This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.A decade of strong gains in house prices and stocks convinced Canadians that saving money was pointless.
Something economists call the wealth effect explains why the savings rate fell so low before the pandemic. It starts with a hot housing market. Rising house prices make you feel rich and invite the use of a home-equity line of credit to tap into this paper wealth. More equity equals more borrowing room.
It’s smart personal finance to use these deferrals if you lost your job and can’t pay your mortgage. But most setbacks in life don’t come with a safety net like this. You’ll need your own savings. There are two types of saving in the pandemic if you’re fortunate enough not to have lost a job or income. The first is temporary saving, like daycare. One reader told me this week that his adult son’s family is saving $2,000 a month in daycare.