Banking has changed a lot over the last 20 years. Gone are the days when you could only visit your bank between the hours of nine and five, Monday to Friday. The rise of the internet and extended opening hours mean that you can arrange transactions and check your balance at any time of the day or night.
The increased availability of accounts with an online banking facility has been absolutely essential for the lifestyles of today. Working hours have increased across the board, with standard working hours of 8.00am until 6.00pm becoming the norm for the majority of office workers.
Banks have had to change to keep up with demand and improved technology is not the only difference in the way that they work. The whole banking industry has changed significantly over the last couple of decades and they are offering far more financial products than at any time before.
How Banks Have Changed
It used to be that banks worked on a very local level, offering loans and savings accounts solely to customers in their area.
Which Generation has the most debt?
In mid-February 2012, Experian, one of the three major U.S. consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), released their credit trends. The study was conducted on four generation groups: Greatest Generation (ages 66 and above), Baby Boomers (ages 47 to 65), Generation X (ages 30 to 46) and Generation Y (ages 19 to 29). The study looked at debt, the amount owed, and the VantageScore® for these groups. Vantage Score is a credit score developed by the three major credit reporting agencies with scores ranging from 501 to 990.
According to the study, the average debt was $78,030 and the average VantageScore was 751. Average debt for this study was calculated using first and second mortgage loans, auto loan/lease, other types of installment loans, as well as revolving accounts, but not necessarily a combination of all for each consumer.
Lets start off with one of my favorite topics, the stock market! There is a divergence between the TSX and the SP500, where the SP500 is on fire and the TSX has been flat. It seems that commodities have cooled down significantly and the big money is flowing into big dividend paying blue chips. Overall though, my investments remained relatively flat for the month.
With my leveraged Canadian dividend stock portfolio being non-registered, Im slowly converting my RRSP into US and international holdings. Thus far, Ive sold off some duplicate Canadian positions, and Ive started to bulk up on strong US dividend stocks, and an ETF for international exposure. Slowly Im starting to practice what I preach in tax efficiency which is all outlined in my article about portfolio tax allocation.
Even with the flat markets, we managed to squeeze a small gain this month due to an increase in savings from increased income. Besides savings from regular salary, we paid ourselves a dividend (via dividend sprinkling), from our private corporation. You may be thinking about the tax liability associated with the dividend payout, but we only dividend out enough in the year to offset our expected tax refund to a net tax payable as close to $0 as possible.
On to the numbers:
: $697,651 (+0.89%)
- Cash: $4,500 (+0.00%)
- Savings: $66,000 (+10.00%)
- Registered/Retirement Investment Accounts (RRSP): $123,300(-0.48%)
- Tax Free Savings Accounts (TFSA): $40,600 (+0.25%)
- Defined Benefit Pension: $38,100 (+0.53%)
- Non-Registered Investment Accounts: $32,651 (-1.59%)
- Smith Manoeuvre Investment Account: $92,000 (+1.10%)
- Principal Residence: $300,500 (+0.00%) (purchase price adjusted for inflation annually)
: $82,400 (+0.24%)
- (Paid off in 2010!)
- Investment LOC balance: $82,400 (+0.24%)
- Started 2012 with Net Worth: $585,228
- Year to Date Gain/Loss: +5.13%
Some quick notes and explanations to net worth questions I get often:
The Cash
The $4,500 cash are held in chequing accounts to meet the minimum balance so that we pay no fees (accounting for regular bill payments – ie.
Now do your taxes on your Kindle Fire
Just a few weeks ago, TurboTax announced the launch of TurboTax for Android tablet customers. Today, we are expanding that announcement to include TurboTax . It’s exciting to add yet another mobile offering to the robust suite of mobile apps available to taxpayers this tax season.
With sales of Kindle Fire units on the rise, the new app reaches more customers and helps them prepare and e-file their federal and state tax returns on the device of their choice.
Designed and optimized specifically for the Kindle Fire, this app gives you the freedom to work on your taxes anytime, anywhere, and without always being connected to the Internet. With the 7-inch screen in landscape position, you can easily navigate your way through your taxes with step-by-step guidance to your maximum tax refund.
Just like other TurboTax apps, your tax return can be password protected for an extra layer of security.
In years gone by a first minor offence for drivers was not something that would generally have a huge impact on their premiums. However, it has been reported that insurance firms are cracking down when it comes to driving offences and are now hiking up insurance premiums by a considerable amount even in cases where the offence is a minor one, such as a first time speeding offence.
According to reports, some insurance firms are adding as much as 20 percent onto premiums in cases where drivers have been caught committing speeding offences. Other offences that could result in a huge hike at renewal time includes being caught on your mobile phone whilst driving, texting, playing games, or tampering with other hand held devices whilst operating a vehicle.
The increase is particularly significant given that the cost of vehicle insurance has already soared by such a huge amount over recent years.
Interest rates, scores and loan amounts Average interest rates for new vehicle loans were 4.52 percent in fourth quarter 2011, compared to 4.84 percent in fourth quarter 2010. Average interest rates for used vehicle loans were 8.68 percent in fourth quarter 2011, compared to 8.71 percent fourth quarter 2010.
The average credit score for new vehicle loans was 761 in the fourth quarter 2011, which was six points lower than 767 a year earlier. The average credit score for used vehicle loans was 670 in fourth quarter 2011, which was also nine points lower than 679 a year earlier. The credit score used was Experian’s Plus Score.
New vehicle loans to nonprime, subprime and deep subprime customers increased by 13.8 percent from the previous year.
Loans of 73 to 84 months (6 to 7 years) comprised 14.1 percent of all new vehicle loans, which was an increase of 47.1 percent from the same period last year.
Currently, there are 3 WorldPoints cards: a no-fee student version, a standard no-fee card, and a World card which doubles the rewards for an annual fee of $89. Read more…