Canadian snowbirds may soon be able to spend as much as two months more nesting down south next year.

U.S. legislation now being debated in Congress would allow Canadians aged 55 and older to spend up to 240 days in the country without a visa, almost two months longer than the current 182-day annual limit.

The provision is not yet law, but it has the backing of New York Senator Charles Schumer, a legislator who has long been keen on finding ways to get more Canadians spending their dollars across the border.  

Life happens.

And with it, so do unforeseen hardships.

That's why it is always good to be proactive and have a plan.

A new report by BMO Wealth Institute reveals that while many Canadians have a financial plan in place, very few have considered what would happen if unexpected life events arose that could cause financial hardships.

While some would argue that Canada has gone to great lengths to unite families in the past, those day are gone, it seems. 

The federal government is making it harder for Canadian families to bring their parents and grandparents from abroad. Those seeking to bring older family members to settle in Canada will need to have higher incomes and agree to financially support their extended families for much longer.

The new rules will increase the minimum income requirement for sponsoring a parent or grandparent by 30%, double the sponsorship undertaking period from ten to twenty years, and reduce the maximum age of a dependent to 18. 

They'll also have to agree to cover any welfare or health-care costs not covered by medicare for parents or grandparents for 20 years, instead of the current 10-year committment.

Young money.

According to a new report from BMO Economics, Canada's youth will have more spending power than their parents over their lifetime.

Years ago, it seemed the younger you were, the worse off you were.

But now it seems the kids will be all right.

The federal government is currently considering increasing CPP and QPP benefits, which would mean a significant premium hike for working Canadians and even more serious impacts for the economy.

But small business owners in particular are concerned about the costs associated with any expansion of benefits, according to Canadian Federation of Independent Business president Dan Kelly.

Earlier this month, CFIB issued an update of its Forced Savings report, examining the so-called 10-10-10 proposal for CPP/QPP expansion.

This plan would hike CPP benefits by 10 percentage points from 25% to 35% of maximum pensionable earnings (MPE), raise the MPE by $10,000 from today’s $51,100 to $61,100, and implement all of this within 10 years.

Trouble is, this double-whammy payroll tax hike could mean that many Canadians see their take home pay drop each year on January 1 for 10 straight years, Kelly maintains.

Shopping, reading, gaming, working, researching, banking. 

Today we do just about everything from the convenience of our computers.

As a matter of fact, Canadians spend an average of 30 hours per week connecting to the online world.

So it's no wonder that more and more Canadians are investing online too.

Canadians will be spending a little more on gifts for mom this Mother's Day.

As a matter of fact, they'll be spending an average of $107 to shower mom with love on May 12. That's up 27 per cent over 2012, according to BMO Bank of Montreal's 2013 Mother's Day survey.

And, men are planning on spending a little more than their female counterparts ($119 versus $96).

To retirees, the offers can sound like the answer to every money worry: convert tomorrow’s pension cheques into today’s hard cash through so-called pension advances -- a cash-strapped retiree's answer to a pay day loan. 

But programs like these are having devastating financial consequences for a growing number of older Americans, threatening their retirement savings and actually plunging them further into debt, the New York Times reports.

The advances, federal and state authorities say, are not advances at all, but actually carefully disguised loans that require borrowers to sign over all or part of their monthly pension cheques.

And while not yet widespread in Canada, critics worry that the practice might soon migrate across the border.

When it comes to retirement, baby boomers seem to be favouring lifestyle choices over wealth preservation, quite a different path compared to the generations that came before them, according to recent Bank of America Merrill Lynch survey.

The study found that retirement has been redefined – with people expecting to live and often work longer than any preceding generation, and taking different approaches to preparing for and living their best life during these years.

Most are seeking flexible work arrangements, such as part-time work (39%) or going back and forth between periods of work and leisure (24%), but not always for the same reasons.

Most boomers have "mixed feelings about living longer and transitioning into retirement," said Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave, the group that conducted the research.

"While they welcome the extra time to pursue new interests and spend more time with family and friends, they are concerned about outliving their assets and experiencing a serious health disruption. Even those who have saved adequately can be anxious and often overwhelmed by this complexity and the unknowns they face."

While many drivers instinctively want to "beat the system" after being pulled over, the odds are against you.

"But, officer, I didn’t see the sign!" ranks as the the top excuse in a recent survey of explanations drivers give when stopped by police. Not that it generally gets them anywhere.

Being lost and being "unaware" of car equipment failure are also among the typical excuses drivers offer when pulled over for a potential ticket.