Random Thoughts

It is that magical time when kids go back to school, and life goes back to a more normal pace (for parents). If you just took your child to Kindergarten, what are your plans for their University Education? Might be time to start thinking about an RESP, don’t you think?

Back to school is always a fun time, Thanksgiving is around, Pumpkin Lattes are everywhere and Christmas stuff is available in Costco. Halloween candy has been available since the end of July in most stores, and we wonder why people spend so much? If I bought a box of Halloween candy in August, I would be buying more in August, September and October as well. All I can think of when I see this is one of my favorite songs by the Clash, “Lost in the Supermarket” (from the album London Calling).

I’m all lost in the supermarket
I can no longer shop happily
I came in here for a special offer
Guaranteed personality

What would you do if your vacation was ruined by a hurricane? I guess that is something to check with your travel insurance. Sounds like a possible fraud too, as I got an email about making claims on my travel insurance due to the current hurricane (and I am not even on vacation).

There was a disgusting story on Reddit about someone trying to get their 80 year old mother a basic cable & phone package, and Rogers refusing to offer their basic package to the consumer. It is not that surprising, but still shows why the CRTC’s ability to police the Communication Monopolies is nonexistent.

We in Ottawa found out our Light Rail System will not be ready as planned, and isn’t likely to be ready for a good long time. Is this surprising? Not if you actually looked at the work sites daily (like those of us who take the bus). When will it be ready? No one is willing to set a date.

My Recent Writings

Haven’t written one of these in a while, so there is a dearth of things to read written by me (maybe not a dearth, more like a small pile).

On Being Laid Off (a 10 year retrospective) sums up that I was lucky to be laid off when I did, but at the time I wouldn’t have thought that was possible. Another example of right time, wrong reason can still work out. Still doesn’t take the sting out of being laid off though.

Inflation looks like it might be making a comeback, given Inflation is at 2011 levels again. If all this tarif nonsense keeps up, that could be a big contributing factor, luckily in Ontario we have a buck-a-beer.

How we Doin’ now, is more of a statement of, I am not dead yet. I am still at this, but I am kind of busy with life at the same time.

Why would you have more than one savings plan for your disabled child? Why wouldn’t you if you can, is a better question, and that is the contents of Why an RESP for a Disabled Child ?

Social Media Money

If the following Tweet does not make your blood run cold, I don’t know what will. That much income and still having financial issues? Wow.

Money is starting to tighten up with the Bank of Canada raising their key overnight rate by ¼ percent to 1.5%, which is great news because that mean savings accounts will go up as well? Sarcasm aside all major credit levels with most banks have gone up a corresponding ¼ %, but there has been no word about Savings account rates going up (and don’t hold your breath about that either).

If this increase has you worried, you really should be paying down your debt, or you need to figure out how to get out of this mess. In earlier years, the Bank of Canada has raised  rates by 1 % or higher, what will happen when these rate levels become a reality? We have a US  President hell-bent on starting a trade war with everyone, will those tariffs cause an inflationary jump? Very possible, is what the “Big C8j Magic Financial 8-Ball” answers.

If you owe $200,000.00 you now owe $500 more for the next 12 months (about), so let’s just say you owe $40 more a month. If the interest rate had gone up 1 %, you’d owe (about) $2,000 more per year or about $160 more a month. Now that is assume a single compounding and simple interest so the real calculations might be higher.

The new Ontario Government is doing what they promised they would do (and have done in the past), yet there is a howl of disbelief. Who did you people think you were electing is my only question?

Would you walk away from a $6 Million a year job, with no severance? Allegedly that is what happened to the now former head of Hydro One (in Ontario). He is getting $400,000 as payout in lieu of post-retirement benefits and allowances, but his agreement states he should have received $10.7 Million if he was fired by the board, wonder what happened there? Glad to see that he won’t be leaving penniless he will get $9 Million in stock options paid out.

Bitcoin the cryptoCurrency (note not cryptolnvestment) continues its downward drop in value. Gone are the days of $20,000 per coin (US), it is now down to around $6200 (US). Will it go back up again? Maybe, but I wouldn’t put any money into it, unless I needed to use it like currency (i.e. to buy something). Will cryptocurrency speculation move into the realm of FOREX speculation? One can only guess.

It is Friday the 13th, time to Celebrate King Friday’s birthday!

My Recent Writings

FUD is a powerful tool used by politicians and other operatives, but FUD Financial Messages is rampant. The entire Fear of Missing Out story is a simple part of the FUD. You need to be confident when you make a decision, don’t do it out of fear.

I must be getting soft because I allowed yet another Guest Post with Everything You Wanted to Know About Credit (But Were Petrified to Ask) by Sean Cooper. Do you know about Credit? Are you confident you know what you need to know?

Bankruptcies Up

Doug Hoyes gives us a worrisome statistic pointing out that bankruptcies are rising in Ontario. With higher interest rates coming, I doubt this will get better before it gets worse.

JUST RELEASED:
Oh crap.
For the first time in six months, the insolvency rate in Ontario increased, by a huge 5.2%.
Biggest monthly year-over-year increase since November 2016.
A blip, or the start of a trend?https://t.co/S77AW9ccSb pic.twitter.com/87DuemJJ1D

— Doug Hoyes (@doughoyes) July 3, 2018

Read More »Tighter Money, the 13th , Hydro Savings and #MoneyTalk

With the new Canadian cannabis laws coming into play (October 17^th) 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 21^st 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?