Happy Saint David’s Day to all my Welsh brethren today. We have knocked off the French and Italians (we shall not speak of the Irish game) and we have the Scottish this weekend, should be a great match to watch (I speak of Rugby, the Hooligans game played by Gentleman (whereas Soccer/Football is a Gentleman’s Game played by Hooligans)). Go out and have some faggots and mushy peas to celebrate the day!
Dydd Gwyl Dewi Hapus!!!!
Another thumping snowstorm here in Ottawa, with wet “Heart Attack” snow fell and made driving in the National Capital Region a bloody mess. Mother Nature loves to throw in these late storms to remind you that it is a little too early to think about taking off your snow tires! Is this the last storm of the season? Given my snow-blower died in the middle of this storm, I am getting it fixed, so I am assuming there will be more snow to deal with.
Did you get all of your RRSP deposits done? Why? Why not do it all year long? Sorry, couldn’t resist. Late RRSP season is officially over, so now all you have left to do is collect all of your forms and send in your Tax Return to the CRA (unless you pay quarterly then who cares).
Have your signed up at Blood.Ca as a donor? You should, you could win a spiffy phone, but you can also book your next donor appointment on line!
My Weekly Recap
Even with a dead snow-blower I managed to write a few posts this week:
My Writings for Week Ending March 1st
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CPI at 0.5% for January in Canada, Wow that is Low!CPI continues to run cool for now, but the Bank of Canada keeps threatening rate hikes real soon now too! | What’s the Magic Number?Some say Pi is a magic number, but what magic financial numbers do you have in your life? |
Things To Do With Your Tax RefundA trick post, pointing out that you really should not be getting a refund if you are doing it right. |
What You Need is a Balanced FundActually the last thing you might need is a balanced fund, figure it out before you buy one. |
Links for the Week
Luckily no one saw my boobs, or at least didn’t sing about it, however, some of our other favorite writers did have a few things to say about money this week.:
Top Stories of the Week of March 1st
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Handling RRSPs and RRIFs for Low-Income SeniorsMichael James has been helping out some older relatives with some ticklish decisions regarding their RRIFs and RRSPs, but good on him for decyphering it all for them (I hope he does the same for me one day). |
References – A No Win Situation for Past and Future EmployersThe BBC may not be who(m) you want to give as a reference, since he is aware of the power of his words and plays it all close to his chest (so he doesn’t get sued). I can understand of what he says. Oh and if you use me as a reference, you might want to tell me before I get called (that really did happen to me). |
Do We Need To Beef Up Our CPP?Boomer asks the same tough question, which is how many Canadians can really retire? Do we need a better CPP so they can? |
Managing the refund well is the linchpin in the RRSP vs. TFSA debateInteresting, theory put forward about using your TFSA to put your retirement money in instead of an RRSP can be a good idea, especially if you have a defined benefit pension (if you don’t then the question is a little more murky). |
Do You Have to Enjoy Every Minute of Work?The Financial Blogger asks that but since I rarely enjoy ANY minutes at work it is rhetorical for me. | |||
Buy quality, short the restAn interesting (if not a little cynical) title from our friend Larry MacDonald. I do agree with the studies premise to avoid companies that use accounting tricks to pump up their numbers (how do you spell Nortel or ENRON?). | Help Us, Help Students More Money for Beer and TextbooksA review by Sustainable PF of a book for students to teach them about money. The book sounds quite interesting. |
Why Canadians should not complain about bank fees!A little tough love from Canadian Personal Finance.com pointing out that if you bitch about your bank fees, it is a pretty easy fix, and you have a lot of choices, so get off your arse and do something about it! | Job seeker on Gen Y’s struggles: ‘I didn’t think I’d be here at 30’Rob Carrick continues following a GEN Y and his search for a real career, a little disheartening actually. |
Should You Work with Your Significant Other?Miranda asks this interesting question at Financial Highway. Mrs. C8j is glad not to work anywhere near me! |
Four differences between pension splitting and CPP splittingJim Yih talks about something I learned on my retirement course this week, and NO they are not the same thing, read carefully. | ||
3 Easy Ways to Save on your MortgageA simple treatise from Gail Vaz-Oxlade on how to save money on your Mortgage. They seem obvious, don’t they? So why aren’t you doing them? I keep reading folks complaining about how some advice is so obvious, well if so, why isn’t everyone doing it? | Best Canadian High Interest Savings Rates For Ally ReplacementMike Holman gives some choices for folks who are unhappy that RBC is effectively gutting ALLY Bank of Canada and their higher interest savings accounts. Nice touch with the bilingual answers on the table. |
TurboTax 2012 Review for TurboTax Standard and BasicTom at the Canadian Finance Blog gives a quick rundown on the different Turbotaxes for regular Taxpayers. | Are seniors better off investing in RRSPs or TFSAs?Preet jumps into the same topic as Mark had (but he does his discussions in the Globe and Mail). Yes, if you are not in a very high tax bracket do you really need to get RRSPs? Watch this Video and see. |
Road Safety Recalls DatabaseThink you are driving a Lemon? Transport Canada has an on line database for all recalls you can look it up! | |||
Other Bookkeeping
Best of 2013
Some of the best of posts from 2013
- CPP Reform, Snow, Christmas, Boxing day and #FreeFormFriday Did the CPP reform of 2013 fix much? Kind of, but Christmas was coming too.
- No Verizon, Microsoft Phones, NFL Kick Off and Friday #ShoutOuts Verizon won’t enter the Canadian wireless market, meaning Mobilicity may disappear and consumers will pay ridiculous monthly charges. Learn why with this blog post!
- Mandela gone, Canada “Post”, Gail on the Shelf and #FreeFormFriday Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013, after a long illness.
- Christmas is Coming, Christmas Lay Offs, Electric Fees, Commie Pope and #FreeFormFriday Celebrate Christmas with more online shopping – BMO and many other companies announce layoffs during the Holiday season.
- Giveaways, Vacations, No Sun and Friday #ShoutOuts Win a software worth almost $100 and go on the vacation of your dreams! Enter my intelligence test and get the chance to take the trip of a lifetime. #vacation
- Stock Frauds, Senate Expenses, Twitter wrong and Friday #ShoutOuts Canadians beware of stock fraud? U.S. Justice department investigates alleged penny stock swindler. Senator Pam Wallen scrutinized for spending. Find out more about the scam!
- Black November, Bitcoins, Tablets, Unloseable Lottery and #FreeFormFriday So Black Friday is upon us, however, it seems to be losing a lot of it’s “thunder” thanks to the “sales” starting earlier.
- Mad Dog, English Men, I’m OK and #Shoutouts Maurice Mad Dog Vachon was a tough son of a gun, but did he have a financial impact too? Read on to find out.
- Toronto Circus, Prince Charles Retires, More Word Puzzles and Friday #ShoutOuts This whole Toronto thing really is just a reality TV show gone off the rails, isn’t it? The three-ring circus that is unfolding in the media
- Identifiable, the Iron Sheik, Remembrance Day, More Word Puzzles and Friday #ShoutOuts So my concerns that if I put my natural face on my Social Media accounts were just paranoia.
- Incestuous Bloggers, Word Puzzles, RDSP Menu, All Saints Day and Friday #ShoutOuts Sometimes blogs become a little closed in and don’t recognize new folks and we become incestuous bloggers.
- Senate Fun, Apocalypse Averted, Asteroids and Friday #ShoutOuts News Canadians can’t ignore: investigate the scandal and discover if the Harper Government’s demise is near!
- Kicking the Can, Throne Speech, Windows 8.1 and Friday #ShoutOuts Seems our friends down south had so much fun with almost upending the world economy, they’d like to try to do it again in January.
- Government #Defaults, Fake Reviews, Turkey Time, Fall Colours and Friday #ShoutOuts Given that for some odd reason shutting the government down wasn’t enough our friends down south are now attempting to disrupt or possibly completely f*ck the world economy by defaulting in a few days.
- Government Shutdowns, Hockey Returns, New iPhone and Friday #ShoutOuts Explore the debate surrounding the US government’s shutdown with insight into potential resolutions outside of the standard back pay for civil servants.
- Financial Bloggers, 35 Million Strong, Odd CRA Cheques and Friday #ShoutOuts I had a very good time at CPFC13 where I got to moderate a panel of Investing Smart folks, and I learned a great deal from a few outstanding presenters,
- A Better Friday and #CPFC13 Not a regular Friday after this week and my preparations for the coming weekend, I didn’t really get enough time to put together my regular Friday Random Thoughts, but here is a shortened version.
- Friday the 13th, Private Royal Mail, Canadian 1% and Friday #ShoutOuts Watch out for bad things on Fridays – it’s Friday the 13th! Don’t subscribe to the concept? Tuesday is the most evil day. September 11th was a Tuesday! Don’t forget about ladders and black cats either. UK privatizing the Royal Mail? A price tag of £3B pounds!
- King Louis, Braun Follies, Lice and Friday #ShoutOuts Greetings and Happy Birthday to Prince George Louis Alexander Windsor (and future King of Canada), welcome to the media “sh*te storm” that will be your life.
- Loose Money, Faster Sites, the Heat is On and Friday #ShoutOuts The new Bank of Canada Governor announced on Wednesday no change in the interest rates for now, with the overnight rate continuing at 1%.
- Floods, Explosions, See Thru Lu Lu’s and Friday #ShoutOuts Looks like the Engineer is now being “thrown under the train” as it were (i.e. the finger of blame is being pointed at him by his CEO).
- Egypt, July 4th, Sweltering Summer, Alfie and Friday #ShoutOuts Interesting how the Egyptian military throwing out an allegedly democratically elected President is being hailed as a great democratic change.
- Canada Day, 4th of July, Flooding and Some Random Thoughts A hard week in 2013 for my family with the passing of my Mother-in-law to Cancer. One day that disease will be done.
- Fathers, Corruption, Horton’s Hedgings and Friday #ShoutOuts Hopefully everyone enjoyed Father’s Day, I know I did, very nice day, lovely meal and some peace and quiet.
- Stanley Cup, Turbans, Car Tracking and Friday #ShoutOuts The Stanley Cup finals have started, and hopefully all the games aren’t going to go that late into the night, or I will need to start working the night shift at work.
- Baseball “Cheats”, D-Day, Fun with Fiji and Friday #ShoutOuts It seems baseball is embroiled with yet another “performance enhancing drugs” scandal with a few very well-known names being implicated by yet another “wellness clinic”. Are the accusations true?
- Obliterating Rock, Floods, Senators and Friday #ShoutOuts If you are reading this after 4:35 PM May 31, 2013 I guess we survived another close fly by of a “Civilization Killer” lump of Rock.
- Senators, Twisters, Water and Friday #ShoutOuts To say the entire Senators Expenses Event is more ridiculous than a Christmas Panto (usually an excuse for men to dress up as women
- Mothers, Hab Nots, Trains, and Friday #ShoutOuts What does a Walrus, Model Trains and Mother’s Day have to do with each other? Not that much but more financial stories too.
- Taxes Done, Drones, Playoffs and Friday #ShoutOuts Hope your taxes were in on Tuesday, because if not, you might be in trouble (especially if you are part of the $29 Billion dollars still owed to the government in Taxes).
- Disk Crashes, Daffodils, Password Trappers and Friday #ShoutOuts High Tech always proves that it is much like Mother Nature, in that, you should never ignore it or take it for granted, because things can change very quickly at the most inopportune times.
- Loose Money, Trudeau-mania II, Nut Bags and Friday #ShoutOuts If you missed it on Wednesday the Bank of Canada continued to keep their key overnight rate at 1%.
- Snowmaegedon, the Masters, Windows and Friday #ShoutOuts Today, we are experiencing a late version of winter, with a nasty snow/ice/rain storm that proves that just when you think it is Spring, you might be mistaken.
- Final Four, Dark Matter, Tax Time and Friday #ShoutOuts The NCAA Men’s basketball Final Four is this weekend, and my bracket is completely shot.
- Budgets, Dark Side of the Moon, Eight Years Later, Palm Sunday and Friday #ShoutOuts Minister Flaherty gave us a very vague budget (2013) yesterday. For Hockey Moms, reasons to rejoice, given tarifs on Hockey equipment, Golf Clubs, Baby Clothes and a few other things are now gone.
- Pope Picked, Pi Day, St. Patty’s Day and Phriday #ShoutOuts Seems our Catholic brethren have chosen a new Pope (Francis) this week, thus ending one of the greatest talent hunts of the year.
- Thanks Stompin Tom, Loose Money Continues, Tax Time, Pope Picking and Friday #Shoutouts Stompin’ Tom Connors a true Canadian treasure has left us, and I for one am sad to hear it.
- St David’s Day, Snow, RRSP Season Over, Tax Time and Friday #Shoutouts Happy Saint David’s Day to all my Welsh brethren today.
- RRSP Time, Winners, Tax Time, Short Weeks and Friday #Shoutouts Yes, it’s that magical time when your Savings Institution pressures you to top up your RRSP account so you can take full advantage of the savings on your taxes.
- Lent , Pope Out, the Senate, RRSP Time and Friday #Shoutouts Lent is finally upon us, have you started making your plans? No? Me neither, I just haven’t had a heck of a lot of time to think about this kind of stuff.
- Lent , Pancake Tuesday, and Love Day Soon and Friday #Shoutouts For those of you unaware, Lent begins next Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) February 13th, so here is yet another chance to restart (or start) your financial plans for the coming year.
- Groundhog Day, Farewell Penny, No Vine and Friday #Shoutouts Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, so then we shall see how well a ground hog can prognosticate the weather (about as well as I can prognosticate financial stuff is my guess).
- Loose Money Continues, Polar Temps, More Info Lost and Friday #Shoutouts Wednesday our friends from the Bank of Canada kept their loose money policies in place.
- Hockey, Armstrong, Idle Folk, Lost Loans and Friday #ShoutOuts What happened the week of January 18th in 2013? Some NHL stuff, but a lot of interesting financial stuff too!
- Drop the Puck, Death Pills, Strikes and Friday #Shoutouts For those die hard NHL fans (like me) there will be hockey soon.
- Bye and Thanks for all the Fish, CBC Questions, Holiday Hours and Friday #Shoutouts Well it has been fun, but I guess it all had to end some time, it’s been a good run.
Thanks for the mention BCM.
“Heart Attack” snowfall is right. I just gave up after a while a had beer 😉
Have a great weekend,
Mark
@Blunt Bean Counter, Go SENS! Damn that Blue Team.
Now, now boys, both teams can play well and everyone can have fun. 🙂
Thanks for including us BCM! This book would be useful for your kids perhaps? Or at least yourself in preparing for their post-secondary?
So the third child is already at University, but I might buy it for them anyhow.
Thanks for the inclusion! I agree – stop complaining about bank fees. The episode on CBC Marketplace was disturbing.
Thanks for mentioning my HISA post. Glad you liked my French. That’s about half of my vocabulary on that post. 🙂
Still that could make you bilingual in the Government’s eyes.
BCM, thx for mention. I also have had people call for references when they had not informed me. It takes so much restraint for me when I get a reference call for someone who was not a skilled employee to not say so, but hey, restraint beats court.
My NHL protest could be waning. So far I have not watched the first period of any Leaf game and have typically PVRed the third period, but they could wear me down if they keep playing well. Sens hanging in somehow.
As for NHL , it is effectively the Binghamton Sens playing in the NHL .
Decyphering is what I do! Thanks for the mention.
And it makes me happy to see you spelling it with a Y (since my US spell checker says it should be written with an “I”?)