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What is the Cost of a Middle Class Lifestyle in Toronto? (Updated Feb 2023)
Photo credit: Zia Syed on Unsplash TL;DR A traditional middle class lifestyle assumes: (1) two spouses and a child and the ability to finance that child’s education; (2) home and vehicle ownership; (3) the ability to save for retirement. In Toronto, the aforementioned lifestyle would require an after-tax income of $145,804 per year. INTRODUCTION What are the hallmarks of a middle class lifestyle? And how much does a household residing in Toronto have to earn to be considered middle class? First, let’s define “Toronto”. “Toronto” means the City of Toronto. I’m not including the satellite cities in the Greater Toronto Area such as Mississauga, Oakville, Brampton, etc. This is…
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Can you file a consumer proposal with a positive net worth?
I’m struggling to pay debt and honestly I’m super confused with all the different debt options available since I never faced this situation before. Which way to reduce my debt while NOT hurting my credit score? (Ideally) Debt consolidation, Debt settlement, Credit counseling, Consumer Proposal, or Bankruptcy? (last resort i guess) I still have a decent credit score (715) and still making mortgage/car/minimum cc payments, but i have the following debt which i cannot pay anymore: CRA personal: 47k CRA business: 38k Property Taxes: 15k Credit Card balances: 20k (30%ish usage of available credit) I also own a home valued at 450k and have 175k balance on the mortgage… What…
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Filing bankruptcy on $18,000 of unpaid rent owed to landlord
My sister recently moved out of her apartment that she hasn’t paid rent for in a close to a year. She owes about $18k in total and the apartment was damaged so she might owe more. She has now found a good job and trying to get her life back together but is worried that this might come back to haunt her. Since she left, the landlord hasn’t tried contacting her. Should she just ignore this or declare bankruptcy to get rid of this owed rent? This is in Ontario Victor Fong, Licensed Insolvency Trustee replies Since she left, the landlord hasn’t tried contacting her. Did your sister even provide…
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Should I file a consumer proposal?
DB asks To get straight to the mess: 25 year old male single with no dependents $75,000 gross annual income employed in the finance industry (think CIRO/IIROC/MFDA) Equifax Score is 570 (Car finance company flagged a missed payment in Jan though in fact, no payments were missed) Most of my take home pay goes to INTEREST payments and I feel there will never be progress with a consumer proposal The numbers: Unsecured Debt: Royal Bank credit card: $7,500 Royal Bank line of credit: $15,000 Bank of Montreal credit card #1: $4,000 Bank of Montreal credit card #2: $12,000 Bank of Montreal line of credit: $25,000 American Express Platinum: ~$4,000 Canada…
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Credit Card Maxed Out On Gambling
SPOILER ALERT! I am a moron !!! A month ago I decided to move back to my home country from Canada permanently and I came up with a brilliant!!!(sarcasm) plan which was using my credit card to gamble and after potentially making it double or triple pay the initial amount and take home a nice amount of money and make fresh start. However things went south so fast and after 1 weeks hours of gambling I found my self lost all money in my chequing account ( 7-8 k) plus a 37 k on credit cards debt. I was gambling 14-15 hours a day 2-3 times I hit 35k but…
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A conversation with someone who inherited $20,000 after filing a consumer proposal
Hi. I’m in the last stages of finalizing my consumer proposal. I have a video call with my assigned trustee in a few days, which I’m very nervous for. To make it more complex, I just ended up with a surprise inheritance for 20,000 dollars. I have not finalized my consumer proposal yet, and my creditors still have to agree on it etc., etc.. I’m really scared this sudden change in my financial situation will mess with my proposal being finalized. I would much rather my credit tank for a few years and have an easier time mentally and financially, than be back barely making ends meet… Does anyone have…
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Was in an abusive relationship and owes $50,000
I’m 23 and I was in a long term abusive relationship that severely impacted my finances and put me in a terrible debt situation. I currently have just over $50k in debt, roughly $30k from a car loan that I was pressured into getting into, about $7500 in credit card debt and around $13k in personal loans. I am making around $2300 per month and once all my payments are made (rent, car, insurance, phone, loans, credit cards) I have about $185 left over to cover food, gas and other necessities. I have good credit, around 750. I’ve never missed a payment but soon it will get to the point…
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When does debt consolidation loan make sense?
What is the best company for consolidation loans? $33.5k in debt and looking at debt consolidation. How do I find the best company for consolidation loans, or at least someone to talk to about it I looked on Google of course, but you never really know what places are legit, and I couldn’t really find anything like testimonies on the best company for debt consolidation or anything like that. Is doing this online the best way? Or is looking locally better? I’ve just never had to do anything like this before, so I’m a little lost. Should I speak to a financial advisor at my bank about this maybe? Or…
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RBC rejected consumer proposal but asked for reasoning of credit card usage
Afraid that they’ll fully reject my consumer proposal. What are steps that I can do if they reject it fully? About 60k in debt. I’m scared if i do declare bankruptcy i won’t get discharged due to gambling Victor Fong, Licensed Insolvency Trustee responds You mentioned in the comments that you accumulated the debt through gambling. Have you taken any steps to address your gambling problem? For example, if you’re in the Toronto area, consider doing the following: Register yourself under the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation’s (OLG) Voluntary Exclusion Program. Register yourself under the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health’s (CAMH) gambling counselling program. Then write a letter addressed to RBC…
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Does CRA Forgive Tax Debt?
A reader asks: I feel like I need to reach out and get a little advice, also to just gain a little bit of knowledge regarding debt. I have no idea what I’m doing so please be nice! I am currently self employed, technically considered a contractor as a tattoo artist at an established shop. We handle all of our payments ourselves, not on payroll. I’ve been doing this for the last 4.5 years. I make on average, $60,000 – $70,000 a year before taxes. I have neglected filing my taxes since becoming self employed, until this year (stupid, I know) and am now finding myself in quite a troublesome…
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What happens when you don’t pay your debts?
I get asked this question a lot when people message me on Reddit asking for advice. So I thought I’d put together a chronology of what typically happens when a debtor owing credit card debt finds himself in this situation: You will get calls from the creditor. If you ignore them, the debt will be sent to an agent acting on the creditor’s behalf – usually a collection agency or a law firm. The agent will likely have your place of employment and banking information on file because you would’ve provided this information to the creditor when you had applied for credit with them. You’ll receive calls, letters and emails…
