Random Thoughts: Postal Strikes

Do we really care?

There is a good chance that Canada Post will be on strike by the time you read this posting (here in Canada), and my only question is, does anyone care? Given the diminishing role that the Postal service is playing with E-mail, E-bills and independent courier companies, will a Postal strike matter? The simple answer is, yes it is going to matter for the folks who need the Postal system the most (folks who don’t have access to computers, and possibly lower income folks), so a Postal strike will hurt (some folks). It shouldn’t affect me too much, although I can’t seem to figure out how I will receive my water bill (from the City of Ottawa), but that is the only bill I have worries about.

This week also has had a few politicians both in Canada and the U.S. learning why you should be careful with any device that has a camera embedded in it, that can then send those pictures to the Internet. I have told my kids, that assume any picture taken is automatically posted on the web, and there is no such thing as discrete photos if they are on any device connected to the web. The days of discrete photos kept secret are long gone, but they do make for fun news stories as well.

I had a little fun wandering down memory lane (for my investing world), but we also heard that the Bank of Canada may be considering a change in their interest policies in the near future:

• The video from our friends at Ted about Work Life Balance is actually an excellent talk which asks some very pointed but relevant questions about how you want to live your life.
• I think I got the title wrong on Vegetarian Pet Owners, I should have titled it owners of Vegetarian pets, or something like that, but the Pet Industry is growing every day.
• Why I am not Rich (Financially) covers the first part of my investing life and some of the opportunities I missed to make big money.
• Low interest rates continue for now with Loose money Continues in May for Canada but the Bank of Canada is making broad hints that rates may be going up soon, but then again, I have been saying that for a while.
• I wrap up my walk down memory lane with Why I am not Rich (the 90’s) where I outline some of the big misses and the big mistake I made during the heady days of the Great Internet Bubble.
• Random Thoughts: Still Here is a recap of yet another week when the Rapture was due to happen, but didn’t.

I actually enjoy all comments (even the ones that question my sanity), and will try to respond to most comments, so please feel free to comment away. For you spammers who continue to inundate me with your drivel, keep it up as well.

Other Financial Bloggers had more insights about the RRSP season and the financial turmoil in the world these days:

• For those cheap enough to not want to pay, but still want good talk Ellen Roseman is offering a Free Personal Finance Workshop at Ryerson on June 21, if I lived in the Big Smoke, I’d be dropping by.
• Michael James talks about the High Price of Smooth Cash Flow, maybe it would be better to be able to deal with occasional bumps, than aim to make it all nice and smooth.
• Tom over at Canadian Finance Blog reminds us to Focus on Big Expenses, which is I guess a rephrasing of penny-wise and pound foolish.
• Canadian Capitalist goes into some technical investment discussions with BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB) not for the feint of heart investors, but looks interesting.
• My own Advisor lays it on the line with his statement I’ll Maximize my TFSA thanks, where he states his opinion on the questions about whether you should do your RRSP or TFSA?
• Larry MacDonald goes topical for this week with Canada Posts’s Inefficient Monopoly, pointing out how easily it could be replaced, or phased out.
• Mike over at Money.Smarts Blog answers a reader question: Family RESPs and Adding New Beneficiaries, Mike knows his stuff when it comes to RESPs, so well worth the read
• Preet points out that Pretty Much Anyone (in Canada) Can Call Themselves a Financial Planner, so you should be wary of anyone who claims to be one. If someone does make these claims, ask them how they were accredited for that title, and see what story they tell. I’m glad the same cannot be said for proctologists.
• Boomer of Boomer and Echo gives us some useful advice on When to Fire Your Investment Manager, funny no mention of you should also fire them if you find them in bed with your spouse, but I guess that is assumed.

Carnivals this Week

I also had some submissions accepted to various carnivals, so go have a read of these as well:

• Gail Vaz-Oxlade had a post called These Are a Few of my Favorite Things, paraphrasing Oprah, but she also mentioned this blog by name, and for that we thank her.
• Funny About Money wrote Moments of Fame and included I’m Sorry Sir Your Card Has Been Refused.

Remember

“The way I understand it, the Russians are sort of a combination of evil and incompetence… sort of like the Post Office with tanks.”

Author: Emo Phillips