Scott Terrio sees it all the time. The manager of consumer insolvencysays the average credit card balance in Canada is less than $4,500, but the cases he saw last year averaged more than $12,000 for this young group.
Terrio said his clients show up with the "typical Canadian financial life" -- starting with a credit card at 18 and a student loan, then card companies keep increasing the limit and consumers run up their debt. Seeing the interest load, these people then get a line of credit with lower interest rates and transfer the balance there.Once they flip their debt to a line of credit, he said consumers should cut up their credit card and live on cash flow as much as possible.
To prevent this from happening, track spending diligently -- you can download apps for this purpose -- and delay milestones such as moving out or getting a car if you can, Schwartz said. Build up an emergency fund in case you lose your income or suffer a financial setback, to avoid falling into serious debt.
Ultimately, the aim is to reach the tipping point when at least half of your debt payment is going to the principal -- and the portion going to interest starts to slide. Never use an instalment loan, he added. Generative AI, artificial intelligence that can provide thoughtful and thorough responses to questions and prompts, could potentially breathe new life into Apple’s iPhone lineup at a time when competitors are threatening to leave the company behind in the race to shape what could be a world-changing technology.
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