When it comes to everyday decisions and personal finances, the numbers are in and new statistics from Edward Jones Canada paints a clear and troubling picture.
“The poll tells us that 90 per cent of Atlantic Canadians say that personal finances are impacting their overall wellbeing,” said Julie Petrera, a Senior Strategist Client Needs for Edward Jones.
Petrera says big stressors include saving for retirement, education, repaying debt, preparing for the unexpected, and a down payment on a house.
“Questions that we hear often from clients are, ‘Should I save for something short term or long term? Should I pay off debt or should I invest? Should I take money from investments to pay down debt with interest rates that are going up?’”
Over 1,500 people across Canada participated in the survey.
Overall, she says that Canadians are feeling overwhelmed when it comes to making financial decisions and the numbers are slightly worse in Atlantic Canada.
“The poll tells us that for all of Canada, 88 per cent of Canadians say finances are impacting their overall well being, slightly higher in Atlantic Canada at 90 per cent,” she said.
“Thirty-three per cent of Canadians work with a financial advisor and that number is 31 per cent for Atlantic Canada and 60 per cent believe that working with an advisor would help reduce stress for all of Canada and that number is 61 per cent in Atlantic Canada.”
John Maisey, with Maisey Financial Services in Moncton, says these new numbers aren’t surprising to him.
He has already seen clients who are paying attention to what’s happening and bringing forward their own concerns.
“What we’re starting to see right now is a lot of people are looking for ways to cut back on spending because the interest rates, the mortgage cycle is coming up. So the next two-to-four years, most people with mortgages are renewing at three per cent higher or almost double the interest they had before,” he said.
To put it into context, he says that on a $250k home, it will mean an increase of around $400-600 a month in interest payments alone.
“We’ve encouraged people to start paying more and that type of thing just to get them used to those elevated payments,” he said.
While mortgage seems to be the biggest stressor among his clients, food, gas, and everyday costs are also taking a toll.
“There is a lot of stressors all around. The ones you see every day are dollars and cents, versa the one that’s coming down the pipe at you which is hundreds of dollars,” he said.
“You’ve really got to be paying attention right now and questioning the needs versus the wants.”
Another thing that the survey pointed out was that although 61 per cent of Atlantic Canadians think that working with a financial advisor would help alleviate financial stress, only 31 per cent currently do.
“I think that a lot of people think that advisors can only help you with investing money or retirement planning, which is not true. Advisors that offer comprehensive planning and advice can help you with all of the things that Canadians are telling us are causing stress for them,” said Petrera.
Maisey says a few reasons that younger adults aren’t turning to experts for help could be that they don’t have a lot of discretionary income, it shows vulnerability, or they just don’t know where to turn.
“What the advisor planner will do is give you context on the numbers. When somebody asks me what I do I say I’m a financial interpreter or a coach,” he said.
Lastly, while there’s always been a correlation between health and wealth, Petrera says the numbers are increasing likely due to economic and political uncertainty and high interest and inflation rates.
