More Olympics, Budgets, Love Day and #FreeFormFridays

First let me wish you and your loved ones a very merry Love Day, hopefully you have bankrupted yourself to your lovers delight, and you will end up wearing boxer shorts wearing red hearts (at the end of the day). Yes a very disturbing image if you know me. Don’t get me wrong Valentine’s Day makes my life as a Financial Whiner Blogger much easier: so many things to complain about.

Valentine’s Day also was my parent’s wedding anniversary, so for me, it is a much more special day than just a reason to send flowers.

Seems the Conservative Party has put a stake in the ground and has started campaigning for the next election (early). The crosshairs for spending cuts are who(m)? Why Civil Servants for one, and of course Retired Civil Servants as well. Take your shots at the Civil Service if you wish, we have a Union and such, and I will enjoy watching how the Government plan on trying to topple the Tower of Sick Leave that previous Governments allowed to grow, but c’mon folks, going after Retired Folks Medical Premiums? That is getting a little much. Let us hope there is a sensible roll-out, where this affects (effects) older retirees LESS, or better still make new retirees take the initial brunt of the increase.

I will have a further discussion of the good things in the budget for folks with disabled loved ones, and such next week.

I felt quite chuffed when Tony Clement replied to my Tweet about Increasing the Cost of Retirees medical benefits on Wednesday.

The Olympics continue on with fun stories, heart warming stories and down right odd stuff too. The Canadian Coach that gave a Russian Cross-Country skier a ski, to finish a race was so typically Canadian. Seeing Alex Bilodeau win at moguls was also a fun time to watch, but then you have the poor Canadian Biathlon competitor who fell while in first place. Anyone want to explain why a sport that looks like it came out of Duck Dynasty is in the Olympics (“C’mon Uncle Cy, let’s go ski ’round the woods and shoot things!”)? Yes it is more of a sport than Curling, Ballroom Dancing, or Dressage but c’mon.

My Weekly Recap

My Writings for Week Ending February 14th Love is in the Air (or is that melting dog poop
Unemployment Down, but not that good news to start 2014 Better news from Stats Canada about the job situation, but still a world of improvement is possible in Canada. New Budget points directly to it.	Canadian Consumer Debt Load at $1.4 Trillion Equifax published these numbers which shows us increasing our consumer debt again, which isn’t that good news either.	This Week’s Magic Number is 85 85 is not just the product of 17 and 5 any more!	Last Minute Financial Love Day Gifts Valentine’s Day is just like Christmas for me, in that I complain and whine about it, and write sarcastic posts.

Swiss Army Knife Section

It was 17C in Sochi this week, let’s bring the Winter Olympics to Ottawa if it means it can be 17C in February:

• Your reputation is what you are perceived to be by others but your character is what you really are. You are the only one that knows your character. You can fool others, but you can’t fool yourself.  -Coach John Wooden
• Mark at the Blunt Bean Counter brings us How Much Money do I Need to Retire? Heck if I Know or Anyone Else Does! – Part 3 you really don’t know how much you need to retire, just live with it.
• Next week may see post #2500 coming up, watch closely, the celebrations will be “Off the Hook!” as the young folk say.
• If you have not done so go to the Government Budget 2014 website and read what is in the budget for this year, don’t just believe what the talking heads on TV tell you.
• Ellen Roseman published some Hydro One Horror Stories in the Ottawa SUN (it’s a paywall system there, so be careful).
• Michael James points out The Gap Between the Financial Advice You Get and the Advice you Need, which most of us wouldn’t listen to (the need part that is).
• Want to know about my Insurance choices? Check out What Type Of Life Insurance The Experts Own: Big Cajun Man (apologies for the “expert” title, they said I am one, I disagreed).
• For some odd reason I have over 1800 Twitter followers, not really sure how that happened.
• 2nd Career Search has a unique issue to discuss with  Can a Dual Citizen Living in Canada Keep a US IRA?
• Larry MacDonald reminds us there are At Least 3 Things You Can Do with Your RRSP (before you retire), don’t forget it’s not just for your retirement.
• Mark from My Own Advisor stays with the RRSP world with Converting your RRSP to a RRIF? Consider this… another way to wind down your RRSP.
• Preet brings us another installment of his Podcast with Financially literate teacher’s perspective on financial literacy in schools (PODCAST) well worth a listen.

Wide World of Sports

The ESPN generation wouldn’t recognize this, but to ME, this meant sports on TV #BornInThe60s

Lava is Powerful

And finally, a can of Ravioli consumed by Lava:

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.