Do you haggle?

By MoneySense Staff on July 10, 2013
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

If nine in 10 people who haggle save money why are so few of us asking for a deal? Plus where Canada's savviest investors live.

This article is 1 year old. Some details may be outdated.

A recent Consumers Reports survey found only 48% of Americans have tried to bargain for a better deal on everyday goods and services in the last three years, down from 67% in 2007. We’re not sure why either. The same report found nine in 10 who haggle have saved money at least once during that period. Also interesting to note is that men are more likely than women to ask for discounts even though the results show both are equally successful. The lesson here: it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Where do Canada’s savviest investors live? B.C., according to BMO Nesbitt Burns. The firm’s Savviest Investor Index measures investor attitudes and actions. Respondents were scored based on whether they have a financial plan, awareness of their investment profile, amount of attention they pay to market trends and general knowledge about investments and how various factors can impact their portfolio. This year, Albertans finished second with 88 points in financial “savvy,” followed by the Prairies (86), Ontario (82), Quebec (76) and Atlantic Canada (74). Overall Canadians generally report feeling confident about their portfolios though the study did find that one-third of respondents do not what specific investments they hold. The firms also found that investors are most knowledgeable about GIC rate of (58%) and mutual funds (55%), and least knowledgeable about ETFs (19%).

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Do you haggle?

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