There's been a lot of new programs and initiatives put in place by the Canadian government due to COVID-19 to help you financially. In this episode, I'm going to take you through what's out there so that you can make sure you don't miss out on some free money or benefits that can really help you during this difficult time.
I've actually gone through everything that I could get my hands on at the Canada Revenue Agency site, so this is all coming right from the source, and this episode's intention is to save you a lot of time by helping you quickly learn what's out there, whether you're eligible, and help you make an efficient decision on which benefits to apply for, and which ones to make sure you receive.
The 2nd part of this episode is going to focus on mortgages, the drastic changes in the interest rate that we've seen (which can of course heavily impact your mortgage payments and decisions), what's happening right now as far as the real estate market is concerned, if you can take advantage of these lower interest rates by renewing your mortgage. We're also going to cover the subject of deferring your mortgage payments, if for example you've lost your job and fear that you may not be able to pay your mortgage while we are all in lockdown due to COVID-19.
Links & Resources Covered
Chat with Sean for free to get your mortgage questions answered by entering your email at buildwealthcanada.ca/sean
Check out Sean's best-selling book, Burn Your Mortgage: The Simple, Powerful Path to Financial Freedom for Canadians.
New Tool: Get Your Credit Score Checked for Free
A big thanks to Borrowell for sponsoring the show and for building such a great free tool that we can use to check our credit score. It has saved me a lot of time when I want to quickly check the status of my credit score (for example, to ensure there has been no fraud or identity theft on my accounts).
You also obviously want to make sure your score is as high as possible for any mortgages or other loans that you end up applying for (to ensure you get the lowest rate and get approved).
Even if you aren't looking for a loan, I encourage you to at least pull your report for free to help ensure that there are no unauthorized transactions on your accounts. As a best practice, you should be doing this kind of check at least annually.
Thanks again Borrowell for building a tool where we Canadians can finally get access to this data quickly and for free.
Resources from the Episode:
Top Tools and Resources for Financial Independence (for Canadians): All the top tools and sites that I've personally used to help us achieve financial independence in our early 30s. They're also what we use now to optimize and manage our finances, and ensure that we're paying the lowest fees while getting solid returns on our investments.
Canada's Top ETFs Guide & Top High-Interest Savings Account: In the guide, I go over what I personally invest in, why I invest in it. The investments that I talk about are literally where we have almost our entire net worth (apart from our house), and is what we are primarily living off right now in our early retirement. At the very least you'll learn about some great ETFs to consider for your portfolio, and if you are new to ETFs, it'll give you a nice list of some top ETFs to consider from the thousands that are out there.
The guide is available for free to any listeners that that use my special link to sign up for a free savings account with the bank that I personally use, EQ bank.
The reason that I personally use EQ bank, is that they have one of the highest interest savings rates in Canada (they are currently offering 2% which is more than double what the major banks are offering).
It's also free to sign up and keep an account with them, so you're not paying a monthly fee like you do with many of the other banks out there. You also get unlimited transactions, unlimited Interac e-transfers, and can take out your money at any time if you need it, and there are no minimum balances.
Because of those reasons, I've been with them ever since they launched in Canada years ago, and it's where I keep my entire emergency fund and spending money.
To get the free high-interest account and the free guide on the top ETFs in Canada, just go to buildwealthcanada.ca/eq, open the free account, and once you're done, forward any email that you get from EQ to bonus@buildwealthcanada.ca and I'll send you the full comprehensive guide for free.
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Build Wealth Canada Podcast