Mounting debt

We’re all another year older, and as the old song goes, deeper in debt. The latest measure of household debt by Statistics Canada shows the average household owes nearly $1.64 for every dollar it earns in a year.

In the 1990s we owed less than a dollar for every dollar we earned but the creeping culture of consumerism has most Canadians living beyond their means.

Late in the year credit rating agency TransUnion reported the average Canadian consumer owes $27,355 – not including mortgages.

2014 could be a year of reckoning for many – a time to say no to the things we want, and perhaps good-bye to some of the things we have.  Read More…

10 Comments

  1. There’s always going to be uncertainty in any country of constant growth as we see here in Canada for several years now.

    It’s all cyclical. If you follow the tried and true basics of diversifying your holdings, never living beyond your means, and paying your debt you will be fine no matter the situation.

  2. I doubt going for a higher education degree like a Masters will help much. I know a friend who is a recent masters graduate from University of Waterloo in Chemical Engineering and he has been unemployed for over 3 months now.

  3. What concerns me most is that my job is always on a tightwire. Each day i go to work i dont know if i am going to receive a pink slip or a raise. It frustrates me beyond belief and should be a calling card for me to return to school for a better degree.

  4. I miss the time when the Canadian dollar was at parity with the US dollar. Ah well. Now i can’t buy as many stocks to pad my portfolio each year in RRSP without getting hit with a massive exchange charge. That is what hurts my finances the most. Anyone know of better exchange houses out there because local banks are lame.

  5. I hate to say it but i am a living statistic because i too am in debt for > $27K. How sad is that 🙁

  6. I don’t care what people say when there are deals at your local electronics store how can resist. YOLO! (666)

  7. This is no different than any other place in the world. The problems are the same, the location is different. These 6 threats are always going to be there each and every year.

    What amazes me most is how most people do nothing about it. (head scratch)

  8. You’d think a nation of our wealth would learn to keep up with inflation by increasing minimum wage steadily so the general public would be more inclined to keep spending and continue the economic growth.

    Apparently i don’t understand the economy that well.

  9. Is Canada still the best place to live in seeing as how most considered it a heaven during the 2008 financial crisis?

  10. I’ve been the beneficiary of high returns for 2013 mostly through Index funds. Sure the market will turn around and likely will do so in 2014 seeing as how i’ve been doing so well for so long but i think for most people they just don’t understand the importance to move their money into better vehicles than their local bank account.

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