Almost half of the Canadian adults are single, which is a significant shift from recent decades. If you are one of them, what does that mean financially?
Ah! Single life—half the dishes, half the laundry, and all the room in bed. But does that mean double the cost?
Just under 50% of Canadian adults are married or living common-law, according to the most recent figures released by Statistics Canada in 2017. In addition, more than half of the population is single, a major demographic shift over the past two decades. In 1981, barely 39% of adults were single.
How does this affect our financial future?
Manisha Thakor, a MoneyZen blogger and co-author of “On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl’s Guide to Personal Finance,” was 31 when she bought her first home, five years before getting married. So the best advice she can give is to get your finances under control as early as possible while you’re still single.
“When I started working, my life wasn’t nearly as exciting as many of my friends,” she says. “I put money aside first before giving myself small pleasures.”
“When you’re in control of your finances, you’re in control of your life,” she adds. “You must commit to taking care of your financial health as you do your physical health because no one will take care of your money as well as you will.”
To start saving when you’re single, here are some tips that might help:
