The upcoming weeks are going to be a thrilling time for all the basketball enthusiasts out there, as we gear up for the entry tournaments of the NCAA March Madness Tournament and the CIS Men’s Basketball finals (in Toronto) this weekend. I, for one, am ecstatic about this and feel absolutely elated. As a passionate basketball fan, I eagerly await the games, especially the opening rounds, to witness any surprising upsets and the rise of the underdogs, also known as the “Cinderella Team,” who will undoubtedly capture our hearts.
It’s tax time, too, folks; you should have all of your tax receipts by now, so get your tax returns done, get your refund, or wait until the last day to make your payment to the CRA. If you wonder, “Should I do my taxes?”, yes!
A second Friday the 13th? Thanks to a Friday the 13th in February, there is one in March. It is followed by a Saturday when the Formula 1 racing season begins, so it can’t be that bad a Friday, can it? The snow is melting in Ottawa (as well), which will make it a better Friday.
Watch next week as I will celebrate 10 years of writing online. I’m not sure what that will entail, but remember I have about 2800 articles.
My Writings for the Week Ending March 13th
I am still fighting off the remnants of that horrible flu I picked up two weeks ago, but I managed to write a couple of articles this week. :
- Financial Daylight Savings is me having a poke at the idea of how Daylight Savings makes days longer, and how debt is pretty darn similar to that (in terms of a BIG lie).
- Thanks for the $2000 CRA is pointing out to those who can get the new Family Credit, should make sure they are getting it. I checked over my return on Turbotax and sure enough, there it was (very nice). It would even be better without the $2000 cap, but it’s a good start.
- Illness, K-Cups, Interest Rates and #BestOfThisWeek
This Week’s Finest Financial
Preet returned to Where Does All My Money Go, with a repeat of his YouTube video about What Happens if You Miss the RRSP deadline, and the answer is pretty straightforward. With that in mind, Barry from Money We Have wants to help us with 10 Signs You’re Living Beyond Your Means, if you need 10 signs, you are in pretty rough shape (in my opinion). If you are really thinking about interesting money strategies Frugal Trader from Million Dollar Journey updates us on his Smith Manoeuvre/Dividend Portfolio Update (although I don’t recommend using this interesting savings idea). Marie of Boomer and Echo asks another important monetary question, Are You Frugal – Or, Just Plain Cheap ?
The Canadian Couch Potato explains something I always wonder about, The Role of Preferred Shares in your investment portfolios.
I was proud to read about Why Canada is Winning the Drone Race (in Popular Science), Canadians know how! Will you be going out to buy your solid gold Apple Watch ? Not sure I am that interested in the technology, myself, but I’d gladly “review it” if someone wanted to send me one.
For all of you entrepreneurs and small business owners, Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter brings us Capital Dividends – A Tax Free Withdrawal from Your Company. In other important money matters Mark from My Own Advisor gives us his monthly February 2015 Dividend Income Report, a brave man publishing his financial exploits. With money in mind still, Mark from 2nd Career Search (who is semi-retired) gives us a Retirement Withdrawal Strategy, which is a hybrid idea, but I suspect there are very few “one size fits all” strategies here. Guess those articles really hit the “Mark” this week.
Michael James does take a few prods before he finally takes action against “evil doers” (at least in the banking world), but BMO finally crossed the line and thus he decided to go from BMO to Tangerine Chequing, good for him. Banking fees keep creeping up, and we all need to draw a line somewhere on when enough is enough.
Y O D A … Yoda
I was always a Weird Al Fan, but this performance (from Night of Too Many Stars on Comedy Central in support of Autism programs in the US) kicked him up a few more notches in my book
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)).
I find I don’t get my final tax slips until near the end of March. The stragglers are usually related to ETFs in non-taxable accounts. Thanks for the mention.
I keep thinking someone should at least send a “We Owe You a Receipt” e-mail, but maybe you need a checklist of accounts to make sure is up to date?