Truly Canadian Issues, Ultra HD TV, Car Loans and #FreeFormFriday

This week I had a uniquely Canadian Problem, with a frozen lock. I had to go to the Canadian Tire to buy some lock de-icer to get the lock open, but it wasn’t my car, nor was it my front door, but it was for the lock on my Super Mailbox cubicle. Not only do I not get mail to my door, I have to fight to get the mail from the box ? Remarkably a truly Canadian moment (I should make a video short for this one and see if the NFB will put it up on their site).

Did you realize that your puny 60 inch 1080p HD TV is going to be obsolete soon? Yes, there is an actual Ultra HD format and there are TV manufacturers making displays that support it, and you can find content in that format too (Monsters University if you get the Electronic Format, it includes an Ultra HD version). Your screens resolution ends up being 7680×4320 pixels and soon you will get 120 Frames Per Second. Given my lousy eye site I have no idea if this is a good thing or not!

TD is getting some very bad press after it was learned that they charged a couple 25% as an interest rate on their car loan. That seems a little high, even for a car loan. My only question is, why did they take the loan?

My Weekly Recap

My Writings for Week Ending January 10thAnother Exciting New Year Ahead (cough)
Guest Post: Getting Your DSC Fees Waived How lazy am I? My first “real” post of the new year is a Guest Post, that is how lazy I am!	What Happens When Your Daughter Gives you a Pig? It is a neat little piggy bank for kids, but what message is my daughter sending me?	Autism and Advice Advice is a dangerous thing to give out when it is not asked for, so keep that in mind the next time you want to “help someone out”.	What If: Your Mortgage Rate Doubled ? Maybe now is the time to figure out whether you can live with a higher interest rate?

Swiss Army Knife Section

Some fairly different stories this week to start the year out:

• Michael James says that It’s Time that Renting Got a Little Respect , pointing out that not everyone should own a home, and maybe the dream of home ownership might be a mistake.
• The Canadian Capitalist returns with Asset Class Returns for 2013, see diversification does finally pay off!
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade reminds us New Year, New TFSA Contribution Room, which is added each year, so maybe it is time to top it up?
• Did you know that Larry MacDonald had his own “couch potato-like” portfolio? He starts the new year with The One-Minute Portfolio annual report giving us an update on it.
• The Blunt Bean Counter prods we small business owners with Salary or Dividend? A taxing dilemna for Small Business Owners – 2014 update, guess I should read that one closely.
• An interesting new blog by a chap looking for a new career at the 2nd Career search outlines Differences: North and South where he outlines the differences between we Canadians and our raucous neighbours to the south (no not Mexico).
• Mark from My Own Advisor bravely looks back with 2013 Financial Predictions Recap where he predicted: flying cars, the fall of western civilization as we know it and the Sens winning the Stanley cup (well YOU read it and see if I am telling the truth).
• Robb from Boomer and Echo brings us a New Fee-Only Financial Planning Service, run by, him (and his Mother).
• A terrifying story from the CBC about how Kraft Velveeta cheese is in short supply, the horror!
• Preet starts the New Year with a brand new Podcast Michael James on Money on investing (PODCAST) cc @MJonMoney and yes that is the Michael James of legend, who is actually on Twitter now (it’s a Festivus Miracle!).

Baseball isn’t that Far Off

A little NSFW content, but one of my favourite baseball movies, Major League is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary

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Random Thoughts for 2014

Lots of these kinds of Best of articles in 2014. Here is a list of them.

• World Cup Side-Effects, Seinfeld Cars, and #BestofFinancial What happens around the World at half time of the World Cup Final? Is it like Flushed away? Is there a sudden tsunami? Who knows?
• Cuba, Rubles, Christmas and #BestThisWeek – getting close to Christmas but Ian McKellen can teach us about impulse control.
• Snow, Christmas, Enhanced and #BestThisWeek talk of more festive ideas, like how to save money at Christmas.
• A Gentleman, Day of Disability, Christmas, Rugby and #BestThisWeek noted the passing of Jean Beliveau and John Oliver’s views on Lotteries.
• Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek speaks of the blessed Black Friday and associated sales but also includes a Fanfare for the Common Man.
• Lake Effect Snow, Web Cameras, Travel Insurance and #BestThisWeek November brings snow in Toronto, as we see, and other financial ideas.
• Asteroids, Tax Cuts, Lemurs and #BestThisWeek how many times has the Earth almost been hit by an asteroid? Too often to remember.
• Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek lame duck leaders never really get that much done, no matter how they negotiate.
• Happy Halloween, Income Splitting and #BestThisWeek a wonderful financial time of the year is Halloween? Maybe income splitting is a better subject.
• Ottawa We Shall Remember, Bank of Canada and #BestThisWeek after a bad week in Ottawa, with senseless violence.
• Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek even in 2014 the markets were a little volatile.
• Hockey, Turkey, Leaves, Carry On Bags and #theBestFin4TheWeek is it right that the hockey season starts before Thanksgiving?
• October, Hello Ebola, Give Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek October arrived unexpectedly this week, almost unnoticed. As we have entered the final (calendar) quarter of the year 2014, it may be time to start considering a year-end review of your financial plans.
• Autumn , United Kingdom, Beer Money, and #theBestFin4TheWeek the colours in Ottawa during Autumn are truly spectacular.
• Pins, Alibaba , Apple Pay , Lecosse , and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when Alibaba the IPO happened, those were heady days.
• Home Despot, iPhones, and #theBestFin4TheWeek
• Back to School, Tim Burger King, Knee Defenders and #theBestFin4TheWeek will the dutchie ever come back? I can only hope.
• Broken Humerus, Ebola, Anniversaries, Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when we thought Ebola was going to wipe us out?
• It is Done, Ice Bucket Challenge, Media Perceptions and #theBestFin4TheWeek
• WW1 Centenery, More Hacked Passwords and #theBestFin4TheWeek
• The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek
• Unmasking Super Heroes, Dogs of Summer and #BestOfFinancialForThisWeek
• All Stars, Al Stars and the #BestOfFinancialForWeek the world cup was a big thing in 2014 as was Bastille day too.
• Brazilian Defeats, Tour De Chunnel, and #BestOfFinancialForWeek you mean Brazil can lose at the world cup?
• Tennis, Racing, Inflation and #BestofFinancial Canada Day is the start of the summer for most Canadians, and financial stories too.
• The Stand, Football Biting, Naughty Banks and #BestofFinancial even in 2014 the banks were misbehaving with shenanigans.
• Elections, Dad’s Day, World Cup, Friday the 13th and #BestofFinancial somehow the Liberals won the 2014 Ontario Provincial Election
• No Rate Hike, Better Performance, Montreal Grand Prix and #Bestof-Financial back in 2014 we were worried about rates, but they were already pretty low.
• Elections, Farewell Knowlton, May Done, and #Bestof-Financial Knowlton Nash was the voice of news for Canada for a while.
• Internet Memory, Grand Prix of Monaco and #FreeFormFridays the Internet has memory?
• Time Off, Elections, Victoria Day and #FreeFormFridays Victoria Day is always a fun weekend.
• Frosts, Elections, Farley Mowat and #FreeFormFridays it does get cold in May!
• Rain, Budgets, Bloggers Meeting, May Day and #FreeFormFridays When financial bloggers meet what happens?
• Beware the Financial Jabberwock, Netflix Expansion, Model Trains, Backups and #FreeFormFridays a thematically odd article.
• Easter is Here and a Saturday #BestOf for the Weekend a time of renewal, new beginnings in life and financially as well.
• RIP Flaherty, Heartbleed, Tax Time, Quebec Elections and #FreeFormFridays the former finance minister did a lot of good for the economy.
• #Selfies, Quebec Election, Big Joe, Awareness, and #FreeFormFridays would Big Joe Mufferaw have been a good fit for the Redblacks? We’ll never know.
• Don Quixote, Tax Time, Cheap Mortgages and #FreeFormFridays gotta hate tax time.
• Spring Has Sprung, March Madness, Celebrity Blogger and #FreeFormFridays talking about Spring in March in Ottawa can be a bit early.
• Pi Day, March Break, Two Ferns, Snow and #FreeFormFridays given pi is infinite, how much pie can we expect?
• Quebec Elections, Eating Sugar, Suing Parents, Big Rocks and #FreeFormFridays those elections in Quebec are never dull.
• Saint David’s Day, Big Posts, RRSP Time, the Dating Game and #FreeFormFridays always a good time to put a Welsh Choir Clip in an article.
• Hockey Day, Tax & RRSP Time and #FreeFormFridays Hockey day in Canada? Well it does happen, right around RRSP time too.
• More Olympics, Budgets, Love Day and #FreeFormFridays Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Love and Dealing with Financial Whining.
• Olympics, Not Super Bowls, Creationism and #FreeFormFridays 2014 Olympics Opening Ceremonies and Soshi Stadium’s Doppleganger: The Super Bowl.
• Senators, Weak Loonie, Superb Owls and #FreeFormFridays Rugby is a Hooligan’s game played by a Gentleman.
• Polar Vorteces, Olympics, Mayors and #FreeFormFridays The Polar Vortex brings Winter in Canada. But don’t worry – -30C highs in Ottawa in January are normal.
• Giveaways, Oil tanks, Eagles and #FreeFormFriday Have you checked your oil tank if you heat with Oil? What will your insurance do if the tank ruptures?
• Truly Canadian Issues, Ultra HD TV, Car Loans and #FreeFormFriday Get your lock de-icer and unlock your Super Mailbox cubicle like I did – Canadian Tire to the rescue!
• Some #RandomThoughts from 2014 Some of the best of, best of posts on my random thoughts weekly post.
• CPP Reform, Snow, Christmas, Boxing day and #FreeFormFriday Did the CPP reform of 2013 fix much? Kind of, but Christmas was coming too.