In Canada, the 4th of July is really like any other day, except our noisy neighbours down south do put on quite the show for us. We have had our party on the 1st of July (so many times we still are recovering from our party), but we recognize our cousins to the South and their need to have a big celebration as well. Our stock markets are open, but there isn’t a lot of activity, since the American exchanges are closed. If we deal with American customers or clients it is a quiet day for a lot of folks as well (some of us even take the day off, just because it will be that quiet).
What does the 4th mean to me personally? HOLY CRAP! That sums it up nicely. Why those two simple words? The year is now more than half over and remember all that stuff you were going to get done this year (that you may not have even started)? You have less than 6 months to complete it (in fact since December is usually a write-off, you only have 5 months left to do it).
Financially how are your plans for this year going? Have you given up on your plans because it’s just too darn hard? Are you succeeding and finding it too easy? Have you forgotten all of it because of day-to-day issues and now want to get back to it?
Remember, you can always re-think, re-start and re-new your plans. Don’t walk away from them simply because you haven’t been able to follow them (although maybe look the plan over; it may be you are being too ambitious and should scale things back, or you are not considering important variables), but do not give up on your plans. Right now giving up on your plans is easy, the hard thing would be to get back to it and start again financially.
Yes, the year is half over, but you still have time, so give yourself a collective boot in the financial butt and get cracking on your plans; no excuses now; just get back to it.
How Many Days ’til Christmas?
Oh, and if you hadn’t thought of this, start, Christmas is less than 6 months away, so you had better start planning that in some fashion (although down south they also need to make their Thanksgiving plans as well). Yes, there is a lot to do, but don’t use that as an excuse to do nothing, start doing things it will all start moving from there.
To my American friends, family, and readers, enjoy the Fourth of July but keep it down. Your neighbours to the North may still have a headache from their own weekend fun.
Fourth of July
Enjoy blowing things ups today! BOOM!
- What does the 4th of July mean to Canadians? Not as much as Americans, but it does look like a fun party to watch.
- What is the 4th of July is a follow-on to the previous post.
Of course the first thing I think of is the price that so many had to pay for us to celebrate this day. I then think of CHRISTMAS! Just like you said, it is now time to start planning and preparing for this holiday so you dont run into financial ruin in December.
If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail! Do Americans start planning Thanksgiving now too?
Just as the glass is half full versus empty, there is definitely still time to make financial plans even though we are though half of the year already. These plans may include a personal budget, plans to get out of debt with a debt settlement plan or debt consolidation.
Good news for Canada. Vanguard, the best low cost mutual fund and ETF company in the USA is entering Canadian market. No more 2%+ fees for simple mutual funds, most of Vanguard’s US fees are less than 0.3%. Vanguard customer service is also excellent based on my personal experiences.
http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2011/06/07/vanguards-entry-into-canada-set-to-alter-landscape-for-investors-advisors/?mod=yahoobarrons