2016 has been a real pain in the arse, especially in terms of news and music. It is safe to say that most people are looking forward to seeing the back of it. However, I have a thought-provoking question for you. Do you think the famous individuals who passed away in 2016 anticipated what 2017 has in store and decided to leave early? This is a deep thought from BCM for 2016, and I firmly believe that this year cannot end soon enough.
Have you done any of the things you should be doing for the end of year?
Top up your Charitable donations ? Those are counted on the calendar year, you have today to try to get it done (or go to Church on Sunday and they might count it as this year too).
TFSA juggling, if you were planning on taking money out of your TFSA, you should have done it by now, that way you can easily have the deposit space for next year, and you can start paying it back.
It is never too early to put money into your RRSP (if you have room, and don’t have a lot of debts).
Make sure you have paid all of your bills for 2016 as well (quarterly CRA, property tax, etc.,).
Evidently January 2nd is known as Divorce Day, so maybe you should start that early ?
You could always create a financial plan for 2016 as well (never a bad idea either).
My Writings for Week Ending December 30th
I did manage to get a thematic post out this week, discussing the important celebration of Festivus, with Festivus Financial Airing of Grievances, and I have a lot to complain about this year, that is for sure! Next the feats of strength, get ready to rumble, baby!
Christmas is finally here, and I urge you to make the most of this festive season with your family and friends. Don’t forget to make your contribution to charity during this time, especially if you are fortunate enough to have extra to spare. Your generosity will help make a difference in someone’s life and bring them joy this Christmas. Remember, charity should be a mandatory part of your financial planning, so make sure to prioritize it when planning for the new year. Let’s spread the joy and make this Christmas season a memorable one for all.
High quality and reliable digital connectivity is essential for the quality of life of Canadians and Canada’s economic prosperity.
– Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman and CEO, CRTC
Will this somehow cause the big Internet Service providers in Canada to ensure affordable (yet high-quality) solutions are available to all Canadians? My skepticism meter is reading high that things will change without a legislated solution (but we saw how well the $25 cable TV solution did). It would be a Merry Christmas if everyone could have access to basic internet, which is defined as:
speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband Internet access services.
an unlimited data option for fixed broadband access services.
the latest mobile wireless technology available not only in homes and businesses, but also along major Canadian roads.
Inflation By Category (November 2016)
Stats Canada published the November Consumer Price Index numbers, and year over year inflation is running at a lowly 1.2% but is it really? After a cursory look, it seems that it might be good this month, with Food being a category where prices actually dropped.
As we have learned, there is a much more detailed report for the CPI, which answers a few more questions for us and gives us some tangible highlights:
Main contributors to the 12-month change in the CPI:
Main upward contributors:
Purchase of passenger vehicles (+3.0%)
Homeowners’ replacement cost (+4.4%)
Food purchased from restaurants (+2.5%)
Electricity (+3.5%)
Homeowners’ home and mortgage insurance (+4.4%)
Main downward contributors:
Gasoline (-1.7%)
Fresh vegetables (-4.7%)
Meat (-2.0%)
Fresh fruit (-4.5%)
Travel tours (-4.2%)
The fact that Gas is down in price is not nearly as interesting as to how Fresh Veggies, Fruit and Meat are down in price. This is actually good news (for now); however, remember the prices on those foodstuffs have been going up big time over the whole summer. On the downside of things, Electricity prices continue to rise, not a good thing to see going into this Winter.
My Writings for Week Ending December 23rd
As most of my regular readers know, I am not a very big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, but having a financial plan for 2017 (financially) is a prudent thing to do, so thus I give you Smart Financial Goals for 2017. However, you want to motivate yourself to plan for the New Year as your business, get a plan down, and start using it.
I found 8 Holiday Ideas to Save Money in my archive of unfinished stories, so I dusted it off and published it for a small Ho Ho Ho for this Christmas season. It is a sarcastic commentary, but would you expect anything less from me?
Actually I borrowed the idea from our friends at LSM, who had a great article in their Facebook page about Lorne King, talking about Smart Goals, however, his SMART is an FLA (Five Letter Acronym), S.M.A.R.T.… Read More »Smart Financial Goals for the Year
