I was tickled pink to see that my favourite party had returned, the Rhinoceros Party for this election. This party had a plank in their platform about damming the St. Lawrence River for Hydro-Electric power. In Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s riding, it ran another candidate with the name Pierre Trudeau (I got to vote in that election in that very riding). Their first plank for this election in their platform? Nationalize Tim Horton’s! Glad to see the return to common sense politics.
I was glad to see Steadyhand come out with the commentary Good Debt, Bad Debt which points out the alarming rise in Canadian debt. Tom Bradley’s commentaries about the Banks encouraging an already heavily in debt society that a concept of “Good Debt” distresses him, and I agree. With low-interest rates about to go away, what will happen when the rates go up? Thanks to reader @Gene2u for pointing this out. An excellent article.
The rest of the parties seem very excited about the Mike Duffy trial, except for Mr. Harper, who hopes we aren’t watching it. We’ve lost 1 or 2 candidates thanks to unfortunate tweets in their past (I guess I’ll never be running for public office) as well. That is about all that has been going on in the election.
Gas prices continue to drop, which is bound to screw up the CPI for the coming months, but with oil sitting at below $40 a barrel, it is about time that gas prices dropped. Is this doing any good for Canada? It depends on where you live. If you live in Alberta, NO!
Did you realize there are 77 Expiration Dates that you Should Track? Time Magazine has an interesting list for you.
My Writings for Week Ending August 21st
The summer is slowly coming to a close, and an entertaining fall lies ahead (with plenty of election shenanigans and tom-foolery):
- Before the dawn of oppressive bank fees my idea of having a bank account at whatever bank that was near my work was a great idea, however since high bank fees became the norm, A Great Financial Idea Dies.
- As if I really needed more reasons to espouse changing banks if you are being treated shabbily, however somehow I found More Reasons to Change Your Bank.
- Rob Carrick did mention in his piece in the Globe and Mail Nine castles that cost less than a Vancouver condo my RDSP: Banking Challenge Ignored, and no bank has taken me up on my challenge.
I am also mentioned in this fun article too:
Plenty of Good Money Stories from this Week
Do you have a small business? If so, how are you going to exit the company when you retire or for other reasons? If you haven’t thought about that (much), the Blunt Bean Counter went into his archives to give us Estate Freeze – A Tax Solution for the Succession of a Small Business, and it points to a bunch of other useful resources in this area.
Barry from Money We Have has written about Bad Financial Advisors already (on this site), but wants to ensure you don’t get trapped by one of these cruel creatures, so he wrote Recognizing Bad Financial Advisors. Last week I highlighted a couple of frugal NFL players, and this week Mark from My Own Advisor brings us, Frugal Athletes – Including One Who Lives in a Van, which highlights still more frugal athletes.
Michael James asks a good question (that I made the flippant comment, “Who cares, you are dead”) What Happens to My CPP if I die Early? Again, my only advice on the topic is don’t die early (as with all retirement questions). Speaking of CPP, Mark from 2nd Career Search implies Americans Envy the Canada Pension Plan? Not really, but it is still a fascinating read (pension envy, is that a real thing?). With even more retirement talk, Boomer and Echo had a Guest Writer talk about I’d Rather Be Fishing: My Early Retirement Story. I’d rather everyone else was fishing too, so there were fewer cars on the road!
Breaking Mortgages
Going into Preet’s archives for this one, how much will it cost to break your mortgage?
Deep Thoughts
From the Stanford School of Business
2015 Random Thoughts
- January 2nd Random Thoughts on 2014, Welcome to MMXV and #BestOf
- January 9th Frigid Temps, Plunging Oil, Paris and #BestThisWeek
- January 16th Canadian Economy on the Edge, Frigid Temps and #BestThisWeek
- January 23rd Looser Money, Plummeting Loons and #BestThisWeek
- January 30th CLBs, Weak Loons, Tax Time, Superb Owls and #BestThisWeek
- February 6th Superb Decisions, Gas Going Up, Rugby and #BestThisWeek
- February 13th RRSPs, Valentines, 50 Shades of Debt and #BestOfThisWeek
- February 20th Lent Begins, Freezing Temps, Apples and RRSP and #BestOfThisWeek
- February 27th RRSPs, Saint David, Right Arm and #BestOfThisWeek
- March 6th Illness, K-Cups, Interest Rates and #BestOfThisWeek
- March 13th March Madness, Taxes, Friday the 13th and #BestOfThisWeek
- March 20th Spring has Sprung, Ten Years, The Madness and #BestOfThisWeek
- March 27th Death of EPost, More Madness, and #BestMoneyStories
- April 10th Senators, Retiring Rich and #BestMoneyStories
- April 17th Playoffs, Tax Time, Beer tax and #BestMoneyStories
- April 24th RRIF Allowances, Bursary Changes, Budgets and #BestMoneyStories
- May 1st Tax Extensions, Golf Season, Bank Fees, May Day and #BestMoneyStories
- May 8th Alberta Valium, Mother’s Day, Che Guevara, Pay Day Loans and #BestMoneyStories
- May 15th Starbucks, Monty Burns and #BestMoneyStories
- May 22nd Coach Money, CPP Up 18 pct, Losing $15B and #BestMoneyStories
- May 29th Easy Money, Better Cell Deals, Dirty Football and #BestMoneyStories
- June 5th Starbucks, Hacked Government Folk and #BestMoneyStories
- June 12th Voldemort for PM, HSBC Cuts 50K, Hockey Talk and #BestMoneyStories
- June 19th Aeroplan Student Loans, Dad’s Day, Kill CSBs and #BestMoneyStories
- June 26th Summer is Here, Canada Day, Christmas and #BestMoneyStories
- July 3rd 2 Day Work Weeks, 4th of July, Greece, and #BestMoneyStories
- July 10th Glitches, Greece, Recessions and #BestMoneyStories
- July 17th Loosest Money, Weddings, Greece and #BestMoneyStories
- July 24th, Family Allowance, Diving Dollar, Access Sharing and #BestMoneyStories
- July 31st, Elections, Heat, Cheap Oil, and #BestMoneyStories
- August 7th, Cheap Gold, Cheap Oil, Weak Dollar, Election Week 1 and #BestMoneyStories
- August 14th, RDSPs, Thrifty NFLers , Election Ho Hum and #BestMoneyStories
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Thanks for the mention, hope you are enjoying the weekend!
Mark
Don’t die early — good advice 🙂 Thanks for the mention.
I hope to follow that exact advice myself.