As Licensed Insolvency Trustees, our clients tell us how difficult it is to live on minimum wage. That’s why they often have no choice but to use debt to survive. The average person we help file a consumer proposal or bankruptcy has an income that is almost 40% less than the median income in Ontario; in many cases our clients are working minimum wage jobs. Our clients don’t have a debt problem; they have an income problem. If minimum wage isn’t enough to survive, the solution would appear to be ...
Jun 17, 2017•22 min
We know from our Joe Debtor study that the average person in Ontario who files a consumer proposal or bankruptcy has an income that is almost 40% lower than the median income in Ontario. Low or sporadic incomes make it difficult to keep up with the cost of living. The Ontario government has recognized this fact and has started a pilot project for basic income in three cities across the province. Hamilton is one of those cities, and with me today is Tom Cooper, Director of the Hamilton Roundtable...
Jun 10, 2017•34 min
The number of seniors filing insolvency is growing. Many seniors have the honest intention of paying back whatever debt they accumulate. That would be great, except they're using new debt to pay for it. We've recently written about seniors increasingly turning to payday loans, which is one of the most expensive forms of lending. High interest rates paired with a fixed income aren't a good combination for anyone. The challenge that seniors are seeing is not that they are incapable of living off o...
Jun 03, 2017•27 min
For the first time ever, the federal government just issued a BOMBSHELL report, saying that it appears that two very large debt consulting firms in Canada are taking advantage of vulnerable consumers. They charge large upfront fees, and often they only service they provide is to refer you to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. On today’s show we discuss what the government reports says about unlicensed debt consultants, and we provide practical advice for consumers on how to avoid paying for a servic...
May 27, 2017•37 min
As you may remember, we published our Joe Debtor study at the end of March 2017. This study takes place every two years and analyzes data from insolvent debtors from across Ontario. When it comes to homeowners, we're seeing a steady decline in the rate they're filing insolvency. That doesn't mean they're without debt, it just means they're getting creative with how they hold off insolvency. Although only 17% of all insolvent debtors in our 2017 study were homeowners, roughly 30% of people who ca...
May 20, 2017•25 min
There are two major purchases we make in our life that we typically use debt to purchase. The first (no surprise here) is our home, and the second is our car. But can car loans lead to insolvency? Believe it or not, yes car loans can lead to insolvency. As cars are getting more sophisticated and fitted with new gadgets and features, which means they're also getting more expensive. You're no longer buying just a car, you're buying a driving computer. Instead of the days where we could just pay ca...
May 13, 2017•21 min
Welcome to the third round table edition of Debt Free in 30, recorded in person at the Hoyes Michalos offices in downtown Toronto , so you can listen to the audio, or watch the video on YouTube. My guests today are all personal finance experts based in Ontario. Kerry K. Taylor writes the very popular Squawkfox blog; Robert Brown wrote the best selling personal finance book Wealthing Like Rabbits ; and Barry Choi writes on the Money We Have blog about personal finance and travel. Today we cover t...
May 06, 2017•44 min
Many seniors are finding it increasingly difficult to make ends meet. Our 2017 Joe Debtor study showed that the total number of debtors who are seniors is now 12%, up from 2015's 10% and up again from 2013's 8%. With fixed incomes, potential long-term care options and adult children to think about, there are a lot of ways seniors can end up in debt. My guest today is Vanessa Benedict, a Wealth Advisor with one of the largest banks in Canada. Vanessa's job covers everything from estate planning, ...
Apr 29, 2017•30 min
Struggling financially is difficult for anyone. It can be exceptionally stressful if you're a single parent trying to juggle your finances, work, and parenting all on your own. Without a partner you're solely responsible for the fate of your family. My guest today is here to talk about how going through insolvency as a single parent feels, and how she overcame her debt. Her name and personal information are kept anonymous for confidentiality reasons so we'll call her Joan. Joan was a working pro...
Apr 22, 2017•33 min
Welcome to the second edition of our Debt Free in 30 News You Can Use round table. Our first one aired in January 2017 and covered Walmart vs. VISA, 2017 Debt Repayment Predictions, Bank of Canada Warnings and Paid Promotions vs. Personal Finance Advice. This month we have a whole new panel of experts and a whole new stock of stories to cover. Today's guests are Blair Mantin from Sands & Associates in British Columbia, Daniel Budd from M. Diamond & Associates in Montreal, and Ian Penny f...
Apr 15, 2017•40 min
My guest today is Shamez Kassam, a financial advisor based in Calgary who has just published his first book, Your Money’s Worth: The Essential Guide to Financial Advice for Canadians . Shamez wanted to write a book that acted as a road map for how the Canadian financial advice industry worked. There's only so much you can learn within the traditional educational institutions. Shamez himself tried learning on his own before losing it all in the tech bubble. That's when he decided to go back and d...
Apr 08, 2017•23 min
Earlier this week, our firm Hoyes, Michalos & Associates launched our 2017 study of Joe Debtor . Joe Debtor is a report on the average insolvent Ontarian that we publish every two years. This year marks our sixth published study, which means we have a lot of comparative data and can identify trends. We're increasingly seeing a certain type of Ontarian filing insolvency. Although we have Ontarians from all income levels filing either a consumer proposal or bankruptcy, there are certain vulner...
Apr 01, 2017•27 min
On Debt Free in 30 I interview many debt experts, but I don't often have the opportunity to speak with someone who has actually dealt directly with their own debt issues. We have conversations with clients every day, but it's very rare that one wants to open up about their story and help others from one debtor to another. My guest today is Dana Pharant. Dana operated a successful business that was doing more than a million dollars in sales. The business unfortunately experienced three major cata...
Mar 25, 2017•29 min
My guest on show #131 was Victoria Ryce, co-author, with Gail Vaz-Oxlade, of a new book, CEO of Everything: Flying Solo and Soaring, that deals with how to cope with becoming suddenly single. On that show we talked in detail about the emotional aspects of becoming separated, divorced, or widowed, and Victoria had a lot of practical advice for either the person who is now single, or for people who have loved ones who are suddenly single. Click here to listen to show #131 . In many relationships, ...
Mar 18, 2017•33 min
In 2016 the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) received 77,348 mass marketing fraud complaints with a total reported dollar loss of $99,198,188. That's a big number, but CAFC believes that fewer than 5% of victims file a report. It's likely that because of the unreported instances, victims lost approximately $2 billion in Canada due to mass market fraud in 2016. Fraudsters keep coming up with new scams, so it's important to be aware of the new scams, and understand how to protect yourself and you...
Mar 11, 2017•26 min
How could you cope if, due to divorce or the death of your partner, you became suddenly single? That question is the theme of a new book, CEO of Everything, Flying Solo and Soaring , co-authored by Gail Vaz-Oxlade and my guest today, Victoria Ryce . As they say in their book, the biggest adjustment when you become suddenly single is that: Everything in the house is now your job: when the smoke alarm starts beeping, when the water stops flowing, when the microwave blows ups, you must act. Grass w...
Mar 04, 2017•33 min
We have a crisis and it's called payday loans. At Hoyes Michalos we believe payday loans are a real problem because all too often they create a vicious cycle of debt. We also don't believe that recent efforts by the Ontario Government have been enough to deal with the hidden truth behind payday loans: already indebted Ontarians are borrowing multiple payday loans, from multiple payday lenders at the same time, and this is contributing to a record rate of payday loan induced insolvencies. How we ...
Feb 25, 2017•36 min
Sean Cooper returns to the podcast today to talk about his new book, Burn Your Mortgage , to be published on March 1, 2017. Sean worked up to 80 hours a week for many years to save for a down payment, and then he managed to pay off his mortgage in less than four years. He held a mortgage burning party that was covered by the CBC, and that's where the fun began. Some people applauded his frugal lifestyle, but others said that it's not realistic to work that hard just to pay off a mortgage quicker...
Feb 18, 2017•32 min
Is it true that if you just ignore an old debt it will go away? Not exactly. There are a few misconceptions about the Ontario Limitations Act . This week's Technical Tidbits edition of Debt Free in 30 will help separate the fact from fiction. Let's start with what we know We all know that if you don't pay a debt, you will get collection calls and, perhaps, have your wages garnisheed. So yes you can ignore a debt, but it may lead to collection actions. Doing nothing isn't generally a good option....
Feb 11, 2017•12 min
Losing a job is very difficult. Whether you're a single adult or have a family that relies on your pay cheque, job loss can be devastating. The most important thing you can do for yourself, and for your finances, is to move past it. Today's guest provides practical steps to move ahead financially and put yourself in the best possible position. David Trahair is a Chartered Professional Accountant and author of several books. You may remember David from shows #25 and #90 where he discussed some of...
Feb 04, 2017•36 min
Welcome to a special edition of Debt Free in 30. This week, instead of featuring one industry expert we're giving you four (including myself, of course). In today's show our panel of experts will answer questions on four recent issues within the personal finance realm. Each expert brings something different to the table, which gives us a well rounded view at these issues from all angles. Today's guests are Barton Goth, a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. Barton is joining us today from Edmonton, Albe...
Jan 28, 2017•28 min
If you are like most Canadians, you dream of a long and enjoyable retirement. Is it possible to retire early and achieve that by the age of 48? While it is an anomaly, my guest today did just that. Bob Lassaline worked for 30 years and retired when he was 48 years old. He is 80 years old today, so he has been officially retired for longer than he was employed. How did he do it? Full details are in the podcast.
Jan 21, 2017•38 min
This is our last show before Donald Trump officially becomes the President of the United States of America. That’s a scary thought for many people. I have no opinion on whether he will be a great President or a great disaster – I’m a Canadian, so that’s not my worry. I am interested in how President Trump’s policies will impact Canada. Even the experts don’t know what will happen; how could they? None of them predicted that Trump would win the election, so the future is uncertain. We made some p...
Jan 14, 2017•17 min
Canadians have always had a strong relationship with our southern neighbours. We escape the winter, they explore new places, and we support each other's economy. We also partake in cross-border shopping. Americans hop the border with their strong dollar and purchase goods from Canada. Canadians cross over and grab great sales at major U.S. retailers, but depending on how we pay, we're racking up U.S. debts. Some of these purchases are made on our own Canadian credit cards, but some are made usin...
Jan 07, 2017•15 min
2016 was a year we won't soon forget, and early indications are that 2017 will also be very eventful, so it's time to review the events of 2016 and make our predictions for 2017. Consumer debt reached record levels in 2016, and so did the Toronto real estate market. As Ted Michalos says on today's show: There is no capacity to save, there's no capacity for anything to go wrong. It's just a dangerous scenario waiting to unfold. We discussed the trends that we see with our own clients. A lot of th...
Dec 31, 2016•18 min
It’s the holiday season, so today we have no industry experts, and we won’t talk about numbers. Instead, our focus is on real people with real financial problems. Money problems are nothing new. In fact, back during the Great Depression, financial problems were rampant, and that’s when a song written in 1930 became very popular. Brother, Can You Spare a Dime tells the story of man who was building a dream, but the dream ended. What happened? That’s our story today on Debt Free in 30....
Dec 24, 2016•13 min
Our guest today is Georgia Graham, Programs Manager of WEST ( Women's Enterprise Skills Training ). Their mission is to improve the employability of women in Windsor-Essex County. WEST completed their own study which focused on identifying their community's financial needs, and whose results paralleled our own. The study Women's Financial Preparedness: Bridging the Divide in Windsor-Essex found that women were less knowledgeable than men when it came to financial products and financial indicator...
Dec 17, 2016•46 min
My guest today is Michael Chong, the Member of Parliament for the federal riding of Wellington-Halton Hills, and an advocate for the privatization of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. First, some background: As we have discussed on we've previous shows , the big banks are required to have mortgage insurance on all mortgages where the borrower has less than a 20% down payment, and the biggest mortgage insurer in Canada is CMHC. According to Michael Chong, while there are two private mo...
Dec 10, 2016•31 min
It is understandable that when you are experiencing financial problems you don't want that information broadcast to your friends, family and co-workers. This is a concern raised by many potential clients which brings us to this week's technical podcast question: Who will find out if you filed a bankruptcy or consumer proposal in Canada? We answer that question on today’s show. The real question however is will bankruptcy help you deal with your financial problems and should you feel embarrassed ...
Dec 03, 2016•9 min
There is a lot of chatter surrounding Canadian real estate, housing prices and mortgage rates. Vancouver sales have started to drop but not in Ontario. Is there a housing bubble in Ontario? When will it burst? Part of the answer might be in the next round of changes to Canada's mortgage rules. In today's podcast we talk about how this will affect your ability to obtain a new mortgage or refinance your existing mortgage. This week's guest is Ben Rabidoux, the founder of North Cove Advisors . They...
Nov 26, 2016•42 min
