February’s new symbol in Ottawa is the Pothole. Due to the quick temperature swings, we have been experiencing, the roads are slowly deteriorating, and the size of the potholes cannot be discerned until you hit them. I think big money will be in realignment, hub replacements and tire repair because some of these potholes (or sinkholes) are pretty deep. They are as inevitable as tuition increases!
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My Alma Mater (the University of Waterloo) announced their new fees schedule, and tuition and all associated fees continue to track higher than inflation. Undergraduate tuition will rise by about 3%. However, co-op fees will increase by 2.8%. If you are planning to help your kids with University Costs, you need to know that you should prepare for these tuition increases every year. I don’t mean to pick on Yuppy U., but at least they publish this information.
RRSPs continue to be the non-topic for February, with few ads being seen. There are more ads for PayDay Loans and Short Term Loans than for RRSPs. The only thing people care about less is the Roll up the Rim at Timmy’s. What is going on in Canada? The next thing I’ll hear is that a Canadian Tuxedo has gone out of fashion!
The CRTC has rejected a call for a public inquiry into the big Telcos and Telecomm companies? It must mean that the frequent visitors at my front door, on my phone and in my mailbox must be my imagination. Well, that puts my mind at ease. The Canadian Telcos have it too darn easy, and what we pay for Mobile Phones, Internet and Cable is just too damn high.
This Flu season does seem to be a nasty one, with a second-round coming at us. I have noticed more folks sick at the office and more folks coming to work to share their illness. I got a flu shot for the first time this year so far, I don’t seem to have caught the Flu, but I guess I might be speaking prematurely?
Tangerine went a bit berserk a week or two ago and sent me countless tax forms in my emails (in both languages). I only have one account, so I’m not sure why I got that many emails, but I got an email saying they knew they sent them, but no real explanation why.
My Recent Writings
I guess I got caught up in the Olympics and work and ended up not writing anything new this week, but as I have mentioned, if you follow my Twitter feed, you will get a hefty dose of my archives as well. Remember that RRSP season can also be RRSP Re-Balancing season too.
Micro Blogging on Finance
The City of Hamilton is looking into limiting the number of PayDay loan places, and I am all for it. Our friend Doug Hoyes spoke, but this graphic did hit me.
Financial Lent Continues
Are you trying anything new financially during this season of Lent? I want to give up Potholes, but I don’t think that counts.
- CBC talks about, As federal Phoenix payroll fiasco hits 2-year mark, families continue to bear brunt of it, and yes I have been Phoenix’ed, and it is not a lot of fun.
- Canadian Financial DIY brings us a Book Review: The Essential Retirement Guide by Frederick Vettese. A contrarian view on retirement savings, that I am not sure I agree with, but I will try to take it out of the library on the basis of the review.
- Rob Carrick wrote about Sexually transmitted debt is a worry for young adults, a very click-bait title, but still an important topic. If your partner and you have differing financial concepts, this could be a big problem with any relationship. Don’t confuse this with my series on Teenage Sex: Debt is like Teenage Sex, Financial First Date Questions, or Debt Reduction is like Teenage Sex, both quite spicy!
- Michael James wants to help you Measuring Returns in Different Currencies. Remember the important part of investing is figuring out when you are succeeding and when you are failing, and if you don’t know how to measure returns, how do you know if you are succeeding?
Scary Stock Markets?
Preet B. made another excellent video for the Globe to help reassure new investors, and it is well worth watching.
The New 2018 Random Thoughts
- RRSP, Lent, Happy Year of the Dog and #MoneyTalk (February 16th)
- Roller Coaster Markets , Olympics and #Moneytalk (February 9th)
- Superb Owls, RDSP Deposit and #MoneyTalk (February 2nd)
- OHIP Overload, Doomsday minus 2 minutes, and #MoneyTalk (January 26th)
- Tighter Money, Best Investment, Go North! and #MoneyTalk (January 19th)
- Paper Delivery, Bitcoin and #MoneyTalk (January 12th)
- Polar Vortexes, Minimum Wage and #MoneyTalk (January 4th)
End of 2017 Random Thoughts
- Winter, Inflation and Christmas are Here and #Moneytalk (December 22nd)
- Canadians Owe More , Polar Temps, CPP Survivor Benefits and #MoneyTalk (December 15th)
- DTC Changes, Christmas Present Ideas, Fraud and #MoneyTalk (December 8th)
- Unlocking Phones, Raiding Parents’ RRSP, Household Debt and #Moneytalk (December 1st)
- What is your price, Black Friday, Phoenix and #MoneyTalk (November 24th)
- We Shall Remember, Paradise Papers, Tax Cheats and #MoneyTalk #FLM2017 (November 10th)
- Fall Back, Farewell PC Financial, and #MoneyTalk #FLM2017 (November 3rd)
- Mortgage Tests, Thanks Gord and Bombardier and #Moneytalk (October 20th)
- Halifax Ikea, New Tax Plans, Pumpkin Spice ETFs and #MoneyTalk (September 29th)
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Timmys is not Canadian anymore! People know that. Then the ones buy coffee complains about not winning.We are lucky to have free flu shots. It may not be 100% effective. I usually get it every year. So far so good. People are just realizing TFSA is better for lower and middle income people.