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Winter Sucks

Farewell Vinyl Cafe, Snow, Monopoly and #MoneyTalk

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.

Winter Sucks
Mr. Cardinal Confirms, Winter Sucks

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!

Read More »Farewell Vinyl Cafe, Snow, Monopoly and #MoneyTalk
Stats Canada

Surprising Job Picture in Canada in January

The Canadian Economy had a surprising job picture in January 2017, in that new (part-time) jobs were created, when none were expected

Ballet

RRSP , Tax , TFSA , RESP, and RDSP Time and #MoneyTalk

This is the time of the year when people get bombarded with a plethora of financial advice. Some might say that it’s RRSP season, while others might claim that it’s Tax Preparation season. But let’s not forget about TFSA season. It’s not just these financial aspects that you need to consider; it’s also RESP season and, for some, RDSP season. If you’re planning your finances and have children, it’s imperative to include RESP in your discussions. So, make sure you don’t miss out on RRSP, Tax, TFSA, RESP, or RDSP season.

Ballet
RRSP, Tax, TFSA, RESP, RDSP or Dance Season?
Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti, at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The decision point for a lot of parents is always confusing but allow me two possible lines of attack for your financial decisions in February:

RRSP Pas De Deux

  • Put an amount of money into your RRSP (assuming you have spare cash, and no debt to pay off, if you have debt, pay off debt)
  • From the Refund that you receive (remember you are only deferring your tax on this money, they should really rename the thing, the Registered Tax Deferal Program)
    • ½ of the money into your TFSA, to build up (tax free) the tax you will need to pay when you take the money out of your RRSP.
    • ½ of the refund into your child’s (or childs’) RESP up to the max for the year. The RESP payment will get you added money from the government too.

RRSP Grand Jete (redux)

  • Put an amount of money into your RRSP (assuming you have spare cash, and no debt to pay off, if you have debt, pay off debt)
  • From the refund (again only deferred tax here), do the following
    • ½ of the refund up to the max for the year to your family member’s RDSP
    • ½ of the refund up to the max put into your kids’ RESP
    • Any remaining moneys put into your TFSA to build up the Tax Payment needed to take your money out of your RRSP.

The funny thing I see online is that many writers do not consider that many folks have many different registered accounts that “need to be fed.”

My Writings for Week Ending February 10th

This week I saw an excellent article on the Stats Canada Web site, which inspired me, You are Spending More, where I compare the numbers in the Stats Canada report and report and contrast them. You can use these numbers to help plan your financial future if you are not tracking your numbers.

A Money Thought

As usual, the folks at the Fraser Institute pokes at the Public Service with their latest report on the differences between the Public and Private sector employees.

Read More »RRSP , Tax , TFSA , RESP, and RDSP Time and #MoneyTalk
Stats Canada

You Are Spending More

In 2015, Canadians were spending more, according to Stats Canada, and it is not just inflationary spending, more was being spent across the board.

Five Dollars

Year of the Fire Rooster, Financial Groundhog Day and #MoneyTalk

Yesterday, a rodent may or may not have seen his or her shadow and winter may or may not be ending sooner or later. What would financial ground-hog day be like ? This happens pretty much every month, when the Bank of Canada sets key interest rates, maybe they decide on the basis of the Governor seeing his own shadow? No, but that is a worthwhile indicator I suppose.

Financial groundhog day
Year of the Fire Rooster a 13 month long year.

It is the year of the Fire Rooster, to our friends who observe the Chinese Lunar Calendar. If you are a Rooster, this may not be a good year for you, but I still enjoy the Festive Celebrations for this new year. We shall see how fortunate a year it ends up being, but it will be a long year, with 13 months .

In Ottawa we begin Winterlude , the festival celebrating the winter here. The weather rarely co-operates, it is either too warm and the canal melts or so cold no one wishes to be outside. The forecasts suggest  this might be a good year to enjoy the festival.

My Writings for Week Ending February 3rd

I have been meaning to publish this week’s article for a while, but wasn’t sure whether I got it right. I have been approached by a few “Promoters” of companies that charge a fee (or percentage) to help folks get their Disability Tax Credit, and I have ignored their offers, as I feel they are taking advantage with their fees. When I came upon Bill C-462 I thought that finally the government was agreeing with my opinion, however, as I wrote in Bill C-462 : Protecting Disabled Canadians or a Paper Tiger ? it seems this act is dead on arrival.

If anyone has any more insight on this, please contact me as I am very interested to find out whether this Act will ever be put into practice.

Editor’s Note: I have now included the last update date on all my articles, so you can see that those that I may “reprint” in social media, has usually been updated (or edit’ed to make it more readable).

Read More »Year of the Fire Rooster, Financial Groundhog Day and #MoneyTalk
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