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Quebec Proud

La Fête nationale, Enhanced CPP and #MoneyTalk

A bit of fun from 2016 but also a Celebration of St-Jean Baptiste Day or La Fête nationale in Quebec (land of my birth).

For those of you who did not grow up in Quebec, today is La Fête National or St. Jean Baptiste day, typically the start of the summer in Quebec. For me it was always the end of school, but that was 40 years ago. The rest of Canada waits for July 1st for the summer to really start (next Friday).

Quebec Proud
Gens Du Pays, c’est à ton tour…

It seems the Canada Pension Plan is being revised to help Canadians retire. It seems to be to protect younger folks so more money is saved for their retirement, we will all pay higher premiums (phased in over the next little while), and the maximum payout will increase over time (but if you are already retired, you won’t benefit from this). I am still investigating, whether this will change much for someone like me who might retire within the next 5 to 8 years. I am searching for an actual Government document that explains the changes, nothing seems to exist yet. Is this a good thing? As usual, I will reserve commentary until I read an official document.

How will all of this change my retirement plans? I will comment when I can figure out how this new system works with my pension, but I suspect, at the end of it all, it won’t change my retirement plans much, but, I (55 year old) am not the demographic that these changes were put in place to help.

Will the Rio Olympics end up like the 1980 Moscow Games and the 1984 Los Angeles Games? There are many folks saying they will not be attending (or are being told they can’t attend), for many reasons. Is the Olympic movement still relevant? Yes, I think. However, the Olympic organization seems suspect.

The Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Championship, how much money does that mean to the City of Cleveland? It will certainly mean less jokes about Cleveland, well, maybe not. Is Lebron James better than Michael Jordan? Not in my opinion, and the Warriors team from this year is not better than the 95-96 Chicago Bulls, but, only my opinion.

My Writings for Week of La Fete National

Another slack week for me, only writing one article, but to me, an important article, that needed to be written. RDSP the Savings Plan Nobody Knows About, came from a discussion I had with another parent about the Registered Disability Savings Plan, and how the people who seem to know the most about the program, are those who are trying to use it (not the folks who offer it, like the banks).

A Money Thought

People get very offended when you tell them how to raise their child, unless you wrote a book about it. Then they’ll pay you for it.  -ShowerThoughts Reddit

The same is true for Personal Finance.

If you had all the money in the world, you wouldn’t be able to spend it, as no one else would use currency.  -More Shower Thoughts on Reddit

Read More »La Fête nationale, Enhanced CPP and #MoneyTalk
RDSP

RDSP the Savings Plan Nobody Knows About

RDSP the savings plan nobody knows about, is a sad statement about our Banks and Financial Institutions (and the Government too). The RDSP is important!

Dad Day

Happy Father’s Day

To all those fathers out there I wish you a Happy Father’s Day, and remember to call your Dad and just tell him you are OK, and are thinking of him.

Twitter Icon

Fathers Day, Trump Housing Bubble, and #MoneyTalk

I hope you realize that Sunday is Father’s Day, formerly the year when the most collect (i.e. reversed charges) phone calls happened (I bet some folks will have to Google what that means). As I have said, Dad wants to know you are OK. As long as your Mother knows everything, Dad wants to know you are OK.

Stats Canada published a neat survey about the Diversity of young adults living with their parents (speaking of Father’s Day), highlighting the number of young folks still living with their parents. The telling statistic that I read in the report was:

Of the 4.3 million young adults aged 20 to 29 in 2011, 42% (or 1.8 million) lived with their parents. This compared with 27% in 1981.

That is a lot of folks still living at home. Some financial folks say it is a symptom of the housing bubbles in major cities. I don’t think I agree. I have stated before that young folk should not aspire to live their parents’ lifestyle when they first move away from home, but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

Given the current political climate in the United States and the possibility of a Trump presidency, it is imperative to remember that Canada is a welcoming nation. However, it is crucial to note that firearms are strictly prohibited in Canada. This scenario could result in a large influx of American citizens migrating to Canada, similar to the Draft Dodgers who arrived in Toronto during the mid-1960s, providing a significant boost to the Canadian economy. However, a pressing question to consider is whether the sudden influx of “Yankee Dollars” would result in even more inflation in the already overpriced housing market, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, the most likely destinations for our American cousins. Although a condo in Toronto may seem exorbitant, it could appear reasonable if one were to receive a 25% discount due to a low Canadian Dollar.

My Writings for Week Ending June 17th

Not much writing this week, busy time of the year, and after watching the Last Week Tonight Video, I am starting to wonder why I write.

Stealing an idea from Mr. Oliver, I wrote No Good News Has Been Delivered Using Excel now. Please don’t take this as me dumping on Excel. It is an exceptional tool, which anybody doing anything financial should be proficient in using the device. My commentary is based on the fact that if someone sends you an Excel spreadsheet, its news cannot be made to look good.

Video of the Week

I usually include a video at the end of this article, but John Oliver has (in 20 minutes) summed up pretty much everything I have ranted about for the past 11 years, so have a watch of this, but keep reading my stuff too.

Read More »Fathers Day, Trump Housing Bubble, and #MoneyTalk
close up photo of survey spreadsheet

No Good News Has Been Delivered Using Excel

If someone presents information to you in a meeting delivered using excel only, it is never (ever) good news.

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