Hockey Day, Tax & RRSP Time and #FreeFormFridays

In the good ol’ hockey game, it’s the best game you can name. Yes, Stompin’ Tom was right. Olympic hockey brings out the best (and worst) in hockey fans. Canada plays the US in the men’s semi-final this afternoon, which means nothing will get done in Canada this afternoon. It is the last weekday of the Olympics, so most offices will be back to normal next week. We saw the Canadian women pull it out of the fire on Thursday with a thrilling victory. Let us see whether the Men can play as well.

Rumour has it that the Russian Men’s Hockey team is missing and presumed to visit Siberia for a short “vacation.”

I managed to get my T-4 early this year, so I may end up submitting my taxes even earlier this year (since I think I won’t be owing them any money). Remember, you can still pay your taxes early if you owe money. You don’t have to pay until the deadline (you can do that online at your bank’s website). I haven’t seen a lot of RRSP ads lately, but maybe that is slowly ramping up this year.

My Weekly Recap

My Writings for Week Ending February 21st Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!!
Interest Paid Bank Fee = Shrinkage ? It might be nice if we were able to write off our bank fees against our measly Interest income (they should at least cancel out).	Cheap Trading Fees a Good Thing? It’s nice that a bunch of the trading firms are lowering their fees, but is this a good thing in the long run?	The Financial Zen of Roger Sterling What can Roger Sterling have to say about money? Nothing directly, but if you interpret his Zen-like one-liners, you might be surprised.	Russian Hockey or No Sure Financial Things What do the Russians losing in the Quarter-finals in the Olympics have to do with Money? Read on and find out (I even get a Nortel mention in there).	Hockey Day, Tax & RRSP Time and #FreeFormFridays A recap of last week’s best.

Swiss Army Knife Section

The Swiss women won Bronze in Ice Hockey at the Olympics, and they make great knives too:

• PsyPost brings us an interesting point of view First large-scale study links stock market volatility to mental disorders they needed a study to figure out if the stock market falls people get depressed? Watch for my new study linking the morning with the sun rising.
• Mark from My Own Advisor is a kindred spirit as he explains Why I still drive my 14-year-old car my car is only 10 years old.
• Mark from Blunt Bean Counter continues on with How Much Money do I Need to Retire? Heck if I Know or Anyone Else Does! (Part 5), OK, we get it no one knows how much to retire!
• Scientific American brings us an interesting point of view with New Rules Allow Booze, Fruit and Water to Be Labeled “Gluten-Free” keep that in mind.
• Robb from Boomer & Echo tells us there are 6 Fees Worth Paying, I still don’t like paying for these services, but I guess I agree.
• Time proudly tells us 1 in 4 Americans Apparently Unaware the Earth Orbits the Sun, who says American schools are going down hill?
• MIT Technology Review brings us the 50 Smartest Companies, an interesting periodic tables of companies (no I don’t work for any of them).
• Second Career Search points out that You Have to Be A Multi-Millionaire When You Retire, so I guess he and the Blunt Bean Counter disagree.
• Michael James goes after that retirement number with Telling Us What We Want to Hear about Our Retirement Magic Numbers people love hearing what they want.
• Squawkfox has a security alert with  Well.ca credit card security breach affects thousands of customers oh and they waited a while to tell folks too! I love it when there is a catastrophe but you don’t hear about it for a month.
• Canadians have accumulated Mutual fund assets topping  $1 trillion according to benefits Canada, which means with an average MER of 2.0% the industry rakes in $20B a year! Yea!!! Yes, I am being very sarcastic.
• Preet writes in the Globe on How to get good value from your financial adviser, which is another important thing to get from them (not just good advice).

Old Preet is still Good Preet

An oldie but Goody from Preet’s archives

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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.