After a few days of absolute chaos with people reaching out to defer debts. Here are some suggestions as of TODAY due to feedback from lenders and borrowers: 1. If you are still employed. DO NOT waste your time, and everyone else’s calling the banks asking to defer your debt. Allow the banks to assist people are are more seriously affected currently. 2. DO NOT defer credit card of line of credit debt unless absolutely necessary! Deferring credit card debt means interest will continue to compound and accrue during the deferral. PAY OFF YOUR HIGH INTEREST DEBTS, and DEFER low interest debts if absolutely necessary. 3. Find ways to save money instead of deferring. Deferring is simply stalling the inevitable, and costing you more money. Simplify your meals, cancel unnecessary monthly subscriptions, SIMPLIFY. You will find more success deferring utility and rental costs. The government will provide further action plans in the coming days to assist with this. 4. I have heard people are having more success deferring auto loan payments instead of mortgages. This is better, rates are usually higher than mortgages, but the compounding effect is not so severe as the balances are lower. 5. Learn from this. I have been saying it years and I will continue to say it: IT IS BETTER TO BE PROACTIVE THAN REACTIVE with credit. Do not be afraid to accept lines of credit or Home Equity credit solutions, it never hurts to have these in the event of an emergency for yourself, or your family. A ZERO BALANCE AND A HIGH LIMIT HURTS NO ONE. 6. If you are an existing client of mine. Call me, let’s go through your financial situation and I will tell you what is the best case scenario for your right now. Sometimes it makes sense to refinance your mortgage just for an emergency buffer; this will actually save you more money than deferring with compound interest! #kelowna #okanagan #beincontrol https://www.instagram.com/p/B-GxExKpqfj/?igshid=rnkahdlce487