Industry insights from Hoyes Michalos co-founders Doug Hoyes and Ted Michalos on bankruptcy, debt relief and consumer debt issues that affect Ontarians. Doug and Ted are strong advocates of a fair, equitable and transparent process for those dealing with overwhelming debt problems.
Normally at the end of every year I would reflect on how household debt fared throughout the year and choose ten statistics that tell the story. But this year, the debt story is complicated. The year began with growing insolvency filings and ended with record lows.
A recent report by the Bank of Canada highlights the potential winners and losers, or as they put it, heterogeneous effects, arising from the economic impact of COVID-19. The general conclusion is that higher-income earners... Read more »
Household debt was in a crisis before the recent economic downturn, with many Canadians owing more debt than they could ever hope to repay, and the coronavirus shut down of 2020 has accelerated the collapse. ... Read more »
Before the economic impact of the shutdown and social distancing, Ontario was already feeling the financial effects of too much debt. In the six months before March 2020, when businesses began to close and employees... Read more »
When a private corporation with a defined benefit pension plan files for bankruptcy, retired or nearly-retired employees are not likely to receive their full pensions as promised if the pension is underfunded. As we witnessed... Read more »
Ice cream is seasonal. Fruit is seasonal. Boating – certainly seasonal. Housing can be seasonal. But insolvency filings? Yes – they really are quite seasonal too. Consumer insolvencies are also subject to cyclicality, secularity, and... Read more »
A recent study by Leger found that one-in-five Canadians would be forced to sell off assets to pay off, or pay down, their debt. Most people we meet don’t have a manageable amount of debt.... Read more »
It’s been a long time coming, longer than Ted Michalos and I predicted in our past year-in-review podcasts. We predicted that 2014 and 2015 consumer insolvencies would remain flat, and they did. However, last year,... Read more »
This year marks the 8th Financial Literacy Month in Canada, which begs the question: has our financial literacy improved in eight years? Total household debt is at record highs while personal savings rates are at... Read more »
On today’s show, recorded in July, 2018, I give my thoughts on what the bankruptcy of Tesla Inc., the electric car company, can teach us about how we manage our own personal finances. And yes,... Read more »
For as long as debt has existed, society has judged people for failing to pay back their debts. Over the years I’ve heard hundreds of honest, but unfortunate debtors tell me they are stressed out... Read more »
Everyone knows the statistics: Canadians are carrying more debt than ever before. And yet, based on a review of data from my clients, it takes less unsecured debt to force individuals to file a consumer... Read more »
At the end of last year, Ted Michalos and I predicted three types of bankruptcies we expect to see more of in 2018: People will be denied for debt consolidation and refinancing. Ontarians will be... Read more »
Each February, we release updated research about payday loans and we know that 4 in 10 Ontario insolvencies involve payday loans. Payday loans have been a fairly popular discussion in 2018, as the Government of... Read more »
3 in 10 insolvent debtors turn to payday loans to make debt payments. KITCHENER, ONTARIO, February 12, 2018 – Payday loan use among heavily indebted Ontarians continues to escalate, as research conducted by Licensed Insolvency... Read more »
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