Elections, Dad’s Day, World Cup, Friday the 13th and #BestofFinancial

The Ontario election was an entertaining yet bitter affair that came to a close last night. Despite being politically dead after corruption scandals that would have toppled most governments, the Liberals impersonated Lazarus and made a surprising comeback. The election was full of catchphrases from the Simpsons, “Think of the children!” and even a photoshopped image of a candidate walking away from an exploding hospital (resembling the Joker from the Dark Knight). The election outcome was nothing short of astounding and interesting. I am utterly amazed by the results and would have laughed in your face if you had told me that the Liberals would secure a majority. But that’s what makes politics so fascinating – the unexpected twists and turns.

Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, so don’t forget to give Dad the biggest piece of chicken. My favourite thing I learned on Father’s Day was in the early 90s. Can you guess the day with the most collect calls (i.e. reversed charges)? It was Father’s Day, of course. As fathers, we are supposed to have broad shoulders to support the world. My own father taught me a great deal, and hopefully, I’ve passed some of that knowledge onto my own kids.

The stories about the NFL awarding the Super Bowl to Minnesota and the promises that had to be made pale compared to the alleged World Cup financial shenanigans. Although I will be cheering, I don’t have much skin in this event, hoping that Britain doesn’t shart their shorts. I am more interested in the World Cup of Rugby in the UK next year.

I almost have 2000 actual followers on Twitter. I say actually because I have not “bought” any of them. They are primarily real folks. Wow. Know any friends who’d like to be annoyed by my Twitter Diarrhea? Tell them to look for the Big Cajun Man on Twitter.

It is Friday the 13th today for those who worry about such problems. I don’t remember too many bad things happening on a Friday the 13th, but I will also not be going sky diving or other dangerous activities today either.

My Writings for Week Ending June 13th

If you have Triskaidekaphobia, my condolences (that is the fear of the number 13):

• Some OK news, I suppose from Stats Canada with More (Part-time) Jobs in Canada in May 2014, the economy seems to be creating lots of part-time jobs, but where are the full-time economy growing jobs?
• There was actually someone who stood up for the Mutual Fund sales guy on my Atrociously Dangerous Investment Advice piece this week. Interesting, I suppose there are two sides to every story, maybe there are fun-loving thrill-ride seeking 70+ year olds out there who want to buy on margin and such. On the plus side, Rob Carrick mentioned it on his Twitter feed and I had my biggest day from Twitter mentions ever!
• To help all of you folks who didn’t know what to get your Dad for Father’s Day, I went a little off topic to explain as a Father, what we want with: Dad What Do You Want For Father’s Day ?

This Week’s Finest

A week of fun and games and an election too? Who could ask for more? How about these gems:

• Speaking of Father’s Day, if your Dad is a Scotch drinker, the Wall Street Journal gives us a helpful Diagram to Help Decide What Kind of Scotch to buy your Dad.
• Not sure if he is a Scotch lover but the Blunt Bean Counter brings us Are Estate Freezes the Wrong Solution for Family Business Succession? I have little to leave my children, aside from my collection of belly-button lint, and I don’ t think that stuff freezes that well.
• A noted Scotch lover Michael James points out that  Stock Volatility Grows Slower than Expected, as he studies stock price correlations.
• The USA Today published an interesting statement that Caring for those with Autism runs $2M plus for life, a happy thought for those of us with kids on the spectrum.
• I found out that with writing on the internet, as with dancing, Timing is Everything (sorry did I step on your foot).
• Barry Choi is on vacation and thus writes about  The Biggest Travel Ripoffs, I guess you write about what is in front of you.
• Hadn’t realized that Canada is only #46 on the Blomberg Highest to Cheapest Gas by Country List, yet another reason not to live in Norway.
• Mark at 2nd Career Search is still studying for his CFP exam and he writes about it with Government Benefits are Job #1 for Canadian CFP
• Our amigo Dan Bortolotti wrote about ShareOwner: Canada’s first ETF robo-advisor, over at MoneySense, I like the idea of a Robo-Advisor, however, I’d like to meat the programmers of it first, before using it.
• A Gallup Poll in the US suggests about 42% of Americans believe that Humans in their current form were created on earth 10,000 years ago by God. Interesting.
• Mark from My Own Advisor has a mysterious question for you What is the greatest retirement asset you’ll ever have? You’ll have to read to figure out what that might be.
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did an article for Esquire Magazine about 20 Things I Wish I’d Known When I Was 30 , I got a longer list than he does, which is scary.

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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.

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