Canadian Personal Finance Blog

The Canadian Dollar, commonly known as the Loonie, has recently gained some value due to a sluggish U.S. economy and not because of any positive development in Canada. The Loonie has surpassed 73 cents, making a trip to the United States a much cheaper option. Gas prices, however, remain high at almost 70 cents per litre in Ottawa. But, if you’re planning to drive south, it could still be a cost-effective option.

Yes, RRSP season has started, however there does not seem to be the normal push from the banks, maybe the TFSA has finally taking some of the wind out of the RRSP sails? Maybe as the month passes we will get more hype going on.

If it is RRSP season, that must mean it is also Tax Time too. This year my last pay stub was actually quite close to my T-4 so my tax planning last month was actually quite close. Already have my copy of Quicktax, but it keeps telling me not to submit yet, they haven’t got everything ready for E-filing just yet? Interesting.

This weekend there is a sporting spectacle known world-wide for great drama and excitement. I am speaking (of course) of the 6 Nations Rugby Tournament, that starts on Saturday morning. There is some other game that has something to do with Owls and such, in San Francisco on Sunday night as well, that evidently (if you are attending) you will be surveilled (very closely). Yes, I believe Mrs. C8j will simply be swapping out the newspaper around my chair, as I do not think I will be moving all weekend (except to possibly stir the chili ).

My Writings for Week Ending February 5th

With all of us old folk talking about retirement, is there any concern about the collective knowledge of an entire generation walking out the door? In my case, think of all the Fortran, Pascal and C programming info my employer might be losing? Maybe that is why they keep asking when I am leaving?

One of the main things I learned from the original Karate Kid was the importance of balance, and if you are tired of RRSP Season (the way I am) then maybe just view it as RRSP Rebalancing Season

A Topical Tweet

A poke by Dilbert (and Scott Adams) at all my stock picking friends out there.

The Stock-picking genius: @DailyDilbert nails it again! #trader #greed #investing #money #stockmarket #stocks pic.twitter.com/Py7ZWDVbgv

— Scalable Capital Global (@ScalableCapital) February 2, 2016

Read More »Bouncing Loonies, RRSP Season, Superb Owls and #MoneyStories

If you were feeling optimistic about life and such, remember the Doomsday Clock is still set at 3 minutes to Midnight (where Midnight is the Big Casino for humanity). The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists site many things that are going on in the world that should have us worried, but surprisingly the sales of bomb shelters have not increased (unless you count some of the Condos in Toronto?). It sounds like the explosion of the Housing Bubble is not the only Big Bang we should worry about.

Evidently, RBC has some explaining to do as they seem to have sent out incorrect RRSP receipts to the wrong customers, which is an interesting double negative. Not only was the information incorrect on the receipt, it was sent to the wrong person with information from other folks (Social Insurance Numbers and the like)? That is what I call getting it as wrong as possible, but, I am confident there are worse examples.

Will legalized marijuana sales become a cash crop for our government? A lot of folks think so, but I am skeptical. The number of money folks seems to think legalized pot will create are optimistic, but I will be pleasantly buzzed if the prognostications are correct. Pass the Doritos, please.

My Writings for Week Ending January 29th

Winterlude has come to Ottawa, so everything has started melting (keeping with the Ottawa tradition). We should rename Winter, Winterlude and we could save a fortune on snow removal.

Marijuana may not be a huge cash crop, but Cauliflower sure seems to be a wallet buster these days in terms of prices, as we saw in Food Prices up 4.1% for 2015

Was I making up this whole Bimodal Financial Planning thing? Kind of, I was mostly stealing a concept that the Gartner Group is espousing for Information Technology groups, but I feel it might catch on in the financial world was well.

A Topical Tweet

Are you following this version of Stats Canada? You should:

The average Canadian spends 11% of their annual income on cauliflower

— Stats Canada (@stats_canada) January 26, 2016

Read More »Doomsday Clocks, Rogue RRSP Receipts, Cash Crops and #MoneyStories