Canadians get comfortable with long-term debt

Separate polls out Tuesday suggest Canadians have resigned themselves to the fact that they’ll owe money for the long haul. Only half of homeowners surveyed for Manulife Bank of Canada said they are confident they’ll be debt-free at retirement even though 83% agree it’s important. Meanwhile the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) fall report found 68% of mortgage holders feel their mortgage is “good debt.”

Still, Canadians are taking steps to pay off all kinds of debt. Actual mortgage repayment periods have been 30% shorter than original contracted periods in the last two decades, CAAMP said. And this year, 38% of mortgage-holders took steps to accelerate their repayments and shorten their amortizations.

And though the Manulife study found that only 43% are happy with how they’ve managed their day-to-day finances over the past year (one-in-three are “very unhappy”), it’s not all bad. Two-thirds say they always pay their credit cards in full every month with the rest planning to start in January or at least make larger payments/track spending. The study also found that those who work with a financial advisers are more likely to stick to their debt reduction strategies.

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