Money123: Does this grocery bag feel lighter to you?

What you can do if your groceries aren’t measuring up

A growing number of Canadians are reporting buying food from the grocery store that doesn’t match the weights listed on the product packaging.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency received 89 complaints related to “net quantity concerns” from May 1, 2023 to April 30, 2024, according to statistics the agency shared with Global News.

That represents a 140 per cent jump — or more than a two-fold increase — compared with the previous 12 months.

The fresh data comes as frustrations are bubbling up online, with social media videos showing Canadians weighing their groceries to show the discrepancies.

Does this mean you should start bringing a personal scale to the grocery store? There might be no law against it, but experts have other ideas for what shoppers can do if they feel they’re getting shortchanged.

Global News’ Saba Aziz has more on what rights consumers have when their groceries do not come as advertised.

The impact of money laundering probes at your bank

Some Canadian banking customers might be concerned if their financial institution has been making headlines lately over probes into anti-money laundering practices.

TD Bank, for instance, has found itself the subject of U.S. probes into allegations that it facilitated money laundering over the past decade. The bank has set aside millions to pay potential fines related to these activities.

For everyday banking customers, however, a spokesperson told Global News there’s “no impact” clients need to fear from these regulatory investigations.

Investors in TD Bank might be more worried about how these crackdowns could affect the company’s long-term growth prospects and the share price.

“I wouldn’t say it’s going to kill the bank forever, but it’s just going to be in the penalty box for the next little while,” says Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments.

Read more on how the scrutiny over money laundering allegations at TD Bank could affect one of Canada’s biggest financial institutions and the wider banking sector.

Gen Z’s debt load is ballooning

A new TransUnion report shows that Canadians’ debt levels are continuing to rise amid higher interest rates, particularly among the younger cohort.

The credit bureau’s report published this week took a look at the Canadian consumer credit market and found that total debt rose to $2.38 trillion in the first quarter of 2024, up from $2.32 trillion in the same period as last year.

The increase was led by newcomers and gen Z — those born between 1995 and 2004 — who saw a 30 per cent annual surge in outstanding balances in the quarter.

“Cost of living just got a lot higher and with limited disposable income … maybe their (younger generations) incomes are small to begin with,” TransUnion Canada’s director of financial services research and consulting Matthew Fabian told Global News.

Fabian said there’s an element of financial literacy that younger Canadians have to learn when it comes to putting expenses on credit, as those outstanding balances have a tendency to compound.

Read more on what experts recommend to help gen Z youth take back control of their debt.

________________________

– THE QUESTION –

“My fiancée and I are getting married this summer and are setting up our finances to make sure there’s a throughline for our savings if anything happens to the other. I’m wondering what happens with TFSAs. Can I set my fiancée up as the beneficiary if I pass away so she has the right to my accounts, or will that affect her own contribution room? Would it be better to name multiple people (e.g. my parents) so that if it needs to be split up, it can? Is that even possible?”

— A Money123 reader 

“Tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) allow you to name a successor holder or a beneficiary. Only a spouse or common-law partner can be named as a successor holder who can take the account over if you die with no impact on their TFSA room. A spouse, common-law partner, or anyone else can be named as a beneficiary of a TFSA. If your spouse is beneficiary of the account, they get until Dec. 31 of the year following your death to transfer your TFSA, up to the value on your date of death, without impacting their own TFSA room.

You could name your parents or someone else as beneficiary. But it would be unnecessary to do so for tax purposes since your spouse can potentially receive all of your TFSA balance with no impact on their TFSA room.

If you wanted your parents to receive a portion of your estate, you could name them for that purpose. You can name multiple beneficiaries for your TFSA. There may be family law implications if you leave too much of your estate to someone other than your spouse, though.

Life insurance is a good way to mitigate your risk of death for people who rely on you financially. Getting married is also a good time to consider preparing a will and powers of attorney as part of an overall estate planning strategy.”

–  Jason Heath, managing director, Objective Financial Partners

__________________