JUSTCAWS

  Have been taking the time to listen and understand Guelph citizens’ concerns over the upcoming City budget. My wife attended a Ward town hall, I jumped on the live stream to listen to public delegations speak to a variety of issues and I also attended the Guelph Chamber of Commerce Budget breakfast to hear viewpoints from the business community. In hearing and reading fellow Guelphites competing concerns it is clear that Guelph, like many Ontario cities, is under significant social and financial strain from forces outside our control. People have genuine concerns with affordability and the threat of another big property tax increase. Many have legitimate concerns about the most vulnerable in our city and the challenges they face gaining accessibility to services and basic mobility. While others want to move past the annual budget squabble and want to see a plan to spark the strong economic growth needed to fund a prosperous and just city. In all of this, one issue stood out as a ...

  While times of crisis are something to endure and not celebrate, they do provide an opportunity for us to be reminded of what’s really important. The chaos of Trump and the economic pain he has inflicted thus far on Canada has been manageable, but the toll from the uncertainty grows each day. The threat of the tariff hurricane still looms and if our current trade deal is scrapped next year - look out. It is for this reason governments have to look at their upcoming budgets and make some tough choices. Governments like everyone else have to manage money coming in and going out. Just like many of us, they pay interest on the debt owed. When governments spend beyond their means they add to the debt and more of the money coming in from taxes is eaten up just servicing that debt. Last year the feds spent more debt payments than they did on healthcare transfers to all the provinces! To fix this fiscal mess, governments could simply raise taxes, but asking people to pay more when they ...

  With so many skills that can be done by AI much faster and and sometimes better than humans, it does beg the question what’s left for us? Under this uncertain future, it is no wonder the Ontario Ministry of Education is pushing a greater emphasis in technical, trades based education. As for students who aren’t hands on learners the opportunities in the future seem much less certain. It may even require governments to set parameters on what work humans will never relinquish. We have all read and seen what AI can do. It writes books, reports, essays, and generates art within seconds after be given a few basic commands. In this reality is it worth spending time building skills that will never match the power of artificial intelligence? Of course it is from an intellectual and humanity perspective - but what about practically? Education to a large degree is about teaching the skills necessary for the jobs of tomorrow. Many jobs today simply will not exist in the future for humans i...

With the new school year well underway, I want to talk about that dirty word for students -- homework. It seems it now is a dirty word for some Ontario school boards, too, as they have placed limits on the amount of homework students can be assigned. Some have even gone so far as to ban homework altogether in the early grades. While I can see the merits of reducing the homework burden at the elementary level, I think we do our high school students a disservice if we lessen the expectation of their workload outside the classroom. If anything, in today's competitive global economy we need to raise the bar higher. Telling students to study more and socialize less may be easier said than done. Believe me I know, but we owe it to our young people to keep trying and not give up. When I was in elementary school I was a pretty conscientious student who spent many a night doing at least an hour worth of homework. In Grade 5, I can remember watching with envy from my bedroom window as my sch...

“Hands in my pockets” was the catch phrase for a commercial a few years back that told us how bank fees can eat away at our savings. It was appropriate because it aptly described how banks have easy access to our cherished cash. Financial institutions are one of the few places that send you a bill (your bank statement) after they have already taken the funds out of your account. Some of us will comparison shop for days to make sure we are getting a “good” deal – or drive across town to save a few cents a litre while filling up. Seeing the money leave our hands has an impact. When your money leaves out the back door – we tend not to focus on that – but we should. Service Fees are a very profitable part of the financial industry. These small charges add up quickly and can eat way away at your financial estate. When I was in first year at University, my Dad told me to avoid carrying a large amount of cash around, for fear I might lose it. It was good advice, but it meant that I headed to ...

Before you can even begin to get control of your money, you must first find out where it is going. Drawing up a budget is a waste of time if you have no clue how much you are spending. Setting a limit for yourself of $50 a month on clothes — makes no sense if you currently spend more than $100. Before you can chart a new direction for your personal finances, you must find out where you and your money are headed. When I was back in high school — I made some great coin working various jobs for the city. I was rolling in it, and since my shyness toward the opposite sex ensured that I didn’t have a girlfriend, my dough was all mine. Now, when I look back at all that discretionary income I had, I am left with one question — where the heck did it all go? I never tracked my spending. So, I couldn’t tell you how much I spent on entertainment, clothes, or fast food. The only thing I could tell you was I saved nothing. I never could be bothered tracking my spending. In my day (man, I sound old) ...

Newspaper Version:  https://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion-story/9088815-you-truly-are-richer-than-you-think Take into account your non-discretionary spending to take control of your financial future, writes Greg Cawsey Gregory Cawsey Guelph Mercury Tuesday, December 18, 2018 One of the top excuses for young people not taking their finances seriously is they believe they don’t have that much money to manage. They think they can worry about money management when they are older and are working full time. They need to realize that in high school they are richer than they will be for quite some time. Get high school students to look at their discretionary income levels and they soon realize how rich they are. Let’s take a look at a high school student who nets $5,000 in a year working both part-time after school and during the summer. If that student lives at home, rent-free, with their parents or guardians, all of their $5,000 is theirs to spend however they wish. From deciding to go t...

Before making your riches, examine your attitude toward money Developing positive associations with money will help you manage it better, writes Greg Cawsey Gregory Cawsey Guelph Mercury Wednesday, January 9, 2019 Today, I want to discuss a topic viewed by many as a very personal matter. Some adults believe discussing it in public is just plain rude. Some parents avoid talking to their kids about it at all. Their children are kept in the dark, left to find out what they can from the world around them. What is this private, controversial topic of extreme personal consequence? The topic is money — specifically, your money. Surprised? What did you think I was going to say? Unfortunately, adults have trouble discussing important personal matters with young people. Anyone who has sat through one of those uncomfortable facts-of-life talks with their parents already knows what I’m talking about. Well, at least you had “the talk.” When it comes to money, too many families avoid the topic of pe...

In our last lesson we showed you how to easily put aside a portion of your paycheque into a high interest savings account. While you enjoy seeing that money grow, we can now focus on making your walking around cash last. Tracking your spending indicated how much money you need to get by on between pay periods. Whatever that amount is, go to your bank’s ATM and take it out in cash. I told you to use a debit card before — so that you could track where your money was going over a month’s time. We’ve done that — so now we can start using cash to make our purchases. There are many reasons to do this — but a key one is that you will spend less money using cash to buy things instead of debit. Why? You will control your own spending because you will always know how much money you have left. If your bank has provided your account with overdraft protection, you have the option of going into debt if your account balance goes below zero. You pay fees and interest every time you use this dangerous ...

Ah, April, that beautiful time of year when the snow melts away and things are supposed to warm up. April is also tax season for Canadians. With that in mind, this lesson in finance will examine income taxes from a teenage perspective. For the 2018 tax year, the basic personal tax exemption is $11,809. If you earn under this amount, then you don’t have to pay federal income taxes. Some employers, however, will deduct income taxes from students’ paycheques if the gross pay they earn, pro-rated for the year, is greater than the exemption limit. Many students who only work during the summer months are in this situation. If, for example, a student earns $2,000 a month during July and August — but does not work the rest of the year — their employer will deduct income taxes from their paycheque even though they are earning below the exemption limit. To the employer, the student’s monthly earnings equate to $24,000 (12 months times $2,000). This amount is above the exemption limit, and theref...

OK, time for a little review. We began our first lesson telling you to get a job. Then you were told how rich you are right now and the need to keep track of where all your money is going. Finally, you were given some motivation to start saving your cash now for the tsunami of bills that are coming your way. Now we can move forward. This lesson is all about saving your money with ease. To begin taking charge of our money, we must use the tools out there that make spending our money easy to do. The great thing about this plan is it is flexible to accommodate a wide variety of income scenarios. It can be used no matter how much you make, just as long as you have money coming in on a regular basis — either through an allowance or paycheque. The amount of money can also vary from one paycheque to the next. There are numerous saving products offered by the banks. Unfortunately, many, such as savings bonds or Guaranteed Investment Certificates, require that you have money already saved up be...

If you are a high school senior your inner desire for independence is beginning to emerge. Your ability to move out of your parents’ shadow and be your own person is going to be tied with your financial independence. If your folks are still buying everything for you or giving you a steady allowance, they are stunting your financial growth. It’s time to lay claim to your own financial independence. If you don’t have a job yet — get one. You are never going to be able to manage your own money if you don’t have any of your own money to manage. Many young people shy away from working because they or their parents feel it will hurt their marks at school. As long as you are not involved heavily in extracurricular activities you should be able to handle up to 15 hours a week. From my research and observation teaching high school students, academic performance begins to suffer around the 15 hour per week mark depending on the student. Some students can push it, but go 20 hours or m...