Affiliated with National Financial Insurance Agency Inc.

Spending increased in 2005 at the fastest rate in a decade, but proportion of household income spent on food is lowest ever. Soaring energy prices in 2005 triggered the biggest gain in household spending in eight years, according to a recent report form Statistics Canada. High speed internet, cell phones and DVDs also captured household dollars.

Statistics Canada also finds home equity lines of credit are up and the richest are getting richer. Booming real estate markets have pushed the value of Canadians’ total assets up by 42% over the past six years. But as buying a home has become more costly, Canadians have gone more deeply into debt. Perhaps a more worrying trend highlighted in the survey was the fact that nearly one-third of all families don’t have any pension savings. There are nearly 260,000 family units between the ages of 45 and 64 with employment income of$30,000 and more without private pension assets in 2005.

Source:  Investment Executive/Statistics Canada

Theresa Wever and the Money Concepts Team.