carrick on money We need to have a word with people who start investing or buy a home in their 40s
Just as impressive, and maybe more, are the people who start investing and buy homes in their 40s. Whatever the reason for their delayed start, they are an inspiring example of how to roll with life's challenges and end up doing just fine, financially speaking.
In an upcoming episode of our Stress Test personal finance podcast for millennials and Gen Z, we want to talk with people who bought their first home or started investing in their early 40s. If this sounds like you, e-mail producer Zara Khozema at zahrakhozema95@gmail.com.
Our goal in this episode is to send a positive message to people who for whatever reason feel like financial security is beyond their reach because they didn't land a great job at 23 and buy a house at 30. A late start can be a great start. We'll show you the way.
Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I can't answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.
A cheat sheet listing of tax breaks for seniors.
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Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Business Brief: Strikes, savings and skibidi
Good morning. Yesterday we talked about the burden of being young, as uncertainty and missed payments haunt many Canadians. With today's inflation report from Statistics Canada, we'll get the latest economic picture. But we have a rather positive data set in this newsletter: Gen Z is saving more than any other age group. That's in focus today, along with the latest on the Air Canada strike and some new lingo in the dictionary. Air Canada and the union representing its flight attendants have reached a tentative deal to end a strike that began on Saturday morning. The airline said it will gradually resume operations today. The two sides met through the night with a federal mediator before reaching an agreement that will be brought to members of the Air Canada component of the Canadian Union of Public Employees. A key demand over unpaid work could set a precedent for other major carriers in Canada and around the world, experts say. The union has said its flight attendants work an average of 35 hours a month for free, almost a week's worth of pay, because of the long-standing practice of paying flight attendants primarily based on the time they are in the air. Also read: Artificial intelligence: The federal government is working with Toronto-based AI startup Cohere to look for ways to deploy artificial intelligence across its operations. Gold: Chinese customs agency data show gold was China's No. 1 import from Canada in 2024, more than 10 times higher than Canadian export statistics suggest. Analysis: Mark Carney's promised automotive strategy has yet to take shape, and his government is starting to come under pressure to deliver. Lately, my social feeds have been flooded with the same message on repeat: Start saving early. There are endless scrolls of posts breaking down how much you'll have if you begin investing at 18 versus 25, or how a decade of delay can shave hundreds of thousands off your retirement nest egg. Sure, my algorithm is probably skewed, given that I'm a personal finance reporter. But even friends in completely different careers tell me they're seeing the same thing. This advice isn't locked up in textbooks or behind a paywall any more. It's bite-sized, viral and free. Young people are online and gobbling it up. And it seems to be working. Gen Z Canadians – born between 1996 and 2012 – are proving to be surprisingly disciplined savers. Recent TD Bank data show 68 per cent of them invest consistently each year, the highest share of any generation. They're also contributing more to their registered retirement savings plans than millennials did at the same age. In 2023, the median RRSP contribution for Canadians under 25 was $1,880, about 20 per cent more than millennials contributed in 2009, even after adjusting for inflation. That's despite Gen Z coming of age in one of the toughest job markets in decades, all the while staring down sky-high housing prices and a high cost of living. That's also despite what we wrote about in yesterday's business brief: the growing gap between those doing well and those who are struggling. You may be wondering: How? With platforms such as TikTok and YouTube, they have a world of financial advice at their fingertips. The challenge, of course, is knowing how to sort the solid guidance from the bad takes and misinformation. But it's not just social media. DIY investing platforms such as Wealthsimple and Questrade make it easier for people to invest without barriers. The obsession with long-term wealth building isn't just Canadian, either. In the U.S., a new 'baby bonds' program signed last month by President Donald Trump will give every American citizen born between 2025 and 2028 a $1,000 investment from the government. Left untouched, that could grow to nearly $2,900 by the time they turn 18, without a single dollar added. We don't really have a Canadian equivalent, other than the Canada Learning Bond, which helps low-income families save for postsecondary education. A lot of young people are also holding off on buying a home – not necessarily because they want to but because they can't afford to. The plus side is that many are making the most of it by redirecting money that would have gone toward a down payment into investments instead. Put it all together and the trend is clear: Whether it's because of economic anxiety, access to free financial advice or a front-row seat to millennial struggles, young people are rewriting the savings playbook. And if the numbers keep trending this way, they might just be the most financially prepared generation yet. The conflict at Air Canada ties into a much longer history of Canadian governments attempting to impose labour peace by clamping down on workers' right to strike. Today's debacle shows Ottawa failed to learn from history, writes Barry Eidlin, an associate professor of sociology at McGill University. Say: Skibidi, tradwife and delulu are among 6,000 new words added to the Cambridge Dictionary. Spend: Can the rich continue to prop up U.S. consumer spending? Stay: Being a stay-at-home parent sometimes means the numbers don't add up. Global markets were mixed ahead of a key meeting of U.S. central bankers and as traders evaluated promising diplomatic signals toward ending hostilities between Russia and Ukraine. Wall Street futures were little changed, while TSX futures pointed higher. Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.4 per cent in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.26 per cent, Germany's DAX gained 0.16 per cent and France's CAC 40 advanced 0.67 per cent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed 0.38 per cent lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slid 0.21 per cent. The Canadian dollar traded at 72.41 U.S. cents.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Globe and Mail
Morning Update: The Air Canada strike ends
Good morning. Air Canada flight attendants have reached a tentative agreement with the airline to end their strike – more on that below, along with the continued risk of wildfires and Cambridge Dictionary's nod to Gen Z. But first: After a night spent bargaining with the help of a federal mediator, the Canadian Union of Public Employees announced early this morning that they've reached a tentative agreement with Air Canada to send its 10,000 flight attendants back to work. 'The strike has ended,' CUPE posted online. The airline said it would begin resuming operations this evening, and that the return to regular service could take up to 10 days. The latest: Those nighttime talks were the first to take place since Friday, a day before the flight attendants went on strike. They had stayed out on the picket line yesterday, even after the federal labour relations board declared their strike illegal and ordered CUPE to send them back to work. As that noon deadline flew past, CUPE national president Mark Hancock insisted there was 'no limit' to how long his members would keep defying federal orders in this dispute over wages and unpaid labour. Last night, Patty Hajdu, the federal Jobs Minister, posted on social media that she would launch a probe into allegations of unpaid work in the airline sector. She included a hashtag often used by the union: #UnpaidWorkWontFly. The work: Currently, Air Canada flight attendants are paid an hourly wage for the time planes are up in the air – not for all the work that occurs during boarding, or deplaning, or increasingly frequent (and increasingly lengthy) flight delays. A key CUPE demand is compensation for this work, known as 'ground time,' which the union says averages out to 35 hours of free labour each month. Although Porter and Delta airlines have started to pay their flight attendants for a part of that ground time, the practice remains widespread in the industry. The law: Hours after Air Canada flight attendants walked out early Saturday morning, Hajdu used a contentious piece of labour law to intervene in the strike. Section 107 of the Canadian Labour Code gives the federal government unilateral power to order binding arbitration and end work stoppages in the interest of securing 'industrial peace.' It's the fourth time in the past year that Section 107 has been invoked – but it's the first time a union refused to comply. (Canada's railway, port and postal workers all returned to their jobs right after the orders.) That puts Ottawa in a bind, Alison Braley-Rattai, a professor of labour studies at Brock University, told The Globe: 'What do they want to be seen doing to this group of flight attendants who are not being paid for work they do, 70 per cent of whom are women?' The word from Ottawa: Prime Minister Mark Carney said yesterday that it's important Air Canada flight attendants are compensated 'equitably at all times' – and that his government was compelled to impose binding arbitration on them to end the dispute. 'It was the judgment of both the union and the company that they were at an impasse. That's not my judgment. It's their judgment,' Carney told reporters in advance of a meeting with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Grounded: A Boston Marathon bombing survivor trying to get to Sydney for her seventh and final World Major Marathon. A couple celebrating their 50th anniversary with their children in Greece. Nearly 200 summer campers from across the country stuck in Squamish, B.C. The Globe spoke with a few of the estimated 500,000 passengers whose flights have been cancelled during the strike. Upended: There are some options for would-be travellers whose Air Canada plans are still in limbo from the strike. Here's what you need to know whether you're still at home or stranded abroad – and if your trip hasn't yet been cancelled, try to resist the temptation to pre-emptively change your flight. At the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, reptiles in need of a little rehab can get their heads bandaged, their jaws rewired and their shells patched up before returning to the wetlands. Read more here about their slow and steady race to recovery. At home: As Canada continues to experience dry and hot conditions, federal officials expect higher wildfire risks across much of the country until the end of September. Abroad: After floods killed at least 200 people in northwestern Pakistan, villagers said they were scared to go back home with more rain set to come. Votes: Days after claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin told him postal ballots rigged the 2020 election, U.S. President Donald Trump promised an executive order to end mail-in voting. Suits: Speaking of ballots, the conservative network Newsmax will pay US$67-million to settle a defamation case brought by Dominion Voting Systems. Bullion: Gold, not coal or canola, is China's No. 1 import from Canada – at least according to China. Go on: Skibidi, dululu and other slang I'm far too old to understand are among the 6,000 new words added to Cambridge Dictionary this year.
Cision Canada
2 days ago
- Cision Canada
Homie launches on iOS; teams with Homewise to convert early shoppers into mortgage-ready clients
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