Ever think to yourself: When I am 65 and ready to retire, I’ll be debt-free? I just have to clear this car/mortgage/line of credit all in due time.
Well I read in the August 30th’s issue of the Toronto Metro that CIBC (a Canadian bank) conducted a poll about debt and came up with the following findings:
In my age group 25-to-34, Canadians felt they would be debt free by the age of 44.
In reality, only 18% of those aged 45-to-54 were actually debt-free.
Canadians holding some form of debt feel they will be debt-free by the age of 55.
In reality, only 35% of those aged 55-to-64 are actually debt-free.
Interesting, no?
I wonder what the stats are for people being debt-free who are aged 24-to-34.
DON’T WAIT FOR TIME TO CLEAR YOUR DEBTS FOR YOU
It’s true that it takes time to clear debt, but don’t use it as an excuse to not pay as much as you can towards it.
An executive with CIBC in the article (Christina Kramer) suggests that Canadians pay extra towards their debt and come up with a plan that is realistic.
5 STEPS TO CLEARING YOUR DEBT
- Stop getting into more debt
- Start a budget and track your spending
- Make a list of all your debts and their minimum payments
- Consolidate your debts to get a lower interest rate overall
- Make extra side income and put more $$ into your debt to clear it ASAP
So.. those of you in debt. When do you think/know you’ll be debt-free?
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
I’m 23, a recent college grad making ~$80K/yr, on my way to clearing $33K in student debt within 18 months of graduation (Dec ’11). This means, I’ll be 100% debt free at age 23!
…That is, until I buy my first home and take out a mortgage in a few years. I’m switching gears to accelerate savings/investments so I can pay down big ticket items like this in the future ASAP.
That’s so scary.. I think I will be completely debt free (including student loans) by age 28 or 29 (two to three years from now).
Not sure how long I’ll have a mortgage.. depends when I get one. There’s no way I’m having ANY debt after 40 though. I refuse.
Student loan and that’s all for now. Not planning on getting anything I can’t afford in the near future thanks to your lovely blog.
Glad to hear it!! 🙂 Once you have your loans cleared and a bit of savings in the bank, you will feel loads better and be less guilty when you shop
Glad to hear it!! 🙂 Once you have your loans cleared and a bit of savings in the bank, you will feel loads better and be less guilty when you shop
I have two and a half years to go on my car loan but am hoping to knock that out by the end of 2012. Once that is paid off I will be debt free! I am committed to never again financing anything .. with the exception of a possible future mortage (I would like to buy a small property). I am 27 right now which means that even if I don’t manage to pay off my car loan early, I will still be debt-free by 31.
Music to my ears.
I think a house is a great idea if you plan ahead for it and remember that you have to save for the following:
Down payment (20%)
3% maintenance fund a year (you may not use it at all in one year, but save it for the future emergencies a house might come across like a broken water heater)
Renovating/Upgrading/Decorating once you buy the home (EVERYONE does this. EVERYONE!! :P)
Extra fees.. condo fee perhaps if you buy a condo and not a house, and so on.
Music to my ears.
I think a house is a great idea if you plan ahead for it and remember that you have to save for the following:
Down payment (20%)
3% maintenance fund a year (you may not use it at all in one year, but save it for the future emergencies a house might come across like a broken water heater)
Renovating/Upgrading/Decorating once you buy the home (EVERYONE does this. EVERYONE!! :P)
Extra fees.. condo fee perhaps if you buy a condo and not a house, and so on.
Very interesting…
We’ll have our student loans and car paid off by May 2014, assuming no huge emergencies/unexpected loss of money. We’ll probably be more aggressive in getting them paid off (I’m hoping to get rid of them by the end of 2013 at the latest), but for the past few months we’ve been more focused on starting our retirement savings and beefing up our emergency fund.
We are one year into a 30 year mortgage, but we expect to move before then…whether we buy again or not will depend on where we end up, but we’re hoping to be able to make a huge down payment when we finally settle in a city for faculty positions (theoretically). We would like to own a home wherever we end up long term so that we don’t have to worry about a mortgage OR rent when we retire…but it’s still hard to say when we’ll be settled. We don’t plan to finance a car again, so we shouldn’t have that kind of debt again.
Basically, our non-mortgage debts WILL be gone within the next 2-4 years, and we’ll see what happens with the mortgage.
The only time to be debt-free is now. And don’t get into it ever again.
I won’t be debt free for a couple of years, and at this rate, it may be more than a couple. I’m keeping hope alive though and working on a bigger, more vigorous plan.
I think having a goal that you are really passionate about is what gets you through to the end. Before you know it, 3 years will be up. Don’t despair!
I think having a goal that you are really passionate about is what gets you through to the end. Before you know it, 3 years will be up. Don’t despair!
I’m 24 and have been debt-free for 18 months, never to return! I can’t imagine putting it off and suddenly looking around in my 70s scared of how I will live.
I’m 21 and haven’t been in dept so far. I know, I have my life ahead of me and don’t know what will happen, so maybe someday..I hope not. Anyway, I didn’t have to pay for college and have a scholarship instead. My parents and grandparents have saved for me since I was about 10 to provide money for my future education and house. I’ve already used some of that money, but have still around 15 000 dollars in savings (that’s converted from my local currency, I live in the Czech Republic. You have to take into account that everything is cheaper here and we get paid less). Aside from my scholarship I work part-time from time to time to cover for my holidays. I was able to buy myself a laptop and other things. I get no money from my parents now, I only got acces to the already saved money when I was 18.
I’m 21 and haven’t been in dept so far. I know, I have my life ahead of me and don’t know what will happen, so maybe someday..I hope not. Anyway, I didn’t have to pay for college and have a scholarship instead. My parents and grandparents have saved for me since I was about 10 to provide money for my future education and house. I’ve already used some of that money, but have still around 15 000 dollars in savings (that’s converted from my local currency, I live in the Czech Republic. You have to take into account that everything is cheaper here and we get paid less). Aside from my scholarship I work part-time from time to time to cover for my holidays. I was able to buy myself a laptop and other things. I get no money from my parents now, I only got acces to the already saved money when I was 18.
You are so lucky! 🙂
At least there is an improvement from 18% to 35%! I was debt free at 48 when I paid off my last mortgage on the house here in England. I paid off the mortgage on the house in SLC two years earlier. I haven’t paid interest on a credit card in decades and I paid cash for the last 3 cars I’ve owned. Prior to that I bought a new car and kept it for 11 years. My mom lived well on just her social security income, but her house was paid off and she didn’t run a car. I say she lived well, for her that was just not worrying about how to pay the bills. She didn’t buy many clothes at all, but she indulged her crafting and stamp collecting hobbies. She lived without financial stress, and that was a huge relief for her. I can’t see how anyone can retire if they still owe huge amounts of money. Some friends just had to walk away from their home because she somehow thought she’d have more social security. It’s a hard thing to lose your home at 71, and her husband is still working part time at 74. I just had lunch with a friend (my age, mid-50s), a professor at a university no less, who told me – without embarrassment – that she’d re-mortgaged her house to get £5,000 for her daughter’s term at university, because she ‘didn’t have £5000 sitting around.’ I worry for her future now as well…