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Canajun Finances Home » Pitter Patter Tax Time, RESPs are For Rich Folk and #MoneyStories

Pitter Patter Tax Time, RESPs are For Rich Folk and #MoneyStories

It’s important to note that your taxes are due this weekend. As one of my new favorite shows, LetterKenny, would say, “Pitter-Patter, time to get at ‘er!” Don’t forget to keep your eyes on the prize, Sky Chief, when it comes to your money. Therefore, you must take immediate action and complete your taxes on time. Remember, procrastination is not an option! I hope you find this advice helpful.

RESP Piggy Bank
RESP’s Are Savings For Your and Your Child’s Future

There is a new report from the Government about the RESP program and who has benefited from this useful savings vehicle (for parents). The Report entitled “Canada Education Savings Program: Summative Evaluation Report“, and the telling statement in the report (about whom uses RESPs) is:

Furthermore, it was estimated that over $400 million in grants (or 49% of all CESP expenditures) were distributed to families with a household income of $90,000 or more in 2013, of which $280 million (or 32% of CESP expenditures) went to families earning $125,000 or more.

I think this is kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy (i.e. Rich folk are the ones using the program the most), in that more affluent families are more likely to open accounts, and thus more likely to build up grants from it. Very few lower-income families are even aware, that even if they put no money in, they can still build up savings for their kid’s future post-secondary education. While there are groups like SmartSaver.org that are trying to help get the word out, the Government does a poor job educating parents about the benefits of the program for lower-income Canadians.

There was a planned NCFBA semi-periodic meeting planned this week, but thanks to most un-excellent planning on my part things did not transpire as I had hoped. It is always fun to meet with my fellow Financial Blogging folk, because most of them are very interesting folks (you would be surprised what most of them do for their real jobs). It may have been better that I didn’t go, given my son has a terrible cold (I might have infected some of the finest financial minds).

My Writings for Week Ending April 29th

Another week and more odd news from Stats Canada in terms of prices of things, where we continue to be told that drinking gas might be the cheapest way to live? Good Food Still Is Not Cheap in Canada (Inflation for March), outlines how good food is getting more expensive but thanks to cheap gas and oil, we don’t really notice.

Self-Driving Cars Will Change Things, but not just in terms of technology and such, financially. The insurance world is still analyzing what this new technology is going to do to their bottom line. A well-controlled piece of technology, instead of road-raged humans? That equation should mean lower (if not missing) insurance premiums, shouldn’t it?

A Money Thought

Have more than you show, speak less than you know.

Two Certainties, Death and Taxes

I did miss out on the discussions between Preet and Michael James over dinner this week (and trust me I always walk away from those discussions, bewildered, confused but a little smarter than when I went in), so I am not sure if MJ’s latest post might have been spawned from that conversation but A Financial Product I’d Like to See, is an interesting idea for a financial product for retirees.

Speaking of Preet, he has resurrected his blog and his Podcast continues to be on the go as well and this week he has How Online Lenders Compete with Big Banks. Subscribe to this podcast, you will learn stuff! Another person to read is Larry Swedroe and he talks about Swedroe: Equity Offerings & Tail Risk, very complicated (to me) but something you should understand (if you are serious about your trading).

I have always wondered, how, if Mortgage Brokers negotiate with the same banks you do, yet get better rates (that your bank will never give you), and then wonder, where do Mortgage Brokers make their money? Barry from Money We Have might be looking for a Financial Time Machine, with 5 Financial Mistakes I’d Like to do Over, what we call experience is usually our mistakes (after all). Marie from Boomer and Echo talks about compatibility and how couples might deal with that kind of mistake in Financial Planning For Couples: Planning Your New Financial Life Together. Remember money can ruin any relationship if you are not careful.

Mark from My Own Advisor dusted off an older post and refreshed it with What should you do with your tax refund? The first thing is to make sure next year you don’t get a refund (thus you are not loaning the government money), but that is just my opinion. Speaking of Taxes, the Frugal Trader dusted off one of his old articles and updated Reduce your Taxes – Income Splitting Strategies , I am looking forward to the Pension Splitting capabilities when I retire.

Kerry and Last Minute Tax Tips

Heed the warnings of the Squawkfox or be doomed! OK a little over the top, but some useful tips from Kerry about the impending Tax Deadline:

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

Dr. Seuss

2016 Random Thoughts

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 am also on Reddit, Tumblr, Pinterest, Flipboard, Instagram and other Social Media sites (look for the BigCajunMan userid) as well. If you have social media accounts, don’t forget to vote for my posts (see the nifty dashboard on the bottom of each article, where you can cast your votes).As they say in Quebec, vote early and vote often!

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