financial planning – Consumer Proposal & Bankruptcy – Powell Associates Ltd.

Financial Stress & Mental Health – A New Study is Offering Hope

admin — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 10:33:37 +0000

The recently released 2025 Financial Stress Index, conducted by FP Canada, has confirmed what many of us already know: financial difficulties and concerns about money are the leading sources of stress for Canadians.

According to the participants in the study, this financial stress is directly responsible for loss of sleep, general anxiety, depression, a reduction in workplace productivity, and stress in their personal relationships.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though. This study does offer a glimmer of hope for Canadians who are dealing with financial stress and the impact it can have on their mental health. Let’s take a look.

What Exactly is Causing Financial Stress in Canadians?

This new study paints a pretty clear picture when it comes to the causes of stress among Canadians. Participants in this study (42%) identified money issues as their main stressor. This is a significantly higher percentage than health issues (21%), relationship problems (17%), or even work stress (17%).

Of the Canadians who named money issues as their main stressor;

64% said high grocery prices were a concern.
54% named inflation as one of the causes of their stress.
And 41% said that gas prices were a major contributor to their stress.

Outside of these external issues, which we have very little control over, there was one factor that the majority of Canadians mentioned as a cause of their financial stress: monthly debt and bill payments.

53% of respondents said their rent or mortgage payments are causing their stress.
37% mentioned monthly bills and expenses.
And 30% were concerned about monthly debt payments.

These statistics leave very little doubt: financial stress isn’t just a minor worry for some Canadians. It’s a major burden that is having a devastating effect on our mental health.

Financial Stress is Draining our Mental Health

It’s clear that many Canadians are stressed about their financial situation. And this stress can have a debilitating effect on our health. According to the 2025 Financial Stress Index, 38% of Canadians have reported negative mental health side effects due to their financial stress.

49% of Canadians have lost sleep due to financial stress.
38% have said their financial problems are causing them anxiety and depression.
41% of Canadians say their financial situation has them feeling overwhelmed.
And 38% feel helpless and have a lack of hope about their financial future.

This constant cycle of monthly debt, financial worries, and the related mental health issues they cause is a daily concern to many Canadians. But, it’s not all doom and gloom. Tucked away in the 2025 Financial Stress Index study is a statistic that could offer a bit of hope for many Canadians.

Some Canadians are Feeling More Hopeful About Their Financial Future

And now for a little good news: the 2025 Financial Stress Index has found overwhelming evidence that Canadians who work with a financial professional experience fewer mental health issues related to finances and are significantly more hopeful about their financial future.

____________________________________________________________________________

Editor’s Note:

Financial professionals don’t have to contribute to your financial burden. Our office offers no-cost consultations and no-money-up-front options to help ease your debt burden and financial stress. Reach out to set up a no-obligation consult.
____________________________________________________________________________

Let’s take a quick look at some of these encouraging statistics.

More Hope – 60% of Canadians who work with a financial professional have a brighter outlook concerning their financial future.

More Sleep – Only 42% of Canadians working with a financial professional lose sleep due to financial worries, as opposed to 53% who go it alone.

More Control – A significant 73% of Canadians who work with a financial professional feel that their actions can have a positive influence on their financial future (compared to 59% of Canadians without professional help).

Less Stress – Only 34% of Canadians working with a professional identify money issues as their top stressor.

These statistics underscore a very powerful truth: financial professionals, such as a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (LIT), can help ease the monthly stress and financial burdens many Canadians are experiencing.

Why Don’t More Canadians Seek Help for Financial Stress?

The 2025 Financial Stress Index has done a really good job of highlighting the financial stress Canadians face and the mental health issues that it can create. Also included in this study are the reasons why so many Canadians struggle to reach out for financial help, even if they understand that it can be beneficial.

These reasons include:

Not Sure What to Do – 52% of participants reported having no idea how to resolve their financial issues and fear that any decision they make could exacerbate their situation.

Can’t Afford It – 51% in this study said they couldn’t afford to save, invest, or pay down debt due to a lack of disposable income.

Stress & Anxiety – 43% of people in this study said they were so stressed and anxious about their finances that they just don’t bother addressing it or attempting to rectify it.

Overwhelmed – 41% said that they’re so overwhelmed with their finances that getting them under control just seems impossible.

Not Sure Where to Start – 35% of participants said they would like to improve their finances, but have no idea how, or even where to start.

For many Canadians, these are very real barriers to getting their financial stress under control. And, to make matters even worse, some of these barriers don’t just get in the way of finding professional help; they exacerbate financial stress and prolong its effects.

Not taking control of financial stress creates more anxiety and uncertainty, which creates more barriers to seeking help, which creates more anxiety and uncertainty. It’s a never-ending cycle that, sadly, many Canadians find themselves trapped in.

The good news is, the above concerns are based mostly on misconceptions about how financial professionals, particularly a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, actually work.

Professional Financial Help is Within Reach

As the 2025 Financial Stress Index has been able to show, financial professionals can ease financial stress (and the mental health issues it causes), as well as offer Canadians hope about their financial future.

And, if you have any of the above concerns about seeking help, fear not; professional financial help is within reach of most Canadians, regardless of their situation. Let’s take each of the above concerns and try to dispel them for you.

Not Sure What to Do – Speak to a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We can work with you to investigate your finances, help you understand your options, reduce or eliminate debt, lower your monthly payments, and help you create a better financial future.

Can’t Afford It – You can schedule a free, no-obligation consultation with us. If applicable, we can offer debt reduction solutions that require no out-of-pocket money to get started.

Stress & Anxiety – With a licensed professional at your side, you won’t need to make these difficult decisions alone. Getting control of your finances will be considerably less stressful and anxiety-inducing with help.

Overwhelmed – Once we decide to work together, we’ll handle the majority of the heavy lifting, from contacting your creditors to setting up payment plans to filing all the needed paperwork. Working with a debt reduction professional will make getting your finances under control less overwhelming.

Not Sure Where to Start – You can start with Powell Associates Ltd! We’re licensed and regulated by the Canadian government, and we’ve helped numerous Canadians regain their financial freedom. We can do the same for you.

No Canadian should feel helpless with regard to financial stress and the mental health issues it can create. Contact us today to set up a free consultation with one of our Licensed Insolvency Trustees. Our trusted professionals will work with you to help reduce your financial stress and improve your financial well-being.

The Up-Sell

admin — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 18:09:00 +0000

The following article by Robert W. Powell, CPA CA CIRP LIT, was published in the July 2017 issue of the District N/about-usews.

This is my rant on up-selling. It seems out of control. Almost every time I buy something, the cashier, order taker or customer service rep is trying to sell me something that I don’t need and didn’t ask for. I appreciate good customer service but the up-sell is often hidden in “good customer service”.

My last visit for servicing my vehicle (at the dealership where I bought it) was a frustrating experience. They recommended changing the transmission fluid. I was puzzled by this recommendation so I looked-up in the service manual as to when the transmission fluid was recommended to be changed (according to the vehicle manufacturer) and I was not near that level of kilometers. I pushed back and asked why they were making the recommendation; was there something wrong that they identified; why is their recommendation different from what the manual says? There was a lot of stuttering on the other side and no answer other than that was what the mechanic was recommending. I pushed further and got a sheepish response that they were all under pressure to up-sell; this did not appear to have anything to do with the mechanic’s recommendation.

You can’t make it through a drive-through without “do you want to upsize that?”, “can we add a muffin?”, “do you want to make a donation to….”; no, thank you, I just want the coffee I ordered!

Don’t get me wrong, I have sympathy for the employees who have to push unnecessary services and products in order to keep their job and income. It causes stress for employees and stress for customers. Unfortunately, the up-sell is here and not going away so, defend yourself.

The cost of saying “Yes” when you add it up over many small transactions can be significant. The cost of saying “Yes” to one unnecessary extra service option at the dealership can be significant. “No” is an incredibly simple word that many people find difficult to say. Make “No, thank you” your default option on the little upsells; it will get easier the more you say it. When confronted with a larger expenditure, ask questions (Is it critical that this be done now? Will any damage result if I don’t do it?), make them explain the basis of their recommendation or just say no so you have time to do some research or get a second opinion. “No” can save real money.

Powell Associates Ltd. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We are experienced, hands-on insolvency practitioners who understand the personal impacts of significant financial stress;

You won’t be stuck in an assembly line process.
You will expect and receive prompt responses and resolution of issues from our supportive and experienced team.
We will review your debt solution options, including filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.
We help Canadians with overwhelming debt get fresh financial starts.

Once you file a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy, we deal directly with your creditors on your behalf. Your unsecured creditors are required to stop contacting you or continuing legal proceedings against you. Contact us for a free consultation.

We offer free consultations to review your financial situation and practical debt resolution options. Contact us to discuss your situation over the phone, a video chat, or in-person in Saint John, Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown, Dartmouth, or Miramichi.

Budgeting 101 – Part 5 of 5

admin — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 18:53:08 +0000

In Part 4 of the series, I talked about dealing with lumpy expenses. In the 5th and final part of this series I will be discussing Catastrophic expenses.

Catastrophic expenses are those expenses that you have no reasonable expectation of knowing that they are coming and they have a material and negative impact on your finances to the extent that you cannot recover from the impact and, in fact, may not even be able to deal with the expense in the first place.

You can’t really stay awake at night worrying about such expenses because you don’t know they are coming. These are different from the lumpy expenses which you should know are coming and which you can plan for and manage. However, lumpy expenses can have a catastrophic impact on your finances if you have chosen not to plan for them – see Part 4 of this series.

Examples of catastrophic expenses include:

Black mold in your house causing it to be condemned and unsaleable with no insurance coverage and a mortgage that still has to be dealt with.
Being sued for damages over an accident where you are at fault with limited or no insurance. The legal fees to defend yourself could be a catastrophic expense even before consideration of a judgment being awarded against you.
Buying a used lemon vehicle, fully financed, that requires ongoing and significant repair expenses.
Having a guarantee called where you guaranteed (or co-signed) someone else’s debt.
And the list goes on.

Whether the expense is catastrophic or not depends on how big the expense is and how well you are financially situated. If you have managed your finances and built equity in your house (say $40,000) and get called on a $20,000 guarantee, this is probably not catastrophic but will be painful and set you back financially. However, if you get called on the $20,000 guarantee and have absolutely no way to deal with it, you may be forced to file for bankruptcy or file a consumer proposal to deal with that debt and your other debts in order to get a fresh start.

The better you have managed your finances, built equity, savings, etc. the more you will be prepared to deal with significant but unexpected expenses. But, the best planning will not necessarily fully protect you from the impact of catastrophic expenses. Unfortunately, there is some luck involved in life – both bad luck and good luck and neither can be planned for.

Powell Associates Ltd. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We are experienced, hands-on insolvency practitioners who understand the personal impacts of major financial stress;

You won’t be stuck in an assembly line process.
You will expect and receive prompt responses and resolution of issues from our supportive and experienced team.
We will review your debt solution options, including filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.
We help Canadians with overwhelming debt get fresh financial starts.

Budgeting 101 – Part 4 of 5

admin — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 06:00:48 +0000

In this Part of our series, we will discuss lumpy expenses; we reviewed annual expenses in Budgeting 101 – Part 3 of 5.

As I call them, lumpy expenses are expenses that we know (or should know) are coming down the track and will have to be incurred but only happen once in a lifetime or only once every couple, few, 5, 10 or 15 years (or so).

These types of expenses include; new tires for your car, helping your kids fund their post-secondary education, children’s weddings, significant dental or other medical procedures that are not covered by insurance, or significant home expenses.

These types of lumpy expenses can cause significant stress if you have not prepared for them. Yes, it would be ideal to save all the required money in advance to be there when needed.

But this is not always realistic. If you can’t save enough in advance, you may need to delay the expense (if you can) or arrange for credit to cover the part that you can’t save enough for. If you need credit, you may need to start working on paying down existing credit to make some room or work at improving your credit score to help you qualify for credit.

Also, you may need to start managing expectations lower.

For example, kids may expect to go away to University or College, but this may be too costly. Can they attend University or College in your community and live at home? That would save a lot.

The kids may also qualify for student loans, and this could help fund post-secondary education. You could then help them pay the student loan, and this would stretch the funding period for this expense over a more extended period, making it more manageable.

Another area where expectation management is required (start early) is wedding expenses. Set a budget you can handle, figure out how you will fund it and stick to the budget and funding plan.

Dealing with lumpy expenses requires planning, expectation management and being realistic about what lifestyle you can afford.

You also need to manage Goal Expenses if you have room for them in your budget after monthly, annual and lumpy expenses are covered. A goal expense could be taking a cruise or other vacation, buying a recreation property etc. These expenses tend to be purely discretionary in that they are not required in order to maintain you and your family.

Unfortunately, I see many people finance their goals (lifestyle) and take money out of their budgets to the point that they do not have enough money to cover the required monthly, annual and lumpy expenses. Sometimes, these are impulse purchases and can have severe negative consequences for your finances while providing some immediate gratification.

Powell Associates Ltd. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We are experienced, hands-on insolvency practitioners who understand the personal impacts of major financial stress;

You won’t be stuck in an assembly line process.
You will expect and receive prompt responses and resolution of issues from our supportive and experienced team.
We will review your debt solution options, including filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.
We help Canadians with overwhelming debt get fresh financial starts.

Budgeting 101 – Part 3 of 5

admin — Tue, 10 Jan 2017 20:16:53 +0000

Budgeting 101 – Part 3 of 5

In this Part of our series, we will discuss annual expenses; we reviewed monthly expenses in Budgeting 101 – Part 2 of 5.

Like monthly expenses, most annual expenses are predictable, at least to the extent that you know they will happen.

Sometimes the amount is uncertain or discretionary (you set it – requires some internal fortitude to manage). Annual expenses are recurring and include birthdays, Christmas, vacation, insurance, property taxes, vehicle licensing, vehicle inspections, etc. For the most part, these expenses are living expenses that you need to understand and deal with.

I think that the best way to deal with annual expenses is to make them into monthly expenses. Expenses like insurance or property taxes; are easy to set-up monthly payment plans.

Other expenses only get paid annually, so you can’t set-up monthly payments, but you can save for them monthly.

Take Christmas, for example. You need to set a budget so you don’t get carried away. Fix how much you will spend on each person and add it up then divide by 12. Now you know how much you need to save each month.

However, if you are starting your Christmas budgeting in June, then, for this first year, you only have seven months to save, so you have enough for December.

Make a spreadsheet; list the annual expenses down on the left side and the months across the top. Put negative numbers in the months where the money gets spent. Fill in the months before the expenditure with how much you need to save each month to have enough money to cover the expense.

Save the money for your annual expenses in a separate bank account, so the money is there when it is needed. The interesting thing you will find with this exercise is that there will likely be a surplus of funds in the account at any point in time, and this can be a bit of an emergency fund when required, but if you spend the money, you need to replenish it quickly.

Now its time to face the truth. Is your monthly income sufficient to cover your actual monthly expenses and the monthly allocation of annual expenses? If not, you have a problem.

You need to pay these expenses with income and not credit, or you will be going backwards. If you are in negative territory, roll up your sleeves and start looking at each expense to see how you can cut them back to balance your budget. It doesn’t have to be an immediate fix, but you need to work it.

There should be a surplus so that you can deal with saving for retirement, the lumpy expenses (we will review lumpy expenses in Part 4), and to provide some cushion for the potential catastrophic events.

Powell Associates Ltd. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We are experienced, hands-on insolvency practitioners who understand the personal impacts of major financial stress;

You won’t be stuck in an assembly line process.
You will expect and receive prompt responses and resolution of issues from our supportive and experienced team.
We will review your debt solution options, including filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.
We help Canadians with overwhelming debt get fresh financial starts.

Budgeting 101 – Part 2 of 5

admin — Tue, 20 Dec 2016 06:00:17 +0000

Budgeting 101 – Part 2 of 5

In Part 1 of this series, we discussed life’s expenses down into Monthly, Annual, Lumpy and Catastrophic expenses. In Part 2, I am going to deal with monthly expenses.

Monthly expenses should be the most predictable of the expense categories. They happen every month. Some are fixed, and some are variable.

With your household income, you should be able to cover these expenses, including covering seasonal variations comfortably. If you have nothing left over at the end of the month after paying monthly expenses, then you have no money to deal with the annual and lumpy expenses, “This is not a good situation”.

data-animation-override>
“Having cash left over after paying your monthly expenses is very important in managing your finances effectively, and it will give you great peace of mind. Maybe you won’t have what the Jones’ have, but you will sleep better at night.”

Required monthly expenses are food, a place to live and transportation for work so you can earn income, these are necessary living expenses. Each of these expenses has a broad range of costs, depending on how you manage them.

Cost of Food

If you plan and cook your meals, shop for bargains, use leftovers for lunch and stay away from pre-packaged and prepared foods, you will likely have the lowest food costs.

If you eat out a lot (including buying coffee and lunches), buy pre-packaged and prepared foods and give your kids lunch money instead of lunches, you will likely have the highest food costs.

If your Cost of Food falls in the latter description “Highest Food Costs”, this is a manageable expense that you can quickly change and positively impact your costs.

Living and transportation expenses

These expenses can be more challenging to manage. The key here is not to over-commit in the first place. Once the commitment has been made, it can take a long time and be challenging to reduce these expenses. In the interim, your finances may be stretched.

For example, when you buy a higher-priced vehicle when a lower-priced one would do. As the axiom goes, the car is worth 20% less as soon as you drive it off the lot. So, if it is a fully financed or leased vehicle, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to get out of the obligation once you commit to it.

Buying a vehicle is a significant decision that should not be made quickly and must be well thought out. Be disciplined, take the emotion and impulse out of the decision and focus on the practicality. What do you need for a vehicle, and then what are the cost options for that vehicle. You should use the same decision process when purchasing a home or renting an apartment.

Having cash left over after paying your monthly expenses is very important in managing your finances effectively, and it will give you great peace of mind. Maybe you won’t have what the Jones’ have, but you will sleep better at night.

Powell Associates Ltd. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We are experienced, hands-on insolvency practitioners who understand the personal impacts of major financial stress;

You won’t be stuck in an assembly line process.
You will expect and receive prompt responses and resolution of issues from our supportive and experienced team.
We will review your debt solution options, including filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.
We help Canadians with overwhelming debt get fresh financial starts.

Budgeting 101 – Part 1 of 5

admin — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 06:00:40 +0000

Budgeting 101 – Part 1 of 5

If you want to make a budget, you need to understand your expenses, short-term, medium-term and long-term. When I think about life’s expenses, I break them down into 4 categories.

Monthly– these can be fixed or variable. Fixed expenses can include rent, mortgage, car loan, insurance, cable, telephone, internet. They are pretty much the same every month. Also included here, for the planners, might be regular RRSP and RESP contributions. Variable monthly expenses may include oil, electricity, cell phone, vehicle fuel, food. These types of expenses generally occur every month but may have some variability as to amount. Some are seasonal in nature such as heating.
Annual – some are fixed and some variable. We know that we are going to incur these expenses and may know roughly when they are going to be incurred but not necessarily how much they will be. Think of the annual vehicle inspection and registration as fixed. The variable component would be the cost of repairs in order to get the inspection completed. Also included here would be Christmas and birthday expenses, and perhaps annual vacation expenses.
Lumpy – these are expenses that we know (or should know) are coming down the track and will have to be incurred but only happen once in a lifetime or only once every couple, few, 5, 10 or 15 years (or so). Examples of these types of expenses include new tires for your car, helping your kids fund their post-secondary education, children’s weddings, significant dental or other medical procedures that are not covered by insurance, significant home expenses (roof, windows, siding, septic, well). Lumpy expenses might also include goal expenses such us a down-payment for a house or cottage, the dream vacation or buying a car for cash.
Catastrophic– these are the really nasty ones. You don’t see them coming and the impact can be financially crippling. Examples include uninsured or underinsured damage to your house or vehicle, non-covered medical expenses / medication, litigation costs. I would also include here the implications of loss of income where employment or level of income cannot readily be replaced.

The first 3 categories of expenses can be budgeted and planned for. The last category of catastrophic expenses cannot be planned for but, measures can be taken to lessen or mitigate the impact of these expenses.

Understanding these categories of expenses is the first step in budgeting and I am going to talk about these categories and what you should consider in subsequent articles (4 more parts). In the meantime, try to break-down your expenses into these categories and start to think about the Monthly, Annual and Lumpy expenses in your world.

Powell Associates Ltd. is a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. We are experienced, hands-on insolvency practitioners who understand the personal impacts of significant financial stress;

You won’t be stuck in an assembly line process.
You will expect and receive prompt responses and resolution of issues from our supportive and experienced team.
We will review your debt solution options, including filing a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy.
We help Canadians with overwhelming debt get fresh financial starts.

We offer free consultations to review your financial situation and practical debt resolution options. Contact us to discuss your situation over the phone, a video chat, or in-person inSaint John, Moncton, Fredericton, Charlottetown, Dartmouth, or Miramichi.