Avoid These Common Credit Card Mistakes

Credit cards are a part of our daily living and they are good things, if you know how to manage them. Today, I will talk about how some common and simple mistakes can ruin your credit score. These small mistakes are so negligible that we often forget they can have a big impact on our finances. Learn these mistakes, avoid them, and make them a thing of the past.

Making Late Payments – This is the most common mistake we all make. A late payment can incur late payment charges and bump up your interest rate higher. It can also hurt your credit score, depending on how late it is. Use online tools like Google Calendar or anything that works for you to remind you 3 days ahead of the actual due date so you don’t get caught up making late payments.

Paying Only The Minimum – In Canada, by law, credit card companies now have to show how many years it will take to pay your full balance if you only make the minimum. Add some extra dollars with your minimum, whether it’s $20 or $50 a month, and you can shave off years and save lots interest costs on your credit card balance.  

Using a Credit Card for Cash Advances – Withdrawing cash using a credit card hurt you 2 ways. The first is you pay a high cash advance fee. This fee could run from $20 to $50, depending on your bank. The other bad thing is you start paying high interest the moment you take out cash advances. Never use credit card for cash advances. It’s the worst way to borrow money.

Paying Annual Fees - Many credit cards will try to hook you up offering reward points or cash back in exchange for annual fees. Just to cover these fees, you have to spend more than $20,000 or $30,000 annually. Read the fine print and figure out if it’s really worth it to spend that much money for reward points or cash back after covering annual fees. Use a no annual fee reward or cash back credit card instead; there are lots of them available in the market.

More A Dawn Articles:

China’s Economy in 2012

5 Money Tips for Financial Success

Light Traveler’s Travel Checklist

Why Rushing Actually Slows You Down

Toronto After-Christmas Snowfall

Financial Website A Dawn Journal – Best of the Best Blogger Series Interview

Canadian Economy and Unemployment Rate

20 Questions to Ask Before Buying A Condo

After an unexpected half-point contraction in the second quarter, the Canadian economy expanded better than expected by 3.5 percent in the third quarter. The U. S. economy expanded by 2 percent in the same period. Increased demand for exports was behind this unexpected growth. Although the economy is expected to grow in a positive pace in the last quarter of 2011, it may not be as robust as the 3rd quarter.

Consumer spending on goods and services rose in the 3rd quarter by 0.3 percent, lower than 0.5 percent of the 2nd quarter. Government spending on goods and services rose in the 3rd quarter by 0.2 percent. Growth was seen in the goods producing industries and service industries by 1.4 and .6 percent. Energy, manufacturing, construction, transportation, and wholesale trade are where growth occurred most.

Canada’s unemployment rate rose to 7.4 percent in November, making it the fifth consecutive month since June in which there was no new job creation. In the U. S. 120,000 jobs were created for the same month. However, the overall pace of job creation in Canada is still higher than the U. S. since the recession. With 13.2 percent unemployment rate, Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest unemployment rate. Conversely, Alberta has the lowest unemployment rate at 5.0 percent.

Bank of Canada states that economic activity will be sluggish in the last quarter of 2011 and the early months of 2012 with a possibility of conditions getting worse if the European debt crisis continues to drag down the global financial situation. However, the Canadian government will remain flexible with its economic policies and will intervene with new stimulus packages if necessary.

Data Source: Statistics Canada

More A Dawn Articles:

How Not to Give Up on the Gym

India’s Falling Rupee and Its Economic Future

Why Are Global Entrepreneurs Flocking to Canada?

Ten Wallet Tips You Need to Know Before Leaving Home

Condo Buyer’s Checklist/Points to Consider When Buying A Condo

Condo living can be rewarding with minimal headaches. However, it is not for everyone. Today, I am going to present some questions that should be answered and looked at to help you before making any condo buying decisions.

1. Know why you want a condo and if condo living is for you.
2. When you live in a condo, there are rules and regulations you have to live by. Ask yourself if
   you will be fine with these rules and regulations and giving up some freedom when compared to
   living in a house.
3. Condo living is associated with paying ongoing fees (maintenance fees). Make sure you
   understand how these fees work and if you will be paying these every month.
4. Is the location right for you? Is it close to those amenities that are important for you?
5. What types of facilities or amenities is the condo giving you? Is it too much or too little?   
   Beware of condos that offer too much. For example, there are some condos in Toronto with
   their own bus services to the station. However, I won’t live there because maintenance fees
   will be too high for the obvious reasons.
6. Does it come with a parking space and a locker or you need to pay for them additionally?
7. Are there any restrictions on occupants? Will you be able to rent out your unit?
8. How many pets are allowed?
9. Is the condominium price reasonable?
10. Are the monthly condo fees (maintenance fees) reasonable?
11. What the condo fees cover and what the fees don’t cover.
12. How old is the building?
13. Who is the builder and is this builder a reputable company or have they had bad records or  
     problems in the past?
14. Is the building in good shape and durable? Does it look attractive?
15. Does the building and surrounding area look clean, neat, and well maintained?
16. Is the condo corporation in good order and are there no legal claims or judgements?
17. How are the condo finances? It is well managed or is the condo board is wasting money?
18. What is the owner-occupied and renter-occupied units proportion?
19. Is the building energy efficient and is a functional fire protection system in place?
20. Will this purchase make you happy living in your unit so you don’t need to look for another condo after 6 months? How many years you are looking to stay in this building?

The Ontario Student Assistance Program

The Canadian Government does not want any students stop going to college or university because of the lack of financial support. In order to prevent that, the Government provides financial assistance to eligible students in paying for their post-secondary education through various programs and services throughout Canada. OSAP or Ontario Student Assistance Program is the main source of assistance in the province of Ontario. OSAP is a student loan program which is made up of both federal and provincial funding for the eligible post-secondary students living in Ontario.    

OSAP Loan Amount

The amount students receive will be based on their financial need. This amount is designed to cover expenses such as tuition, books, living costs, transportation costs, and so on. There are various factors that determine the loan amount such as parent’s income, marital status, student’s own or spouse’s income, course type (full-time, part-time) course length, and so on. There is a financial aid estimator or calculator available to give you an approximate idea of the amount based on your scenarios. To find out more, check Government of Ontario OSAP website.

OSAP Eligibility

There are many criteria that need to be fulfilled in order to be eligible for OSAP. Some of them are:
- You have to be a Canadian Citizen, permanent resident, or a protected person.
- You have resided in Ontario for the last 12 months
- You academic standing is satisfactory
Visit the OSAP site mentioned above for full eligibility criteria.

How to Apply For OSAP?

There are two ways to apply for OSAP: via paper application and online. Online application is quicker and therefore the preferred way. There is a cost of $10 to apply via paper application.  

OSAP Loan Repayment and Interest

Once students graduate, stop attending school, or reach lifetime maximum, repayment of OSAP will start. Loan repayment starts 6 months after the student ends full-time status. The loan is interest-free and interest is paid by the government as long as students remain full-time.

Last Word

OSAP is no different than any other loan and as such, you should treat it with responsibility and care. Not handling the OSAP properly can affect your credit rating. If you have difficulties paying OSAP, don’t wait for the last moment. Contact the National Student Loan Service Centre (NSLSC) at 1-888-815-4514 or visit their website at NSLSC.

More A Dawn Articles:

What Is A Social Entrepreneur?

Tips for Starting or Buying a Business

Some Facts About Chile’s Economy

New Immigrants Bank Accounts Review

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Tablet Review

Beware of The FBI Nigerian Letter Scam

Canadian Bank Accounts for Newcomers

In a recent article, I talked about Canada being the best country in the world. It’s no wonder immigrants or newcomers from all over the world will be coming to this wonderful country for a better living. Every year Canada welcomes a handful numbers of new immigrants, and not all these newcomers are from third or second world countries. You will find immigrants from other first world, developed, or rich countries coming to Canada. And why not? If you were given the opportunity, why you would not want to be a part of the best country on earth, even if you live in another rich country? If you live in Canada, you will bump into new immigrants from other developed nations like Australia, U.K., U.S.A., France, and so on all the time. When a newcomer first arrives in Canada, the first thing they look for is to have a bank account. And today, I will review some bank accounts for immigrants briefly. I will concentrate on Chequing accounts as majority of newcomers look for a simple chequing account.

HSBC Bank Canada – Although HSBC bank tries to impress by advertising that newcomers can open an account even before you arrive in Canada, their fine print reveals a big catch. Their HSBC Advance Chequing Account requires a minimum balance of $25,000. If you don’t keep this minimum balance, you will be paying $25 monthly fee – which is too much. If you don’t like to waste your money paying banking fees, stay away from HSBC.

RBC Royal Bank – The RBC® Welcome to Canada Banking Package offers free banking for a full one year. This package includes many other products such as a credit card, free safe deposit box, etc. After one year, your monthly fee will be $4 – which is not bad. However, there may be transaction fees depending on how many transactions you do.

TD Canada Trust – TD does not have any separate bank account or any packages for newcomers. To view their products, visit TD’s website.

CIBC – CIBC’s CIBC Newcomers to Canada Plan offers free banking for one year. Also, newcomers get help with purchasing their homes with a CIBC Newcomer Mortgage.

ScotiaBank – Scotiabank offers StartRight Program for landed immigrants. The Scotiabank StartRight Program financial package offers No-fee Powerchequing® free for one year, free small safety deposit box, auto loan program, among many other things.

BMO – BMO Bank of Montreal® offers the BMO Banking Package for Newcomers. This package offers free one year banking, free small safety box, and a secured BMO Term Investments.

Some of these packages offer credit products to build a credit history in Canada. These are the programs offered by Canada’s major banks for newcomers. There may be similar programs offered by other banks or financial institutions. Always do your research before opening a bank account or any sort of account in Canada to get the best deals and to find something that meet your needs. Also, since you are new in Canada, why not broaden your financial knowledge by regularly reading my two financial websites: Canada Personal Finance Blog and Canada Personal Finance Website. Remember, no one cares about your money but you. Only you know how hard it is to earn a dollar, because you are the one who earned it. Save a dollar at every possible opportunity and start investing wisely – you will succeed in Canada.

More A Dawn Articles:

HTC Panache Review

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

How to Use Visualization Properly to Achieve Goals and Success

Financial Author A Dawn’s New Book Save Now Is Designed To Reach His Global Readers

How to Do a Background Check on Your Financial Advisor, Investment Advisor, Broker, Financial Planner

Canada – The Best Place on Earth

Is Canada Going To Be A Future Global Business Centre?

I have been contemplating writing about Canada’s being the best country on earth for a while. However, due to the volume of the good things about Canada to mention, I have been putting it off because I would have to write a book if I wanted to cover everything. Finally, instead of writing by myself, I took a short cut and gathered some of the rankings done by well-known and reputable organizations. Here is how it stands:

According to OECD’s Better Life Index, Canada ranks high in all measures of well being and Life in Canada Is Better Than Most Other Industrialized Countries.

According to The Economist Intelligent Unit’s Global Liveability Report, 3-4 Canadian cities are always in the top ten and Vancouver is usually always the world’s most liveable city.

According to Mercer 2010 Quality of Living Survey, several Canadian cities are always on the top and top five North American cities are Canadian – no cities from the U.S. can be found in the top 25.

According to the UN Human Development Index, which measures quality of life in countries around the world, Canada is one of the world’s best places to live and is always in the top ten.

According to The Heritage Foundations’ 2011 Index of Economic Freedom, Canada is the 6^th freest country in the world.

According to the Vision of Humanity’s 2011 Global Peace Index, Canada is the 8^th most peaceful country in the world.

According to The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010-2011, Canada is in the top ten.

According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2010, Canada is one of the least corrupt nations on earth.

These are only a few to mention. Any way you look at Canada, using any reports or indexes, it is in the top ten consistently year after year. A point worth mentioning is that you will not find our big brother in the south in the top in most of these rankings. Canada is a multi-racial, multi-cultural, and multi-linguistic country. Canada’s diversified backgrounds and cultures make it more unique than any other country on earth. Canada is the first country in the world to declare itself a multicultural country and in 1982 Canada added multiculturalism to its constitution. Canada recognizes, values, and protects its citizens’ diversity and human rights and treats each individual with respect, equality, and dignity. Canada is like nowhere else on earth and this is because Canada is the best country in the world.

More A Dawn Articles:

Personal Finance

Dressing For Success

Canadian Financial Blog

Canadian Dividend ETFs

India’s Slower GDP Growth Is a Threat to Curb Its High Poverty

 

Canada Inflation and Economy

Life in Canada Is Better Than Most Other Industrialized Countries

Is Canada Going To Be A Future Global Business Centre?

Statistics Canada reports that inflation in Canada reached three year high of 3.3 percent in April, a full one per cent up from the month before. This increase exceeds the Bank of Canada’s target range of 1 to 3 per cent. The main elements that contributed to this inflation are energy, gasoline prices and food costs. Energy rose 17.1 per cent, gas price rose 26.4 per cent (6 per cent over the month), and food rose 3.3 per cent in the year. As the inflation news seems to remain in the spotlight, many consumers wondering whether they should be worried these inflation numbers.

Not so fast. Although the inflation is at 3.3 per cent, core inflation remained tame at 1.6 per cent. Core inflation excludes eight volatile items such as fuel, vegetables, mortgage cost, and so on. To make things brighter, core inflation actually fell to 1.6 per cent from 1.7 per cent; and also, 3.3 per cent inflation rate was lower than 3.4 per cent forecast by analysts.

Bank of Canada predicts that the energy costs would keep the inflation above 3 per cent in the short term. However, it should return to central bank’s 2 per cent target range by mid 2012. Paris-based OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) recently recommended that Canada should increase its interest rate by 25 basis points within the next quarter. It is expected that

Bank of Canada will start raising interest rate starting July 2011.

So, coming back to our question, should you be worried about Canada’s inflation? Consider the following facts:

• Unemployment rate is at 7.6 per cent
• 58,000 new jobs were created
• Upgraded growth forecast for 2011 from 2.4 per cent to 2.9 per cent
• Federal government is on track to balance its budget by 2014/2015

The way things are now, there is no need to worry.

More A Dawn Articles:

Personal Finance

Canadian Financial Blog

Toronto Downtown Video Clip

How to Choose A Place to Retire

The Tallest Skyscraper In Canada

How To Get Free Internet (No Kidding)

Is Chromebook Going to Be A Bridge to The Future of Computers?

What To Know When hiring A Home Inspector

When you are buying a home, it is extremely important that you hire a home inspector. A good home inspector will ensure that you are not given any surprises when you move into your new home, and a bad home inspector can cost you thousands in things you never knew you would have to repair or replace in your home.

First things first, the realtor will probably give you a home inspector and you can use them, but do not rely on them. They probably are associated with the realty agency somehow, are being paid through them somehow and are not likely to stop a home sale. Always get a second opinion.

When you are looking at hiring a home inspector, make sure you ask them open-ended questions about their experience and training. You want them to explain their experience, rather than just answering yes or no to your questions. Your inspect needs to have training in construction and maintenance because that will give them a proper background for what you need. An inspector who also knows, or is, a structural engineer is also very important.

When you are interviewing the home inspector, find out what they will inspect and what they will not. If the inspector only looks at the interior of the house, rather than the roof and the outside as well, then you should not hire them.

Most inspectors should be able to provide you with a report template, or a sample report, which you can use to see what they are going to look on, how much detail goes into it and whether or not they will provide a lot of information in the report.

It goes without saying, but you need to get references for your home inspection. A lack of references means you could end up getting a bad home inspector. Once you have the references, call the people on the list and ask them about their experience with the home inspector and how satisfied they were. Talk to individuals who had a home inspection a year or more ago because some problems may not show up right away when a person buys a home. Mold is a good example of this.

Ask the home inspector what the policy is for mistakes or omissions that they make. No home inspector can catch everything, so you want a home inspector who can admit to mistakes and have something in place to remedy any problems that surface down the road. This will protect you in case something is found that the home inspector did not tell you about.

Lastly, find out if the home inspector is a member of any association. When a home inspector is a member of a home inspector’s association, they will be held accountable by the standards of that association. It also gives you an avenue for complaint if something goes wrong with the inspection, or the home inspector.

Home inspections are great, if you get one that is qualified.

More A Dawn Articles:

Personal Finance

How To Be Confident

The Tallest Skyscraper In Canada

Should You Give Your Kids An Allowance?

Warren Buffet-The World’s Most Successful Investor

Canada Small Businesses Now Can Have Free Websites

Canadian Housing Market

Is Canada Going To Be A Future Global Business Centre?

According to a new report released by the Canadian Real Estate Association, home sales in 2011 could be better than previously thought thanks to a growing amount of consumer confidence that will help take the negativity away from the increase in interest rates that is expected later this year.

According to the forecast released by the Canadian Real Estate Association, there will be an estimated 439,900 on existing homes. While this is better than what was expected in 2011, it is 1.6 per cent down from 2010. The CREA had anticipated a nine percent drop between 2010 and 2011, which probably won’t happen now.

The association is also looking into pricing and they have reasons to be happy as well. The average price of a home in 2011 is expected to be $343,300, which is 1.3 per cent higher than it was in 2010. Originally, the CREA had thought home prices were going to fall by 1.3 per cent from 2010 to 2011.

January sales figures have not been released but there have been several good reports on building permits and housing starts, which tell just how well the housing market will do. New home construction in Canada increased to 170,400 in January, up from 169,000 in December. However, this does mean that the country is on pace to have roughly 10 per cent fewer housing starts as compared with 2010.

One of the biggest worries for the real estate industry coming up is not only the increase in interest rates, probably coming in June or so, but the change in rules for mortgages that go into effect in March. These rules will make it more difficult for people to buy a home in an effort to prevent those who cannot afford a home from buying one.

Once that happens, the housing market may suddenly slow down drastically and the optimistic numbers for 2011 that have been produced may instead reverse course.

If the housing market this year is like last year’s, then we will see a strong first quarter but things will drop off in the second quarter because of changing rules.

While the CREA thinks the housing market will not do as bad as though, the Bank of Canada is forecasting that the housing market will be a minor net negative for the economy, creating a downside risk.

Also in housing news, this past week the Royal Bank, TD and CIBC raised their five-year closed mortgage rate by .25 percentage points to 5.44 per cent.

As for 2012, the CREA believes that home sales will go up to 453,300, which will that year on par for the 10-year average in home sales.

So, all that can be done now is to sit back and see what happens in the housing market as 2011 moves forward and the new housing rules come into place. If you want to get a home though, now is the time because once the new housing rules come into place, you may not be able to get that home of your dreams.

More A Dawn Articles:

Canada New Mortgage Rules

Canada Tax Preparation Software 2010

The Shard of Glass London Skyscraper

Should You Hire Family For Your Business?

Exercising Is Good For Personal Development

The Most Expensive Real Estate In The World

My Recent Cuba Trip and Life With Brand New Perspectives

The New Mortgage Rules

Important Tax Dates For 2011

My Recent Cuba Trip and Life With Brand New Perspectives

In mid-January, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced new mortgage rules that would be put in place to help stop rising debt levels among Canadians, and to keep another mortgage meltdown from occurring.

These rules, three of them in total, are another measure the government has put in place to tighten the rules for people getting mortgages. In 2010, stronger rules were put in place, and this adds to that.

The first new rule was that the maximum amortization period would be reduced from 35 years to 30 years for all government-backed insured mortgages with loan-to-value ratios of more than 80 per cent.

This is important because many citizens get mortgages for longer periods of time to save on monthly payments but in doing so they end up paying more in interest. For example, if a home is sold for $200,000 on a 35 year mortgage with five percent down, the average monthly payment is going to be $950. However, shorten the mortgage to 30 years and those payments go up to $1100. Yes, it is more money per month, but with five less years being paid on the mortgage, the interest savings would be in the thousands.

The second new rule is that the maximum amount that a Canadian resident can borrow to refinance their mortgage will go down from 90 per cent to 85 per cent of the value of their homes. This means that if your home is worth $750,000, you can borrow $637,500 now, when you could have borrowed $675,000 in the past.

This is being done because the number of home-equity lines of credit have surged in Canada, going at twice the pace of mortgages over the past 10 years. Currently, these lines of credit account for 12 per cent of overall household debt within Canada.

The third new rule is that the government will withdraw government insurance backing on lines of credit that are secured by homes.

Currently, Canada has a mortgage default rate of roughly one per cent which is quite low, but the government wants to make sure that the number does not rise to the extremely high levels that are being seen in Europe and in the United States.

For those that want to get in on a 35 year mortgage though, you still have time. The changes will not take effect in the real estate industry for 60 days, which gives enough time to make the policy changes needed by mortgage companies and banks.

In the next federal budget, there may also be steps taken to tighten mortgage credit further to ensure that Canadians do not fall deeper into debt. Currently, debt levels are at their highest levels in history with many Canadians owing more than what they make each year.

So, if you want to get a mortgage before the new rules come into place, now would be the time to get it done. You only have until the middle of April to get mortgages for 35 years, or a new line of credit on your home refinancing.

More A Dawn Articles:

Barcelo Cayo Santa Maria Cuba

The Shard of Glass London Skyscraper

How To Choose The Right Credit Cards

My 2010 Cuba Trip and Some Perspectives

Should You Hire Family For Your Business?

The Most Expensive Real Estate In The World

What Happens To Your Stocks When Company Goes Bankrupt?