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Managing your finances means finding the right balance. Inflation and higher interest rates signal that you may need to adjust your budget to find the right balance between daily spending and paying down debt. The right balance will depend on your financial situation and goals. This selection of tools from the FCAC provides information and tips on: How to manage your money when interest rates rise Make a plan to pay off your debt
Managing debt doesn't have to be overwhelming. These tips and tools from the Ontario Securities commission can help you borrow wisely and pay off debt more quickly.
Drive through a low-income neighborhood in virtually any American city and it quickly becomes apparent that the area’s financial health is at risk. The giveaway? The abundance of payday lenders. According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, there are now more than 20,000 of these organizations across the country—which tops even the ubiquitous McDonald’s storefront by roughly 40%.1 These alternative financial services providers offer short-term loans at interest rates that can top 400%. They appeal to desperate consumers with no access to traditional, more affordable credit and offer an immediate fix that can lead to months, if not years, of financial pain. In its Payday Lending in America series, the Pew Charitable Trusts reports that Americans spend roughly $7.4 billion (B) on payday loans each year. Could traditional financial institutions find a way to deliver credit to this consumer niche without compromising their own health? The Filene Research Institute, a consumer finance think-and-do tank, hypothesized that the answer was yes. Read the full report.
A key component of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada’s (FCAC’s) mandate is to monitor and evaluate trends and emerging issues that may have an impact on consumers of financial products and services. Technological innovations in financial services and shifting consumer behaviours have resulted in a steady increase in retail e-commerce sales over the past several years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on how consumers make retail purchases. Retail e-commerce sales reached record levels during the pandemic. This has further contributed to the proliferation of buy now, pay later (BNPL) services in Canada.
The Thriving or Surviving study uncovers the kitchen table issues that confront Canadians daily, revealing how the country is coping with concerns such as debt, savings, emergency funds and financial literacy.
Financial empowerment consists of five complementary strategies including financial literacy and coaching; taxes and access to benefits; safe financial products; savings and asset building; and consumer protection. Empower U serves primarily as a financial literacy and coaching and savings and asset building intervention (although partners also contribute to the other interventions). The Sustainable Livelihood Model identifies five distinct sets of assets including personal, human, social, physical and financial. The Empower U program activities are grounded by two overarching philosophies: Financial Empowerment (as defined by Prosper Canada) and the Sustainable Livelihood Model (adapted by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, based on the work of the University of Sussex Institute for Development Studies). Focusing on financial literacy and coaching, Empower U has developed an individual financial coaching component to the overall program.
Debt Consolidation is the process of combining multiple debts into one. Use this calculator to calculate what your new monthly payments would be, how soon you could be debt free, and how much your total interest amount would be when you consolidate your debts.
This article from OSC provides 8 tips to help you plan for retirement. Transitioning from working life to retirement takes careful financial planning and decision-making – give yourself plenty of time to prepare. Here are some things you can do ahead of time.
If you have extra money, this calculator helps you decide whether to invest or pay off debt.
The CBA partnered with Credit Counselling Canada, an association of accredited non-profit credit counselling agencies, to offer the Debt and Money Quiz. The online tool helps Canadians assess their financial health and provides recommendations to help those who are struggling financially. Take a short “Yes” or “No” quiz to find out if you need support managing money and debt. See how you compare with other quiz respondents.
This research report compares the long-term financial outcomes of Canadians, based on a study comparing consumers who used a debt management program (DMP), bankruptcy (BK), or a consumer proposal (CP) to obtain relief from debt.
This webinar hosted by Credit Canada features guest expert Prosper Canada's Manager of Learning and Training, Glenna Harris. She shares some of their tried-and-true resources to help get people started on budgeting and debt management. She also provides a new tool - Financial Relief Navigator - that can help connect people with income supports they might be eligible for.
This report presents a study of the debt settlement and financial recovery industry and examines Canadian consumer issues from these services. Data is gathered from company websites and contracts as well as customer surveys and questionnaires completed by governmental and non-governmental organizations. A comparative study of legislation applicable to the industry is also conducted.
This report provides a view into the state of financial well-being in America. It presents results from the National Financial Well-Being Survey, conducted in late 2016. The findings include the distribution of financial well-being scores for the overall adult population and for selected subgroups, which show that there is wide variation in how people feel about their financial well-being. The report provides insight into which subgroups are faring relatively well and which ones are facing greater financial challenges, and identifies opportunities to improve the financial well-being of significant portions of the U.S. adult population through practice and research.
This report explores consumer financial health, wellness/ stress and resilience for Canadians across a range of financial health indicators, demographics and all provinces excluding Quebec. This report provides topline results from the 2019 Financial Health Index study and three-year trends from 2017 to 2019.
The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) co-hosted the 2018 National Research Symposium on Financial Literacy on November 26 and 27, 2018 at the University of Toronto, in partnership with Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR). This report presents the key ideas and takeaways from the event, while shining a light on the research shaping new solutions designed to enhance financial well-being in Canada and around the world.
The study examines consumers’ financial knowledge and confidence levels; financial and money stressors, financial capability aspects and financial management behaviours and practices (across the financial services spectrum). The study also explores external or environmental factors such as income variability and the extent to which Canadians have access to and lever their social capital (i.e. their family and friends who can provide financial advice and/or support in times of hardship). The study also explores consumer financial product and service usage, debt management and debt stress, access to financial products, services, advice and tools, usage of more predatory financial services (e.g. payday lending) and perceived levels of support by consumers’ primary Financial Institution for their financial wellness. The study also provides benefits of improved support for financial providers improving the financial wellness of their customers – including from a banking share of wallet and brand perspective.
This is a one-hour webinar on debt management solutions in Canada for situations where someone's debt is significant enough that specialized solutions are needed. The speakers explain what steps are likely to be involved in the credit counselling process in setting up a debt management plan, or working with a licensed insolvency trustee to file a consumer proposal or bankruptcy. The speakers in this webinar are: Click 'Get it' below to access the video link, and scroll down to access handouts, slides, and video timestamps for this webinar.
Handouts, slides, and time-stamps
Read the presentation slides for this webinar.
Access the handouts for this webinar:
How we help people – An overview (Webinar handout) – Credit Counselling Society
Our services (Webinar handout) – Credit Counselling Society
Debt solutions 101 (Webinar handout) – msi Spergel Inc
Time-stamps for the video-recording:
4:13 – Agenda and introductions
7:00 – Audience polls
12:31 – Debt in Canada (Speaker: Glenna Harris)
15:20 – Credit Counselling Society on debt management plans (Speaker: Anne Arbour)
34:05 – Spergel Msi on Consumer Proposals and Bankruptcy plans (Speaker: Gillian Goldblatt)
56:00 – Q&A
This resource is temporarily unavailable. Check back soon for access to this resource.
This study addresses these gaps in the literature through an evaluation of a nationwide credit counselling program called Sharpen Your Financial Focus, an initiative launched by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) in September of 2013. The Sharpen initiative builds upon and enhances the standard counseling model implemented by NFCC affiliate agencies. As of March 2015, more than 40,000 consumers have received credit counseling services under the Sharpen initiative. This analysis uses data on 6,094 consumers enrolling during the first quarter of the initiative through 13 different affiliate agencies. In partnership with Experian, a matched comparison group is generated through Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM).
This study addresses these gaps in the literature through an evaluation of a nationwide credit counselling program called Sharpen Your Financial Focus, an initiative launched by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) in September of 2013. The Sharpen initiative builds upon and enhances the standard counseling model implemented by NFCC affiliate agencies. As of March 2015, more than 40,000 consumers have received credit counseling services under the Sharpen initiative. This analysis uses data on 6,094 consumers enrolling during the first quarter of the initiative through 13 different affiliate agencies. In partnership with Experian, a matched comparison group is generated through Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM).
This activity sheet is from Module 8 of the Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources. Steps for debt repayment. To view full Financial Literacy Facilitator Resources, click here.
To test out the impact of rules of thumb in helping consumers decrease their credit card debt, the CFPB
commissioned a rigorous study of two financial rules of thumb on consumers with revolving credit card debt. We created two new guidelines aimed at aiding consumers to decrease their revolving credit card debt: Don’t swipe the small stuff – Use cash when it’s under $20; Credit keeps charging – It adds approximately 20% to the total.
This debt management guide was created to assist volunteers at WoodGreen’s ground-breaking Debt Management Clinic, who meet one-on-one with community members to educate them on their options. It is now available for social services staff who want to know how to help clients deal with debt. This Guide provides a comprehensive explanation of the options available to any debtor in Ontario, with practical advice about what may make the most sense for low-income debtors. It starts with a chart outlining options, and later explains these options in detail. Wherever this Guide isn’t exhaustive, it will direct you to other sources that may provide further and more detailed information on any given topic. It’s wise to check web resources when working with clients on debt management, as policies, amounts, and rights may change from time to time. This Guide is accurate as of March 2012.