Financial Literacy

The Home Buyers' Plan (HBP) is a program in Canada that allows an individual to withdraw up to $25,000 in a calendar year from a Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSP) to buy or build a qualifying home. The withdrawal is not taxed as income and no interest is owed on those funds. There are set terms governing the payback of the loan. Resources CRA: What is the Home Buyer's Plan? Am I Eligible for Home Buyers' Plan (HBP)

An Annuity is an investment where the investor provides cash to the vendor of the annuity, usually an insurance company, in exchange for the promise to pay a series of periodic payments in return. Payments are paid to the planholder (annuitant) for life (life annuity) or for a defined period (fixed term annuity). Resources Annuities: Your DIY pension plan   How to Select and Shop for an Annuity

Statistics Canada announced this morning that employment increased by a stronger than expected 32,300 in March, driven by full-time job gains. The unemployment rate was unchanged at a four-decade low of 5.8% indicating that the economy is at or near full employment. In the first quarter of 2018, employment edged down (-40,000 or -0.2%) reflecting a decrease in January. On a longer-term basis, jobs have been on an uptrend since the second half of 2016 despite a price-induced weakening in the oil sector. Over the past year, total employment rose by nearly 300,000 (+1.6%), driven by a surge in full-time work and a net decline in part-time jobs-all excellent news for the economy. Over the same period, total hours worked grew by 2.2%. Employment rose in Quebec and Saskatchewan, while there was little change in the rest of the country. As the table below shows, British Columbia continues to post the lowest jobless rate in Canada at a stable 4.7% followed by Ontario at 5.5%. Quebec is third

While updating the extensive RateSeer database of lenders and banks in the Baltimore, Maryland area, we learned that the 1st Mariner Bank and the Howard Bank merged. The information provided below was copied from the Howard Bank Welcome web page . To read the entire Welcome message, visit the Howard Bank webpage. Howard Bank and 1st Mariner Bank share the vision of being the premier business bank in the Greater Baltimore region offering a sophisticated array of products, local underwriting, decision making and policy setting. In addition, too few banks have focused on the Greater Baltimore community as their home market for corporate philanthropy, employee volunteerism and advocacy. The combination of Howard Bank and 1st Mariner Bank enables us to achieve the vision of becoming the region’s leading business bank in a relentless way. Together, we become the largest community bank headquartered in the Baltimore metropolitan market with the 7th largest deposit market share and the

Your credit score is a big factor when you apply for a mortgage. It can dictate how good your interest rate will be and the type of mortgage you qualify for. Mortgage Professionals are experienced helping clients with a wide range of credit scores so we can find you a mortgage product even if your credit is far from perfect. The good news about your credit score is that it can be improved: Stop looking for more credit. If you’re frequently seeking credit that can affect your score as can the size of the balances you carry. Every time you apply for credit there is a hard credit check. It is particularly important that you not apply for a credit card in the six months leading up to your mortgage application. These credit checks may stay on your file for up to three years. If your credit card is maxed out all the time, that’s going to hurt your credit score. Make some small monthly regular payments to reduce your balance and start using your debit card more. It’s important that you t

The Bank of Canada raised its key lending rate to 1.25 on January 17, 2018. This is the highest the benchmark rate has been since 2009. What does this mean and how will it impact Canadians? Following the BOC rate increase, Canada's biggest 5 Banks - Scotiabank, TD Canada Trust, RBC, BMO and CIBC - all raised their prime lending rate by a quarter percentage. The amount of interest paid on loans including mortgages, a line of credit, or a personal loan will increase. Inversely, the increase in the BOC key lending rate will positively impact savers because the amount earned on savings accounts, including GICs and personal savings accounts, will increase. For additional information on the Bank of Canada key lending rate, see this article from the CBC.