Bankruptcy may not be best way

A20 | money
|
business this morning
theprovince.com
Bankruptcy may
not be best way
Employee should advise creditors of
the extent of her problems, then get counselling
options:
I have an employee who
Q:
is very stressed at work. I
spoke with her in private about
this and she told me she hasn’t
been sleeping much as she
has a lot of debt and is getting
collection calls from creditors.
She thinks that bankruptcy is
her only option. I told her I would
do some research and get back
to her.
Is bankruptcy her only
option?
Your employee is expeA:
riencing some common
symptoms of financial difficulty.
minding your
own business
During times of financial crisis,
people are often unable to view
their options objectively.
The added stress of looking for
the best solution to their troubles may be too much and they
make choices based on how they
feel. Bankruptcy may or may not
be a viable option, but it’s important to consider every alternative
carefully.
Before your employee makes any
decisions regarding her finances, she needs to get relief from the
collection calls she is receiving.
The most effective way to do this is
for her to contact the creditors and
be upfront with them regarding
Scott Hannah
your bottom Line
her current situation.
She should also ask them for a little time — one to two weeks — to
determine the best way to resolve
her financial difficulties. While it
can be intimidating to speak with
creditors when you are behind on
payments, it’s better to call them
instead of being afraid to answer
your phone.
Once this is done, I would
encourage your employee to contact a licensed and accredited credit counselling agency. She should
also contact the Better Business
Bureau to make sure the agency
she contacts is well established and
has an excellent service record.
A well-trained credit counsellor will carefully review her complete financial picture: house-
hold income, assets, outstanding
debts, monthly expenses, as well
as any non-financial factors that
are affecting her situation. With
this information, the credit counsellor will be able to outline different solutions for your employee.
These solutions could include
but are not limited to conventional financing, help from family and
friends, liquidating assets to pay
off debt, establishing a debt repayment program, settling the debt
or looking at a legal process such
as a consumer proposal or bankruptcy.
The credit counsellor will also
go over the pros and cons of each
option so that your employee has
the right information and understanding to make a more informed
decision.
Once your employee has made
a decision and moves into action,
her level of stress about her finances should diminish considerably.
Scott Hannah is president and
CEO of the Credit Counselling
Society, a non-profit organization. For more information about
managing your money check
www.nomoredebts.org or call
604-527-8999.
■ Have a money question? Email
[email protected].
Monday, May 9, 2011
Try this for building
retirement nest egg
by Adrian Mastracci
the province
Recent surveys point yet again to
how difficult it is to save for retirement.
They also highlight how unprepared
people are.
It can be frustrating trying to stitch
your retirement plan together, particularly if you are juggling conflicting
viewpoints. The result for many is a
later retirement.
Too often, we see retirement projections that are out of date. Worse yet, others
simply do not have any projections.
Investors rightly wonder what it takes
to save enough money for their retirement. While it seems a difficult task, it
need not be worrisome.
Get to know the size of the nest egg you
need for your retirement. Then determine what you have to save to retire
comfortably.
The ball-park figure often mentioned
is having $1,000,000 by age 65, ignoring
inflation. That amount, however, may
be scary for some.
So let’s try meeting halfway at $500,000.
Say you start saving at age 30, 40 or 50 and
have no other retirement assets.
Below is a sample of annual saving targets to reach $500,000 by age 65 (figures
rounded).
By the numbers
Annual saving targets starting at:
Returns Age 30 Age 40 Age 50
8%
$2,900 $6,800 $18,400
7%
$3,600 $7,900 $19,900
6%
$4,500 $9,100 $21,500
5%
$5,600 $10,500 $23,200
4%
$6,800 $12,000 $25,000
ADRIAN MASTRACCI — submitted Photo
If your aim is to accumulate $250,000,
divide the saving targets by two. If your
goal is the $1,000,000, multiply the saving targets by two.
Some key observations:
■ Waiting to start your retirement
saving marathon is costly.
■ Find your sustainable personal
saving target and invest it.
■ The earlier you start saving, the more
achievable you goal becomes.
■ Starting early also allows more time
to recover from potential losses.
There will be bumps along the way.
Just don’t let them spoil your game
plan.
Perhaps part-time work during retirement can make a big difference to your
goal. Stick with simple strategies that
work well over the long term such as
using the TFSA and RRSP combination.
■ Adrian Mastracci is “fee-only” portfolio manager at KCM Wealth Management Inc. in Vancouver, 604-739-4500 or
[email protected].
Carolina’s style of care for seniors a success
Name: Carolina Orosa.
Business: Home Care Assistance, 1861 Marine Dr., West
Vancouver, homecareassis
tance.com, 778-279-3634.
Number of employees:
More than 50 caregivers.
Time in business: One year.
We acquired the Greater Vancouver franchise of Home Care
Assistance, which is based in
Palo Alto, Calif.
Describe your business:
Home Care Assistance provides non-medical, in-home
senior care and support. We
offer assistance with activities
of daily living, such as bathing,
grooming and dressing, plus
housekeeping, meal preparation, transportation, medication reminders, companionship and activities. Our goal is
to help seniors maintain their
dignity and maximize their
independence in the comfort
of their home.
How did you get started? My
husband and I lost our fathers
to cancer within months of
each other. My father also suffered from dementia. Watching their ordeal and the toll it
took on our moms, who were
their primary caregivers, was
an eye-opener.
We saw a gap in the service
being offered and decided to
help families going through
a similar situation. We offer a
holistic approach to care in
which we focus not just on
basic care, but on lifestyle
care.
We train our caregivers in
a proprietary Balanced Care
Method that focuses on nutrition, physical exercise, mental
stimulation and social interaction. We also take the time
to get to know our client as a
total person.
We learn about their interests, personality and needs
so as to find the most suitable caregiver. We believe this
approach helps seniors live
high-quality, purposeful lives.
What do you like best about
your business? I like the fulfilment I get from seeing clients
flourish in spite of their age or
condition.
A lot of people feel that life
stops at a certain age and that
there is then nothing for which
to live. It’s inspiring to see the
improvements in clients’ outlook and quality of life when
they get care, encouragement
and stimulation.
What is your biggest success? Being able to help
seniors, who are the true jewels of our society and to whom
we owe so much.
What is your biggest challenge? The lack of awareness and urgency around the
importance of home care.
What’s ahead? Keep growing my business and make
people aware of the high standard of care we provide.
■ Want to be in Minding Your
Own Business? Just follow this
format and send your information to The Province at onthe
[email protected]. Don’t
forget to include your phone Carolina Orosa says she started her
number and a current, hi-res business after she and her husband lost
their dads to cancer. — Submitted Photo
photo.