Debt Free in 30

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 th...

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...

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...

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 thei...

When used correctly, a credit card is a helpful tool to build your credit history, and it's a safer than carrying cash. However, when mismanaged, a credit card can quickly become one of the most expensive borrowing options, leading to serious debt trouble. For many of our clients, credit card debt is the second biggest debt they carry. To help you avoid the common pitfalls that come with owning a...

It's August, and we are rebroadcasting our most downloaded episodes of the last year, with a new introduction, and this one has opera! How do you stay on top of your finances when your income differs from one month to the next? Chris Enns is an opera-singer and a fee-only financial planner specializing in helping people who work in creative careers organize their sporadic salaries. He understands...

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) is a loan secured by the equity in your house. A HELOC is often presented as a great borrowing tool because unlike with credit cards or unsecured loans, you have access to a large amount of revolving cash at a lower interest rate. But what you probably don't know is that your bank can change the borrowing terms on your HELOC whenever they want. On today's speci...

What is a debt buyer?  What should you do if you find out that a debt buyer has bought your debt? On today's show a former collection agency lawyer explains the law, and discusses options for negotiating with a debt buyer.

Could you survive without debt?  Sounds like an easy question to answer, but many of our clients are so dependent on credit cards that they don't realize they are borrowing to live. On today's show Ted Michalos discusses how you can tell if you are dependent on debt, and how to get off the debt treadmill.

Today we discuss a wonderful, magical place called Costco.  Is it a store?  A finance company?  Something else?  And why does it matter?  All that and more on today's podcast (and I've got slides, so if you want to see the numbers, the video is posted on the Debt Free in 30 channel on YouTube).

Many people have no choice: if they want to work, they have to be a "sub-contractor", or "self-employed".  This is very common in the construction industry (Dry wallers, framers, plumbers, electricians, roofers) and in high tech (programmers, web developers). On today's podcast Ted Michalos helps us explore how you can finance your self-employment, and we give a warning about personal guarantees a...

My guest today is Dr. Thomas Richardson.  He has a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, with a special interest in financial difficulties and mental problems.  He's done a lot of research on the subject, including co-authoring a research paper that examined the relationship between personal unsecured debt and mental and physical health. Does debt cause mental health problems, or do mental health prob...

My guest today is Hilliard Macbeth, an investment portfolio manager and author of When the Bubble Bursts: Surviving the Canadian Real Estate Crash. When Mr. Macbeth first appeared on this podcast just over 3 years ago we discussed his prediction that the real estate bubble would burst. My first question to him today: did it? Was your prediction wrong? We also discuss how money is actually created...

Even though the economy appears to still be in good shape, our stress levels are very high.  Why? On today's show I explain that everyone isn't benefitting from the good economy; the cost of living is high; we have longer commutes to work; we are carrying more debt and we use debt to survive. I provide my advice on how to deal with high stress in today's stressful world.

You've heard of the five stages of grief; today Scott Terrio returns to discuss the 5 stages of debt, with examples from the people we meet with every day. Stage 3 (Bargaining) is where we can make the most mistakes; stage 4 (depression) is where most people are when they reach out for help, and stage 5 (acceptance) is the most important stage to get a fresh start. Lots of client anecdotes on toda...

Today on the podcast we have a first time guest, Danielle Park, a Chartered Financial Analyst and the President and co-founder of Venable Park Investment Counsel Inc., a money management firm. In her book, Juggling Dynamite, she accurately describes the risk of excessive debt, and she says that she has come to "see credit and prescription drugs as some of the great ironies of our time." On today's...

For the average Canadian family, their largest monthly expense is their rent or mortgage payment, and unless they have a very expensive car, their second biggest expense is often food. If you have a limited income, how can you manage your food budget effectively? Is it possible eat healthy without breaking the bank? On today's show we welcome Heidi Pola, a Registered Dietitian who gives practical...

You've got debt, you think you might need to file a consumer proposal or go bankrupt, but you're worried, because you travel for your job, or you have a family vacation booked, and you are worried that if you are bankrupt you may get stopped at the border. Is that a thing? Can you travel while you are bankrupt? That's today's question here on Debt Free in 30, so to discuss it I'm joined by Ian Mar...