Best of

Christmas is finally here, and I urge you to make the most of this festive season with your family and friends. Don’t forget to make your contribution to charity during this time, especially if you are fortunate enough to have extra to spare. Your generosity will help make a difference in someone’s life and bring them joy this Christmas. Remember, charity should be a mandatory part of your financial planning, so make sure to prioritize it when planning for the new year. Let’s spread the joy and make this Christmas season a memorable one for all.

The CRTC announced on Thursday that High-Speed Internet access is a right for all Canadians. The line I like the most in the report was:

High quality and reliable digital connectivity is essential for the quality of life of Canadians and Canada’s economic prosperity.

– Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman and CEO, CRTC

Will this somehow cause the big Internet Service providers in Canada to ensure affordable (yet high-quality) solutions are available to all Canadians? My skepticism meter is reading high that things will change without a legislated solution (but we saw how well the $25 cable TV solution did). It would be a Merry Christmas if everyone could have access to basic internet, which is defined as:

• speeds of 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download/10 Mbps upload for fixed broadband Internet access services.
• an unlimited data option for fixed broadband access services.
• the latest mobile wireless technology available not only in homes and businesses, but also along major Canadian roads.

Stats Canada published the November Consumer Price Index numbers, and year over year inflation is running at a lowly 1.2% but is it really? After a cursory look, it seems that it might be good this month, with Food being a category where prices actually dropped.

As we have learned, there is a much more detailed report for the CPI, which answers a few more questions for us and gives us some tangible highlights:

Main contributors to the 12-month change in the CPI:

Main upward contributors:

1. Purchase of passenger vehicles (+3.0%)
2. Homeowners’ replacement cost (+4.4%)
3. Food purchased from restaurants (+2.5%)
4. Electricity (+3.5%)
5. Homeowners’ home and mortgage insurance (+4.4%)

Main downward contributors:

1. Gasoline (-1.7%)
2. Fresh vegetables (-4.7%)
3. Meat (-2.0%)
4. Fresh fruit (-4.5%)
5. Travel tours (-4.2%)

The fact that Gas is down in price is not nearly as interesting as to how Fresh Veggies, Fruit and Meat are down in price. This is actually good news (for now); however, remember the prices on those foodstuffs have been going up big time over the whole summer. On the downside of things, Electricity prices continue to rise, not a good thing to see going into this Winter.

My Writings for Week Ending December 23rd

As most of my regular readers know, I am not a very big fan of New Year’s Resolutions, but having a financial plan for 2017 (financially) is a prudent thing to do, so thus I give you Smart Financial Goals for 2017. However, you want to motivate yourself to plan for the New Year as your business, get a plan down, and start using it.

I found 8 Holiday Ideas to Save Money in my archive of unfinished stories, so I dusted it off and published it for a small Ho Ho Ho for this Christmas season. It is a sarcastic commentary, but would you expect anything less from me?

Read More »Merry Christmas, Highspeed Internet a right, Inflation at 1.2 and #MoneyTalk

The Federal Reserve in the United States in December 2016, hiked its key rate from 0.5% to 0.75%, marking the first time in a year and only the second time this decade. This rate hike is a significant increase of 50%, and it is imperative to understand its impact on Canada. Although it is uncertain what actions Canada will take, it is unlikely that it will follow the US’s lead. We must stay vigilant and be prepared for any changes that may arise with the upcoming presidency of Mr. Trump. I highly recommend reading various articles analyzing the interest rate hike to stay informed and updated on this crucial matter.

The most intriguing part of the announcement is that there were 3 planned rate increases for 2017. This was in reaction to an inflationary trend in the States. Canada may not have reacted with an interest rate hike right away, but a reaction seems likely (unless gas jumps to $120 a barrel, in which case the Canadian economy will be back in boom mode).

What should you have done about this? Lower your debt, now, before it become more expensive to hold, thanks to these interest rate hikes.

The TFSA limit for 2017 is going back to being $5500 (you should know this for your end of year and start of 2017 financial planning). Doesn’t look like the limit is going to go up in 2018 either, which sucks. Don’t be financially stupid, still take advantage of the TFSA program (even if the rates suck).

My Writings for Week Ending December 16th

With the holidays next week, and getting together with family and friends, I wanted to help out with those interactions with my simple idea, Christmas Advice: How to Deal with Uncle Frank the Financial Expert. Every family has the one relative who is a know-it-all and wants to tell you what you are doing wrong.

A Money Thought

The CRA likes to think they can help out with your end of year account close outs, and remember to give this holiday season.

Planning to donate over the holidays? Calculate what you’ll receive in tax credits with this easy tool: https://t.co/XQontdQPfG

— Canada Revenue Agency (@CanRevAgency) December 15, 2016

Read More »Interest Rate Hikes, TFSA Limits and #Moneytalk

Air Miles has finally capitulated and will not expire 5-year-old miles starting on January 1st, which is a victory for consumer advocacy folks like Ellen Roseman and Robb Engen who have fought this decision very hard. Is this the end of this whole thing in the news? Maybe not, as folks are now complaining that they spent their miles quickly when they heard of the initial decision and are now upset they didn’t have a chance to keep accumulating points.

Advent has begun so you can now put up all your decorations are garlands and the like, but so many of you already had stuff up Mid-November didn’t you? At least try to follow the Church’s calendar for that stuff.

Whenever something is in the news, it brings out the scum, as we are now seeing with the Phoenix payment system that the federal government has tried to get running for a while. Luckily I have had no issues, but some folks are not getting paid, while others are being overpaid, and that is where the story starts to get interesting. There are folks evidently calling Civil Servants and saying they are from the Phoenix pay system and they want their money back (only, no one is doing that right now evidently). These scammers are trying to make some quick dough off a flawed government system.

My Writings for Week Ending December 2nd

A simple little bit of writing for me this week with Debt is a Four Letter word. I was positive I had already written that exact story, however, after I heard our friend Preet B. use it, I went into my archives and found that I had not written something with that exact title. I have said there is no such thing as good debt, but not that Debt is an obscenity.

Read More »Air Miles Blinks, Advent Begins and #Moneytalk