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Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek

November 7, 2014February 27, 2024
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This week, our friends in the South have politically weakened their President by electing a Republican majority in both the Senate and Congress. This creates a situation where the President is essentially a lame duck. While there are discussions of “working together for a better America” right now, it is expected that by January, there will be talk of impeachment and attempts to undo Obamacare. These developments are likely to make the next couple of years in US politics very interesting. Although Canada has had some not-so-pleasant stories this week about harassment and overspending in elections, US politics always seems to be a more fascinating topic.

Vacation Photo — Me and Mrs. C8j on Vacation MANY Years Ago

For Montreal Expos diehards like me, MLB threw us a few more crumbs of hope, with the Blue Jays playing some exhibition games at the Olympic Stadium in the Spring. Might go down to watch, but I also remember just how old the concrete is at the Big Owe, so maybe I’ll just watch it on TV.

Remember that November is Financial Literacy month here in Canada, so look for Tweets with the #FLM2014 on them, for interesting stories about financial literacy. I am also growing back the Big C8j Mostache for Movember (I shaved it off, and four people thought I was Jim Watson, and no I can’t help you with the parking problem on your street in the Glebe).

Stephen Poloz the new Bank of Canada Czar had a novel way for todays youth to get jobs, that is to work for free. I have always wondered about this whole Intern Works for Free scam that has been going on at many companies, but Mr. Poloz thinks his exact quote is:

When I bump into youths, they ask me, you know, What am I supposed to do in a situation? I say, look, having something unpaid on your CV is very worth it because that’s the one thing you can do to counteract this scarring effect. Get some real-life experience even though you’re discouraged, even if it’s for free

I see where he might be coming from, and it does somewhat make sense (i.e. better to have experience working for free than, “I sat at home and played X-Box” as a statement about that time in your CV ) maybe he could have put it in a way that the media talking heads didn’t have such an easy talking point?

Mrs. C8j and I were immortalized on the Twitter, talking about my retirement plans (currently, not being dead by age 65 is the first thing on the list). Nice picture of us on our last vacation together in 1992 (yeh, that’s 22 years ago). The tweet is at the bottom of this article.

My Writings for Week Ending November 7th

Christmas ads are in the air, it’s dark at 4:30 PM, must mean it is Autumn in Ottawa.

Given this is financial literacy month, I felt it important to start with some Key Financial Rules, and then lampoon them as best I could. Remember a penny saved, is still worthless.
Most folks don’t think about how much it costs when you buy something with a credit card, but you are paying for that privilege, but luckily that transfer fee is now frozen The Cost of a Credit Card Transaction, outlines that.
Keeping in mind it is financial literacy month, maybe you want to ask, What is Financial Literacy ?

Happy Halloween, Income Splitting and #BestThisWeek

October 31, 2014February 27, 2024
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Halloween is finally here, and let’s be honest, it’s all about the money these days. Gone are the times when a simple Jack-O-Lantern would suffice. Nowadays, if you don’t have a spine-chilling decoration that could rival Vincent Price’s movies, you’re a failure in the eyes of your neighbors. I’ll be taking L’il C8j trick-or-treating, but don’t expect him to eat much candy. He has a selective palate. But as for me and my wife, we’ll definitely be indulging in all the sugary treats. After all, what’s Halloween without a little overindulgence? Make sure you don’t end up with any Financial Skeletons in Your Closet after setting up your Halloween Horror House.

Scary Jack o Lantern — That Sure looks scary kids!

Word has it that the upcoming Budget may allow income splitting for families with children under the age of 18 (hopefully with a dispensation for those with disabled children, maybe allowing for this ability after the child reaches the age of 18). The splitting will really mean an ability to transfer up to $50K from one spouse to another (maximum benefit of $2000), but still will help single income families (or families where one spouse makes much less than the other). I started a discussion on reddit about this as well, drop by and be heard.

This is all due to the Government “balancing” the budget (note I put that in quotes), what “balanced” means is simply the Government is simply spending all the money that they earn (while paying maintenance on the existing National Debt). I do not suggest this as a good plan for anyone trying to lower their debt level (i.e. cutting your income).

If Halloween is here, that must mean only one thing (aside from my Daughter’s birthday of course) and that is not to forget to put your clocks back this weekend as well. Yes, it is Fall Back time, where we get an extra hour of sleep and those of us who go into work early in the morning will still get no glimpse of sunlight.

My Writings for Week Ending October 31st

The days are getting shorter and of course this weekend, the clocks go back, so we all have an extra hour of sleep, so more time to read my writings, and luckily it was a sparse week for me, with only two new articles written.

I was very happy to hear from a Twitter follower that TD Waterhouse has updated their RDSP, and I wrote about that with TD Waterhouse RDSP, a step in the right direction.
You realize that it is 85 years since the great stock market crash of 1929, don’t you? This begs the vital question When is the Next Big Stock Market Crash? The answer might surprise you, but some interesting data about the crash, worth looking at as well.
Maybe we need to make sure we Define What Debt Free Means ? I think we do, because banks think Debt-Free means you don’t owe on your credit cards.

Ottawa We Shall Remember, Bank of Canada and #BestThisWeek

October 24, 2014February 27, 2024
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The week was going along just fine until the events of the 22nd showed that no matter how wonderful a place you live, there are always lunatics and zealots who want to ruin it all. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the two brave young men, killed this week, let us hope their deaths are never forgotten, We Shall Remember.

Glad to see the normal reserve of the Canadian TV Media, not wanting to report all the wild stories of the day on Wednesday, but when they started to report “American Claims”, that got a little worrisome. Keep it Classy CBC and CTV, we have journalistic integrity in this country, and I was proud of (most) of your reporting.

For those wondering the Bank of Canada did keep their key overnight lending rate at 1%, however, they did make one interesting statement,

Weighing all of these factors, the Bank judges that the risks to its inflation projection are roughly balanced. Meanwhile, the financial stability risks associated with household imbalances are edging higher. Overall, the balance of risks falls within the zone for which the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate and therefore the target for the overnight rate remains at 1 per cent.

My Writings for Week Ending October 24th

The dark days of the fall continue on, with the days shortening, and we get to enjoy the “go to work in the dark and come home in the dark” that we northerners have this time of year.

Reversing Mutual Fund Transactions was me venting about how TD kept undoing excellent trades, because my trading profile did not reflect my reckless nature (of wanting to purchase bond funds). I am a wild child, when it comes to investing.
I finally swallowed my pride and called AOL to cancel that monthly fee I kept swearing about and thus I wrote Tales of Financial Persistence, because I did have to wait on my speakerphone for over 2 hours to get through. Let us hope the charges stop appearing.
Redux: Real World Example: Kids Allowances is me going back to one of my first bits of writing, and commenting about how a simple idea about making allowances easier to administer, taught me more about money, and such.

Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek

October 17, 2014February 27, 2024
10 Comments

As predicted a market correction is happening (where predicted means, 8 out of the last 2 market corrections have been correctly predicted), and the world is excited. We have the crazed old sages saying, “See I told you!“, others saying, “Nothing to worry about“, and still others saying “this is why you should have an actively traded portfolio“, naturally my philosophy is, “I am an indexer, I don’t care what the Index did this past week“. I buy my Index Funds, I re-balance every 6 months or so (need to get my robo-balancer up) and that is about it. I lived through the great crashes of ’87, ’93, ’00, ’08 and hopefully I’ll live through this as well.

Ebola is here on the North American continent and it has killed as many people this week, as were murdered in Toronto this week, but luckily it is filling every media outlet, all looking for new angles on how to scare the public more. I believe the odds of you getting hit by a car are a little higher than getting Ebola (currently), but those odds may shorten should Ebola become air-borne (cue dramatic music). Yes, it is an important problem, but right now, there is far too much being said about something that isn’t understood (much like money, these days). You are also more likely to die from the Flu this year (than Ebola), but will hospitals be full to the gunnels with folks with the flu thinking they have Ebola? I think so.

The Loonie is at a 5 year low being about 88 cents to the Mighty American Buck, but that will help Canadian exporters (not folks wanting to buy American deals for Christmas though).

Gas is dropping in price again, which will mean screwed up Inflation numbers next month, where I am sure even though food costs 10% more than last year at this time, we will actually be in a state of DEflation. I love how data can be jumbled around to reflect any message you want.

Good news on the Hockey front, neither the Leafs, Sens or Habs are already eliminated from the playoffs (but it is early yet).

My Writings for Week Ending October 17th

The turkey genocide of 2014 happened, with very little fan fair, but there is talk of more atrocities against our avian friends in the coming months in the name of American Thanksgiving and worse still Christmas! My writings were pretty thin this week, I guess I made a bit too merry for Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving was me wishing you and your family a joyous harvest festival (it was for me).
The job picture in Canada in September was much improved, which makes me happy as well. More young folks with jobs, to ensure they can support the services I have grown accustomed to.
I am impressed by my son’s ability to be amused by old toys and thus What is Old is New Once More in our house. Maybe I can find an original Nintendo somewhere for him to play with?
My most popular post continues to be A Script for Customer Retention Deals, may not always work, but it’s a good way to start.

Hockey, Turkey, Leaves, Carry On Bags and #theBestFin4TheWeek

October 10, 2014February 27, 2024
12 Comments

As a strong and decisive individual, I find it quite perplexing to choose what sports to watch during these times. The hockey season has already begun, and the games are on Rogers even before Thanksgiving. Should I indulge in CFL or NFL football, baseball playoffs, hockey, lacrosse, UFC, WWE, or perhaps something unconventional like accountant death cell matches, nude actuarial hopscotch, lawn bowling, or urban tidily winks? I have so many choices, and I am confident that I will make the right decision.

Thanksgiving weekend, is a time for all of us to celebrate the bountiful harvest, and our families, and slaughter as many turkeys as possible.

The leaves are changing colours (the Leafs are still blue, happily for the Blunt Bean Counter), and we get to enjoy Mother Natures’ own fireworks display of amazing colours this weekend as well.

Luckily Air Canada can put a damper on all of this, by imposing a tariff on carry-on luggage, thus causing people to be even weirder while travelling. Wait until you are sitting next to a family travelling, where each of them are wearing 4 change of clothing (one on top of the other) on the plane, that is going to make for a very fun time. I even have a new name for this new Canadian cultural anomaly, layer packing (you heard it here first).

Canadian Blood Services really needs donors. If you haven’t given it lately, time to drop by. The blood supply is dangerously low!

My Writings for Week Ending October 10th

Turkeys have died by the hundreds of thousands for you to enjoy a lovely turkey dinner, some would view this carnage as barbaric, I have no such qualms with this aviary genocide.

Are spousal RRSPs really still needed, I asked that question with Pensions and Spousal RRSPs, but I also forget to factor in the TFSA and how it changes things as well.
I read over a few of my old Nortel lay off posts and came up with Nortel : What is Left, after reading about two bankruptcy judges holding the fate of a lot of money in their hands.
Does the government really hate Single Income Families? That’s a heavy-handed statement, however, Splitting Income for Single Income Families could be a good thing, for some families.
Rob Carrick mentioned my RESP from Start to Spend in his latest Carrick on Money, nice reader bump for that.
October, Hello Ebola, Give Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek October arrived unexpectedly this week, almost unnoticed. As we have entered the final (calendar) quarter of the year 2014, it may be time to start considering a year-end review of your financial plans.

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