Random Thoughts

It seems PC Financial as a bank is done, and CIBC will create Simplii its own brand name. You will no longer get PC Points for banking, except with your PC Mastercard. For me, it makes it easy to walk away from PC Banking, and move the rest of my secondary banking to Tangerine (for now). PC Banking gave me many PC Points and free banking, so I am sad to see the brand go over the banking horizon (like Canada Trust, Waterloo Trust and others). Farewell free PC Chocolate Chip cookies too .

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Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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If you want to join Tangerine, use my code and I make some money too ( 47979477S1 )

I have taken the summer to spruce up a few things on the web site . Most of what I have done is not obvious, but here are a few highlights:

• The site is now HTTPS based, which makes it a bit more secure, and if I ever start selling stuff and such, I am ready to go. If you link to me, or have bookmarks, you could update those just by adding the S to httpS .
• Updating many of my back catalog articles (which if you are on my social media feeds will see them). Still have about 2500 or so to rewrite (or remove), so this will be  a long-term project.
• Looking at revamping the look of things, but I say that every year.

Politics in the states is now crossed the bat guano insane line. That is all. Mayhem is not  a ladder, no matter what Little Finger thinks.

Interesting thought for the week, NetFlix, while an industry leader, has over $15B in debt, is that good business or bad business? Only time will tell.

Recent Writings

I keep reading about the importance of building up your credit rating, so I figure I might get a rise out of some folk, but Credit Cards Help You Get a Mortgage caused nary a ripple in the internet. Still not sure if your credit card limits still count against your mortgage capabilities, but they should!

I did my 6 month rant about the TD Direct Investing RDSP issues, RDSP Deposit Obfuscations Continue , but I got an interesting comment that I will be pursuing with TD Direct Investing. Seems like my account may be badly configured, because at least 1 reader can make direct contributions to their RDSP account. I will keep you all posted on this.

Micro Blogging

I am experimenting with tweets and Facebook posts that are not full stories, this week a simple philosophical statement by me, that took a while to figure out.

"I wanted a career, but it turns out all I wanted was a pay cheque", sounded jaded and sarcastic when I was 26, at 56 sounds about right

— Big Cajun Man (aw) (@bigcajunman) August 16, 2017

Read More »Farewell PC Financial, Summer Holidays, Bat Guano and #MoneyTalk

Canada turns 150 tomorrow, and the City of Ottawa has put out its best for folks to celebrate. Should be interesting, I vaguely remember 1967, and I hope I am around for 2067 guess I should really push out the boat on this one.

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Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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My family, immigrated to Canada, and I am so thankful that they did. While I respect and love the land of my parents (Wales & Britain), Canada is my home, and it will always be with me.

The Bank of Canada Governor is saying he thinks low-interest rates have “done their job”, however:

“… certainly we need to be at least considering that whole situation now that the capacity excess capacity is being used up steadily.”

Sounds a lot like someone contemplating a rate increase soon. Might be time to get out of debt ? Debt is a four letter word , after all.

Yes, the first 1/2 of the final season of Game of Thrones starts soon too. Rising rates will bring financial winter for some folks.

Writings This Week

I have been working on RESPs and High Fee Mutual Funds for a while. It has languished, but I was able to figure out what I was trying to say (I think). Just because it is easier to use a Bank Mutual Fund account for your kids’ RESP accounts, doesn’t mean you should use it. If you ever hear someone from a Mutual Fund firm brag about how high their fees are, please drop me a line.

Read More »#Canada150, B of C Rates, and #MoneyTalk

This week our friend Kerry K. from Squawkfox appeared on CBC On The Money and did an excellent job explaining the issues with the RDSP.

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Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

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The video of her interview is at the end of this post. The major things to take away are:

• The system is daunting for disabled folks (or their families) to set things up. No argument from me, we are lucky we got help.
• It is not used by 85% of folks eligible (over 500,000 Canadians who could use it, don’t)
• These folks need help, but not from the “Helpful firms” that will scrape up to 30% of their tax refund to do

I must commend Kerry for her exceptional efforts in this area and her impressive presentation on the topic. She also acknowledged me (for those of you curious about who the Big Cajun Man is, watch the video) and the significant help that Mrs. C8j and I provided her with on this matter. Fortunately, Kerry was the one responsible for presenting and writing it, which made it straightforward to comprehend and sensible.

Let me point out that I do not claim to be an expert on the topic of DTC or RDSPs, I simply have lived the system and have many useful tips for those trying to use it.

Democracy was in evidence in B.C., when an election was decided by 9 votes (effectively). The riding of Courtenay-Comox was won by a 9 vote margin, in the Wednesday Election. There will be a recount, but if the NDP holds the seat, there is a minority Government in B.C., with the Green Party holding the balance of power. If the Liberals win the seat, they will have a slim majority. Yes, this is why you should always vote.

It is Mother’s Day on Sunday in North America, so remember your Mother. We all had one, and all she wants is for you to give her a call, and maybe visit sometimes.

The Real Estate market in Toronto might be slowing down, but in Ottawa it is starting to heat up. Have not heard of many bidding wars, yet, but maybe folks are thinking Ottawa is a suburb of Toronto?

All you folks who collect Aeroplan Points (like I have for over 25 years) must be shocked as I am that Air Canada is severing their relationship with them. I don’t have many points left, but evidently there is no transferral of points to Air Canada’s new point system either.

Things I Wrote This Week

I wrote three articles this week #Wow. On Monday I wrote about an older book Preet wrote RRSPs: The Definitive Book on Registered Retirement Savings Plans, which is still topical. It was written before the TFSA, so it could use an update with the TFSA added in, but still a very good reference book.

After working with Kerry K. on her research, I came across a great quote about an issue with the RDSP program, and its horrible subscription rate. DTC RDSP Vicious Circle talks about how you need a DTC to set up an RDSP, but why some folks don’t bother with the DTC.

On the sister site to this site, I wrote about an important personal security issue, The Difference Between Phishing and Spear-Phishing,outlines what to look for in both cases. If you are under a Spear­ Phishing attack, it is most likely due to your friends having their accounts compromised.

A Money Thought

Here we have a great resource for RDSPs, reporting on their investing success with the RDSP.

My RDSP report. How did my investments work for 2016? https://t.co/qtszEJZp6d

— Milburn Drysdale (@AutismFundingBC) May 9, 2017

Read More »RDSP, DTCs, Mother’s Day and #MoneyTalk

United does seem to be the friendly skies any more, and also a collection of great Easter weekend financial reads for your pleasure.

I understand you’re aware of the profit-driven approach taken by banks, and the recent CBC coverage on this topic. It’s important to recognize that banks are not your friend, but rather they are businesses focused on generating profits for their shareholders. As a customer, you are simply an income stream that banks can exploit to meet their financial goals. We need to remember that our relationship with banks is purely a business one, and it’s up to us to be vigilant and protect our interests. The onus is on us to take charge of our finances and not rely on our banks to have our best interests at heart. Oh those naughty banks.

Remember those thoughts the next time you think your bank is helping you out, by allowing you to have a new service. The only reason they let you have it, was to make them money.

March Madness has begun, I am cheering for Deep State to take the whole thing. Curious stat I found that this time of year is when the most vasectomies occur (and around time for the Masters), so the patient can “recover” at home and watch the games in peace. Seems a little extreme just to have the family leave you alone, but, to each his own. One day I will write about my two vasectomies. Might this be March Vasness ?

Have I mentioned how much I dislike finding snakes in my car? As Bugs Bunny said, “Good Bye Florida!”.

It snowed, in Ottawa, too much. That is all.

My Writings for Week Ending March 17^th

I took a week off, given it is March Break. Stay tuned we will be celebrating my 12th year of being the “Cranky old man of Personal Finance”, next week!

A Money Thought

Stan Buell has the correct view on the whole, “The Banks are out to get us” statement.

'We are all doing it': Employees at Canada's 5 big banks speak out about pressure to dupe customers https://t.co/vQbJ2xeYDM – Surprise!

— Stan Buell (@BuellStan) March 15, 2017

Read More »Naughty Banks, March Madness, Big Snow and #MoneyTalk