Random Thoughts

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.

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.

Fraser Institute's Gov't vs. Private Sector Workers in Ontario https://t.co/FtU8PEaJGB pic.twitter.com/5r34b658ew

— Big Cajun Man (aw) (@bigcajunman) February 6, 2017

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

This week we were introduced to a new term that I am pretty sure is going to stick around for a while. Arguing a point a Trump advisor used the expression that they had Alternate Facts and from that statement it all exploded. Alternate Facts now seems to imply falsehoods, so let us bring up some Alternate Financial Facts into the argument:

1. Would alternate savings really just be debt ?
2. Alternate credit rehabilitation simply be bankruptcy or getting farther into debt?
3. With alternate financial facts negative equity would be a very good thing

What would the Ministry of Truth think of that? Speaking of 1984 by George Orwell, surprisingly it is now a best seller. The book is a must read, as is Animal Farm , just to understand how totalitarian worlds evolve from democracy (or how a good idea can be perverted easily). I prefer Animal Farm to 1984, but both are books you must read.

My Writings for Week Ending January 27th

I guess my alternate fact analytics are showing that millions of readers came over to check out my only writing of the week, Energy Up 4.0 % for 2016 , where we learned that in Ontario electricity costs were up over 11% (year over year), and we all keep asking why?. The Ministry of Truth does need to look into that one.

A Money Thought

What does the Dow at 20,000 mean? I have no bloody idea, and luckily neither do other folks.

As the dow hits 20,000 a reminder, the index is ridiculous and this milestone is meaninglesshttps://t.co/Wmx3liVqJA

— Peter Armstrong (@armstrongcbc) January 25, 2017

Read More »Alternate Financial Facts, 1984 and #Moneytalk

The year 2017 has begun and hopefully it is a Merry New Year for all of us, given how poorly 2016 seemed to go for some of us. Happy New Year 2017.

If you might have forgotten, CPP and EI restart for those of us who are not CEO’s or get paid over $400K. Those folks still have to pay those, but they only pay it on their first pay cheque.

Curious about how much you will be paying this year? Here’s your sign:

• CPP for regular employees (maximum): $2,564.10
• CPP for self-employed (max): $5,128.20
• EI maximum for non-Quebec folks: $836.19
• EI max for Quebecers : $651.51

Remember that if you tell your co-workers, “Hey I no longer pay CPP”, they can figure out your yearly income.

My Writings for the Week Ending January 6th

I started this merry new year throwing out a little click-bait, stating that I Hate Sean Cooper, which of course is not the case, in fact I admire his ability to pay off his house debt so quickly. It all started listening to a piece on CBC Radio about Sean, and how the Internet trolls were skewering him. I read through the CBC web piece on him, and sure enough there were just asinine comments that made me laugh, and the article wrote itself. Sean has a book coming out soon, that I hope to have a review done for soon.

Car Loans Lasting How Long?

When car loans start lasting 12 years, I have to start wondering when Car Loan Insurance (similar to mortgage insurance) is going to start being offered by banks? I keep cars 12 years, but I don’t want to pay for them for that long (and spreading a Corolla’s loan for that long, would take a lot of work).

TIL: High end car financing in the US is available for terms up to 144 months. That's 12 years.

— Preet Banerjee (@preetbanerjee) January 2, 2017

Read More »Merry New Year 2017, CPP, EI and #MoneyTalk