cars and paid off their leases, driving auto loans lower
  • people have started thinking that it is time to get a new car
  • “Today, people can carry this debt, but if we do get a big shock, like higher interest rates or job losses, then we will get hit.”
  • lebiez piranaj on 18 Jan 13
     
    The article mentions about how auto loans have increased substantially in the past few years and that this may be because auto loans have lower interest rates. But it also mentions that the economy is recovering and another hit could affect us because we are borrowing so much. 
S C

As consumer debt grows, Mark Carney says ready to act if necessary | Debt | Personal Fi... - 1 views

business.financialpost.com/...ns-deeper-in-debt-than-thought

consumer debt personal finance

shared by S C on 16 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • emerging
  • While consumers are still spending and loading up more debt, Canadian corporate leaders are pulling back on their business plans because of weak global economic growth
  • debt-to-income ratio rose to 163.4%
  • ...9 more annotations...
  • Household debt is viewed as the biggest threat to the Canadian economy
  • much of that acquired through low mortgages rates
  • Monday’s survey showed 44% of companies plan to increase employment levels over the same period — compared to 59% in July — while 18% said those levels would decline.
  • That rate continued to rise to another record high in the first half of 2012, the federal agency said. In 2011, the ratio of household debt to income was 161.7%, up from 150.6%, under a new system of economic accounting adapted by agency.
  • Firms are generally more circumspect about near-term investment decisions and are focusing on minimizing costs,
  • ost businesses are evenly split at 35% between faster and slower sales growth expectations
  • In its autumn Business Outlook Survey, the central bank said companies “have tempered their expectations for business activity.”
  • Canadian households are continuing to pile on debt at a record pace, while corporate leaders are pulling back on their business plans because of weak global economic growth and uncertain demand.
  • While Canada’s economy is being affected by the global angst, the key areas of uncertainty abroad are all points of justifiable confidence here at home
  • S C on 18 Jan 13
     
    Consumer debt is becoming a larger threat to the Canadian economy as a whole. Meanwhile, businesses stopped expanding due to weak global growth.
Cristina Raileanu

Paying down debt Canadians' main focus in 2013: poll - The Globe and Mail - 1 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article6841809

down paying debt

shared by Cristina Raileanu on 17 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Managing day-to-day spending/budgeting came in third, selected by eight per cent of respondents and down from 14 per cent last year.
  • 45-64 named retirement planning as their top financial priority, which fell to just 12 per cent among that age group in this year’s survey.
  • “Even small contributions today can make it easier in future years to reach your retirement savings goals,”
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • debt management increased as a priority for that age group to 18 per cent from 14 per cent.
S C

7 Tips for Avoiding a Lifetime of Debt | PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - 2 views

www.pickthebrain.com/...or-avoiding-a-lifetime-of-debt

tips avoiding debt

shared by S C on 18 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Buy what you need
  • The $70 dollar test
  • If you have a real problem with excess spending, try this test. For a week, give yourself $70 cash, and put away all credit cards. This forces you to live on $10 a day. When you are faced with a strict income, it forces you to be very careful in what you spend. It will make you realise what is really indispensable and which spending is mere extravagance.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • For example, maybe you get two takeaway coffees per day and one pastry. This can easily add upto $15 a day, which is nearly $100 a week – that’s $5000 a year! We may be reluctant to spend $2000 on a computer because it is a big outlay. But, at the start of the year, would we be so keen to put aside a lump sum of $5000 just for the purchase of coffee and pastries
  • It is easy to forget how much we spend. For example, with credit cards we don’t see the money leave our wallet so it, somehow, seems less real
  • Quite often, by taking these steps we realize our previous spending habits were not at all essential to our happiness.
  • spend some time to learn about the workings of financial issues
  • Make sure you move the debt to the lowest interest paying account possible
  • By keeping interest payments as low as possible, it enables you to pay money to reducing the amount of debt, rather than just paying interest.
  • Spending does not equal happiness
  • If you rely on spending money to gain happiness, you need to think very carefully about whether this is a good way to get satisfaction in life. This is not to say shopping is always bad; the point is that spending money does not equate to real happiness.
  • S C on 18 Jan 13
     
    Some ways to deal with debt are limiting yourself, thinking before spending (do I really this?), using cash instead of credit cards and getting educated about finance to minimize debt when it has to be paid.
S C

Government finance suyang netan - 6 views

http://www.shawconnect.ca/NewsArticle/Money/6442516329_182/Cost_of_Canada_F-35_jets_to_soar,_Ottawa_eyes_alternatives_CTV_network/story.aspx Q1 How would buying these expensive jets affect the Can...

Government finance

started by S C on 12 Dec 12 no follow-up yet
A SN

The Wrong Inequality - NYTimes.com - 2 views

www.nytimes.com/...ooks-the-wrong-inequality.html

Article Regarding the Topic of Inequality

shared by A SN on 21 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • Blue Inequality
    • A SN
      A SN on 21 Nov 12
       
      One type of inequality.
  • Red Inequality
  • It’s between those with a college degree and those without.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Roughly 31 percent started or manage nonfinancial businesses. About 16 percent are doctors, 14 percent are in finance, 8 percent are lawyers, 5 percent are engineers and about 2 percent are in sports, entertainment or the media.
  • people similar to yourself, who may have gone to the same college, who are earning much more while benefiting from low tax rates, wielding disproportionate political power, gaining in prestige and contributing seemingly little to the social good.
  • New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, Houston and the District of Columbia.
  • Moreover, college graduates have become good at passing down advantages to their children. If you are born with parents who are college graduates, your odds of getting through college are excellent. If you are born to high school grads, your odds are terrible.
  • more likely to get married, they are much less likely to get divorced and they are much, much less likely to have a child out of wedlock. Today, college grads are much less likely to smoke than high school grads, they are less likely to be obese, they are more likely to be active in their communities, they have much more social trust, they speak many more words to their children at home.
  • But the fact is that Red Inequality is much more important. The zooming wealth of the top 1 percent is a problem, but it’s not nearly as big a problem as the tens of millions of Americans who have dropped out of high school or college. It’s not nearly as big a problem as the 40 percent of children who are born out of wedlock. It’s not nearly as big a problem as the nation’s stagnant human capital, its stagnant social mobility and the disorganized social fabric for the bottom 50 percent.
  • That’s because the protesters and media people who cover them tend to live in or near the big cities, where the top 1 percent is so evident
  • If your ultimate goal is to reduce inequality, then you should be furious at the doctors, bankers and C.E.O.’s. If your goal is to expand opportunity, then you have a much bigger and different agenda
  • A SN on 21 Nov 12
     
    Questions 1. Why does this article relate to economics? Honestly, why should we as economists really care about this matter? 2. Inequality is not only found in America, so how can American inequalities be compared to other inequalities found in the world? (This can include gender, race, geographical location, history, and more)
  • Valentina Padure on 28 Nov 12
     
    1. This article relates to economics because it discusses red and blue inequalities that exist and these are economic principles that economists need to pay attention to. The economy is based on efficiency and in order to be efficient economists have to take into consideration all types of inequalities that exist 2. An inequality is an unequal difference between two things, this article recognizes the inequality between the rich and the poor, or as they call it the red and blue inequality. Another type of inequality is gender inequality. In some countries girls are not allowed to go to school with the boys, and girls typically don't have the same rights as boys.
Ms Cuttle

Are Canada's financial institutions in perfect shape? Don't bank on it - Business - Mac... - 1 views

www2.macleans.ca/...dont-bank-on-it-2

finance financial crisis

shared by Ms Cuttle on 16 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • Less than 24 hours after Lagarde put down her dessert fork, debt rating agency Moody’s put six of Canada’s biggest banks under review for a possible ratings downgrade, citing high consumer debt levels and a frothy housing market.
  • Household debt-to-income ratios now stand at 163 per cent, higher than in the United States before its housing crash and up from 147 per cent two years ago.
  • RBC last week revealed plans to spend $1.4 billion to buy auto lender Ally Financial while TD said it was buying retailer Target’s credit card business. The Bank of Nova Scotia also recently purchased the online bank ING Direct for $3.1 billion.
  • Ms Cuttle on 16 Nov 12
     
    Should Canadians be worried about the financial stability of our banks?
Brijesh Patel

Canadian consumer debt soars 53 per cent - 1 views

ca.finance.yahoo.com/...ars-53-per-cent-155008666.html

consumer debt

shared by Brijesh Patel on 26 Nov 12 - No Cached
  • Brijesh Patel on 26 Nov 12
     
    - In the past 5 years, consumer debt has increased by 53% - The most borrowing occurring in the two years right after the global financial crisis. - Canada's household debt to income ration jumped to 163.4% - Canada's debt-to-income ratio has now reached a record high, topping levels seen in the U.S - Currently, the Canadian housing market is in a state of decline, with home sales dropping 15 per cent in September.
  • Brijesh Patel on 27 Nov 12
     
    #2 what is causing the debt ratio to increase drastically ?
Brijesh Patel

Drowning In Debt? - 2 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article7354916

shared by Brijesh Patel on 17 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Some basic tips: “Don’t add any more to your debt,” Mr. Schwartz said, “Put your credit cards away. Stop using your line of credit. Live on cash or debit.”
  • Canadian borrowing levels have hit record levels, with household debt-to-income ratio recently reaching a high of 164.6 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
  • But consulting a trustee, which comes with no charge, doesn’t always mean filing for bankruptcy, he explained. Trustees can help set budgets, steer consumers toward consolidation loans, mortgage refinancing or consumer proposals as a way to climb out of debt, he said.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Pay down the debt with the biggest interest rate first, or select a small debt, and pay it off.
  • Brijesh Patel on 18 Jan 13
     
    Pay down the debt with the biggest interest rate first
  • Brijesh Patel on 18 Jan 13
     
    In 2011, 77,993 consumers filed for bankruptcy
lebiez piranaj

Even Boomers are getting pummeled by student loan debt | Business Insider | Financial Post - 1 views

business.financialpost.com/...-pummeled-by-student-loan-debt

boomers student loan business debt

shared by lebiez piranaj on 17 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Americans over 60 still owe 4.2% of student loan debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  • Ten per cent of those loans are delinquent, while another 11.2% are in default.
  • Three factors account for the loans: Attending college after high school, going back as an adult, or co-signing for a child’s loans
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • Stay organized
  • The government’s National Student Loan Data System tracks all your federal student loans, making it just a bit easier to stay on top of what (and who) you owe money to
  • See if you qualify for debt forgiveness
  • Have a talk with your lender
  • Consolidate monthly payments
  • consolidating the loans might make things easier—that is, if you don’t choose a predatory service
  • Pay off private student loans first
  • Private student loans almost always have higher interest rates and less repayment flexibility, so it’s best to address them first, says Miranda Marquit, personal finance writer for Yielding Wealth
  • Depending on your professional field, you could qualify to have part or all of your federal student loans erased
  • If you’re having trouble keeping your head above water, just calling your lender could cut hundreds of dollars from your monthly tab
lebiez piranaj

What are some good reasons to borrow money? - The Globe and Mail - 1 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article4184887

tips saving money debt

shared by lebiez piranaj on 18 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • 2. Buy a car
  • Some people pay cash for a car, but most of us borrow or lease. Always weigh the cost of borrowing against using your own savings.
  • 3. Save for education
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Student loans are one of the cheapest forms of debt. They are also a good investment
  • Another way to finance part of your child's education is through a Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP)
  • 7. Pay off debt at a lower interest rate
  • A consolidation loan is a loan at a low rate, which you use to pay off several older loans that have higher interest rates
  • Others pay off their loans and credit cards by increasing their mortgage, which may have a low interest rate.
  • lebiez piranaj on 18 Jan 13
     
    The article talks about strategies on how to save for things like education, on saving for a car, how to pay off your debt at lower rates as well. 
Brijesh Patel

Bank of Canada flags lenders' role in consumer debt - 1 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...article6930721

debt

shared by Brijesh Patel on 16 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • Canadian families owe nearly $1.65 on average for every dollar of after-tax income, the highest level in 22 years of tracking those figures.
  • the government would no longer insure mortgages that are amortized over a period longer than 25 years.
  • fierce competition for customers caused some major banks to begin offering five-year mortgages at 2.99 per cent, triggering a price war in the sector.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • You should be cautious about your lending practices, because this is the type of practice that led to a mortgage crisis in the United States several years ago,
  • Statistics Canada saying in December that the most recent data suggest Canadian families owe nearly $1.65 on average for every dollar of after-tax income.
  • physically present also have a greater proportion of consumers with too much de
  • The Bank of Canada has been scrutinizing whether competition among
  • The governing council was told about the role that discounting plays in how much individuals pay for their mortgage and notes that there is “substantial dispersion in rates across people, institutions, and markets.”
  • Brijesh Patel on 18 Jan 13
     
    Funding costs rose dramatically during the financial crisis when liquidity dried up, pushing up the costs of consumer and business loans Finance Minister Jim Flaherty tightened the rules on mortgages for a fourth time in four years, saying the government would no longer insure mortgages that are amortized over a period longer than 25 years "Neighbourhoods with more bank branches and payday lenders per capita (i.e. more competition) have looser lending standards (higher leveraged households) and experience greater bankruptcies"
S C

Canadian consumer debt level reaches record high | Debt | Personal Finance | Financial ... - 4 views

business.financialpost.com/...ing-more-debt-than-ever-before

canadian debt consumer

shared by S C on 15 Jan 13 - No Cached
  • In the July-September period, households borrowed $27.3-billion, $18.4-billion of that in mortgages, while consumer credit levels increased by $7-billion to $474-billion.
  • “Given the prospects that interest rates will eventually rise, households must cool their spending and borrowing further.”
  • household debt to annual disposable income reached a new high at 164.6%
  • Nikita Klyuev on 17 Jan 13
     
    The new report shows household debt to annual disposable income reached a new high at 164.6%, from 163.3% the previous quarter. In the July-September period, households borrowed $27.3-billion, $18.4-billion of that in mortgages, while consumer credit levels increased by $7-billion to $474-billion. As well, household net worth rose 1% to $197,800 in the July-September period, mostly due to gains in holdings in stocks, including mutual funds, and increased value of pension assets.
  • Rohan Zahur on 17 Jan 13
     
    On a national accounting level, Canada's net worth increased by more than $9-billion in the third quarter to $6.8-trillion. That translates to $194,100 per person.
  • S C on 18 Jan 13
     
    Canadians are taking on more debt than ever before, approaching US debt levels just prior to the housing market crash.
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