Robb Engen from over at Boomer and Echo sent me over an interesting e-mail for a new concept backed by most major banks (and credit unions) in Canada to help children of lower-income Canadians take… Read More »Smartsaver.org RESP: Helping Lower Income Families
As I assumed the inflation numbers for the December 2014 have gone completely squirrelyâ„¢ (my new term for numbers manipulated to create a false sense of security) thanks to plummeting gas prices
The Bank of Canada threw us all a knuckleball this week when they announced a quarter point drop of their key overnight rate (on Wednesday). The rate is now at 3/4%, dropping a 1/4, and it seems the Bank assumes the economy needs even more stimulus.
The telling statement from their announcement is the final paragraph of their statement:
The oil price shock increases both downside risks to the inflation profile and financial stability risks. The Bank’s policy action is intended to provide insurance against these risks, support the sectoral adjustment needed to strengthen investment and growth, and bring the Canadian economy back to full capacity and inflation to target within the projection horizon.
This suggests that the very commodity-reliant, Canadian economy is going to take a hoof in the “lower abdomen” thanks to plummeting oil prices. Lower inflation, but higher unemployment seems to be on the event horizon.
The Canadian dollar continues to plummet, thanks to very low oil prices, which may slow down the cross-border shopping insanity that has been going on for a while. Maybe we shall see more of our American family dropping by in Canada this summer? Is this lower interest rate simply going to accelerate the drop of the Dollar’s value? Some experts feel this is going to cause a Canadian dollar back around the 70 cent level (compared to the US dollar), we shall see whether that comes to pass.
The cold of Ottawa in January constantly begs the question, why do we live here?
RESPs are too Hard ? Not really, it is pretty darn straight forward, choosing how you want to invest the money is the interesting part.
If your TD E-Series RESP is in a TD Mutual fund account, taking your money out is not going to be straightforward. Good funds, bad account, read why. Might be better to just hold them in a real trading account.
