Spring Has Sprung, March Madness, Celebrity Blogger and #FreeFormFridays

Today is the first complete day of Spring! You would never guess that might be the case here in Ottawa, with still large amounts of snow, and cold temperatures, but it is Spring (gosh darn it!).

March Madness has begun as well, much to the Chagrin of my wife (basketball all day all weekend!). Yesterday I published my bracket, which I hope folks do not view as my recommendations, I simply included it as part of the post to show that I am a hypocrite, as well as a Basketball fan (i.e. complaining about how NCAA athletes are working in “indentured servitude” and then watching the games).

If you haven’t picked up a copy of this month’s Money Sense magazine you are missing another opportunity to see a picture of me, and read my views on RDSPs (yes, you can come here and get that for free). The article was written by David Hodges and their is a picture of me and my son (who’s name is Rhys not RhysE as is published in the magazine) which is quite good. I have had a few of my blogging peers comment that I am now a celebrity blogger, somehow I think not. I am thinking of adding a block with a graphic with the following:

Big Cajun Man as seen in the Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star and Money Sense Magazine!

It hasn’t really caused my web servers to crash due to the new readership, oh well.

Farewell to Jim Flaherty to as Finance Minister, as well. Couldn’t have been an easy job, given the times he had the job, and his health issues. Thanks for being fiscally conservative Jim, I think, that is what the country needed at the time.

My Weekly Recap

My Writings for Week Ending March 21st Spring Has Spring, the Grass Has Riz !
Should You Consolidate Student Loans into Your Mortgage? The whole idea of consolidation makes me ill, so adding in a loan that has interest payments that are tax write offs, to a mortgage (in Canada) makes no sense.	Read Your Home Insurance Renewal Notices Things have changed in Canada this year, so read over what is (and is NOT) covered in your home insurance policies this year.	Retirement Dos and Donts There are no Trolls working at the CRA that I have seen (maybe they work under a bridge somewhere, but from my vantage point none work in their buildings).	Let the Madness Commence ! Who gets paid for all these basketball games? It sure is not the players!

Swiss Army Knife Section

As basketball goes, they play it in Switzerland, but haven’t heard of any NBA players being from Switzerland:

• What are the odds of picking every game correctly in a March Madness Pool? Regressing states No, The Odds Of Picking A Perfect Bracket Aren’t 1 In 9.2 Quintillion but they are still pretty darn high (no wonder Mr. Buffett is offering a Billion Dollars for anyone who does).
• People make money investing by their skill, or do they? The thought father: Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman on luck and the role it plays in lots of things.
• Kyle was the winner of the Financial Calculator Giveaway contest, hopefully he is enjoying it.
• Barron’s give us a seedy nasty story of An Insider’s Tale of a Stock Promotion Plan , this is why I shy away from individual stocks these days.
• Concern has been raised in Quebec that if the PQ wins the election and calls another referendum it might be to join the Russian Federation. Vlad Putin is looking for better hockey players evidently.
• Len Penzo touches on a subject I have touched on as well with, 100 Words On: A Surefire Way to Beat the Lottery – Guaranteed.
• Mark at My Own Advisor brings us Our TFSA and RRSP Considerations for 2014 giving his philosophies on his accounts, and why he has chosen the strategies, that he has.
• Michael James pokes the Public Service Pension bear with Malcolm Hamilton on Public-Service Pensions, should be interesting in a few years to see what happens with this.
• Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter gives me a helpful pointer with Reporting of Internet Business Activities for 2013, luckily I haven’t filed yet.
• Barry at Money We Have gives us  The Family Finances Talk which is almost more awkward than the Sex talk, these days.
• Mark from 2nd Career Search may be moving north so he has been looking into  Solving US to Canada Investing Problem and he has some very good advice here.
• Finally Preet continues his Podcasting ways with More on The Financial Advisors Act of Ontario with @DanHallett (Podcast)

LEGO Dreams

A young lad from Iceland (with Autism) has big LEGO dreams (Titanic size):

Jordan vs. Motumbo

Did Michael Jordan ever dunk over Dikembe Motumbo? I think the answer is Yes.

Farewell Jim Flaherty

CBC’s point of view on Minister Flaherty stepping down:

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.