Low-interest rates and low yields for traditionally “safe” investments often prompt investors to look for alternative options that can deliver more attractive returns. One alternative option is mortgage investments which can bring returns close to 10% or even higher. There are several types of mortgage investments, but in general, they involve pooling money from a large group of investors. That pooled money is then lent to people or organizations that can’t secure a mortgage from a bank or other conventional mortgage lender.
Taking care of your finances involves more than choosing the right investments. Often, it’s the small steps you take that will make a big difference to your financial health – cash flow management, keeping your expenses in check, sticking to a budget, having an emergency fund, and eliminating high-interest debt. With increased costs for everything from groceries to electricity bills, more than 55% of Canadians say they can’t keep pace with inflation. That’s why financial preparedness and establishing healthy financial habits are so important.
A popular choice among homeowners is to refinance a mortgage, which can often be a better option than a personal loan or line of credit. But what does it mean to refinance a mortgage? And is it the right choice for you? To help you decide, we take a look at the refinance mortgage meaning, the credit score needed to refinance a mortgage and lender refinance rates.
For many Canadians, owning their own home is a high priority: in fact, two-thirds of them are homeowners. However, given the cost of housing, most Canadians need to take out a mortgage to be able to buy their home. What many people don’t know, however, is that there are many different types of mortgages available in Canada. To help you understand what your options are, we examine all the different types of mortgages available in Canada, including fixed vs. variable mortgages, open vs. closed mortgages etc.
Record inflation and plunging stock markets have many people worried about their retirement income in Canada. More and more people are asking themselves, how long will my retirement savings last, with 55% of Canadians concerned that they might not have enough money to survive when they retire. The average retirement income in Canada currently sits at $65,300 per year, per household (before tax). That works out at $32,650 per person, if the household includes a couple. In this article, we look at the sources of retirement income in Canada, various retirement income strategies, how to make retirement savings last and how to increase retirement income.
As more and more Canadians are entering their golden years and heading into retirement,
A line of credit is one of the most flexible and popular of all loan options in Canada. Over three million Canadians have a home equity line of credit – and this doesn’t include personal lines of credit. Getting a line of credit is not always a simple matter, however. We explore how to get a line of credit in Canada, including: line of credit qualifications; how to get a pre-approved line of credit; line of credit requirements; and how to get approved for a line of credit.
Many Canadians start drawing from the Canada Pension Plan as soon as they possibly can. According to Stats Canada, 44% of people who are eligible choose CPP early retirement at age 60, the earliest age possible. In fact, 98% of Canadians either take CPP at 65 or decide to take early CPP withdrawals. But is claiming CPP early a wise move? Given that almost 90% of Canadians will rely on CPP to cover at least some of their retirement costs, it’s important to get it right regarding whether to take the CPP early retirement pension or delay drawing it. Both strategies have their advantages, but it’s important to know which is right for you.
The RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan was introduced in 1992 to give Canadians a way of using their RRSP to buy a house or apartment. Since then, hundreds of thousands of first-time home buyers in Canada’s RRSPs have been used to buy a house or apartment. Given the way the housing market in much of Canada has skyrocketed in recent years, the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan is likely to increase in popularity as down payments increase dramatically. The RRSP home buyers’ program is likely to become an essential part of the home buying process for even more Canadians.
