In today’s market, especially the events which have occurred over the last few months, such as low oil prices and China’s currency devaluation, it seems as though these events should simply be classified as “noise” and should not deviate you from your initial financial plan. In essence, your financial plan should be geared towards long-term sustainability, not short-term fluctuations. The goal is to try your best to ignore the noise circulating the market news and stay true to your personalized financial plan.

With the recent issues circulating in China due to the devaluation of its currency, combine that with the decline in oil prices and the possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve will eventually move to increase interest rates, the market has suddenly become volatile again. Due to these factors, it has been prompted by fear that global growth is slowing down.

Severance packages are unfortunately becoming more and more common in today’s business world and for someone who has just lost their job; it can be very overwhelming and difficult to determine what to do with your severance pay.

The Chinese stock market has gone down the drain in recent months. Trillions of dollars have been wiped out in only a few weeks from the Chinese stock market, and investors rapidly ran for the exits. The stock market may not be an indicator of the Chinese economy; however, if China’s economy doesn’t rebound, it could translate into problems for Canada. China consumes much oil, and ranks as one of Canada’s fastest growing export markets; so a slowing China is not a positive for the heavily ladened Canadian resource market.