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October 28, 2021

Should live kidney donors receive $10,000 for an organ donation?

If governments and hospitals want to attract more kidney donors, they might want to consider paying living donors $10,000, according a recent study released by the University of Calgary.

This would raise the number of transplant surgeries by five per cent and it would help save an overall $340, since the patient would no longer be on dialysis, while adding an extra 0.11 years to a patient's lifetime compared to our current donor system.

If kidney donations were to go up by 10 per cent, patients would save $1,640 and add 0.21 years to their lifetime. And if rates improved to 20 per cent, we can always hope for the best, patients would save $4,030 and add 0.39 years to their lifetime. Time is money and in this case, patients could gain time and spend less money. There would be wins all around.

Canada faces an unfortunate shortage in organ transplants. It leaves some patients on waiting lists for years as they undergo treatment and hope that they will be next in line for a donor organ, but it also contributes to a demand for black market organs overseas. Unfortunately, the number of donors hasn't changed over the last decade, which means it leaves many people out of luck.

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October 23, 2021

Are you getting the most out of your company benefit plan?

If you're lucky to have a decent benefit plan at work, you probably value your health coverage. But are you getting everything you can out of the plan you have?

Corporate health plans increasingly have features that are tied to a 12-month cycle, including annual deductibles, preventive checkups and, in some instance, health-spending accounts.

Employees who don't pay attention to the calendar risk wasting fully covered benefits and paying more than they have to for procedures delayed until the following year.

For example, a dental plan may limit expenses in a calendar year while a vision plan bases its cap on a moving 24-month window.

If your plan benefits do roll over in January, one thing you might want to check is that you aren't missing out on important counselling services or potential stress-relieving perks like massage treatments or physiotherapy. 

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October 22, 2021

Uruguay plans to sell weed for $1 per gram to combat drug trafficking

Uruguay hopes selling legal marijuana at $1 per gram will put a stop to the illegal market, according to a local newspaper.

The government is attempting to create a legal marijuana industry that could start as early as the summer of 2014, the country's drug chief Julio Calzada told newspaper El Pais.

These plans passed in the lower house of Congress and President Jose Mujica expects that it will be swiftly approved in Senate. If that's the case, Uruguay will become the first country to attempt licensing and enforcing weed production, distribution and sales.

"The illegal market is very risky and of poor quality," Calzada told the Associated Press. The State "is going to offer a safe place to buy a quality product and on top of that, it's going to sell it at the same price."

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October 16, 2021

Mexico proposes a 'soda tax' to combat obesity

Mexico is the latest country to propose a higher tax on soft drinks in an attempt to curb high obesity rates which is a growing worldwide problem.

The country's residents are the most obese adults in the world with 32.8 per cent of Mexicans deemed overweight, compared to 31.8 per cent of Americans, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto hopes to raise $950 million for the country thanks to a proposed eight-cent (1 peso) per litre tax on soft drinks. Mexico's residents drink an astonishing 163 litres of soft drinks a year, one of the highest consumption rates in the world.

Overweight and obesity rates have risen around the globe with the likelihood of adults having one of these conditions rising to 34 per cent in 2008 from 24 per cent in 1980. Rates are increasing in every country, even in low-income countries where there's severe malnutrition, says the United Nations FAO.

Obesity isn't good for anyone's health, but it also puts a strain on a household's budget - whether it's through healthcare expenses or increased food costs. Weight increases can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease or cancer, as a few of the issues, which lead to a heavier strain on the country's healthcare system.

Countries have attempted to use a "fat tax" to improve the eating habits of residents. It's taking a page out of the book of tobacco control, which research shows that once cigarette prices rose by 50 per cent, smoking rates dropped.

Denmark is believed to be the first country to implement a "fat tax" in October 2011. The tax was added to food with more than 2.3 per cent of saturated fat, which included dairy, meat and processed foods. While the tax meant well, it was cancelled after about a year since it had a harmful effect on businesses and led Danish residents to cross the border to buy their junk food. The tax did manage to raise a revenue of $216 million, according to the New York Times.

In France, there was a backlash over a proposed "Nutella tax," which could have quadrupled the cost of food containing palm oil, such as Nutella. It was voted down.

Samoa Air, an airline company servicing the South Pacific, introduced the first-ever, pay-by-weight policy, which charges for a persons' baggage, along with their weight.

Unfortunately, obesity rates in Canada have climbed to record rates. The Ontario Medical Association has called for junk food taxes on unhealthy foods and cheaper taxes on healthy food option as some of the organization's recommendations.

Organizations continue to debate whether it's more or less expensive to eat healthy. While fruits and vegetables cost less compared to other high fat or high sugary foods, it depends on how you measure the price, according to a study released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Foods compared by price per calorie show that high-calorie processed foods are cheaper, while if food is compared by weight or portion size than healthier grain, fruit and vegetable and dairy options are more inexpensive.

Do you think a "fat tax" is a good or bad idea?

Josephine Lim, MSN Money

October 08, 2021

Save money and don't over-vaccinate your pooch

Man's best friend is a great companion, but let's face it, they're also a costly member of the family.

While it's important to ensure your dog is in good health, save money by vaccinating your dog once every three years rather than once a year, which many vets continue to push, according to a recent CBC Marketplace investigation. These vaccinations apply to what are known as core canine vaccinations, which are essential to your pooch.

This vaccination timeline follows guidelines released by the American Animal Hospital Association, which is used by veterinarians in North America. It turns out that protection from core vaccinations will last for seven to nine years, according to the CBC.

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October 07, 2021

Could you afford to live to be 100 years old?

Forget being retired for 20 or 25 years: How about something closer to 50 years?

Science fiction? Not necessarily. In fact, it could happen within our lifetimes, maintains Alex Zhavoronkov, the author of The Ageless Generation: How Advances in Biomedicine Will Transform the Global Economy.

There are several specific technology trends that will undoubtedly make us live significantly longer than our parents and grandparents, he claims. In fact, it's already happening.

Today, the average 65-year-old has an average life expectancy of 19 more years — approximately age 84. But half of all individuals live longer than the average life expectancy. In fact, one out of every four 65-year-olds will live past age 90, and one out of ten will live past age 95.

But that longevity comes at a price, the two primary concerns being declining health and the ability to create a sustainable retirement income that may need to last decades more than expected.

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October 03, 2021

Federal government may move ahead with fitness tax credit for adults

Forget all those chunky kids, the federal government is moving towards paying adults to get off the couch and into the gym.

After months of preparation, the Parliamentary Budget Office has finally come up with an estimate of what would likely cost to create the adult fitness tax credit it promised in its election campaign. The credit would be similar to the children’s fitness tax credit the government introduced a few years ago. 

If adopted, the rule change would allow taxpayers “to claim a non-refundable tax credit of up to $500 in eligible physical activity programming costs against their taxable income each year at a rate of 15% (i.e. the maximum annual amount to be offset against an individual’s taxes payable would be $75),” the PBO estimates.

The credit wouldn’t be transferable, so only those actually burning calories would be able to claim it.

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October 02, 2021

How would getting sick affect you financially?

Health care costs are top of mind these days as the U.S. government continues to squabble over just what ObamaCare will eventually look like and how it's supposed to protect more Americans from being bankrupted by overwhelming medical bills.

Of course, unlike our cousins across the border, Canadians aren’t supposed to get into financial trouble when they fall sick. But, according to one recent study, we do – repeatedly, it seems.

Among Canadians who have received a serious health diagnosis, or who have lived through a major accident, 40% admit that the aftermath caused them some degree of “financial hardship.”

What’s worse, more than half of those who’ve had a serious health event described at least one financial consequence. The list ranges from reduced savings (22%) to increased credit card or line of credit debt (22%) and even being forced to remortgage or sell the family home (5%).

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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...