Happy Halloween, Income Splitting and #BestThisWeek

Halloween is finally here, and let’s be honest, it’s all about the money these days. Gone are the times when a simple Jack-O-Lantern would suffice. Nowadays, if you don’t have a spine-chilling decoration that could rival Vincent Price’s movies, you’re a failure in the eyes of your neighbors. I’ll be taking L’il C8j trick-or-treating, but don’t expect him to eat much candy. He has a selective palate. But as for me and my wife, we’ll definitely be indulging in all the sugary treats. After all, what’s Halloween without a little overindulgence? Make sure you don’t end up with any Financial Skeletons in Your Closet after setting up your Halloween Horror House.

Word has it that the upcoming Budget may allow income splitting for families with children under the age of 18 (hopefully with a dispensation for those with disabled children, maybe allowing for this ability after the child reaches the age of 18). The splitting will really mean an ability to transfer up to $50K from one spouse to another (maximum benefit of $2000), but still will help single income families (or families where one spouse makes much less than the other). I started a discussion on reddit about this as well, drop by and be heard.

This is all due to the Government “balancing” the budget (note I put that in quotes), what “balanced” means is simply the Government is simply spending all the money that they earn (while paying maintenance on the existing National Debt). I do not suggest this as a good plan for anyone trying to lower their debt level (i.e. cutting your income).

If Halloween is here, that must mean only one thing (aside from my Daughter’s birthday of course) and that is not to forget to put your clocks back this weekend as well. Yes, it is Fall Back time, where we get an extra hour of sleep and those of us who go into work early in the morning will still get no glimpse of sunlight.

My Writings for Week Ending October 31st

The days are getting shorter and of course this weekend, the clocks go back, so we all have an extra hour of sleep, so more time to read my writings, and luckily it was a sparse week for me, with only two new articles written.

• I was very happy to hear from a Twitter follower that TD Waterhouse has updated their RDSP, and I wrote about that with TD Waterhouse RDSP, a step in the right direction.
• You realize that it is 85 years since the great stock market crash of 1929, don’t you? This begs the vital question When is the Next Big Stock Market Crash? The answer might surprise you, but some interesting data about the crash, worth looking at as well.
• Maybe we need to make sure we Define What Debt Free Means ? I think we do, because banks think Debt-Free means you don’t owe on your credit cards.

This Week’s Finest

This week we had a uniquely Canadian headline with, “Man caught while trying to escape in a canoe”, we are a unique nation:

• Ever wonder if a heinous murder ever happened in your house? Try out Housecreep.com and check out whether your home was actually the Amityville Horror House (or a meth lab).
• Barry from Money We Have tries to help out the young folk with TFSA Questions From New Grads, good to see they are thinking about this.
• The Canadian Capitalist is still in retirement, but this week I got my new Capital One Costco card, which asks the question what are the Pros and Cons of a Costco Membership?
• Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter attempts to explain Crowdfunding, What is It? What are Its Tax Implications? I am still trying to get some money together for my new cat exercise idea (see photo beside).
• The Wall Street Journal has an odd article on How Technology can Help Work/Life Balance, but surprisingly my idea of losing the technology to get a life is not there?
• Michael James borrows from one of my favorite 80’s song (by Triumph) when he Lays it On the Line and shows His Asset Allocation, but the most important message he sends is that he is always thinking about allocations and refines his plan as time passes.
• Buzzfeed helped me out with 21 Incredibly Important Diagrams to Help You In Your Life, and there are a bunch of them that are very helpful (although the ripeness of an avocado one, is not as important to me).
• Mark at 2nd Career Search is semi-retired (currently) and shares with us How to Fund Your Retirement.
• The Canadian Couch Potato got my attention with a beer reference with Do You Have the Advisor Six Pack? Surprisingly no mention of beer in this article, but some good advice about setting up your portfolio (as usual).
• I must say that I do enjoy the free Zinio available from the Ottawa Public Library, suddenly I am reading magazines again (or at least leafing through them for interesting stories and pictures).
• What are Americans worried about most in terms of crimes? This interesting infographic points to the ominous, Credit Card fraud as the biggest worry.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade points out that for many folks Debt is a Dirty Little Secret, and for many folks you’d never guess it was a problem, but it is.
• Marie from Boomer and Echo asks DIY Wills – Are they Ever a Good Idea? I think they are certainly better than having no will at all.
• Preet wrote in the Globe and Mail this past week and asked Will the New PRPPs help Canadians Save for Retirement? The answer (of course) is yes and no.
• What are the 10 Biggest White Collar Crimes in History? Read here to find out, and see just how much money got stolen without a gun being drawn. Bet you can guess what #1 is.
• Mark from My Own Advisor continues with his readings and now is giving stuff away as well with The Empowered Investor Book Review and Giveaway

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Deep Thoughts

This is some very deep stuff here, but it is very money related too (and Kangaroos can’t jump backwards):

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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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My Twitter feed is where I re-tweet many great articles by some of my featured writers (and make the occasional odd or off colour commentary on life (in 140 characters or less)).