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Erica Yeo

Household debt in Canada - 3 views

  • In 1980, the ratio of household debt to personal disposable income was 66%; that ratio recently passed the 150% figure (Statistics Canada 2011). This means that, in aggregate, households owed more than $1.50 for every dollar of disposable income.
  • It also examines whether the relationships between debt and financial capability persist when other characteristics like income and educational attainment are taken into account.
  • younger people and parents with children at home were more likely to hold debt. Individuals under 45 made up 45% of the population, but 54% of borrowers. Similarly, married people with children accounted for 30% of the overall population, but 39% of debtors. They were also more likely to have higher levels of debt. Couples with children held one-half of all household debt, with an average debt of $144,600, higher than the overall average of $114,400. Similarly, individuals under 45 held 61% of household debt, $129,200 on average.
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  • Higher education levels were also associated with an increased probability of holding debt and higher average debt. Individuals with at least some postsecondary education comprised about one-half of the population but almost 60% of those with debt. And university graduates had an average debt that was 60% higher than those with less than postsecondary education—$145,400 compared to $90,900.
Nikita Klyuev

TSX moves higher as commodities strengthen - 0 views

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    The S&P/TSX composite index rose 70.06 points to 12,404.40, as key commodities prices moved higher. The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.11 points to 1,178.11. March copper declined about four cents to US$3.61 a pound while February gold bullion moved ahead $3 to US$1,673.70 an ounce. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.6 per cent at 5,968 while Germany's DAX rose 0.2 per cent at 7,667. The CAC-40 in France was 0.4 per cent higher at 3,661.
Cristina Raileanu

Toronto stock market advances, commodities rise | CP24.com - 0 views

  • es for higher demand pushed up commodity prices. Strong demand for commodities from
  • Gold prices also climbed with the February contract up $22.50 to US$1,678 an ounce, pushing the gold sector ahead about 2.2 per cent. Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G) climbed $1.26 to C$36.68 while Iamgold Inc. (TSX:IMG) gained 20 cents to $10.73.
  • The energy sector was ahead 0.44 per cent while the February crude contract gained 72 cents to US$93.82 after earlier hitting a three-month high of US$94.70 a barrel. Prices also got a boost from a report that Saudi Arabia cut its crude production by nearly five per cent last month to the lowest level in 19 months.
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  • Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) was 31 cents higher at C$33.58 while Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ) advanced 51 cents to $26.69.
  • The information technology sector gained 1.4 per cent with Research In Motion Ltd. (TSX:RIM) ahead 39 cents to $11.79.
  • In Canada, Astral Media Inc. (TSX:ACM.A) said Thursday that its first-quarter profit was $59.6 million or $1.05 per share, beating analyst estimates. Revenue rose to $274.5 million, which was about $3 million below analyst estimates but higher than a year before. The company has a friendly deal with BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE), which is seeking regulatory approval to buy Astral for about $3.38 billion. Astral edged up 31 cents to $47.21.
  • Canadian pharmaceutical chain Jean Coutu Group (TSX:PJC.A) on Thursday reported stronger sales and a quarterly profit that beat analyst estimates by a penny per share.
Erica Yeo

Canada's wage gap at record high: OECD - The Globe and Mail - 1 views

  • gap between Canada’s rich and poor is growing
  • the income gap in Canada is well above the 34-country average, though still not as extreme as in the United States
  • Countries with greater income inequality tend to see shorter, less sustained periods of economic growth
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  • Greater inequality raises economic, political and ethical challenges as it risks leaving a growing number of people behind in an ever-changing economy
  • the top federal marginal income tax rates tumbled – to 29 per cent in 2010 from 43 per cent in 1981
  • Canada’s growing gap: a widening disparity in labour earnings between high- and low-paid workers, and less redistribution.
  • Taxes and benefits reduce inequality less in Canada than in most OECD countries
  • Shifts in the labour market are a key reason why the gap is widening
  • Technological progress has been more beneficial to high-skilled workers, while the gap in men’s earnings in particular is growing ever wider
  • annual hours of low-wage workers in Canada have fallen to 1,100 hours from 1,300 hours, while those of higher-wage workers fell by less, to 2,100 from 2,200 hours
  • Rising self-employment
  • the self-employed typically earn less than other full-time workers
  • Taxation
  • Canada’s tax-benefit system was as effective as those of the Nordic countries in stabilizing equality, offsetting more than 70 per cent of the rise of market-income inequality
  • taxes and benefits now offset less than 40 per cent of the rise in inequality
  • inequality has been rising more rapidly in Canada than in the U.S.
  • social implications
  • income inequality with poor health outcomes
  • 11-year difference in life expectancy between men who live in its poorest neighbourhood and those its richest
  • Taxing the rich
  • closing loopholes
  • compliance with tax rules
  • education, skills training and job retraining programs
  • More and better jobs, enabling people to escape poverty and offering real career prospects, is the most important challenge
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    1) What do you think are possible solutions for the rising inequality? 2) Since the rich are taking a higher percent of overall income and Canada is in debt, do you agree with lowering their taxes?
lebiez piranaj

Canada Household Debt Much Higher Than Previously Thought; Housing Bubble Bust-Out Now ... - 2 views

  • Canadians, you’re more indebted than you think.
  • StatsCan now says household debt amounted to 163.4 per cent of household income in the second quarter, up from 161.8 per cent in the first
  • Canadians are now carrying more debt than Americans and Brits were at the peak of their housing bubble half a decade ago
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  • A recent Capital Economics report estimated a construction slowdown would cost 115,000 jobs across Canada
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    Canadians are more than ever drown in debt. When it comes to comparing with the neighbor (US) we are carrying more debt than them. Market observers argued that Canadian consumers will no longer be able to hold up rising household debt.
lebiez piranaj

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

  • 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
  • the debt levels are certainly moving in the wrong direction
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  • 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
  • fastest pace of debt accumulation in nearly two years
  • 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.”
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    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

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

  • 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
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  • 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
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    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
faseehthemoonman

My Education Has Value » Unemployment not as dire as after past recessions - 1 views

  • Young people aged 15 to 24 years are also finding jobs faster than any other age group, the accounting group found. Nearly half of unemployed youth found a job within one to four weeks in 2011, while the average unemployment period was just 11 weeks
  • 5 per cent still jobless after looking for work for a year
  • Youth underemployment is a huge issue.
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  • The need to research the causes of underemployment. The need to develop more higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs
  • Greater use of school-employer partnerships to better match employers’ needs and workers’ skills.
burmangabriel

Fiscal cliff: Obama, Boehner trade proposals - 1 views

  • prevent economy-damaging tax increases on the middle class at year's end, conferring by phone after a secretive exchange of proposals.
  • to reduce his initial demand for $1.6 trillion in higher tax revenue over a decade to $1.4 trillion
  • The longer the White House slow-walks this process, the closer our economy gets to the fiscal cliff," he said, declaring that Obama had yet to identify specific cuts to government benefit programs that as part of an agreement that also would raise federal tax revenue
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  • attempts to avert a "fiscal cliff," across-the-board tax increases and cuts in defense and domestic programs that economists say could send the economy into recession
  • numerous proposals Obama has made to cut spending, including recommendations to cull $340 billion from Medicare over a decade and an additional $250 billion from other government benefit programs
  • Republicans "sent the White House a counteroffer that would achieve tax and entitlement reform to solve our looming debt crisis and create more American jobs
  • a deal to prevent damage to the economy,
  • Republicans struggle with Obama's demands to raise taxes, but Reid has privately told his rank and file they could soon be feeling the same distress if discussions grow serious on cuts to benefit programs
  • we need to strengthen Social Security, we need to strengthen Medicare for future generations, the current path is not sustainable because we've got an aging population and health care costs are shooting up so quickly
  • Republicans want to curtail annual cost-of-living benefits for Social Security and other government benefits, as well as raise the age of eligibility for Medicare from 65 to 67 beginning at some point in the future
  • president seems to think that if all he talks about are taxes, and that's all reporters write about, somehow the rest of us will magically forget that government spending is completely out of control and that he himself has been insisting on balance,
  • Obama's plan would raise $1.6 trillion in revenue over 10 years, in part by raising tax rates on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. He has recommended $400 billion in spending cuts over a decade.
  • seeking extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut due to expire on Jan. 1, a continuation in long-term unemployment benefits and steps to help hard-pressed homeowners and doctors who treat Medicare patients
  • Obama last year signed legislation to cut more than $1 trillion from government programs over a decade, and was proposing $600 billion in additional savings from benefit programs.
  • health care law that Obama signed into law showed savings of $100 billion. Much or all of that funding came from Medicare, even though Obama's aides insisted during his successful campaign for re-election that he had not made any cuts in that program
  • Boehner's plan, in addition to calling for $800 billion in new revenue, envisions $600 billion in savings over a decade from Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs as well as $300 billion from other benefit programs and another $300 billion from other domestic programs.
  • It would trim annual increases in Social Security payments to beneficiaries, and it calls for gradually raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67, beginning in a decade
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    1) Which proposal do you think is better? More cuts or more taxes 2) Do you think that going off the "cliff" is less detrimental than picking the other parties proposal?
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    1.) More taxes because people in the lower bracket income won't get affected as much. Thus, not further hardening their way of life. 2.) No. they believe the measures negatively affect them. It would affect defense spending, domestic spending and taxes negatively. All the citizens of america will get affected. No exceptions.
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    1. I believe more taxes would benefit the economy more because it would be geared more towards the higher income earners that have the foundation to deal with the taxes opposed to the lower incomes earners that already struggle. 2. Not exactly because going off the "cliff" affects several important factors such as federal tax, boarder tax, domestic spending, etc. Thus, it would seem that going off the "cliff" serves the economy and citizens more negatively than siding with the other parties' proposal.
Ms Cuttle

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

  • 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.
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    Should Canadians be worried about the financial stability of our banks?
Erica Yeo

Divisions between haves and have-nots begin with having skills - or not - The Globe and... - 1 views

  • Baby boomers are targeted because after struggling to get an education in skills that would land a job, and after decades of effort, they have accumulated some wealth.
  • To them, we symbolize intergenerational inequality.
  • Your future will be defined by how well you learn skills that match the needs of the job market. Those who gain useful skills will find higher paying, more rewarding jobs; those without that knowledge will face low-paying, unstable prospects.
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  • fail to report what portion of their graduates find work that requires a university education.
  • large numbers of unfilled jobs co-existing with high levels of youth unemployment.
  • what if Canadian universities were the root cause of the skills gap, rather than the solution?
  • progressively widening inequality gap between members of your own generation.
  • 40 per cent of Canadian university graduates aged 25 to 29 were employed in “low-skill” jobs,
  • Canadian graduates turning to jobs-focused colleges for further training.
  • reduces Canadian productivity and prosperity
  • they just keep spending public money to produce graduates with few job prospects,
  • And the class of 2013 may come to realize that the most damaging inequality is not that of financial disparity, but rather the inequality of hope.
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    Discussion Questions: 1. Why should a widening financial income gap be concerning to the economy? 2. What are the economic differences of the baby boomer's generation (1940's-1960's) and the current generation? Do you think these differences affected the education requirement of today's jobs?
lebiez piranaj

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

  • 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
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  • 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
Erica Yeo

The Second Great Contraction by Kenneth Rogoff - Project Syndicate - 3 views

  • But the real problem is that the global economy is badly overleveraged, and there is no quick escape without a scheme to transfer wealth from creditors to debtors, either through defaults, financial repression, or inflation.
  • but to debt and credit, and the deleveraging that typically takes many years to complete.
  • Many commentators have argued that fiscal stimulus has largely failed not because it was misguided, but because it was not large enough
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  • I argued that the only practical way to shorten the coming period of painful deleveraging and slow growth would be a sustained burst of moderate inflation, say, 4-6% for several years.
    • Erica Yeo
       
      Inflation = Higher wages and hopefully fixed debt. People and businesses will be able to pay off debt more quickly.
lebiez piranaj

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

  • 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
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  • 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.
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    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

  • 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.
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  • 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.”
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    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"
Nikita Klyuev

David Rosenberg's 5 reasons Canada's household debt panic is overblown - 0 views

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    Canadian debt/income ratio isn't as bad as it looks. Because Canadians pay for their health care through their taxes, their disposable income is distorted relative to the U.S. In terms of personal income, the ratio is actually closer to 118%, rather the scary 165%. Canadian household debt relative to assets (19%) and net worth (24%) is below prior peaks of 20% and 25%, respectively. Rosenberg estimates Canada would need to see a 20% drop in the housing market to get net worth/income ratio down to the U.S. level. Canadians have more equity in their homes - 69% of the value compared with 43% in the U.S. "This equity gap is a prime reason why Canadian household net worth/income ratio (at over 500%) is some 35 percentage points above U.S. levels," Rosenberg writes. Canadians are better able to service their debts. Canadian wage growth at 4% a year is about double what it is in the U.S. - a rise that pretty much matches the average interest rate they are paying. The debt-servicing ratio in Canadian households is now just over 7% - a level it has only been below in the past 15% of the time. So even though Canadian interest rates are 75 basis points higher than in U.S, it is not hampering our ability to handle debt.
Cristina Raileanu

Raising Interest Rates? Canada's Impending Household Debt Crisis | Global Research - 0 views

  • If the bank feels you can pay $2,000 a month on a mortgage, then you generally qualify for the loan, if you have the right credit record and collateral.
  • It is worth noting here that the money your bank loans for a mortgage is created out of thin air at the push of a button. They do not lend the money of their depositors for this.
  • interest charges are built into just about every product and service available. Higher interest rates means businesses would have to charge more to recover their loan costs.
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  • For an extreme example of what can happen one only has to turn back the clock to the 1980s, when 20% interest rates destroyed many businesses and individual lives;
  • it is the average consumer that is blamed for the problems created by the so-called experts.
  • one could take each aforementioned quote by the experts, reword it to mean the exact opposite, and thereby have a better understanding of the situation.
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