Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Yup, I am really talking about that, as Cancer’s ability to kill Canadians is rising, and Canadians are taking care of Cardiovascular issues more. Six out of every 10 deaths in Canada are caused by these two issues. Cancer is becoming more of a killer, is the bottom line for now.

So what the heck does this morbid topic have to do with Financial Planning issues? Maybe I’m just feeling morbid? No, but, if you look at this data, maybe you need to ask yourself the following important financial questions:

• Do I have enough life insurance so that my family can survive my death? Same question for your spouse too?
• Can my family survive financially a prolonged illness (as Cancer is capable of being)? Do I have any disability insurance?
• Do I have a will?
• Do I have enough health insurance to deal with a catastrophic illness?

If you are young and single, no it doesn’t matter that much, but if you are young and just married and planning on having kids, NOW, is the time to do this kind of stuff in place. No I am not selling insurance (and I am not advocating whole life insurance at all), but I am saying, go find out about what you need to deal with these concerning numbers about Cancer.

Hope for the best, and plan for the worst! (a wise saying). –c8j

I forgot to remind you yesterday, “Sorry ’bout that chief!” (to quote Maxwell Smart), but if you owed money (in Canada) you needed to have your tax return in the mail by midnight last night. In Ottawa we have the luxury of having a tax office here, so I think they have someone picking up ’til midnight, so for all you procrastinators, you could have got it in last night! Now remember that deadline is if you OWE money to the government, if you don’t the tax folks don’t really care (especially if they owe you money), but if the government owes you money, why wouldn’t you want it?I always thought a shoe phone might be a great invention to try to sell as a novelty, but I suspect that there is a patent on it already.

Given we tried to limit our eating in restaurants this past weekend, Stats Canada has just published is topical: Sales in Restaurants and that ilk of business is up 2.4% over last year at this time. Good for the Food Services industry! Always glad to see a business continue to flourish, however, folks, that’s your money. Eating out is one of the biggest “luxury” expenses all families have (including my own) and one of the areas where you should control your spending. Growing up I remember going out for dinner or ordering in being something “special”, it just doesn’t seem to be any more, for our generation (yes I am very old too).