Random Thoughts

RRSP season is here, but there really doesn’t seem to be the hype of previous years. There seems to be an under-current about how the RRSP isn’t all that it is cracked up to be? I don’t understand this, yes it is a before tax savings plan, but it is a savings plan. The TFSA and RRSP both have a place in your savings plans, but remember that paying off debt is more important.

Lent began on Wednesday, a new season to try to make some positive changes in your life. You don’t need to be religious or Christian to use this as a time for positive change, just decide to change.

Happy Year of the Dog , it is Chinese New Year today and it is the year of the Dog (specifically the year of the Earth Dog). Might be an omen for investing, as the market has been a bit of a bad dog so far this year. One Astrology site gives very good financial advice for the year of the Dog:

Financially take more precautions with your security and don’t overspend. Get a budget going so you can track where your money goes.

So you can’t argue with that, it’s science!

Tax season is on the go as well folks, in fact TurboTax announced they are certified by the CRA so you can use their application to submit your taxes on-line. Yes, some folks submit early, and get their money back, a better idea than procrastinating and not getting your return in on time.

My Recent Writings

Index Investing Downsides came out of an article I read using the Ottawa Public Library’s free app RBDigital (very useful and free magazines). The article kind of sat on both sides of the argument, but I am really not sold on the value espoused by active management funds and active trading. Yes, when the market tanks, the Index tanks, but do actively managed funds really save you?

Micro Blogging on Finance

If you are reading my RDSP and DTC posts you really need to follow Milburn Drysdale because his site has far better information on how to get all this done.

Does your child have autism? Are you ready to apply for the Disability Tax Credit? T2201 guide version 4 is now released and a must read, especially for first time filers. https://t.co/X8I6XhCRYo pic.twitter.com/tBIzp5PkdX

— Milburn Drysdale (@AutismFundingBC) February 11, 2018

Read More »RRSP, Lent, Happy Year of the Dog and #MoneyTalk

It’s the Super Bowl weekend in Minnesota, but as a dedicated Vikings fan, I have no interest in the game whatsoever. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if both teams were disqualified and no winner declared. I am a die-hard Vikings fan and I am not afraid to admit that I am bitter about the whole situation. So, if you’re planning to watch the game, you better have some chili in the slow cooker, plenty of beer on hand, and be prepared for what will undoubtedly be the longest football game of the season!

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Spent another 20 minutes on the phone to make my semi-annual RDSP contribution to my son’s account at TD Direct Investing. No, my son’s account is still inaccessible directly on-line for deposits or transfers (i.e. I can automatically deposit to his RDSP from my chequing account). I continue to ask how to fix it, but I keep getting told that is how the system works. Evidently someone who has their own RDSP, that they can contribute to their own account, so that might be the issue, but I also continue to get no explanation from TD why I must follow the circular payment method that I do?

There is a very interesting set of documentaries on Netflix called Dirty Money. The first episode was about the VW Clean Diesel scandal, however, the second episode is even more insidious as it is about Online PayDay Loan companies in the USA. The dirty tricks in the agreements are shocking. The story is also about the owners and their prosecution by the Federal Government, but I was just so disgusted by the way the loan customers were tricked into believing they were paying off their loans, when in fact they were only paying a service charge to roll-over their loan to the next period. I would recommend watching the series just on the basis of the first 2 episodes.

My Recent Writings

Been a busy week for me, so I didn’t put out any new content this week, but I do continue to update and edit many of my 3000+ posts, and if you follow my Twitter feed you will see those updated articles. For #BellLetsTalk I did bring back I’m an Adult Now?, where I lamented the passing of my father 7 years ago. Also remember that Debt is a Four Letter Word.

Micro Blogging on Finance

I hope that Mr. Buckley’s comments about fee erosion is true, too many people are making too much money off my investments.

The Bank of Canada went and done it! They raised the overnight rate to its highest rate in 9 years! This is going to ruin the economy! The rate is now at 1.25%, oh my God! Yes, I am being sarcastic about tighter money from the Bank of Canada. Their overview paragraph from the report was quite telling.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

While the economic outlook is expected to warrant higher interest rates over time, some continued monetary policy accommodation will likely be needed to keep the economy operating close to potential and inflation on target. Governing Council will remain cautious in considering future policy adjustments, guided by incoming data in assessing the economy’s sensitivity to interest rates, the evolution of economic capacity, and the dynamics of both wage growth and inflation.

Talk about hedging your bets, I guess they are trying not to scare folks? Rates will be going up, but not in the near future, maybe? Does sound like tighter money policies are coming soon.

On the downside, the rate hike has caused all the banks to increase their prime rates, and mortgage rates, which is going to hit us all in the pocketbook. Most of the major banks have raised  their “prime” rate to 3.45% and all mortgage rates have gone up as well.

For those curious, what would be the best investment given these changing times? GICs will start becoming more interesting to folks, but what might be a good investment? Hmm… How about Pay Down Debt! It now has even higher pay backs! What other investment can give you a guaranteed pay back of around 5% (on a mortgage)? On the plus side my guess is GIC Ladders is going to be a popular search on Google very soon.

Bitcoin lost value this week. Why? I have no idea really, but as I type these letters it is worth less than $10,000, but it might have recovered by the time you read this. To say this is a murky investment area is an understatement. Are you thinking of becoming a Bitcoin Miner? Go North young folk (Northern Quebec that is). Hydro Quebec is luring Cryptominers to Northern Quebec with very low electric rates. Evidently Quebec Knows How to use their excess hydro-electric resources, to make money.

My Recent Writings

This week I queried Can I get a Deal from a Chatbot ? Given the use of automated (some might say AI) on-line and social media bots being used for customer service, it is a valid question. I guess you are not likely to get too much from a Bot, although they may offer occasional perks just to keep folks from complaining about the lack of deals.

Micro Blogging on Finance

The importance of keeping your important financial information safe is nicely summed up in the following meme, which is a twist on an old adage.

This Saturday night you will be turning your clocks back an hour, giving yourself an extra hour sleep. For me it will simply mean going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, I could live without fall back.

PC Financial the bank is now a thing of the past. I updated my iPhone and my PC Financial app suddenly got updated to a Simplii application. As with all new things there seem to have been a few glitches with the new system. Hopefully those will be ironed out soon. My PC Mastercard will still go on, collecting PC Points, but now my accounts are with Simplii? For now, I seem to have too many different bank accounts these days, diversity is one thing, but this is madness.

TD has had problems with their e-transfers, which they think is fixed, but their customers are not so sure. I have certainly seen messages on the TD site warning of these issues, let us hope they are all remedied soon.

My Recent Writings

Inflation continues to run at low levels, as I wrote about in Inflation Still Under 2 Pct (for now). Maybe inflation is a thing from the past? Somehow, I doubt it, but anything is possible, I suppose.

I do enjoy the series Letterkenny which you can watch on Crave, and with that in mind, I paraphrased Wayne with Who Green-Lit this Tom-Foolery ? I am using that turn of phrase more and more these days, much to the chagrin of Mrs. C8j.

Doug Hoyes kindly let me back on his Podcast (after the huge ratings of the last one), to talk about RDSPs. I enjoyed being there, but I did mis-speak on a couple of points, so I attempted to fix this with RDSP Clarifications and Podcasts. I will be writing more about the RDSP in the next few weeks.

When I wrote Movember, My Story, I wasn’t sure I was going to publish it. Frankly, it shows what an idiot I am, but if it helps anyone, it has done what I hope.

Micro Blogging on Finance

While Gail Vaz-Oxlade may have stopped writing on-line her tweets are still a treat (if a bit NSFW sometimes). Good advice if your bank is giving you a hard time.