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February 08, 2012

Amazon to open real-world store this year: report

Amazon doesn’t need any PR bumps, but let’s give it one anyway, shall we?

A_com_logo_RGBMy favourite Amazon story goes like this: one weeknight in 2010, I caught a late-night showing of The Social Network. Certainly, it was the year’s best movie, and so inspired was I that I came home and said, Hey, I oughtta read the book that was made from.

So sometime after midnight, well into the a.m., I placed an order for Ben Mezrich’s “The Accidental Billionaires.” Before the end of the next work day, it was at my door.

I’m not a paid Amazon advocate, just a fan of its convenience. So why, then, would a service as punctual as the web retailer actually open its own bricks-and-mortar store?

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Posted at 12:36 PM in Consumer news, Current affairs, Shopping | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

December 23, 2011

Kevin O’Leary’s four reasons to cut holiday spending: keep more by giving less

An old holiday adage says that it is better to give than to receive. I disagree. Giving is costly. This holiday season, give your kids the lasting gift of common sense instead of the short-term satisfaction of their entire wish list. Read my four reasons for why you should cut down on the time and money you spend at the mall during the holidays.

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Posted at 11:25 AM in Behaviour, Books, Buying behaviour, Buying tips, Debt, Education, Family finances, Frugal living, Money management, Personal finance, Saving tips, Wealth | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

December 01, 2011

Here's a twist: A program that rewards you for not spending

Recently, we talked about Bill Thaler's work on why most of us have so much trouble saving money.

AdThaler believes that when it comes to something as important as saving for the future, all of us need to be coaxed into developing more self-control, willingness to battle procrastination and the ability to handle short-term sacrifices.

Well, it sounds like someone was listening.

Introducing SaveUp, a new incentive program that rewards consumers for saving money and paying down their debts with the opportunity to earn rewards including cars, vacations, and smaller items like gift cards and electronics.

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Posted at 11:37 AM in Banking, Buying behaviour, Debt, Saving tips | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

August 30, 2011

Is your mortgage broker being upfront with you?

It’s amazing what you can learn from industry publications where participants talk candidly about issues that most consumers never really hear about.

Aa Here’s one from the mortgage lending side of the street, an incredibly competitive business if there ever was one.

Clients are entitled to know when they’re being charged a higher interest rate so brokers can bank the difference to pass it on to other customers, argues Paul Mangion, a veteran broker with The Mortgage Centre in Mississauga.

“When we hear ‘Disclosure! Disclosure! Disclosure!’ we don’t hear about the points that some lenders give brokers for specifically and intentionally offering one client a ceiling rate in order to hold onto to the basis points and then buy down the rate for a subsequent client – without having to give up any commission on that subsequent deal,” he told MortgageBrokerNews.

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Posted at 04:45 AM in Banking, Debt, Family finances, Mortgages | | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

June 28, 2011

What's the best method for paying someone back?

Whenever I owe someone money, I try to use email payment as much as possible.

Istockphoto_11797967-electronic-payment-concept It costs, yes – my bank, TD Canada Trust, charges $1.50 per email transaction – but it’s clean. No cash. Geography’s not an issue. You don’t need exact change. There are few ways for the average consumer to make more direct financial amends.

Am I a sucker for living by that $1.50 fee? Perhaps, and maybe that’s why I find some people resistant to email payment. But if a new PayPal study tells us anything, it’s that preference for dealing with cash, and for making cash payments, may soon be a thing of the past.

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Posted at 03:52 PM in Current affairs, Debt | | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

June 07, 2011

What to look for when choosing a rewards credit card

For people who like to funnel most purchases onto a credit card, or travel on business and can keep the points, a credit card that ties to an airline may be your best bet.

Card Most Canadians opt for travel when using rewards points, with 57 per cent redeeming for flight options, well ahead of merchandise (30 per cent) and gift cards (27 per cent), according to a recent RBC poll of Canadian cardholders.

Not that using points to book travel is always easy. Many reward travellers say they’ve faced obstacles when trying to travel on reward points, with 81 per cent expressing frustration at having to book months in advance.

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Posted at 12:46 AM in Buying tips, Credit cards, Debt, Saving tips | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

April 14, 2011

Are you in denial when it comes to your relationship with money?

Money. People perceive, value and treat it differently.

Money But regardless of how you interact with it, money plays a major role in your life – in some cases, providing security, freedom and power and in others leaving you feeling inadequate and trapped.

It’s a question of training. Perhaps money was always taboo in your home. Or you received conflicting messages that you should feel guilty about money (“only the poor go to heaven”) and that money was unstable and scary (“you could wake up poor in the morning”).

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Posted at 01:46 AM in Coaching, Debt, Money management, Personal finance | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

November 08, 2010

Cash or credit: Exploring the pain of paying

Studies suggest the farther you are away from "real" money, the easier it is to spend it.

When you pay cash, you can "feel" the money leaving your control. This isn’t true with credit cards. Flipping a credit card up on a counter registers nothing emotionally.

Chalk it up to a concept called the pain of paying, says Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational: Imagine that a restaurant, rather than charge $30 per meal, charges by the bite, with a waiter standing tableside ringing up each morsel. That reminder would make for an extremely unpleasant meal.

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Posted at 09:29 AM in Buying behaviour, Credit cards, Debt, Shopping | | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

August 26, 2010

Student loan debt increasingly overwhelming: report

21% of post-secondary students admit to finding it hard to make ends meet, 36% believe getting through their financial difficulties will be a struggle and 41% of students are spending more money than they save, according to a recent TD Canada survey.

What’s worse, the majority of students anticipate they will be in debt when they graduate; 69% of students predict they will graduate with some debt, while 17% expect their debt will be $25,000 or more.

Good guess. According to the most recent Statistics Canada data, two years after completing school, Canadian students owe an average of $21,000 – although many professionals can lay claim to three or even four times that amount.

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Posted at 12:46 AM in Debt, Economic news, Money management | | Comments (64) | TrackBack (0)

March 01, 2010

Student debt loads continue to increase: StatsCan

Students are graduating from post-secondary institutions saddled with debt and are taking much longer to become financially self-sufficient.  

The proportion of students with heavy debt loads of $25,000 or more rose to 27%, up from 17% in 1995, according to the most recent Statistics Canada data. 

This is hampering recent graduates when it comes to saving for the future and, in some cases, is also forcing their baby-boomer parents to postpone their own retirements. 

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Posted at 12:00 AM in Consumer news, Debt | | Comments (21) | TrackBack (0)

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AUTHORS
Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...

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