I was saddened to hear of the death of Stuart McLean, host of the Vinyle Cafe. That radio show was truly a slice of Canadiana , and the good nature and happiness in the stories told will be sorely lost. Now is a time when we could use more of Stuart’s stories, and less of the other things on the radio.
Really not sure whether this Joe Trudeau chap has the chops to be PM.
For those who have not watched the 5th Estate piece on Betrayal of Trust outlining the 220 lawyers disciplined over the past 6 years for misappropriating over $160M from clients, well worth watching. Do you trust the folks you entrust with your money?
So far, Ottawa has had snow pretty much every day in February (except one), so we are quite the winter wonderland. As the cardinal on my birdfeeder can see, no one seems that happy about all this snow.
For those lovers of Monopoly out there, note the passing of the Thimble as a piece for a player, it will be dropped in future Monopoly sets. I don’t know many folks who will miss it (my Mum used to like to be the thimble).
My Writings for the Week Ending February 17th
We did have a Surprising Job Picture in Canada in January, with jobs created when none were expected. The economy continues to create part-time jobs, but maybe that is what the economy needs.
A Money Thought
We need more kids asking for personal finance education at schools!
Will the Snow Ever Go?
It has snowed pretty much every day of February here in the Nation’s Capital. Most of us are fed up with it, but that hasn’t stopped some of my favourite sites from publishing great stories this week.
- I have written about the most important thing for your retirement. Mark from My Own Advisor, hits the nail on the head with, Health is wealth don’t forget this when planning for retirement
- According to Global News about 51% of Canadians asked thought that if they paid off their monthly balance, they would not pay interest on cash advances? Surely shows Canadians still struggle with basic financial rules, rights: study. Yikes.
- Have you filed your taxes yet? Robb from Boomer and Echo has Tax Tips From An Eager Tax Filer , I don’t get my T4 until the end of February (maybe), so I can’t do much yet.
- If you are running a small business, the Blunt Bean Counter has some advice (or an opinion) on a very interesting topic, The Salary vs Dividend Dilemma 2017 Version – What Small Business Owners Need to Know
- BNN’s correspondent Captain Obvious reports , BMO declares Toronto housing bubble amid dangerously hot prices. In the news, also, it snowed in Ottawa this week.
- Kerry from Squawkfox was on the CBC talking about Kids and Money, a video well worth watching
- Do you want to learn about Dividend investing? Tawcan brings us How to Start Investing in Dividend Stocks (and ETFs too). A good intro for folks who are curious.
- How to Save Money asks, is this The Year You Start Investing ? If not, why not?
- Barry from Money We Have, hits a good topic, What to do if you Have too Much Debt.
- Million Dollar Journey gives us a very useful article for those looking at retirement with, 5 Useful Retirement Calculators How Much Do You Need to Retire?
- Rob Carrick included my piece on the Business of University Fees, in his Globe and Mail article, Zero per cent financing can cost you more when buying some cars, so lots of new readers for a few days.
- Should both spouses in a marriage understand the finances? Michael James replied to that question. You can read his opinion in, Money Skills and Spouses
Podcasts our Financial Friend
I am an audio learner (i.e. I hate reading but I love listening). With that in mind here is another episode from one of my favorite podcasts. I was on it once, which was cool.
2016 Random Thoughts Year End
- RRSP , Tax , TFSA , RESP, and RDSP Time and #MoneyTalk (February 10th)
- Year of the Fire Rooster, Financial Groundhog Day and #MoneyTalk(February 3rd)
- Alternate Financial Facts, 1984 and #Moneytalk (January 27th)
- Bungled Mortgages, Friday the 13th and #Moneytalk (January 13th)
- Merry New Year, CPP, EI and #MoneyTalk (January 6th)
