Random Thoughts: Shake, Rattle and Roll

Tsunami on Fake Lake?

Yes, much humor has come from the Great Earthquake of 2010, one of which was that the Fake Lake they built in Toronto for the G-8, had a Tsunami on it. The other good joke was that Ontario shifted slightly to the left due to the new HST. We also saw that CPI increase was a little lower in May, which is good, but mostly due to Gas and Energy costs moderating. My guess is from the astounding silence no one wants to admit they are a Big Fat Personal Finance Panda. What about allowances for kids Kids Allowances (redux)? Does Education Need to Change? Some think so. Random Thoughts: Paying Yourself First is a recap of the best from last week.

What was new in the land of Financial Blogging? Lots of interesting new facts and another roller coaster weeks on the markets cause more interesting discussions, like the following:

• Michael James spoke of Costly Liars at the Front Door discussing the onslaught of folks at our front doors wanting to look at our water heaters (and possibly slam our Natural Gas or Water Heater bills). Never buy anything sold to you door to door, is a simple motto to live by.
• Speaking of Hot Water Heaters the Canadian Capitalist had a “Tony Soprano moment” when his hot water heater gave up the ghost and dumped a lot of water in his basement. He described his predicament and also savings in Installing a New Hot Water Heater, pointing out it ends up being cheaper to buy one, than to rent one.
• Preet discusses even more Hot Water in The $57,000 Lake Revealed, sorry no Hot Water Heater, but a lot of Hot Water for the Government for building a lakefront set in Toronto, because they didn’t want to let the press into where the G-8 summit is being held.
• Larry MacDonald shows that even the most professional of us in the world of money can get caught up in Lotto Fever with his article 1 in 1 chance of becoming a millionaire, ok it’s a trick on his part, but it’s a good post.
• The Canadian Couch Potato points out that Not All Indexes Are Created Equal and be careful with Indexes and Index Funds, to make sure you choose a good index to go with, in your passive investment strategies.
• The Frugal Trader over at Million Dollar Journey wants to know your opinion on An Increase in CPP? and whether you agree with it. I think it’s an interesting idea, but I suspect Canada’s Medical System is going to bankrupt the government LONG before CPP does.

Weekly Reminder

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