Life Stages

Thinking of Cancelling Your Life Insurance?

Have you found yourself wondering if you really need that life insurance policy you pay for every month?  You are not alone.

As time goes on we often forget the reasons behind purchasing the amount and type of coverage we did. For this reason it is advisable to have regular reviews to make sure you are adequately protected.

Perhaps you are having trouble making ends meet and are looking to trim expenses.  Maybe you simply don’t think you need it because the kids are getting older and your obligations to them have diminished.  Some may feel that they have enough assets accumulated that insurance is no longer necessary and even a waste of money.  Before you make the decision to cancel your life insurance policy, consider these compelling reasons to keep it.

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Start saving early

by Caroline Hanna

You’re never too young to make smart financial decisions. Whether you entered your 20s with a solid savings portfolio funded by your parents, saved up some of your own money, or spent it all on education, here are four tips on how to get ahead financially.

01 Start now

A lot of 20-somethings feel they’ve missed the savings boat. You haven’t. You may have missed out on high interest rates, but the principles of savings apply, even when rates are low.

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Tackling the challenges of benefits provision for employees over age 65

by Kim Siddall

Increasing longevity, better health and the elimination of mandatory retirement means many Canadians are delaying their retirement past age 65, presenting employers with both advantages and challenges for managing benefits for this unexpected segment of their workforce.

Statistics Canada’s last census indicated that one in four Canadian seniors were still working in some capacity past the traditional age of retirement, whether driven by choice or economic necessity. This finding was echoed by Sun Life’s last Unretirement index last year, which pointed to a growing number of Canadians who fully expect to still be working full time at age 66. In fact, 2015 marked the first year in the seven years of the study that more respondents expected to be working full time at 66 than those who expected to be fully retired.

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Boomer + Sandwich Generation + Club Sandwich + Boomerang = Financial Instability

The Sandwich Generation was a term coined by Dorothy Miller in 1981 to describe adult children who were “sandwiched” between their aging parents and their own maturing children.  There is even a term for those of us who are in our 50’s or 60’s with elderly parents, adult children and grandchildren – the Club Sandwich.   More recently, the Boomerang Generation (the estimated 29% of adults ranging in ages 25 to 34, who live with their parents), are adding to the financial pressures as Boomers head into retirement. It is estimated that by 2026, 1 in 5 Canadians will be older than 65. This means fewer adults to both fund and provide for elder care.  Today, it is likely that the average married couple will have more living parents than they do children.

What are the challenges?

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Tying the Knot

Marriage is the coming together of two separate lives, but it’s also the coming together of two separate financial histories and situations.

And while your financial past will continue to be a part of your life, you’ll also be contending with a lifetime of new financial experiences and decisions with another person. One key to success is to be ready to handle everything that comes up. And having the financial resources to deal with the unexpected will be as important as developing the communication skills needed to talk about financial matters.

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Six creative ways to teach your kids about money

Understanding financial issues is challenging enough for adults, so it’s no wonder many parents struggle when it comes to teaching them to kids.

According to a Harris/Decima Youth Financial Literacy Study  for the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 84% of Canadians believe young people are ill-prepared to manage their finances when they enter the workforce. While 78% of Canadian parents have attempted to teach their children financial management skills, 60% believe that they haven’t been successful.

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Millennials & Money: Talking about Financial Literacy

By Carla Hindman, Director of Financial Education, Visa Canada

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, refers to people born between the years of 1980 and the early 2000s. Known as the “me, me, me” generation, millennials are the first group to grow up in the current digital era with instant access to money management tools at their fingertips. So why do they have a reputation for being financially illiterate? And what’s the best way to reach them? Does it have to be done in 140 characters or less? The answer is: #Yes.

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Five great reasons to leave your desk at lunch

by Katherine Janson for Participaction

My brother lived and worked in Switzerland for a decade, and we would often compare notes on what working life was like over there, versus here in Canada.  When he told his boss that his sister ate her lunch at her desk every day, she laughed.  She thought he was joking!  In his office, a coffee break meant leaving the office with colleagues to walk down to the harbour for a quick espresso at a café, and a stroll back.  In mine, it meant making sure I could knock back my morning coffee without knocking it over into my keyboard.

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Boomers worried about healthcare costs in retirement

A national study of Canadians with more than $100,000 in investable assets shows that worry over healthcare needs has emerged as the second most important driver, behind retirement itself.

Among investors under 50, 34% identify healthcare as a priority compared with the average of 46% of all respondents, but even among this younger group, healthcare needs emerge as a significant rationale for investments.

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Twelve key documents you need to gather

By Brenda Spiering, Editor,BrighterLife.ca

Can you imagine what would happen if you died and your beneficiaries didn’t know where to find your will? Or your money?

It happens all the time according to Jim Yih, author of the personal finance blog, retirehappyblog.ca: “When someone dies, there are a whole bunch of questions that need answers but the only person with the answers is not here anymore.” You really love your family and friends, says Yih, so take the time to get your estate organized so you don’t leave them with a big mess to sort through during such an emotional time.

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