Are you ready to make the leap from renter to homeowner? You’ve saved your nickels. You’ve been watching the housing market and found a neighbourhood you like. You’ve gotten tired of lugging groceries up 6 flights of stairs every time your elevator is out. Buying your first home is an exciting time. It is also a huge decision. Here are the five things you should think about before you buy.
Welcome to your 30s! You’ll be spending less money on fun and more money on necessities. You’ll be spending less time with friends and more time at work. Your 30s are a time defined by one thing: change.
It’s everyone’s favourite time of the year: tax time! Get ready for the banners and balloons and celebrations… or hide your paperwork in the closet and hope the receipts magically sort themselves out. That sounds more realistic! You may want to hide from your finances, but you can gain a lot by dedicating adequate time and resources to bookkeeping and accounting. This is particularly true for business owners.
Financial institutions are not all created equal and neither are their Members. As a member of the team at PenFinancial Credit Union, I get to see how unique our Members and their needs are and how we can help them everyday.
Millennials. Gen-X & Y’ers. Baby boomers. Canada is a mosaic filled with diverse cultures and multiple generations of wisdom. I was reminded of this recently when a member met with me to plan for her joint finances with her common-law husband. Did you automatically picture a young person sitting across from me? Bright-eyed and rosy cheeked and damned if she was going to make the same mistakes as her mother? You’d be wrong. Debbie was a 56-year-old divorced woman who had “shacked up” with her new partner, Ron, a year earlier. It seems that millennials aren’t the only ones skipping the walk down the aisle these days.
After your parent’s made you read Catherine’s blog on how to fund post-secondary education, you may think you’re all set for school.
Finally – Spring has sprung in Niagara. Birds are chirping. Plants are growing. Mud is everywhere. Warmer winds are blowing. But when we look out our front windows at the sun on our verandas, we can imagine the glory of summer. And the fun of summer vacations!
I believe in social responsibility and values. As a credit union employee, I get to put those values into action every day. I help members achieve their financial dreams. I educate and empower my community. I get to skip through rows of pine trees and chop down the best Charlie Brown tree to decorate my office. Ok, that may not be a credit-union sanctioned activity, but it is fun!
Team ENERGI is changing lives. ENERGI stands for “Enterprise Niagara for Employment Resources and ‘Green’ Initiatives” – and a whole lot more. Since 2009, the Team ENERGI program has delivered life skills workshops, employment supports, and hands-on work experience to youth facing barriers to employment in Niagara.
Let’s play a game that you may have seen on Ellen: Never Have I Ever. Raise your hand (and hide behind it if you have to) if any of these apply to you!
