The CBC had a report this week from a TD Teller, who says that he or she is expected to reach goals selling (sometimes unwanted) customer services. This teller stated, ‘I will do anything I can to make my goal‘. Am I surprised by teller up selling ? Absolutely not, every teller I have dealt with lately has engaged me about new services at the bank. I get harder sells at my bank than I have at car dealerships. As Michael James has said, Canadian Banks are losing income streams, so they must work hard to get new income streams. Expect teller up selling , just have a polite (but firm) negative response ready.
I am not sure how to politely tell the teller, Sod off, I don’t need credit insurance!, or “No I don’t want to get another credit card“.
Auto-filling has come to the world of Canadian Income Taxes, isn’t it great! I did get a cautionary comment from a reader, to be very careful and make sure the CRA has all of your tax slips before you auto-file. Strangely you can’t blame the CRA for not having all your forms ready.
How goes your Lenten Financial journey? Mine so far is stinking it up big time, but there is time to adjust and fix my plans. Remember it is a journey, not a true false test.
My Writings for the Week Ending March 10th
A quieter week than last week with only 1 article, but an important reminder that it is Tax season with, Tax Tips to Remember 2017 (which is for tax year 2016). Lots of new wrinkles in the system, make sure you get back all the money you are owed. I have had discussions with other financial writers about the TFSA being misnamed. The TFSA makes people think it is a Tax Free Banking Account , which it can be, but not necessarily. Is it just semantics? Not if you are trying to save money.
A Money Thought
An excellent Dilbert cartoon about your level of Risk Tolerance
Clocks Going Forward Time
(Image courtesy of Nutdanai Apikhomboonwaroot,at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
It is tha time of the year, when we lose an hour of sleep, and put our clocks forward for the Spring. Let us Spring forward with some great financial reads for this weekend.
- I have been holding onto two Bank Stocks in one of my RRSPs, and the Blunt Bean Counter asks a very good question, Legacy Stocks – To Sell or Not Sell? That is the Question? I think I should sell sometime soon, but when?
- Mark from My Own Advisor, wants to help you lower your house expenses with, $5 bucks per month – why I’m still with Fongo Home Phone, sounds like an interesting service.
- For those of you still worried about your nutty neighbours down south, Barry from Money We Have wants to help you with, Worried About Trump? Here’s What to do With Your Money .
- Half-Banked brings us the other way to increase your savings, with her article, The Real Truth About How I Save Half My Income. Another way of increasing your saving percentage, but maybe lowering your spending could help too.
- Do you like the Internet of Things? Wired gives us a cautionary tale with Security News This Week: An IoT Teddy Bear Leaked Millions of Parent and Child Voice Recordings . Yes this happens folks.
- Wal-Mart keeps trying to attract new customers, and a new site (for me) brings us, Walmart Grocery Pickup Review 2017 . This site is not actually new, but it has been around longer than me!
- Robb from Boomer and Echo points out he has an easy Portfolio, with Why My Four-Minute Portfolio Is Tough To Beat.
- Michael James is back on the beat with Tangerine Adds Some New Fees , which is disappointing, given this has been a good online bank, but they seem to be sliding towards the big banks.
March Break Tip
The OPP has a great tip for folks who might be lucky enough to be going on vacation this March Break:
2017 Random Thoughts
- Lent Begins, Loose Money and #MoneyTalk (March 3rd )
- RRSP Season, Tax Time, and #MoneyTalk (February 24th )
- Farewell Vinyl Café, Snow, Monopoly and #MoneyTalk (February 17th )
- 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)
