Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Financial Meltdown Continues (aka I really don’t like Mondays)

Well, just when you thought it was safe to go swimming in the Amazon, a fresh batch of piranhas come out and chew the living daylights out of you. Yesterday, I watched the TSX dip below 10,000 for the first time in almost 6 years, and while there was a ‘recovery’ of sorts by the end of the day, the roller coaster continues to swerve, dip and dive making even the most ardent investors sweat a great deal. 

My RRSP as it stands now seems to have lost about 20% of it’s value, and it may well dip a lot lower before things start getting back to normal. Is this a concern? Not really, since the money is for my alleged retirement, which is many years away, and most of the equities I own are fine (OK some of the banks I wonder about), but I am not planning on getting “Whip Sawed” as Michael James points out. I will continue on the course I have chosen for now.

Why Am I not Financially Panicking?

Well, I am trying to be more optimistic for one thing (yes, I am not succeeding all the time), but I also am about to inject a great deal of cash into my retirement, to be invested in some fashion, and for once, I think I may enjoy shopping for bargains in this BEAR of a market. 

My wife and I (Mrs. C8j as we call her) will need to put together a plan for investing and put together a budget with some “bear” assumptions to get us through to next year, with the severance I have just received, but with those decisions will come the interesting questions of where to invest? Most of the financial bloggers I know will be getting that question asked to them (once I can get them over a beer or two), and that is one of the reasons I am smiling during this grim financial time.

Could it get worse financially?

Never ask that question. Every time in my life that I have stated, “It can’t get any worse…”, it has, so I have stopped asking that question, or making that statement. Follow the lawyers credo in this situation, “Never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to…”.

Remember many things can happen, the Horses Might Even Sing!

Election?

Who(m)ever inherits this mess in the U.S. or Canada, I wish you good luck, because you are being left holding the bag, and as usual, the culprits (as it were) are enjoying the fruits of their labors, on our nickel (not that I am pointing a finger of blame, just that I know someone made money on this, and they aren’t giving any of it back).

For the rest of either electoral race, the simple answer to any other issue is

“It’s the ECONOMY STUPID!“

to paraphrase Bill Clinton’s campaign of 1992. Nothing else matters, now.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow watch for a celebration of sorts on this blog, celebrating 4 years of work and the fun I have had doing it (unless today brings even worse news, then I’ll push it out another day).

The following is a paid review:

Tn Visa Expert is a site that should help Canadians get their TN work visas in the U.S. . Since 9/11 and even before that Canadians traveling to the U.S. have been under closer and closer scrutiny to ensure they are not attempting to work in the U.S. illegaly, and this site helps you get the correct paperwork in place so that you can travel to the U.S. without hassles or problems.

What is TN Visa status? Well Wikipedia says it is:

TN (Trade NAFTA) status is a special non-immigration status unique to citizens of the United States, Canada and Mexico. TN status was created by virtue of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It allows American, Canadian and Mexican citizens the opportunity to work in the United States or Canada under a somewhat limited set of occupations.

The folks at TN Visa Expert will help you get this visa so you can work in the U.S. without hassles or issues.

I have run into these issues many times, and all it takes is running into 1 border guard who thinks your papers are not in order, and your life becomes very complicated, and once you are rejected, things get much more sticky trying to get back across the border as well.

I do not use Tn Visa Expert currently, but may avail myself of their services in the future, should I need to travel to the U.S. to work.

According to the Fraser Institute Tax Freedom Day for 2008 was Saturday June 14th. This alleged end of you earning money for taxes means you have the rest of the year to pay for all your other expenses. Speaking as a highly taxed individual (no matter how much I bitch about over spending in my household Taxes by far out strip all other spending we do).

The institute even has a fun little tool to figure out when your specific Tax Freedom Day which was kind of cool to play around with as well.

This artificial celebration really means very little, except that most Canadians pay over 50% of their income in various taxes (if you simply count the number of days until this happy day). How can things change? Less Government spending might help, smarter spending might be nice too (get more from all the money I give you). Given I haven’t had a raise in 5 years, it would be nice if the government was forced to do the same rethinking on spending that my household has had to do (I mean government in the Generic across the board sense, not just the Federal or Provincial folks).

Enjoy earning money for yourself now (figuratively, if not factually).

Mortgage Rates on the Rise?

Thanks to last week’s non-cut by the Bank of Canada most of the major banks are raising their Mortgage rates in reaction.  Any debt vehicle that has a variable rate hasn’t changed that I can tell, but the banks seem to think rates will be going back up very soon, and they are reacting accordingly.  TD Canada Trust’s rates can be found here, Scotiabank’s can be found here, but remember all these rates can be negotiated, and if you don’t want to do that, go to a Mortgage Broker and get a better rate there.

Funny no one has lowered the Credit Card rates lately (sorry had to have a jab at one of my favorite topics).