Canadians' focus on debt reaches highest point in five years: poll
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10/01/2011 6:00:00 PM
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If a recent poll is to be believed, Canadians are taking to heart recent calls from government and banks to curb household debt before interest rates inevitably rise at some point in 2011. And counter to claims that mortgage lending needs to be reigned in the first thing consumers want to pay down is credit card debt.
Those who say their top financial priority is to pay down credit cards, lines of credits and mortgages hit a new five-year high in Manulife’s poll.
More than a quarter of Canadians (29 per cent) said their top priority is to pare back their consumer credit, up from a low of 20 per cent heading into 2008. The next most-important priority – paying down the mortgage – was chosen by 14 per cent, identical to a year ago, but up from 11 per cent the prior year.
The third-ranked priority cited in the poll, to save for retirement, was named by 13 per cent of the 1,000 respondents, up from 11 per cent a year ago.
“Paying down debt is central to a successful financial plan and it’s encouraging that many Canadians are growing more focused on taming their credit, mortgages and other bills,” said Paul Rooney, President and CEO, Manulife Canada. “Given the recent economic challenges so often in the news, we shouldn’t be too surprised that Canadians are working harder to get their finances in shape.”
When asked about their overall financial position, almost half (49 per cent) said they are better off than five years ago.
Another 28 per cent say they’re in the same financial spot as in 2005, while less than a quarter (23 per cent) say they are worse off.