Even though Christmas and New Year is typically a time for letting go and having a bit of fun to celebrate the end of another year, it’s still important to think about your finances. This leads many people to looking for ways to save money over the holiday period. There are lots of things you can do, including scaling back some aspects of Christmas and considering a credit card ideal for balance transfers when the New Year comes…
Make savings now
With Christmas just a few weeks away, now is a good time to look for areas where you can make savings in preparation. For example, looking around now for your turkey is not only good practice in case they all sell out closer to the day, but it can also help you secure the best deals. You Read more…
February 17th, 2012
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Budgeting your money is a great way to gain control over your finances. Making a budget at least once a year will give you a financial snapshot of where you stand. Your budget will help guide you toward smart decisions with your money that can secure your financial future.
Calculate Your Income
The first step to creating a budget is to calculate all of your income. Decide first whether you are going to do a monthly budget or a yearly budget. Working with a monthly budget tends to be more accurate over the long haul. Determining your income will help you determine if you are spending within your means.
Calculate Your Expenses
The next step is to calculate your expenses. Include every bill that has to be paid on a monthly basis. If you decide to do a yearly budget, you can multiply your monthly expenses by 12. Read more…
The implications of CIBC selling FirstLine, if and when it happens, are manifold.
At this point, it can’t definitively be said whether CIBC will leave a foot in the broker channel.
Assuming it doesn’t, here’s our stream of consciousness on what this means…
On the gravity of this news…
- Lenders have come and gone from the broker market, but none as meaningful as FirstLine.
- FirstLine and its predecessor have been strong broker advocates since the 1980s.
- It was the top lender by volume less than nine months ago.
On who might buy FirstLine…
- Multiple parties have reportedly lined up to evaluate a purchase of FirstLine.
- Some think it could be a turnaround play if the buyer has a balance sheet to lend from.
- I
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Like other European countries, Portugal has seen a rapid rise in public sector debt. Since the start of the crisis in 2007, Portugese government debt has increased from 67% of GDP to 113% of GDP in 2012. However, Portugal has received much commendation from the EU and IMF for its stringent austerity packages. The concern for Portugal is that despite rapid cuts in government borrowing and a fall in the budget deficit, the debt to GDP ratio has continued to rise from 107% of GDP at start of 2011 to 113% 12 months later.
The Portugese economy contracted 1.5% in 2011 and is forecast to fall 3% in 2012. Unemployment has risen to 13%
Since austerity measures have been introduced, the budget deficit has fallen from 9% of GDP to 5.1% of GDP.
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The beginning of each new year brings many things, and for property owners one of those things is a Notice of Assessment from a property tax assessor. These are not tax bills and so many people ignore them, but they contain valuable information that every property owner should know. The primary reason notices should be examined is because a property owner may appeal numerous decisions a tax assessor may make regarding the value of the property. Main issues that may be appealed are the valuation of the property, the occupancy rate of a rental property, the classification of the property and possible any possible exemptions overlooked by the assessor. For more on this continue reading the following article from JDSupra. Read more…
One of the big issues surrounding Suze Orman’s Approved prepaid debit card is that she appears to be marketing it to middle class “banked” customers who want to ditch their banks because of high fees. In the middle of the furor surrounding Occupy Wall Support, Suze Orman has been using code like “99%” as part of her marketing blitz to drum up support.
The problem that many personal finance blogger types have with the card is that Suze is marketing it as a viable alternative to banking — even for those who are able to get a checking account. Personal fi
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My healthy and active 82-year-old mother is faced with having to sell her home this year because she’s running out of money. She has lived a very minimal lifestyle for many years as her savings dwindled, and her income is now basically Social Security. She owes $25,000 on a home worth more than $700,000 in a top school district. We don’t know if we are jumping the gun with this sale. I could move in with her and pay rent for a year or two, although that would mean a longer commute for me and would just put off the day she has to sell. There are things that must be done to the house for upkeep, and her being cash-poor puts her in a crunch. My brother will help pay for minor sprucing up depending on what the real estate agent says we need to do to make the house presentable, but if Mom remains in the home there are other things to be done. We
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A new analysis from credit rating company Fitch Ratings revealed that a third of prime borrowers are currently underwater on their mortgages.
And after everything is said and done, the company expects roughly half of prime borrowers, those at the top of the credit score range, to end up in a negative equity position thanks to a further 10 percent decline in home prices.
You may think it doesn’t matter much, given these are the crème de la crème of homeowners with mortgages.
But Fitch noted that over 12 percent of prime borrowers are already seriously delinquent on their mortgages, aka on the road to foreclosure.
Get a fast free quote. 1 Bank. 1 Call. BBB Read more…