Couple randomly attacked, 1 stabbed, by group of teens in Toronto, police say
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
There are plenty of advantages to being single. Among them: You can call the shots in your life without compromise.
But being single may cost you more in spending, savings and benefits than being in a relationship with someone who shares in life's financial obligations.
The glaring exception, of course, is if you partner with someone who is debt-laden, financially abusive, a gambler or just a mooch.
But broadly speaking, here are just five ways in which flying solo can put you at a financial disadvantage and a few ways to mitigate them.
To state the obvious, footing 100% of the bill to keep a roof over your head, the lights on, the fridge stocked and the hot water heater in good repair will be higher than splitting the cost with a partner. That assumes you and your partner aren't trading up to a home and lifestyle that is more than twice as expensive as how you live now.
The same goes for making a down payment on a home, as well as buying furniture, appliances and housewares. Beyond splitting such costs, couples who choose to get married have another advantage: They often get a financial assist by way of cash and gifts from their wedding guests.
If you're single and lose your job, you lose 100% of your earned income. If you're living with a spouse or partner who also works, you only lose part of your household income.
In other words, you won't have anyone to support you as you look for another job or try to start your own business. The same goes for dealing with any other financial disruption in life -- such as a medical issue that prevents you from working.
That's why financial planners will often recommend sole breadwinners have six to 12 months' worth of expenses saved for emergencies in the event of a job loss or large, unexpected expense, as well as ample disability insurance that can replace much of your income should you be laid up for a long time.
Taking a trip solo can sometimes cost more if you opt for a group travel experience or retreat. That's because you may be hit with a supplemental charge, which effectively means you're paying a higher per-person rate than each of the two fellow travellers who sign up as a couple.
It feels unfair. "People often think 'Why am I paying more because I'm travelling alone?" said Yves Marceau, a vice president at G Adventures, which provides small-group adventure travel tours.
The reason, Marceau said, is because the per-person cost of the total package factors in negotiated room rates based on double occupancy. Say a negotiated rate is $200 a night. The package cost for each member of a couple assumes each person will pay $100 a night for accommodations. That's why solo travellers may be charged a supplemental to account for the added cost of using a room priced for two.
"Most operators don't make money off the single supplement. But they charge it to cover the cost," Marceau said.
Some operators, like G Adventures, will offer to assign you to a room with another solo traveller of the same gender if you'd like, so that you don't have to pay more. But not all do, he said.
Another way you may avoid the supplemental is to ask if there are any single-room occupancy options available.
Let's say you never marry and never have kids. When you retire, assuming you qualify, you will receive benefits based on your lifetime of earnings. When you die, those benefits will stop.
But the benefits of your married or divorced colleagues will effectively be more valuable because other family members -- i.e., their spouses, ex-spouses (to whom they were married for at least a decade) and in some instances, children, may be entitled to get an additional payment calculated as a portion of their benefits, not only while they're alive but after they die.
When they retire, single women, which include those who are divorced and widowed, have a retirement savings shortfall that is three times larger than that of their married peers, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
The shortfall is a measure of how much more money a person needs to cover basic expenses such as housing, food, transportation, clothing and health care.
There are many reasons for this shortfall -- including lower overall career earnings. But a key one for those who are single and never married is that they don't have the same opportunity to save as much as a married couple, said Craig Copeland, EBRI's wealth research director. "As a single person you can only save a certain amount, whereas two people can save more in tax-deferred accounts and each can hit the max."
What's more, Copeland said, if a couple divorces, generally speaking the spouses split the retirement savings they built during the marriage.
All in, he added, "[a couple] can save more."
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
Ron Ellis, who played over 1,000 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs and was a member of Canada's team at the 1972 Summit Series, has died at age 79.
The wildfire that sparked Friday and caused evacuation orders for more than 3,000 people in Fort Nelson, B.C., and the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has grown to nearly 1,700 hectares in size, according to a Saturday morning update from the BC Wildfire Service.
The final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest kicked off Saturday in the Swedish city of Malmo after days of protests and offstage drama that have tipped the feelgood musical celebration into a chaotic pressure cooker overshadowed by the war in Gaza.
From London, to Grand Bend, Collingwood and Guelph, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
A growing number of civilians and police officers are demanding the dismissal and arrest of Haiti's police chief as heavily armed gangs launched a new attack in the capital of Port-au-Prince, seizing control of yet another police station early Saturday.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.