Suppose you devised a plan to get the UK out of the EU, and it worked. What would you do? If you are Boris Johnson or Nigel Farage, you quit (while you are ahead?). After pulling off one of the more memorable upsets in the past little while, the two prominent faces of the Brexit crew have resigned, and now the UK has very little leadership on either side (having lost Prime Minister Mr. Cameron earlier on, and the Labour Party Leader seems to be under siege as well). Who has the rudder on the excellent ship Brittania? I don’t know, but the markets suggest they are not happy with the current situation. Now might be the time to book a vacation in the UK this summer?
More than once, I have written about how children should aspire to stop living with their parents as soon as possible, and for some, that has been construed as Millenial Bashing (to quote Rob Carrick), and while it does sound like harsh advice, I stand by the statement. Do you know how you learn to live on not much money? By living on not much money (and not living in your parent’s basement, claiming you are saving up for a down payment). My opinion is there are not that many more youngsters are doing this, but the mainstream media has latched onto it, as their cause celebre of the year. If you want to read an excellent book about Millenials and how much better than they are than all previous generations, read Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World (amazon link), well worth reading. My parents complained about me watching too much TV, and yes, I lived with them when I went to University too (for full disclosure).
I was sad to see that the Welsh Football (soccer) team lost in the semi-finals of the European tourney to Portugal, but it is an astounding result for the team (not quite as impressive as Iceland, but still pretty darn good). As I have said, I am the proud son of Welsh and English immigrants, glad to see Wales soccer is improving (Welsh rugby has been severely pounded by New Zealand, unfortunately).
My Writings for Week Ending July 8th
Another week with only 1 article, but hey, it was a long weekend, and it is the summer. I could be like the Blunt Bean Counter and leave up a Gone Golfing notice. More than one person has asked me whether I might be downsizing, as 3/4 of my kids are old enough to move out, but I am not thinking of it (for the next little while). My opinion is that Down Sizing: Another Money Maker for Real Estate Agents, remember it used to be you bought a starter house, and then the one you were going to live in for the rest of your life, now they have added one more major Real Estate transaction, Downsizing! It’s like McDonald’s creating a new meal Brinner (about 3 PM when you are hungry for a snack, have a Big Mac!).
Inflation?
Bank of Canada has some theories for the next two years on the topic of inflation.
No More Half Measures (financially)
Did you like Shop.ca? Well, I didn’t, but it doesn’t matter they have gone under. Do you want to be a Senator? No, not the Hockey Senators, a political Senator? Are you over 30? Apply to be a senator here. I think I will pass, given my current gig. I was saddened to see that the founder of Lee Valley Tools passed away this week. Their store was near an apartment we lived in when we first moved to Ottawa, and that place has whatever you need in terms of tools.
I got a lovely letter from my employer that told me that I could retire on my birthday in 2021. With that in mind, Mark from My Advisor gives us Revisiting our financial freedom assumptions, my primary freedom tool will be my pension (and possibly my huge income from writing this site), but you should constantly revisit your plans.
Barry from Money We Have seems perplexed by some data he came across about young folks’ use of Credit Cards, and he outlines his concerns in Are Millennials not Using Credit Cards? Maybe they are using Daddy’s credit card? Perhaps they are using other financial techniques. Marie comes out with Bartering for Goods and Services, where she agreed with Nelson from FinancialUproar? Will wonders never cease? Those Millenials like Apps (and strangely, that doesn’t mean appetizers) and Frugal Trader writes about some good money apps in My Favorite Personal Finance Apps.
Mutual funds and all of their fees are a topic I dislike, and Michael James discusses this exact topic with a Possible Ban on Trailing Commissions in Canada. The trailing commission game is a topic I dislike, but the biggest problem is that most Mutual Funds customers do not know these fees. Steadyhand chips in with their opinion on the subject of Happy trails. It seems lots of folks don’t like the current system.
Big Money Video
This is where big money will be in 15 years when all those tiny butterflies turn into big fat turkeys! The wrong phrases in the tattoos make me cringe. Please think of the folks with Chinese (or worse gibberish) Glyph on their bodies. Are there folks in Beijing with tattoos like “Win Now Good Shoes”? (I highly doubt it)
2016 Random Thoughts
- January 7th, Market Meltdown, TFSA, WildCard Weekend and #MoneyStories
- January 14th, Cheap Oil, Cheap Dollar, Dead Folk, and #MoneyStories
- January 21st, Loose Money, High Household Debt, Weak Loons and #MoneyStories
- January 29th, Doomsday Clocks, Rogue RRSP Receipts, Cash Crops and #MoneyStories
- February 4th Bouncing Loonies, RRSP Season, Superb Owls and #MoneyStories
- February 12th Lent is Here, Bricked iPhones, Love Day and #MoneyStories
- February 19th Digging Out, Ransomware, RRSP Time and #MoneyStories
- February 26th RRSP Time and #MoneyStories
- March 4th Welcome Americans and #MoneyStories
- March 11th Bank Rate Stays Put, Spring Forward and #MoneyStories
- March 18th Financial March Madness, Budgets and #MoneyStories
- March 25th, Easter is Here and some #MoneyStories
- April 1, Money Fools, Ronnie, and #MoneyStories
- April 8, Tax Time, Spring Delayed, Panama Papers and #MoneyStories
- April 15,Loose Money, Free Stuff, Hockey and #MoneyStories
- April 22,Disabilities, Tax Time, The Queen and #MoneyStories
- April 29,Pitter Patter Tax Time, RESPs are For Rich Folk and #MoneyStories
- May 6, Fort Mac, Mothers and #MoneyTalk
- May 13, Panama Papers, Google & PayDay Loans, Full Moons and #MoneyTalk
- May 20, Victoria Day, The People’s Elbow, Haircuts and #MoneyTalk
- May 27, Loose Money and #MoneyTalk
- June 3, CRA Itunes Pmts, RESP Scams and #MoneyTalk
- June 10, Portal to Hell Opens in Ottawa, BoC FSR and #MoneyTalk
- June 17, Fathers Day, Trump Housing Bubble, and #MoneyTalk
- June 24, Brexit, Fete National, Enhanced CPP and #MoneyTalk
- July 1, Happy Canada Day and Best Mid-Year Financial Stories
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Thanks for the mention. Go Milos!
Yeh, glad to see a Canadian getting it done ! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
The UK looks like a political mess right now. Thanks for the mention.
I think the Queen is actually in charge again!