Best of

It is 100 years since the “War to end all Wars” started, and I continue to learn more about this period in history. I had not realized the number of men (and women) that died in the war, and didn’t really comprehend the horrendous conditions that the soldiers (on all sides) fought under. I seem to know a great deal more about the 2nd World War, however, I am embarrassed about how little I know about a war that devastated an entire generation (over 16 million soldiers and civilians died). The fact that 21 years after it, another “War to End All Wars” erupted only strengthens my view that humans are a dumb species (myself included).

Evidently, the Russian Mob (or Russian hackers) most likely now have one of your e-mail passwords, it might be time to think up a new one, and maybe a heuristic to change your password more than once every time someone hacks the entire web.

Ebola continues to be in the news. I am not sure if I am in full panic about it yet, but I do wonder if this is worse than we are being told, and things are starting to get a little out of control. The fact that a major US City (Toledo) had a toxic water supply, is another interesting environmental episode this week as well. Wonder if this is Mother Nature finally saying, “You know Homo Sapiens, you have been around long enough”?

My Writings for Week Ending August 8th

It was a shorter week this week, in Ontario we celebrated the Anonymous Long Weekend, next long weekend has a name at least (i.e. Labour Day).

• The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek some of the best stories from last week.
• How do you celebrate a holiday with no name? Who knows, but I did poke fun at it with Happy Civic Holiday.
• Mike Tyson seems like an odd foil for Financial Advice, but his statement is prophetic especially for finances, “Everybody got a plan … until they get hit“
• Living beyond your means seems to be the raison d’etre of an entire generation, so Lifestyle Creep really is aimed at the new lost (money) generation.

Read More »WW1 Centenery, More Hacked Passwords and #theBestFin4TheWeek

Welcome to August 2014, and for those in Ontario who are soon to celebrate a long weekend, I have one query, what is this weekend called? It has many names, “Colonel By Day,” “August Bank Holiday,” or “August Long Weekend” how can a glorious long weekend not have an official title?

Argentina is now officially in default, to compound the bad news for that country (given they lost the World Cup final), but what does this mean? My feeble understanding of global economics suggests some creditors will not get paid, but who loaned them the funds in the first place? China? The U.S.? Russia? Maybe it is like Canada, where the country’s citizens hold a great deal of the Government’s debt like this issue. I suspect this will not make things better in the perplexed and scary world we live in.

For those who enjoyed Tom Clancy’s writings, the Ebola epidemic (not the correct phrase I know (the book I am referencing is Executive Orders)) in Africa lends itself to some interesting discussion points. The U.S. doesn’t comprehend how close they were to having someone infected with this disease from landing on their soil (an American Doctor has succumbed to the disease, but he was only diagnosed (i.e. he collapsed) while leaving one plane to then get on a plane destined for the U.S.. Let us hope the SARS protocols are put in place. The Canadian immigration folks will help if this outbreak turns into a more global problem.

For those not following me on Twitter, you have missed one of my favourite quotes from Gail Vaz-Oxlade, and it was aimed at me. We were discussing retirement and such and her final response to me was:

@bigcajunman luckily, you die; I live a long unhealthy life as a woman

This is in response to me whining about not having enough money to retire with, so I guess I should stop saving? No, she didn’t mean that, but it was fun to rib her about it.

My Writings for Week Ending August 1st

I had a drier writing week, with only two pieces. I have written or started about six ideas, but none of them were worth publishing yet (that means I have about 160 titles and ideas still to finish off).

• Financial Anarchy Day is another one of my many rants about the media and retailers attempts to make us go nuts and yell “FESTIVAL!!!” and spend like crazy people (Star Trek reference, for those who are unsure). I am not saying you should go watch the movie mentioned though, it is more of a Metaphor than a Recommendation.
• Sometimes I get fed up with the “Make Money on the Market Using This Fool Proof Technique” e-mails that clog my inbox, so I figured I’d write the most outrageous Stock Picking Idea I could, and then someone points out in the comments there is one even more outlandish one out there, wow.
• I did find in my archives one of my favorite phrases “Don’t Mistake Activity for Achievement” (a quote from John Wooden), just because you think you are working hard, doesn’t mean you are achieving your goals.

Read More »The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek

Yes, it is time for the Clown Prince of Financial Blogging to do the dastardly deed of unmasking our Financial Crime Fighting heroes!

Did you guess any of these Financial Writing Do-Gooders? Some are blatantly obvious, while others are more clever in their concealing their secret identities.

First, the accursed Money Media Maven, you have seen him, I know you have (unless you don’t own a TV), but you have seen his postings here as well. He is none other than… Preet Banerjee! I bet you didn’t know for his affinity to drive race cars, did you?

If you did not guess The Voice of Money, you aren’t looking very hard. That is none other than Gail Vaz-Oxlade, a lovely lady and a very plain speaking lady.

Who is  Judge Financial? That one is a little trickier. He hides his love of all rules and regulations well but never gets in an argument with him about rules. You will most assuredly lose! Da Judge is none other than Michael James.

As for Mrs. Financial Transmographier, you should know that one just based on the $3 HD TV antenna comment,  but that is, of course, Kerry from Squawkfox (in fact, you see her a great deal on TV and in Magazines these days).

The Summer here in Ottawa continues, with wonderfully oppressive heat (I am not sarcastic, I still remember those days in January where I complained about how cold it was) and tremendous storms. My only problem with this summer (and all summers) is that they pass far too quickly!

My Writings for Week Ending July 25th

Did you realize you missed both Ice Cream Day and Hammock Day this week? I need a calendar with this kind of important information.

• I was interviewed by Sheryl Smolkin and she published Big Cajun Man Shares RDSP, RESP Expertise, which is a very kind title (I am no expert, just a grizzled user). I also must work on my interview technique, noting I start most sentences with “Well”, dear me, I need to talk to the Financial Media Maven about his techniques.
• While missing out on Hammock Day, Stats Canada did point out that Inflation Stayed Up in June, which is not a good thing, even if loose money policies still prevail at the Bank of Canada.
• I do have a very good working relationship with one of my advertisers, so I figured I could ask the question what is the difference between Disability Insurance vs. Critical Illness Insurance, luckily I got a very good answer to write about.
• I am very much a geek at heart, and yes I did (and sometimes still do) read comic books (I read them WAY before they were cool), so I wandered farther afield with Comic-Con International and Financial Super Heroes, I suspect I may be in trouble with a few of those Financial folk, we shall see.

Read More »Unmasking Super Heroes, Dogs of Summer and #BestOfFinancialForThisWeek

So the World Cup is finally over. Congrats to the German team. We hope this means the beginning of a thousand years of supremacy in Football (maybe that isn’t the right phrase to use, but congrats). Exciting game to watch, glad it didn’t go to penalty kicks.

For those that may have missed it on le 14 juillet it was Bastille Day, which might explain why any of your French associates seemed overly patriotic on that day.

The baseball All-Star game was played this week, in Minnesota. This game actually matters since the winning team’s League will have home field advantage for the World Series this year. Who won the game? Tokyo?!? I didn’t really watch it, but I heard it was good. Did the Human League win?

Weird Al Yankovic has a new set of videos out, and a topical one is included at the end of this article. I enjoy Al’s parodies of current hits, but nothing will ever top his classic White & Nerdy (with Donny Osmond).

Word is that Montreal would be an excellent site for a Major League Baseball team, as a die-hard Expos fan (I was in the original Rusty Staub fan club), I can only hope, but they better not play in the Big Owe. Must Keep Calm on this one (there is a video about that too at the end).

My Writings for Week Ending July 18th

I have varmints eating my tomatoes and peppers in my back yard, aside from a shot-gun, can someone tell me the best way to get rid of them? A falcon sounds like a good idea, but I don’t know where to get one on short notice.

• Brazilian Defeats, Tour De Chunnel, and #BestOfFinancialForWeek some of the better stories from the week of July 11, 2014.
• Employment in Canada continues to be better, but unemployment is still up last month as well, when will we see the boom of jobs that has been promised? Old farts like me are finding jobs, but the young folks are having a harder time, as Stats Canada Pointed out.
• Meet the new Budget, same as the Old Budget was the initial title of my “New” Ontario Budget 2014 article, but I didn’t want the Who’s lawyers to call me about copyright infringement.
• If you have half an hour, a kindle reader and $1 please read How Millenials Can Get Rich Slowly, by William Bernstein, it is well worth the time and money.

Read More »All Stars, Al Stars and the #BestOfFinancialForWeek

I finally finished “the Stand” a novel by Stephen King, but I listened to the audiobook, and it was 48 hours long (I am not kidding, click here to see it on Audible), but I am glad I listened to it. I am in a Stephen King mood right now, and I have always wanted to finish this book (never got passed the first 1/3 before), but now I can check that book off the list. Yes, I am bragging that I listened to a book.

Many funny jokes have been written about the latest alleged incident at the World Cup of Football, where Uruguayan striker Suarez allegedly took a bite out of an Italian opponent in their previous game this week. I have seen a lot of weird sports things in my life, and this just adds to the list. We have seen biting in Hockey, but mostly players biting each others fingers and such, a shoulder bite is a much more exciting occurrence. The Banks have their rules and their ways of doing things, but hitting an injured soldier with a $7K penalty while selling his home (that he could no longer afford due to his injuries), is a bit of a nightmare scenario. The unfortunate part is I am sure if someone in the head office, say in the media relations side of things, had heard of this earlier, they would have done something about it, but having it come out in the Media now paints the Bank as being heartless and uncaring. Funny how decisions at the local level can harm the reputation of an entire firm? (but not really).

My Writings for Week Ending June 27th

Canada day this weekend, and most folks with sense (who are allowed to take vacation) are taking Monday off as well, thus creating an awesome 4 day weekend:

• Yes, I think the Red Flags are up, and I write about them with Who said Inflation ? CPI Up in Canada, with Gas prices now a little out of control, we may see less economic stimulation from the Bank of Canada (soon).
• The Electricity Quandary is a two-pronged discussion of the new “Smart Thermostats” that Ontario Hydro is pushing and a debate about the future of the Electricity Grid in North America.
• I have a massive archive of posts, so I am going back through many of them, so Thursdays looks to be Throwback Thursdays for a while, and with that I brought you, A Financial Plan B (revisited), do you have a Plan B yet?
• I also appeared in this weeks Carnival of Risks #211 over at Workers’ Comp Insider, well worth a read if you are paranoid about lightning (like I am).
• You do realize I have an odd sense of humor with Joke of the Day: Chickmunks .

Read More »Tennis, Racing, Inflation and #BestofFinancial