Best of

Why would anyone celebrate the opening of an IKEA in Halifax? One reason is there are no IKEA stores in the Maritimes. The closest one is in Quebec, and there are companies that will charge to ship IKEA kits to folks in the Maritimes, but now that is all changed. The Halifax IKEA is now open, and now Maritimers can enjoy meatballs, hot dogs and using Allen keys to build things. Remember to follow the instructions! Follow Squawkfox’s instructions on How to Survive a trip to IKEA. Evidently IKEA stuff is hard to put together so they bought a start up to help you ?

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Why do I know so much about IKEA and the Maritimes? I once made an IKEA run for my daughter from Ottawa to Wolfville to drop off her furniture. Would have been nice to have an IKEA closer by, back then.

President Trump unveiled his new tax plan this week, and it looks interesting, but as with all revised systems, the devil is in the details. In the USA, you can tell the former Canadians, because when an American complains about how high their taxes are, Canadian is the one that chuckles quietly in the background. The Highest tax rate in this new system will be 35% (maybe), in Canada the Federal Highest Tax Bracket is 33%, but remember we do have provincial tax to go with that. Whenever I hear tax reform is coming, I remember to hide more money in my mattress (figuratively speaking).

Pumpkin spice ETF? What is that? Well it is the only place I have not seen those descriptors used. Isn’t pumpkin spice just nutmeg?

Recent Writings

I keep hearing how advice from the past is no longer valid for investing, but I disagree. With Three Investment Credo from the Past  I point out that three good points from the past in investing are still quite valid. You can lose money with any investment, keep this in mind.

Good Money Podcasts outlines a few great Podcasts, from Canada, but also points to the Debt Free in 30 Podcast specifically. I was on with Doug Hoyes, and we talked about what happens when a 47 year old gets laid off. Which 47-year-old? Who do you think? Doug is in bankruptcy, and there is always jobs there.

Micro Blogging on Finance

I think Doug is taking a little poetic license on this one, although some say it just might be!

Tax discussions continue in the media with both sides of the argument claiming the other is misleading the public (on the usage of incorporation for individuals, to be specific). The tax change will not change my life, except that most of my doctors are threatening to move to the USA if it happens, but I am curious. If the law is passed, what smart accountant will find the “wrinkle” in the tax laws to allow for money sheltering? As usual I don’t feel I know enough to say if either side is “pleine de merde” or not.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Given all the hurricanes lately in the states, are you aware that hurricane insurance and flood insurance are two different things? I didn’t realize that, and I don’t think I need hurricane insurance in Ottawa, but do I need flood insurance? Wonder if I need thermo-nuclear attack insurance, given North Korea’s continued sabre rattling? Is that covered under some other policy?

I took my first Uber this week, didn’t seem that cheap to me, but it was during the work day, and I was going to an out-of-the-way place, but so far the hype of this outstrips my experience. Driver seemed like a nice guy, payment using my phone seemed OK too, but seemed like a Taxi to me.

The Canadian Financial Summit happened on-line and you can have a look at the talks. Some are quite interesting, oh and here is my tip (I offered to do this as a presentation):

My perspective on these talks is you should take all advice (including this) as a lexicon of ideas and find what works for you. Luckily no one is espousing how short-term loan companies are really our friends.

Recent Writings

I keep hearing from co-workers about how banks are forcing them to open bank accounts with them, if they have a loan with the bank, and that is where Bank Accounts and Loans came from. The Banks have the right to ask this of their customers, but their potential customers also can decline.

Micro Blogging on Finance

Boomer and Echo came up with a very powerful tweet, which I liked a great deal.

Holy cow, interest rates went up another ¼ point this week, and the media is wetting itself. Indeed it is time to panic? Not yet, but a single jump could have been an isolated event. Two could signify a trend. Was this not expected? This is the only question to ask. The Canadian economy seems to have gone off the rails in terms of growth, and the Bank of Canada feels it needs to put the brakes on things, so this looks like a trend.

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

The Canadian Dollar has jumped in reaction to this rate rise. Your Canadian Dollar can buy more, but your Canadian products are now more expensive on the open market too.

My vacation didn’t go that well, but I did have a friendly conversation with Doug Hoyes. Doug will attempt to make it sound coherent, and there will be a podcast about a few things soon. Doug is an engaging chap to chat with, given he is a Bankruptcy trustee. Before you claim bankruptcy, I learned that you need to show your spending habits and all your assets to the trustee. Maybe folks should do that now, so they can figure out where the problems are before you call Doug?

Gasoline is back to over $1.20 a litre in Ottawa, and it is not likely to drop any time soon is the predictions from Gas Buddy and such. I guess I am glad I drive a Corolla. It might be time to look at electric cars, or better still, go back to a single vehicle for the family.

The NFL season has begun, and I wonder how long this sport will continue? I have loved football my entire life, especially the NFL, but given the concussion findings coming out, I wonder how much longer the sport can continue? Some have suggested that better equipment might change things, but I am not optimistic. I guess that football has about 10-15 years until it will fade away. Economically, what will the economic impact of this multi-billion dollar industry disappearing have?

Recent Writings

No, I am not getting into the travel blogging world. Far too competitive. The Big Cajun family went on vacation, so we figured we’d publish some Big Cajun Vacation Tips. The vacation didn’t go as expected with my son getting nasty strep throat, but it was still enjoyable. I also did a bit of work, chatting with Doug Hoyes, there is a Podcast planned out of those sessions.

What is the Importance of Financial Reports? Do you put together IKEA furniture without reading the instructions? Why don’t you read your financial reports? You need to be at least able to understand your Credit Card Bills and Bank statements, or you will be in trouble.

I tip my hat to David Letterman with Stupid Bank Tricks, showing some of the things I have done to make my bank help my financial plan.

How much would parents be willing to pay adult (over 18) children to move out of their house? According to the CIBC it is $24000 , which is a nice round number. I have written about Kippers and children living with their parents, so this data is of interest to me. The CIBC Gifting Poll, suggests there really is a magic number that parents are willing to shell out to get kids to move out. The poll mentions how “… gifts shouldn’t come with strings attached…” but I have no problem, calling a bribe, a bribe.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Another interesting point is the flood of inheritance money that will be unleashed as the baby boomers pass on their amassed fortunes ($750 Billion over the next decade?). I don’t know many folks that speak openly of inheritance money they expect, but if you know for sure you are receiving it, shouldn’t this be part of your financial plans? It sounds quite crass, but if the money will be arriving some time, why not add it to your plan?

I was disgusted to read that Sears employees are not getting their severance payments, yet, executives are having their bonuses paid. This cuts too close to the bone for a former Nortel employee. Nortel is finally paying out to their former employees (at pennies on the dollar), what the employees are owed. This kind of business bad practices that really does get under my skin.

I think the deepest thought I read in while was, “Hipsters listen to the Best Of albums, but real fans listen to the complete original LPs”. It is deep because there are so many parts of that phrase that my children wouldn’t understand. What is a Best Of album? What is an LP?

Next thing know that this was a major advancement in engineering and finance.

I Wrote This Week?

Yes, I did write this week. I have been working a very loose schedule for the past while, I am hoping to step up the pace a bit more soon, but this week I wrote Low Inflation Means No More Interest Hikes ? Will the continued low inflation keep the interest rates low? I don’t think so. The Bank of Canada has been fairly clear that there is too much stimulation in the economy with low interest rates. I am assuming there will be at least another 1/2 point raise of rates if not more, but low inflation may slow other rate increases?

Micro Blogging

I am experimenting with tweets and Facebook posts that are not full stories, but get a point across about the economy, witness this GIC commentary. I would bet there might be a few millenials that might have asked, what is a GIC?