Til Debt Do Us Part

Money worries rank among the highest causes of marital stress and divorce. Yet few people recognize that their spending habits might have more to do with their emotions, their upbringing, and their communication skills than with their net income. In Till Debt Do Us Part, Dr. Bernard Poduska helps you understand where your financial problems might have their roots, how you can learn to balance your own needs with your family's desires, and how you can manage debt even when it seems to have gotten completely out of your control. You'll learn how to recognize and overcome addictive spending, how to get through the month with the money you have, and how to plan for your future. If you're ready to get to the bottom of your financial challenges, Till Debt Do Us Part will give you the tools and insights you need.

With everything she does, Gail Vaz-Oxlade focuses on putting money in perspective and encouraging people to take control of their money and their lives. But over the years, she’s found that an astonishing number of smart, competent women are relinquishing that control. It’s Your Money is designed to inspire and inform them to take charge of their financial destinies. This book will help each reader come to terms with why she deals with her money as she does. It helps her establish a solid financial foundation on which to build as she moves through her life. Gail walks her through the major milestones—partnering, raising a family and retiring—making sure she is empowered to make her own decisions, if she’s in a relationship or not. It also shows the reader how to cope when stuff hits the fan, without adding financial stress to her burdens. For the woman who finds herself the sole breadwinner in a family, dealing with aging parents or coping with divorce or widowhood, Gail shows her how to keep her financial life on track. Whether they need Gail’s voice to encourage them to reach for new financial goals, or to kick their credit-card-happy butts back into line, women will turn to It’s Your Money in good times and in bad.

We live in a world of growing singleness. While lots of attention is being paid to senior singles, less has been given to younger women and men who find themselves suddenly single—through separation or divorce or through the death of a partner—or to those who come to the realization that perhaps partnership isn’t in the cards and they need to start planning for themselves. Single women make up more than half the population of Canadian women. And they’re facing financial and life challenges for which they’re unprepared. Both Victoria and Gail know that single doesn’t have to suck. But a newly minted CEO of Everything will face some challenges, so Gail and Victoria are here with a heads up! CEO of Everything maps out the territory that singles find themselves in and guides readers through topics that form the new land of singleness. Jobs once shared by two now fall on the shoulders of one. And as if life isn’t busy enough, the state of singleness means you get to do it all, all day and every day. What is normal when you are suddenly planning for life for one? What do you need to look out for, be responsible for and be prepared for? This book will help readers decide what’s urgent, what’s important and what they can afford to just let go unattended. (Baby, you may be strong, but nobody can do it ALL.)

The national bestseller that helps you turn common sense into money in the bank—now updated with 10 new rules to live by Gail Vaz-Oxlade likes to say that managing money isn’t rocket science, it’s discipline. But even she acknowledges that there are tricks to her trade and that making money decisions often feels more complicated than it needs to be. So, where do you start? With Gail’s Money Rules, of course—her essential rules for making your money work for you. Covering every topic under the financial sun—from TFSAs to taxes, borrowing to breaking bad habits, relationships to RRSPs—Gail will show you that many of the rules you may have been following might actually be working against your best interests. Some of her advice is, as she says, common sense (Rule #17: Needs Must Come Before Wants), some of it is surprising (Rule #222: Don’t Borrow to Contribute to an RRSP) and some may even seem counterintuitive coming from Gail (Rule #261: Take Pleasure from Your Money). New to this edition are rules that will help you maximize the return on your savings, get your head straight about what renovations really mean for your bottom line, and calculate your burn rate. All of the rules are divided into digestible pieces that give you a clear sense of what works and what doesn’t—and how to start incorporating her advice into your life today. For money-phobes, this book will be a kick in the pants; for money minders, it will ease the worry that they’ve left a stone unturned; for everyone, Money Rules reveals what it takes to build a financial foundation that will last a lifetime.

Explaining difficult concepts in plain English with a breezy style, this third edition has new material covering new tax laws, retirement savings strategies, a chapter on identity theft, and question-and-answer sidebars.

Freshly updated retirement advice from one of Canada’s most trusted financial writers We all know we should save for retirement, right? But we don’t. We’re just not sure where to start, or when. Experts conjure magic numbers and use complicated terminology. Do we really need a million dollars? And if we don’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of saving that much, should we even bother? Gail’s answers are no and yes—there is no magic number that fits everyone, and yes, you must bother! The hardest part of retirement planning is getting started, so Gail walks you through the steps to put momentum on your side—even if it’s with as little as a dollar a day. She’ll help you figure out where you are now, where you want to be and how to get there. No expert, Gail included, should offer a one-size-fits-all solution, which is why Never Too Late has concrete steps for developing a plan that is right for you. Never Too Late is about cutting through the crap, taking charge and taking action to create the future you want.

As a parent, you want the best for your kids. You work hard to provide them with every advantage. You want them to be safe, smart and healthy. Yet when it comes to money, it’s a whole different story. If you’re like most people, you’d rather run a mile through a desert with a camel on your back than talk about money with your children. Are you going to follow in your parents’ footsteps, keeping financial matters a deep, dark secret? Or do you want your children to have a healthy, balanced attitude toward money? Then it’s time to pull your head out of the sand and roll up your sleeves. Gail Vaz-Oxlade, Canada’s #1 personal finance expert, believes that teaching kids about money is a parent’s job. She knows that building confidence and money skills starts with an age-appropriate allowance to help your kids accomplish important tasks: Making saving a habit Learning the difference between needs and wants Using the “magic jars” to balance competing goals Creating lifelong money management skills What better gift could you give your children than the confidence to control their money, rather than letting their money control them? Let Gail help you raise “Money-Smart Kids.”