Electricity Prices Continue to Sizzle in July
Electricity prices continue to rise in Canada (especially in Ontario) in July 2016 but gasoline prices keep inflation down.
Obnoxious 30-Year-Old Retirees, Olympics and #MoneyTalk
This week a great deal of kerfuffle was kicked up when a couple of 30-year-olds claim they have retired, and were telling folks how they did it (some folks say boastfully). While I know folks who have retired in their 30’s (only to go back to work, because they were a little bored, and also decided they might need a little more money), the idea of “retiring” at 30 seems to be the new Nirvana for millennial folk. Given this generation is going to live longer than my generation, what will they do while “retired”?
Even Garth Turner kicked in his 10 cents worth on the topic, and Preet discussed this with the morning crew at Global too (see the week’s Tweet for that one). If you manage to retire young, on the back of your parents’ assets then pish-posh on you, but if you earn it, through the sweat of your own brow, then good on you! Most folks who will bash folks like this are mostly bitter, narrow-minded financial bloggers (no, wait, that is me); jealousy is never a good reason to mock other folks’ achievements.
I was sad to see the passing of Mauril Belanger (MP with ALS). ALS is a frightening disorder (not that any lethal disorder is better or worse), let us hope the work he did, gets us closer to a way to treat this destructive disorder.
My Writings for Week Ending August 19th
As I get older I keep forgetting about helpful technology, especially in the world of banking, and my article, Old Financial Technology Habits Die Hard outlines how I forgot about photo cheque cashing as a technology (shame on me, I am not a Luddite).
I am attempting to work on my article backlog, and I found one I started a while ago based on a BuzzFeed post that I saw. Little Known Secrets of Financial Planning, is no great epiphany, in fact I get downright sarcastic.
Preet on Early Retirement
Preet is on TV a lot these days, it seems. I have been told I have a face for Radio.
Little Known Secrets of Financial Planning
Yes, this is the new hack writer trend out there. What is worse is those terrible articles that you find on major sites that are links to horrible, ad laden (and most likely malware laden) sites. Sometimes it even takes you to the Motley Fool!
Little Known Facts about any topic (especially secrets of financial planning) end up being a simple rehash of things that most folks have already heard. Worse they are unsubstantiated rumours about it. With that in mind, let us delve into this important topic
The other important point is that the article always has a “click here” thingy to force you to click (and God knows what you are downloading when you click it), so here is mine (I promise it is simply a link to the rest of this terrific piece of writing).
Read More »Little Known Secrets of Financial Planning
Old Financial Technology Habits Die Hard
Some times we forget new technologies especially in the financial world.
Women Rule, Less Jobs and #MoneyTalk
The Canadian Ladies are carrying the load for the Canadian Olympic team, and, as the father of 3 amazing daughters, I am proud to see it. Maybe Canada has tripped into a new funding idea? Equally funding female athletics, since we seem to win in those areas? How about equal funding, because that is what is fair? Just saying. Oh, and don’t mention Women’s Beach Volleyball attire to Kerry from Squawkfox. You might get an earful (rightly so, of course).
The Canadian economy is undeniably losing jobs at present. The latest Labour Force Survey by Stats Canada reveals a staggering drop of 31,000 jobs, with a much more severe decline of 71,000 full-time positions over the past 12 months. Although there has been a 0.4% increase in the total number of hours worked during the same period, it is baffling why there are fewer jobs and yet more working hours.
Unemployment is up 0.1% to 6.9% (year over year), which is still lower than some of the darkest days of this century, it going up is never a perfect thing.
In my age group (the over 55 crowd) there are more jobs, but that is a bit mis-leading, because there are more of us (and luckily we brought jobs with us). Fewer folks are working in the Public Sector as well (the Private Sector is unchanged), but I keep saying it is better to have a strong Private Sector (in terms of employment).
My Writings for Week Ending August 12th
I didn’t write anything this week, or more precisely, I didn’t publish anything this week. I have a backlog of 245 started but unfinished works. I was thinking of publishing a poll and asking what you want me to write about, but feel free to leave a comment here saying what you’d like me to look into. This is not to say that I have not been active on Social Media (I am a Social Media Madman). As millennial age, the question of retiring early comes up, so my article How Do I Retire at 35 ? keeps getting a lot of reads.
Fun Graphic for the week
I would love to find a graphic for Canada like this, but it is fun to see who are the most rich folk in the U.S. of A., funny there is no Big Cajun Man mention there…
