Random Thoughts

Remember that Tax Season is in full swing, so it might be time to file your return (primarily if you are owed money). Don’t loan the Government money. Make sure you neither owe nor get a huge rebate.

You can call the CRA if you have questions about your taxes, but remember, many folks are panicking working on their taxes right now as well, so be patient with the wait and with the folks trying to help.

This week, a big snowfall should remind folks who live in Ottawa that Spring may be in the air, but that does not mean there won’t be any more snow. Most of the snow is gone, but does that mean we are finished with the white stuff? Not until after your taxes have been filed!

The Panama Papers leak seems to be causing a great deal of consternation for many of the 1% and many politicians. I guess my question is, would you rather be mentioned in the Panama Papers or the Ashley Madison leak? (maybe both?). RBC was mentioned in the Panama Papers, and they don’t think there is anything wrong with it.

It was Autism Awareness day on April 2nd, or as we call it around our house, Saturday (or my Daughter’s birthday). Autism awareness has a noble goal, but frankly, more services and support would be great as well (and the new Ontario Autism services model isn’t going to help). We are fortunate my son is higher on the spectrum, but that does not mean I deserve little (or no) services because he is older (and I am evidently rich).

My Writings for Week Ending April 8th

A busy week meant I really only got 1 article written, but I continue to put up my best on my Twitter feed (along with a lot of other great stuff).

Given that we are getting close to Tax time, Tax Reflections for 2016 points out what I keep forgetting for my taxes.

I have Said This Before

Not asking, is rejection by default

Or better still, the Answer is Always No, unless you ask.

Read More »Tax Time, Spring Delayed, Panama Papers and #MoneyStories

I was saddened to read the passing of Ronnie Corbett, a noted English comedian and one half of the Two Ronnies. I grew up with his humor, and still enjoy watching the Two Ronnies skits on Youtube (look up Four Candles). Watching this show was very much a family event in our house (whereas my Mother refused to watch Monty Python with us, as it was much lower brow humor).

I suppose I could stay with tradition and write a swerve paragraph about financial planning, given it is April Fools Day, but given how things are going in the world, I can’t write anything that would sound implausible. The U.S. Elections seem to be ruining any attempt at ironic humor, as it is just flat-out Nuts!

I guess I could write a Debt is Good post, but no one would believe anything like that coming from me.

My Writings for Week Ending April 1st

I continue to work on my backlog of articles, and found a couple I could work with.

I suppose I am showing how paranoid I am about the financial world with Advice From a Rich Man, but if I knew how to make a bloody fortune, do you think I’d share that information? Not likely.

“There was a fire at the main Inland Revenue office in London today, but it was put out before any serious good was done.” –The Two Ronnies

All Daddy really wants is the big piece of chicken, but the problem is there are too many Daddies out there trying to get that big piece of financial chicken.

“All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my right hand.” –The Two Ronnies

An After Easter Thought

Everything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and you make horrific choices. Stop doing that.

Read More »Money Fools, Ronnie, and #MoneyStories

The Madness has begun down south, no not the GOP Primaries, the NCAA Men’s basketball championship has begun, and Yale has the biggest upset so far. This is a fun time for me, as I love watching live sports, and if I could figure out a way to do that without a TV Cable package I’d cut the cord tomorrow.

In other madness, Oil prices continue to climb, and that has caused the Canadian Dollar to rise as well, and having a Loonie that is above 70 cents the US is a good thing (in my opinion).

It is not only Holy Week next week (the week before Easter in the Christian faith), but also it is Federal Budget week, woo hoo! What new and exciting financial features will the Easter Bunny be hiding under our financial pillows? We will have to wait until Tuesday March 22nd to find out, but there are already hints of many fun financial Easter Treats for us:

• A much larger deficit than previously thought due to either bad accounting by the Tories, bad economy, low oil prices, etc., etc., . We will owe more money after this budget.
• Higher taxes for higher income folk, but that was already promised during the election campaign
• More spending on infrastructure might help the economy, and will hopefully fix the pot-hole problems in Ottawa.

At the bottom of this fine article,there is a video of Financial Pundits discussing what else might be in the budget, so stay tuned.

My Writings for the Week Ending March 18th

Winter has been washed away mostly in Ottawa, however, there is still potential for more snow soon (it isn’t quite spring yet). A three-article week this week to help celebrate St. Patty’s and my 11th year of writing. That is a whole heck of a lot of words.

Statistics Canada’s report on employment shows that Unemployment Continues to Rise but the employment numbers aren’t too bad (they are not great, but not bad). I have started reading the more detailed reports and in there you find much more interesting information.

The National Balance sheet is an interesting report from Stats Canada is another really interesting report to read, chocked full of interesting numbers, but the one that had me wondering was the Disposable Income vs. Debt numbers, have a look. Any time you can mention Tennessee Ernie Ford, that’s Gold!

Yes, I have been doing this for 11 years, hard to believe, but I have slowed down a little bit, but while I continue to have fun, I think I’ll keep doing what I am doing.

A Friday Thought

In life, as with exams, answer the easy questions first, let the hard ones ruminate for a while.

Read More »Financial March Madness, Budgets and #MoneyStories

The Bank rate note changing isn’t really news and neither is Daylight Savings Time, but there are a lot of great financial stories here.

Another historical piece, when President Trump as elected SO many Americans said they were going to move to Canada, never really happened, that I saw.

Welcome our American cousins, and all those who are claiming that if Donald Trump (or Hillary Clinton) gets elected they will move out of the United States of America. We Canadians welcome you with arms wide open, however, please leave your arms down there (thank you). It is always interesting to hear folks down south claiming they would move up north, a few good examples were:

• If Obamacare passes! So you are running away from socialized medicine to move into a country with socialized medicine?
• If gun control laws are passed? Canada you want to move to? The big one up north?
• If marijuana is legalized?
• I am not even going to mention abortions

Should be an interesting choice down south, guess I should look into Wall futures? Remember that Toronto in the 60’s was a haven for Draft Evaders from the Viet Nam war, and that time was viewed as a Golden Age for Toronto, so who knows, maybe this is a good thing for Canada?

For any folks thinking of moving here, the topic for March is either, the Weather or Taxes! Luckily we have plenty to complain about on the tax side of things, with the Ontario Government slapping new taxes on many things, and the newly crowned Liberal Federal Government (or am I supposed to call them The Trudeau Government) talking of more taxes needed as well, the cold might not seem so bad. You see what I did there, I did the old switcheroo where it sounded like I was going to complain about how cold it was, and instead, I zinged in with a Tax Complaint (that is a very Canadian thing too).

It is Tax Time again!

My Writings for Week Ending March 4th

We leaped out of February into a short beginning of March, with RRSP season leaving us, but Tax Season is now in full bloom.

With this being a leap year did we have an extra day for RRSP contributions? Maybe, a few folks said it didn’t matter, but if you only worry about your RRSP at the end of February, you may have a financial planning problem, as I pointed out in Leap into Your RRSPs and Financial Planning

As I have mentioned many times I have a massive backlog of unfinished ideas, and I found one and added a bit of polish and a lot of sarcasm poking fun at Financial Services Web Pages

A Friday Thought

The hardest times to say the word no, are usually the most important times to say it.

Read More »Welcome Americans and #MoneyStories