Canadian Personal Finance Blog

For those of you who might have missed it on Monday night, Gail Vaz-Oxlade did her impersonation of St. George and took on the Financial Dragons (i.e. Banks and the C.D. Howe institute), in a very entertaining battle, entitled “Deconstructing Personal Debt” on TVO’s show “Agenda”.

The show seemed to pit Gail and Moshe Milevski against Phillip Cross of the C.D. Howe Institute and Derrick Burleton a VP at TD (apologies on the spellings) (from this point on, they will be known as “the suits”).

Gail did a great deal of the battling, where the “suits” kept arguing Marcoeconomic macroeconomic policies and how statistics don’t agree that Canadians are drowning in debt, but Gail continued to hammer her point of view with her personal experiences (which was contrary to the “suits” point of view).

Lots of interesting discussions and Gail even fires out an “… oh bite me!” comment (and the moderator made some comment about how Gail didn’t drop an “F-bomb” this time), well worth watching.

If you are a resident of Ontario, think about donating to TVO as well, to keep this kind of interesting programming going.

In case you were wondering about Saint George and the Dragon, click on this picture (does look a little like Gail).

Saint George Slaying the Dragon

Over the years I have learned a great deal about the importance of knowing the rules in life (not all the rules, and I am by no definition an expert). What kind of rules? Mostly rules in systems that directly affect me, like my health insurance(s), dental insurance, rules for banking, etc., etc.,.

The first time, was figuring out that my Health Insurance with my employer (at the time) would actually pay for private testing for my children (to determine whether they were gifted and/or if they had learning disabilities). What looked to be a very expensive bill (well over $1500 at the time), ended up only costing me around $100 or so. I must admit that I did not actually figure this out, the Psychologist we were dealing with already knew “how the game was played” and simply let my wife and I in on the rules.

Knowing the rules of the game, is the single most important thing to learn, no matter what game you are playing. Michael James is also known as Mr. Rules, but it has served him well in his life (being a Mathematician it seems to come to him naturally), and knowing the rules will help you make sure you are compensated by “the system” (even when you think it is just not going to happen).

No, I am not espousing going out and finding a Shyster Lawyer to try to skirt the tax laws (good God, I am not saying that, and anyone who is thinking that I will personally spank with a cricket mallet),  but I am saying you should find out how the rules to all benefits packages work and how you can take advantage of them.

What kind of things am I talking about? Here are some simple examples to go with my testing example:

• If your benefits cover glasses, find out how often and when the time frame deadlines are. One year I ended up buying two sets of glasses in two months, because they straddled two different time frames (at the time I was compensated for one set of glasses every two years). Line this up correctly and you get two sets of glasses covered in less than a month.
• There are thousands of bursaries and programs for University and College students, that aren’t given out some years, because no one applies (sometimes it is because there are no actual candidates, but sometimes it is due to candidates not applying). My daughters basketball club gives out a bursary at the end of the year for graduating players, more than one year no one applied for it (guess they didn’t want free money).
• My daughter’s have learning disabilities (which I got tested for cheap) however because of these learning disabilities they also received bursaries from OSAP and their schools (and dispensations for writing exams as well), however, we didn’t really think about this until we looked and saw what is available to folks with learning disabilities.

Some simple Rules to Live By

Know the rules, understand the rules and if you can use them to your advantage (in a legal and above-board way) then do so (don’t be shady, ask first if you are unsure, it may be that no one has tried before, the worst thing they can say is, “no”).

Canada continues to add jobs, but also seems to be adding more folks looking for jobs as well in April according to Stats Canada. Another month where Canada has added more jobs (Full-time jobs, which is great), however, thanks to more folks out there looking unemployment is up as well.

Employment increased by 58,000 in April, mostly in full-time work. This was the second consecutive month of notable gains after four months of little change. With more people searching for work, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 7.3%.

Compared with 12 months earlier, employment was up 1.2% or 214,000. All of the growth over the 12 months was in full-time work, up 217,000 (+1.6%), while part-time employment was unchanged. The total number of hours worked rose 1.5% over the same period.

These are very promising good news information for Canadians (for those who claim I am a doom and gloom kind of guy).

Employment As of April 2011

This graph makes me happier, let us hope that the good numbers continue for the Economy.

Here is the confusing group, that shows that unemployment is going up, even with more folks being employed:

Unemployment for the past little while in Canada

Kind of slowly rolling down, but kind of worrying none the less.

An interesting comparison with our friends down south was also brought forward:

The number of employed as a percentage of the working-age population in Canada, that is the employment rate—when adjusted to U.S. concepts—was markedly lower than that of the United States from the early 1990s until 2002. Since 2002, the adjusted employment rate in Canada has been higher, with the gap between the two countries widening since late 2006.

Better employment numbers in Canada? Good thing to hear.

The Big Table

Stats Canada also has lots more data with their monthly numbers and I like to include at least one of their tables:

Table 1 Labour force characteristics by age and sex - Seasonally adjusted

To all my Matriarchal Readers and Mothers everywhere, Happy Mother’s Day! Hope you are enjoying your day, and if you are a Father, remember the argument “You are not my Mother”, is a dangerous game to play (speaking as someone who foolishly made that statement one Mother’s Day).

As a Montrealer (who lives in Ottawa), I was appalled to see the Metro under attack (OK, with smoke bombs) and shutting down the system for 3 hours. I have no idea who is behind this, and who(m)ever is, I hope the book is thrown at them, but it remains to be seen who will claim responsibility.

This past week I ranted a fair amount about identity theft and such (having had my wife’s bank card cloned (again)), but my Twitter Feed had a bunch of older posts in some other interesting themes as well:

• My humorous post about Old Bar B Q’s and Flames, points out that you should either maintain your old Bar B Q or replace it when it looks dead (or you might have some big problems).
• More Fun with Credit Cards, where I suggest an old trick (my brother told me about from his MBA class).
• Remember that as a Pure Laine Quebecois (ok tete carre aussi) I can invoke C’est la faut du Federal at any time,  it will be true.
• It’s not very nice to ask, however, are Canadians Financially Stupid? Actually most bloggers seem to think it is true?
• I didn’t post this one, but it’s something someone should read A Mind of My Own, by our friend Gail Vaz-Oxlade.

Happy Mother's Day

I seemed fixated on credit cards and modes of payments this week, but with the RCMP shutting down a large (worldwide) credit card and debit card fraud ring, I guess I was spot on target for topics (I’ll have to thank Mrs. C8j for having her debit card cloned again).

In Quebec, students continue to complain that they have the lowest tuition fees in Canada, and in fact are now asking that Post Secondary Education be free and available to all who wish to attend. Why does that sentence seem like something out of Alice in Wonderland? I wish Les Etudiant et Membres de CLASSE bonne chance, because they are going to need it (and let’s hope it is not them who are disrupting the Metro in Montreal, enraging already uptight Montreal commuters is not the way to build public support).

Our European friends continue to make daytime soap operas seem dull, with more plot twists than a thoroughbred horse intestines! France elects a new president who says “retirement should be at 61 not 63″ and Greece elects representatives who want nothing to do with the on-going austerity measures. This will give the financial pundits no end of fun and excitement, discussing the impending Global Economic Implosion.

In the U.S. Obama may have come across a stroke of genius in his re-election campaign, which is the infamous “bait and switch” topic trick. He has now openly spoken about Same Sex Marriages, which will cause a fire-storm of discussions, which may distract folks from the still ailing U.S. Economy. This tactic could win him the election (or lose it, depending on your point of view), the Republicans may have to respond with, “It’s about the Economy Stupid!”, because a moral discussion about same-sex marriage will dull the Republican arguments about the economy (or at least muddy the waters greatly).

Weekly Recap

The topic of money security and identity theft is never a bad topic, but remember you must continue to remain diligent to protect yourself from these syndicates that want your personal info:

• Our friends in Europe seem to think they are not the problem, so they don’t need to fix it, and have Answered Austerity Measures with Tais-Toi (effectively saying they don’t want an austere lifestyle).
• As I mentioned Mrs. C8j had her bank card cloned (again), and so Debit Card The Saga continued on, it’s annoying as hell, but at least this time we didn’t have any money taken out of our bank accounts.
• I really want to figure out how to stop these Credit Card Cheques from appearing on my doorstep, they are of no use and are financially a Molotov cocktail!
• After the close of another basketball season, I went back to one of my favorite rants with I Blame the Refs (financially speaking).

Links for the Week

Ain’t life grand? No I didn’t win $50M with the Lottery, so it ain’t grand yet, but maybe tonight, wonder what I’d write about if that happened? We know that my favorite writers would keep writing and pump out more quality posts like these:

• Larry MacDonald points out that the Canadian Health Care System Needs Reform, which is pretty obvious, and as the years pass, the more obvious this is all going to be. If you are a francophone Larry’s book on Bombardier is now available in French.
• My Own Advisor explains about his struggles with GDSR and TDSR, a good try at explaining what these fees are, getting down to brass tacks is a good thing.
• Rob Carrick hopes Canada’s Days of Berserk Borrowing are (almost) Behind Us, we shall see whether his prediction will come to pass, but following Polonius is not a bad idea.
• Ellen Roseman is looking for Your Tips on How to Fight Back, I would suggest hiding your money in your mattress to avoid bank service fees, but that might not be a good tip.
• Mr. Money Mustache showing his U.S. roots wonders Can We all Stop F*cking Complaining About our Government? Strong words, but a fun read none the less, it seems our American cousins like to complain about Government as much as Canadians like complaining about the weather.
• Timeless Finance gets down and talks of Bubble Double Speak, talking about how the government may be the author of a lot of the mortgage and bubble mess in Canada. Worth reading whether you agree or not.
• The Blunt Bean Counter wonders is A Family Vacation - A Memory Worth Not Dying For? No, it’s not about overspending on vacations, it is about inheritances and gifts, if you haven’t added this writer to your RSS feed you are missing something (even if he is a Leafs fan).
• Michael James gets out his slide rule again and points out that Long-term investing Confuses our Sense of Scale, which shows that simple arithmetic is not applicable in long-term growth problems.
• Canadian Capitalist wonders what is iShares Planning after Acquiring Claymore, a question I am asking myself, given I have some Claymore funds in my portfolio.
• The Canadian Couch Potato wonders Can you Protect Your Investments from Drawdowns? The answer is of course, maybe!
• Boomer of Boomer and Echo  helps us out with Turning 60: Some Things to Consider, given I am 9 years away, I read this closely.
• Miranda at Planting Money Seeds, needed to replace her Quicken 2006 so she gives us Personal Finance Software: Moneydance, being a Quicken lover, I am not as likely to try this software, however, still worth reading.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade helps us kids out with Mother’s Day Savings ideas, always useful for those of us who must buy things for their Wives/Mothers.
• Preet gives us an interesting point of view on smoking but I think he got the title a little wrong with Quit Smoking or Blow up a Porsche? It really should have been Quit Smoking or Blow up a Porsche (with you in it!).

Other Bookkeeping

Preet's Explodable Porsche

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Some Comforting Porsche Words

Keeping with Preet’s Porsche theme:

I couldn’t find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.

Ferdinand Porsche - what would he do now with all the investing options? Would he make his own Mutual Fund?!?