A Gentleman, Day of Disability, Christmas, Rugby and #BestThisWeek

A true gentleman passed away this week, and I was saddened with the passing of Jean Beliveau. To me he was the epitome of a leader, and his demeanor on and off the ice was to be admired. My favorite Jean Beliveau story was when as a young lad, telling my Dad I’d play better hockey if I had a stick with a curved blade, and my Father’s response summed  it all up nicely, “If Jean Beliveau can play with a straight blade, you can too”. Let’s hope Mr. Beliveau’s blade continues to be straight, wherever he plays.

I was privileged to be invited along with my son to National Defense HQ for an International Day of Persons with Disabilities festival. My son’s soccer Club the Just for Kicks group with the Nepean City Soccer Club, was invited to show off their skills and play against some very high-powered talent. The Generals involved were very good sports and I also met the head of Soldier On a support organization for wounded soldiers.

The malls are now crammed with folks trying to find the next “perfect” toy, but remember the reason you are out there. I will no doubt be in the middle of the bloody fray this weekend, so stay the heck out of my way, if you don’t want to see what I learned playing rugby.

Oh and congrats to Wales for defeating the Mighty South Africa Springboks last weekend (for only the second time in 100 years).

My Writings for Week Ending December 5th 2014

Christmas lights twinkle and even I have got out the inflatable Christmas Penguin for the front of the Big C8j Hacienda :

• To get all Christmassy I decided to go cheesy with It’s A Wonderful Life (financially?) where I pointed out that Index Funds and It’s a Wonderful Life have a little bit in common, read to find out what.
• I went rummaging into my archives of articles that I had started but hadn’t finished and came up with  5 Ways to Optimally Use Your Pay Raise , some interesting comments to this one as well.
• In the dark archives when I was laid off from Nortel I found the following interesting story about Are You Giving me a Questionnaire about How I liked my Lay Off ? It really was!

This Week’s Finest

Have you finished all your Yuletide shopping? You have? What are you bent or something? How can you enjoy the mad panic of shopping if you finish it too early? At least you have time to read some great articles from this week:

• Mark from My Own Advisor tells us about My Personal Finance Ah-Ha! Moments, which I have had a few times too (A Ha! Investing in the WWE is a BAD idea).
• Rumors of the demise of Wind Mobile might be premature given they may have signed a roaming agreement with Telus, thus allowing them a much larger coverage area.
• Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter jumps into the entire TFSA Retired Welfare Bums argument with a helpful article on Tax Planning Strategies to Minimize the Old Age Security Clawback
• Sounds like the CRA is being spoil sports with the TFSA program, because evidently they are targeting folks with Big Wins with Audits. If someone can make big money in your program, and you don’t like it, change the darn rules.
• Barry from Money We Have wonders Are Cheap Flights From Buffalo International Airport For Real? My father-in-law certainly thinks so, as he flies to Arizona using that airport every year.
• Robb Engen from Boomer and Echo seems to be abandoning the world of Dividend investing and moving to the Dark Side of Index Funds, with this Two Fund Solution, welcome!
• Mark from 2nd Career Search gives us an update on his Keeping Busy during his Quasi-Retirement, he is doing more retired than I do normally!
• Our Big Fat Wallet wonders Do You Need to Use a Realtor ? In both instances my realtor had to work for her pay.
• It has been said before, but it is still very true, that After a Data Breach it’s the Consumer that is left holding the bag, and must clean up the mess that their finances and identity become.
• My University Money preaches to the choir with The Lazy Miracle of Online Shopping, I have loved on-line shopping for a while.
• Million Dollar Journey asks What is the Best Credit Card for Aeroplan Members?
• Interesting to hear that Stephen Hawking got a Technology Upgrade for his voice synthesis system, but he wants to keep his “robotic” voice, because he feels people view that as his voice now. I think he’s right.
• Kerry from Squawkfox reminds us that Impulse Buying is the Achilles of Saving Money, something to remember when you pick up that deluxe cheese straightener you have always wanted.
• The Canadian Budget Binder asks a hard question,  What pushes people over the edge financially? What they do after they go over the edge is not pretty either.
• Rumors of the demise of Where Does All My Money Go and Preet writing his blog was premature, and he returns with Does economic decision-making drain more will power for the poor?
• Do you understand what is meant by High Frequency Trading? Michael James tries to help with High Frequency Trading Simplified.

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I Like John Oliver

John Oliver is quickly replacing the Colbert Report (for me) as being the most entertaining “News based comedy show” on TV, and here we have his opinion of Lotteries, Bravo!

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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)).