Random Thoughts for Tax Day in Canada

Pay those Taxes Today!

Hope you have finished your taxes because they are due today hope you are procrastinating any later than say, now, we look to see what other exciting things may have happened this week. The Montreal Canadiens proved that until the series is over, there is no such thing as “As Good As Finished”. Goldman Sachs were taken to the proverbial woodshed for dealings “… that everyone else is doing too!” (funny I don’t like it when my kids say that either). Snow fell in Ottawa, and is falling all over Canada causing folks to question this concept of “Spring” that many have had for a while.

My Perspectives

• You Need Only Ask With my house filling up for the summer, and my Internet access about to be overrun again, I decided it would be a good idea to upgrade my service to have a higher bandwidth ceiling.
• Quandary on Insurance What happens if you are part of a group insurance plan, and then you are no longer a member of that group? Usually you are in another as good group, so they simply don’t change your rates (much).
• Boobs as a Metaphor for Earthquakes? Dear Gentle Reader, there are days that I can see the topic that I wish to write about as clear as the sun, and then there are days like this.
• CPI down? WTF ?!? After a blur of a weekend I get to comment on the fact that after all the gloom and doom about the resurrection of Inflation and thus the most likely kick up of Interest Rates.
• Debunking Psychics The late James Randi offered $1 Million to anyone who could prove Psychics are real, no one ever won it, I note.
• Random Thoughts: Happy Earth Day! Earth Day celebrates our need to be good custodians of our planet, but we must also be good custodians of our financial world as well.

From the Blogosphere

What was new in the world of financial blogging?

• Gail V-O points out that Debt isn’t NORMAL which I like. I remember my mother and father’s stories about worrying about having a second mortgage on our house, and how they’d never get in debt like that again, so debt to me is a dirty four letter word.
• Preet (who had his site hacked by Pot Smoking, Spotty Faced, 7 stone weaklings) points out the power of compound interest in Vampire Quadrillionaires and if you have that much time to spend, buy Canada Savings Bonds 🙂
• Million Dollar Journey gives us April 2010 Net Worth Update (+1.34%) – New Beginnings Edition where their wealth is laid out for all to gaze upon. Me I keep this stuff to myself, for fear of folks laughing at me.
• While never really a big fan of Hedge Funds, Michael James gives An Unflatting Thousand-Foot View of Hedge Funds, and asks some pretty pointed questions.
• Keeping with this Taxing topic Larry MacDonald points out The cost of filing personal-income taxes and it is a staggering number, no wonder Intuit is such a profitable company.
• In the Spring The greatest threat to your home is water (in fact all year round) points out Thicken My Wallet. Given the damage a foundation leak or worse a sewer back up can do to your house, keep this in mind.
• Jon Chevreau points out The virtuous circle of tax refunds and RRSP contributions something to keep in mind all year round not just at the start of the year and at tax time
• Ellen Roseman aims her ire at Bell with Bell wants me back and points out that Bell seems to have their sales folks working orthogonally to their customers interests.
• Scott Adams takes a run at Apple with a spur of the moment set of cartoons entitled That Lost 4G Phone after all one man’s blunder is another man’s … read the comic, you’ll get it.
• Canadian Financial DIY unfurls the flag asks Socially Responsible Investing: Tim Horton’s is Out!?, wTF?!?! Who is more socially responsible that maker of Timbits?

I am simply attempting to keep from having to cut my back lawn (maybe I can borrow a goat from one of the local farmers).