Debt Free In 30

On today’s show Scott Terrio explains that, for most of our clients, debt “sneaks up on you”.  You borrow the money and expect to have no trouble paying it off, but then life happens, and the debt problems begin.  We discuss how debt causes problems, and Scott creates a new term: Financially Catatonic.  All that and more on today’s show.

For the last show of the year Doug Hoyes and Ted Michalos look back on 2019 and ask the obvious question: the economy is doing well, unemployment is low, and yet bankruptcy and consumer proposal filings in Ontario have had the largest spike upward in over a decade, up about 16% so far this year.  Why? We debunk the conventional wisdom from the talking heads on TV (it has nothing to do with unemployment or interest rates, and it’s not a temporary blip) and explain what’s really happening.  We play a clip from our predictions show from last year so you can see how accurate we were, and then Ted and Doug close the show with their predictions for personal insolvencies in 2020.

If you listen to the news, or read the comments on YouTube, you may think the world is getting worse.  All we hear about are political scandals, crime, and economic problems.  That’s not surprising; bad news sells; negative clickbait works! But as we discuss on today’s podcast, world health continues to improve, and extreme poverty is at its lowest level in history.  So why do we think things are getting worse?  It’s partly due to the “negativity instinct”, a concept discussed in the book Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World, and Why Things are Better Than you Think by Hans Rosling.  On today’s show we discuss how to spot negativity, and how you can see the positive side of life.

Everyone likes gift cards.  Free money!  An easy gift for anyone on your Christmas list, but there is a downside. On today’s podcast, first time guest and Hoyes Michalos credit counsellor Patty Sweeney explains the advantages and disadvantages of gift cards, and she gives lots of practical advice if you give or receive gift cards.

Robert Brown, author of Wealthing Like Rabbits, returns for his sixth appearance on the podcast, where we discuss marketing in its many forms. Cross selling, upselling and reselling are happening all the time, and we often don’t realize it. We provide many examples, and strategies to keep more of your money in your pocket.

Over 600 big name store locations have closed in Canada in the last three years, resulting in over 17,000 lost jobs, and that doesn’t include hundreds more small stores that have shut down.  Is this just the impact of Amazon, or is there something deeper happening?  And what does this mean for the Canadian economy going forward? On today’s show first-time guest Stephanie Hughes explains why the stores are closing, and what this means for the typical retail worker specifically, and the Canadian economy and real estate.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy is easy to understand: you’ve spent the money, it’s gone, but you keep on doing what you’re doing, whether or not it makes sense, because you’ve spent the money. You go to a restaurant and eat every morsel of food on your plate, whether you are full or not, because you’ve spent the money! On today’s show Ted Michalos explains how the Sunk Cost Fallacy is a disaster with how you treat debt, and we give some practical advice on how to overcome it.

On today’s podcast we’ve got two hockey parents: Kristen Kral, a credit counsellor in our Brantford office, and Rebecca Martyn, our Windsor trustee, who give their thoughts on how to save money on kid’s sports (particularly hockey). Enjoy!

It’s amazing how many of my client are confused about the difference between a TFSA and an RRSP, so today Ian Martin and I go through the basics. But isn’t this a podcast about debt? Yes it is, so we also discuss what happens to a TFSA or RRSP if you go bankrupt, and we discuss which savings vehicle is best once you are out of debt and are getting back on track.

It’s the start of Financial Literacy Month in Canada, so instead of following the crowd and telling you to make a budget (which is the most common suggestion you will hear this month), I will go a different route and tell you a story about a 20 dollar bill. A fable, as it were. Enjoy!

We advise our clients to open a new bank account at a new bank where they don’t owe any money, before filing a consumer proposal or bankruptcy, to ensure that their money is not “accidentally” seized by a creditor.  It’s wise to have a bank account at a bank where you don’t owe money even if you aren’t in financial trouble, for exactly that reason.  But which bank should you pick?  Are they all the same?  On today’s podcast credit counsellor Diane Cunha walks you through how to pick a bank and save money on bank fees.

Ted Michalos often says “no good deed goes unpunished”.  What does he mean by that?  Does he have a negative view of humanity?  On today’s show he gives examples to illustrate his point, and we give practical advice on how to make sure that if you are helping friends of family with money problems, you don’t put yourself in financial jeopardy.

On today’s show: no statistics, no numbers, just stories about the clients we help.  Scott Terrio talks about the growing trend of renovictions, how the decline of retail stores is impacting our clients, and how stagnant incomes but rising living costs are putting the squeeze on everyone.

After a three year absence Ben Rabidoux is back on the show.  We start with the story of how he got sued for libel due to some tweets he sent out, and then we discuss how borrowers can deal with the more restrictive mortgage rules, and we discuss whether or not we are headed for a recession. It’s our longest show of the year, so far, so sit back and enjoy.

My guest today is Cameron Huddleston, who wrote a new book called Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to have essential conversations with your parents about their finances.  How do you have the “money talk” with your parents as they get older? How do you even know if they need help? Those topics and more on today’s episode.

Today on the show my guest is Blair Demarco-Wettlaufer, a real-life collection agent, who explains how a collection agent gets paid, and how you can negotiate with a collection agent.

If you start a business, and get into trouble, no problem, you can go bankrupt or file a consumer proposal to get debt relief.  Even tax debt goes away in a bankruptcy.  But, if you have a government guaranteed student loan, the law says you must wait 7 years after you leave school to be able to automatically discharge student loan debt in a bankruptcy or consumer proposal. That’s both unfair and punitive, so on today’s podcast we explain how the rule works, and give our suggestions for fixing this injustice.

In season #5 I started doing “rants”, single topic shows with just me talking.  The most downloaded show of the past 12 months was a “rant”, Show #227 where I talked about why systems are better than goals, and that was the show that I replayed just last week. What’s in store for this year? Lots more guests, and rants, and who knows what else. Thanks for listening, and please enjoy Season #6!

Every financial guru says that achieving success starts with setting a goal. I disagree.  While there is some benefit to setting goals, you are more likely to achieve success if, instead of focusing on goals, you have a system. I discuss goals vs systems on this special rebroadcast episode, originally aired in January, 2019. If your goal is to get out of debt or to save more money, you might be a little frustrated knowing another year has come and gone without improving your finances. So what if your goal this year is to get out of debt? Or save more money? What’s the best way to achieve any goal? The answer may be to not focus on the goal at all, but instead to create a system to reach that goal.  Today on Debt Free in 30, I want to explain why, in most cases, systems are better than goals. 

In over 20 years of helping Canadians eliminate their debt, I've yet to hear a single client say they chose to have debt problems. Debt accumulates over time and then it becomes an even bigger problem when you lose your job, become ill or get divorced. But for many of my clients, despite knowing that the cause of their money troubles was beyond their control, they still blamed themselves for their financial woes.  So, how does one overcome self-blame to achieve debt relief? On today’s special rebroadcast episode we talk with Shannon Lee Simmons, author of Living Debt-Free: The No-Shame, No-Blame Guide to Getting Rid of Your Debt about how negative feelings towards debt can create more debt and strategies that can put you in the right direction when dealing with your debt.