FUD Financial Messages
FUD financial messages look to create Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt in customers or in investors (to the advantage of bankers or investment firms).
Everything You Wanted to Know About Credit (But Were Petrified to Ask)
Another Guest Post from Sean Cooper. Yeh, I am getting kind of slack on my rules.
Unless you’re filthy rich and you can afford to buy your home in cash, maintaining a good credit score is important. Not only does your credit score help you qualify for a mortgage, it can help you obtain the best mortgage rate, saving you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your mortgage. If your credit score isn’t the greatest, you could pay a higher mortgage rate, or your application could be denied altogether. Not only does a poor credit score make it harder to borrow money, you could have a tough time finding a rental unit, since landlords often look at credit.
Credit has three parts: credit history, credit report and credit score. Your credit history is a lot like your resumé. It’s a summary of any time you’ve borrowed money. From your car loan to that $1,000 cell-phone bill you’d like to forget, your credit history is a tell-all of any time you’ve been extended credit. Your credit report is like an annual performance review of your credit history. This is where the student loan you failed to pay back in college can come back to haunt you.
Last but not least is your credit score. Your credit score is the magic number that lenders care so much about. You credit score is based on your credit history. This number helps lenders decide whether to approve your mortgage. The higher your credit score, the more favourable the mortgage terms will be. Credit scores typically fall somewhere between 300 and 900.
Credit scores don’t just come out of thin air. Credit reporting agencies keep track of your credit history and credit score. You can obtain a copy of your credit report for free, so take advantage of it. The easiest and fastest way is to use Equifax and TransUnion’s interactive phone services. You can also download and complete forms from the Equifax and TransUnion websites. Best of all, it won’t lower your credit score to check. Request a copy of your credit report and find out what your credit score is at least a year ahead of when you’re thinking of buying a home, to avoid any nasty surprises. (If your credit score is poor, you need time to work on improving it. This can take a year or more because of reporting lags.) If you find any inaccuracies or mistakes, get them fixed as soon as possible.
Understanding Your Credit Score
Five main factors affect your credit score. It’s important to understand each of them to help maximize it.
Read More »Everything You Wanted to Know About Credit (But Were Petrified to Ask)Ganja Tourism, Sneaker Smuggling, Solar Potential and #MoneyTalk
With the new Canadian cannabis laws coming into play (October 17th) it struck me as an excellent opportunity for Canada to enter the world of Ganja Tourism. We must remember that you may only smoke in your home (or a friend’s home), and given that most hotels have a strict No Smoking rule, where could these tourists imbibe ? I think this is a huge opportunity for AirBnB to create a Ganja Tourism section. The guests can buy their legal ganja, and then enjoy it in their friends home. We shall see whether this idea catches on.
I have been busy figuring out how to smuggle more shoes across the border, but #Moneytalk returns this week. Sneaker Smuggling is evidently something else we dastardly Canadians do to our friends down south. I must admit I am guilty of sneaker smuggling about 10 years ago I was on a business trip and bought myself a new pair of shoes and forgot to declare them when I returned. I am thinking of branching out and becoming a Weed and Feed smuggler (the weeds in my front lawn are winning the battle and I can’t buy the good stuff in Canada any more).
The 21st was the longest day of the year in the Norther Hemisphere, and thus summer begins! Yes the year is about half over, time to start planning for Christmas.
The National Energy Board published Which cities have the highest solar potential in Canada? Where is the best place in Canada to have Solar Power? Regina, of course! Ottawa is better than Montreal and Ottawa (by a small Amount). Surprisingly Yellowknife is up there on the list, and not so surprising St. John’s NFLD is way down there on the list. Might be good to turn all of Saskatchewan into a Solar Array?
My Recent Writings
It has been a while since I wrote one of these so here is the long list of the topics I have hit since my last #Moneytalk.
Risk Profiles and E-series Orders Rejected shows that no matter how optimistic I get about TD Mutual Funds, I end up being wrong. My daughter is still working to clear up the no you can’t have E-series funds fiasco that was set up.
I do enjoy Doug Hoyes’ podcast (remember I was even a guest on it), but I also enjoyed his audiobook as well, and I reviewed it in, Straight Talk on Your Money. Well worth listening to and buying the book too. Hopefully a sobering set of stories for those that are sure they have their financial world figured out.
I actually had a Guest Post but by a friend of the site, Sean Cooper (who I still hate). Qualifying for a Mortgage: The 4 Factors Lenders Consider (and WHY!) is an essay on how to get a mortgage, worth having a look at.
Phishing Phor Phun and Prophit, is a cross-post from my technology site telling you just how vulnerable you are to a Phishing attack. The bad folks are getting quite good at catching you out.
My 5 Best Investments is really just a proud Poppa boasting about his kids, but also the fact that I was smart enough to invest in their educations.
Micro Blogging for Motivation
When was the last time you changed your banking password? You might want to check this one out to figure out what you should change it to?
My 5 Best Investments
What are my 5 best investments ? Pretty easy for me to pick them out, they stand out keep paying back every time (for me). Education pays! Maybe not for you directly, but still! No, this is not the 5 best stocks to invest in right now.
Phishing Phor Phun and Prophit
Have you received an email about an overdue parking ticket or a delivery from UPS lately? Have you blindly clicked on the link in that email? Odds are you are now a victim of phishing,… Read More »Phishing Phor Phun and Prophit
