Debt Free in 30

Student loan debt is a massive problem in Canada. The average student loan debt resulting from a four year degree program is over $26,000, and a student could end up paying more than $10,000 in interest before the loan is repaid. A government guaranteed student loan is only discharged in a bankruptcy if you have ceased to be a student for over seven years at the time you file bankruptcy. So it is very sad that 15% of our clients still have student loans at the time they file with us, meaning they've been trying to pay that back for seven years already. Even worse, the burden of student loans are disproportionately felt by women. On today's show we discuss the problem, and propose some solutions for both society and individual students.

Welcome to the first show of Debt Free in 30 Season #4. I know this isn't a TV show, and you're not supposed to have "seasons" on a podcast, but I think seasons are a good way to organize what we do here on Debt Free in 30. As I discuss on today's shorter-than-usual show, we will continue to have great guests discussing personal finance and debt issues. But this season I also plan to delve deeper into the debt issues that impact society. Next week we'll discuss whether or not student loan debt is sustainable, and I'll give my thoughts on possible solutions. We have many great shows planned, so welcome to Season #4.

The book is called Straight Talk on Your Money – The Biggest Financial Myths and Mistakes…and How to Avoid Them. I wrote the book because based on my 30 years as a professional accountant, and after personally meeting with over 10,000 people, I believe there is not enough straight talk about money. There are lots of sales pitches, but that's not what we need. On today's show I explain why I wrote the book, how you can get a copy, and why I think all experts are biased, and how you can make better financial decisions. Full details at www.StraightTalkMoney.ca

For our final rebroadcast of the summer, we are rebroadcasting our most downloaded show from the past year. Sean Cooper returns to the podcast today to talk about his new book, Burn Your Mortgage, to be published on March 1, 2017. Sean worked up to 80 hours a week for many years to save for a down payment, and then he managed to pay off his mortgage in less than four years. He held a mortgage burning party that was covered by the CBC, and that's where the fun began. Some people applauded his frugal lifestyle, but others said that it's not realistic to work that hard just to pay off a mortgage quicker, earning him a lot of online haters, which is where I got involved in the story when I was interviewed by the CBC in a follow up article. I believe that some of Sean's strategies will work for some people; the key is to listen to his ideas and apply what you are able to do, given your financial situation. As Sean Cooper says, the starting point is: "Setting a goal, because for so many people what keeps them from being homeowners is they're not able to come up with that down payment". On today's show Sean Cooper talks about his new book, talks about the on-line haters, and provides advice on how to "burn your mortgage".

This is a special rebroadcast of one of our most downloaded shows: it's my father-in-law, telling me how he retired at age 48, and has now been retired for longer than he worked at his job! If you are like most Canadians, you dream of a long and enjoyable retirement. Is it possible to retire early and achieve that by the age of 48? While it is an anomaly, my guest today did just that. Bob Lassaline worked for 30 years and retired when he was 48 years old. He is 80 years old today, so he has been officially retired for longer than he was employed. How did he do it? Full details are in the podcast.

As we continue to rebroadcast our top downloaded shows this summer, today we replay our first ever Debt Free in 30 broadcast LIVE on video, over YouTube. The response was fantastic. We asked our listeners to leave us questions through sound clips, email, twitter and Facebook in advance of the show and took questions during the show. Doug Hoyes and Ted Michalos answered as many of those questions as we could during the webcast. We talked about debt, consumer proposals, car loans and mortgages. We even had a "celebrity" question. The full video is also available on the Hoyes Michalos YouTube Channel.

When this show first aired back at the end of November, 2016, the real estate markets were booming, and mortgages were easy to get, but my guest, Ben Rabidoux, had some very specific predictions. First, he predicted that Ontario would implement a foreign buyers tax, just like happened in Vancouver. Bingo. In April of this year, five months after we aired this interview, the Ontario government announced a 15% tax on foreign real estate buyers. Second, he also predicted that mortgages would be more difficult to get in 2017. Right again, as the problems at Home Capital, one of the biggest alternative mortgage lenders in Canada made it a lot more difficult for some buyers to get a mortgage. So Ben was correct on these predictions, and a few others, so I'm not surprised with that track record that this was one of our most downloaded episodes.

Today's show is a rebroadcast of a show that first aired in October, 2016. My guest is David Bond, who has a PhD in Economics from Yale University, and he makes a number of interesting points. We discuss the high level of Canadian household debt, and we talk about the most popular topic here on the podcast in the last year, and that's the Canadian real estate market. Mr. Bond has some very definitive views on income inequality and taxation, and he has some thoughts on Basic Income. Mr. Bond points out that we must face the fact that we live in an economy that has cycles. A high household debt to income ratio (167.8% at the time of our podcast) puts both the individual, and our economy as a whole, at risk. If you lose your job, you may not be able to pay your debts. If too many people default on their debts, our financial institutions might go bankrupt. Tune in for Mr. Bond's David's advice if you have debt and risk a job loss or income reduction.

We just celebrated Canada's 150th birthday and this is Debt Free in 30 episode number 150 so to celebrate both of these milestones I'm bringing back a guest from one of our most popular shows ever. Back in season number one, show number 33, originally broadcast in April of 2015, my guest was Leigh Taylor and the topic of that show was smart ways to pay off debt. Even though that show aired more than two years ago it is still downloaded many times each month and as of today it is one of the top three downloaded shows in the history of this podcast. That tells me that Leigh was a great guest because that show has been shared many times by our listeners. So today, two years later, I'm bringing Leigh back for round number two. Today I want to ask Leigh about debt and bankruptcy myths. We get a lot of information from the internet and that information is not always accurate so today we're going to dispel the top debt myths that Leigh and I encounter as we help people with their debts. On today's show Leigh Taylor dispels five common bankruptcy myths: People who go bankrupt are spendthrifts Everyone will know I filed bankruptcy Bankruptcy will ruin your credit forever If you go bankrupt, you lose everything Government debts are not included in bankruptcy

This is a special rebroadcast of show #111, originally aired on October 15, 2016. We all want to help when someone is in trouble. But helping someone out of financial trouble can come with unexpected costs and consequences. It is for that reason that I strongly advise against ever loaning money to family and friends. On today's show we hear three stories: Mabel is a widow who chose to help her adult son who was struggling financially after a divorce. In the end, Mabel ended up maxing out her own line of credit and was having trouble keeping up with her own rent and debt payments. Larry loaned his son money for a down payment on a new home. Unfortunately, Larry's son separated from his wife who received the house as part of the separation agreement. Larry's down payment went to his son's ex-spouse. Amanda's parents gave her the 5% down payment she needed to enter the housing market. Unfortunately Amanda quickly found out she couldn't keep up with the bills associated with her new house. Maintenance, a job loss and a flooded basement resulted in her selling the home for less than she owed including some additional credit she incurred trying to keep up. What's common about all these stories we heard on today's podcast is that in each case, loaning money to someone to 'help out' ended up with very bad consequences for everyone involved.