Local House Joins Trusted Saskatoon In The Saskatoon Speciality Retail Category

The Trusted Saskatoon Directory team is thrilled to brag about our newest Saskatoon partner in our Saskatoon Specialty Retail category. We would like to welcome and introduce you to Local House Your Trusted Saskatoon Online Mall! 

“I kept wishing there was a marketplace and delivery system for local business,” Mike Lepage explains. “I had been sitting on the Local House URL for a while, so I did some research on the concept, and there wasn’t anything quite like it yet.”

Local House is an amazing and innovative example of a local business whose mission is to support other local Saskatoon businesses and provide solutions to Saskatoon consumers, which is the foundation of why we started the Trusted Saskatoon directory! 

Trusted Saskatoon warmly welcomes Mike and the Local House team to the Saskatoon directory of excellence in the Saskatoon specialty retail Category and we are proud to give them the ‘Thumbs Up’! 

 Local House Is Your Trusted Saskatoon Online Shopping Mall- Check out all Local House offers and read reviews on their listing by clicking here ...then go shop and support local retail.

Payment Frequency Options:

There are multiple options on how you can make your payment

The TWO options that will save you the most money in interest will be ACCELERATED Biweekly and ACCELERATED Weekly

(the accelerated is the crucial part)

An accelerated bi-weekly mortgage payment is when your monthly mortgage payment is divided by two, and the amount is withdrawn from your bank account every two weeks

(vs a Semi-Monthly payment:  your monthly mortgage payment is divided by two and the amount is withdrawn on the 1st and 15th (twice per month) VS every 2 weeks.

Let’s look at an example:

• The example below uses an example 5-year insured variable rate discount as of June 22/2021
• The example below is assuming the Bank of Canada Prime lending rate does not adjust through the entire 5-year term
• Bank of Canada Prime lending rate is subject to change (up or down)
• Lender discounts (variable and fixed) are subject to change
• The information below is for example and illustration purposes only

In June of 2021, you took a 5-year variable rate mortgage at Prime (2.45%) Less 1.10 =1.35%

• Purchase $400,000
• Downpayment (5%) $20,000
• A total mortgage with CMHC premium =$395,200.00
• Amortization=25 years

OPTION (1)

MONTHLY required payment (assuming Prime stays at 2.45%)=$1552.15/month 

Balance at maturity making MONTHLY payments=$326,422.03

OPTION (2)

ACCELERATED BIWEEKLY required payment (assuming Prime stays at 2.45%)=$776.08/every 2 weeks (=approx $1681.50/m when we average it over the year)

Balance at maturity making ACCELERATED BIWEEKLY payments=$318,366.65

(that is a difference of $8055.38 owed in 5 years)

Taking it one step further: 

OPTION (3)

Increase that minimum required payment (calculated on the low variable rate discount) to a payment equal to a fixed rate (we are using 2.09% in this example)

ACCELERATED BIWEEKLY =$845.35

Balance at maturity =$309,963.24

(that is a difference of $16,458.79 owed in 5 years) 

Prepayment Options:

Every lender has flexible prepayment options (allowing you to make extra payments on the mortgage throughout the year without penalty)

This can be done by increasing regular payments (usually a 10-20% increase per year option depending on the lender) OR by doing lump sum extra payments throughout the year.

Each lender has a different policy relating to this- but the flexibility is there, and we are here to help you navigate those options.

By considering OPTION (3) above – you are using your prepayment options to manipulate your payment and lower the amortization (life) and interest paid on the mortgage.

• HRun some example amortization schedules for you so that you can see the different options and balances owed at maturity depending on your affordability
• Move in, get your feet wet with the new bills for the first 3-6 months.
• Then do a review on if you can afford to do even a touch more than your required payment
• Every little bit counts!
• Need some help calculating your best options?  
• We are happy to do complete reviews for our clients whenever you require some extra info! 

A proper employee benefits program is a quintessential tool in helping to ensure employee health and well-being. As long as your employees utilize the program, it can help keep them healthy, happy, and focused at work, however, with the changing generations in the workforce – and the fact that millennials now comprise a majority of it – standard employee benefit programs need to change as well.

Younger staff are looking for flexible, digital offerings that let them get what they want out of a plan. They want solutions to support their mental health and wellness. A recent survey indicated that only 53% of Canadians indicated that their mental health was good or very good; this is quite a drop from last year’s report of 67%.[1] An easy solution is to provide an employee and family assistance program (EFAP). While counseling is at the core of an EFAP, it also has many other valuable mental health solutions for employees who are struggling.

A great way to combine the need for flexibility and for wellness is a flex account. A flex account is a pool of money that employees can direct to either a health or wellness spending account. A Health Spending Account (HSA) covers claims for health, dental, and prescription drugs, and is regulated by Canada Revenue Agency. A wellness account, on the other hand, allows you the flexibility of letting your employees choose what they want to be covered.

Some of the most common wellness expenses are gym memberships and sports fees but vet bills and even home office furniture can qualify too. This can be of huge value to employees when at least two-thirds of Canadian businesses have 60% of their staff working from home (and up to 55% of employees will continue to work remotely post-pandemic).[2]

Digital telemedicine offerings are another way that you can offer flexible wellness solutions for your employees. Available through the telephone or through an app, telemedicine offers your employees the ability to connect with a physician or nurse practitioner 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Canadians are showing higher satisfaction rates when meeting with a doctor digitally and many are even saying that they prefer a digital meeting as a first visit.[3]

Having a range of digital and flexible wellness options for your employees gives you not only a leg up on your competition for recruitment but also lets you take care of your employees’ physical and mental wellness. It���s an investment that for most employers, is well worth making.

Matthew Hill, B.A.

Benefits Advisor, Wiegers Financial and Insurance Planning Services Ltd.