Canadian Personal Finance Blog

So the bail out in the U.S. continues slowly, with the Senate passing a revised “fix it” plan, which now must go back to the Congress for their approval, so we still could have some roller coaster ups and downs as folks attempt to get things remedied or at least stabilized in the U.S. (and the rest of the financial world really).

Am I optimistic? Yes, but I am an optimistic guy. Is this the end of it? Absolutely not, there is many more turns in the road, my hope is we are not like Wile E. Coyote and suddenly realize there actually is NO road underneath us.

Buffett Gives GE Cash

This one intrigues me, because Warren Buffett seems to be “bargain hunting” right now, while looking like he is a “savior” for a lot of companies. He has “given” GE $3B to help them with their cash flow issues. Evidently Mr. Buffett stated:

“I have been a friend and admirer of GE and its leaders for decades. They have strong global brands and businesses with which I am quite familiar. I am confident that GE will continue to be successful in the years to come.”

He has put his money where his mouth is, because for this cash infusion Mr. Buffett receives a large amount of GE common shares. Mr. Buffett will be coming out of this whole mess (in my opinion) with a lot more money in his pockets.

If Mr. Buffett wishes to give me a ca$h infusion, he is more than welcome. 

Do Not Call the DNCL

I read stories about how the “No Call” registry to stop tele-marketers crashed, but I had no problem, but don’t call them, go to the web site instead at No Call Registry . Evidently I have 31 days to wait for the calls to stop, which should be good (I registered my cell phone as well), however, my guess is the folks who call from 000-000-0000 will continue to call, and if I ever find out who it is, I will report them to the CRTC for having an illegal phone number.

Why is TD Diluting My Shares?

TD is evidently going to be selling $5Bn of “mixed shelf” securities (i.e. shares, class A first preferred shares, warrants to purchase preferred securities and debt securities), this money will be going into their general fund and will be used throughout the company. More Class A shares means dilution of my shares value, by adding more to the pool, not sure I like this idea, but the statement was unclear as to how many Class A shares might be sold, so we shall have to wait and see.

Why I don’t Go Into TD Bank Branches Much

On Saturday I went into my local TD branch to deposit a cheque, which my wife had endorsed (it was a larger cheque, so I figured it would be easier if she endorsed it and then I could deposit it, without problems (although the account it was going into was a joint account, so what I was worried about, I have no idea)).

I was informed by a flabbergasted Teller (young lady)  that I could not in fact make a deposit at that time because all the banks computers were down, due to storms in the Toronto area. I looked at her a little puzzled and explained that I really didn’t feel safe wandering around with a cheque endorsed by my wife for the next two days, until their computers were fixed.

She said she could take a note, and deposit the cheque once her computer came back up (it was 2:45 PM, the bank closes at 3:00 PM, it was a Saturday, I did not hold out a lot of hope that much would change in 15 minutes), so I agreed.

The Teller then did the following:

• She wrote down my access TD card ID number, in a writing style, where I could barely read what she had written.
• She filled out my instructions on a bank form.
• Signed the form
• Photocopied the form with a copy of the cheque and stamped it dated for Monday for me.

What does this mean? I have no idea, I know that so far nothing seems to have happened in terms of the cheque, as my on line banking does not reflect any changes.

The humorous part then was, when I asked if the Interac network was down, and she informed me that no it was still up and I could also withdraw cash from my TD account if I wanted to then as well. I left the bank feeling very nervous about what might be happening to that cheque. I walked over to the Loblaws and deposited the other two cheques in my PC Financial account.

When I was growing up in Montreal I had my bicycle stolen straight out of my family’s garage, and I remember my Dad giving me some money to go get a new one. It was traumatic for me, since I had never had anything of my own stolen, and suddenly my bicycle (my only means of transport) was taken, it was quite upsetting.

From that day onward I closed any garage I was associated with and became a Nazi about locking doors and such, because I was worried about people taking my stuff.  I got insurance and worried about my stuff getting taken, so I was very careful with my stuff. I write this because there was a posting on a local board that I read about a bicycle being stolen from someone’s garage, and it brought back to me, and made me wonder what some people are thinking in my neighbourhood.

I go off to work and it seems like my neighbours leave their garages open all day long, how trusting can you get? I realize no one is going to run off with my snow blower (although anything is possible), but the bicycles in my garage aren’t cheap, and worse still, the door into my garage from my house is rarely locked, so thus it is an open door to my house.

Do I have enough home insurance? I really am not sure, I think I can replace my house, and I can replace many items in it, but I hope not to have to find out. I have been meaning to do a home inventory of the major items, so at least I would have a guess what might need replacing, but it is something that you procrastinate about because you don’t think it will happen to you.

Am I being paranoid? I invite my readers to comment on this, but I am always worried that someone might be wanting to take my stuff, and I take action to stop that.

RIP George Carlin

Way off topic, but still I must mention the passing of George Carlin. He was an influence on me growing up, I must have worn out my copy of “Class Clown” and his mistrust of “the system” in general still pervades my belief system. I did manage to see him live in the late 90’s in Vegas and I am saddened that he is no longer with us.

Happy St. Jean Baptiste Day

A mes amis Quebecois,  I wish you a joyeux Fete National and hope there are many choruses sung of Gens du Pays sung. Vive Le Quebec!

How are your teeth? Mine are not in great shape and I have had a history of bad teeth, and it hasn’t got much better as I got older. Currently I have 4 Crowns in my mouth and at least 3 teeth that I would guess will soon become crowns.

Crowns are a wonderful thing that for some reason is viewed as a Prosthetic for most insurance plans, and thus are rarely covered more than 50% by most Dental plans (and in some cases not at all). What does this mean, financially?

Each crown with installation has been approximately $1000 each (that does not seem completely out of whack with what I have heard from other folks, so I don’t blame my dentist for this charge). This means I have been out of pocket almost $2000 so far for the crowns that I have had put in, and that is a LARGE chunk of change, as I had not planned on these expenses, but I will be in the future.

Do I have other options? Yes, I could have the teeth extracted, but then I must get either dentures or a real prosthetic, both of which are not covered much under most dental plans.

Other interesting dentistry related expenses might be Orthodontic work, for you (adults are getting braces more and more) or for your kids. This is usually only covered 50% by most dental plans. A lot of times if both parents are working they can get almost all of this work done, but for us lucky single income families we only get about 1/2 of the expense covered (unless it is for a medical condition like a cleft pallet, in which case it is mostly covered under Medicare (and rightfully so)).

That ability to cover both 1/2’s of a coverage shortfall that dual income families (that both have benefits plans) is yet another advantage that dual income families have over single income families.

My kids wonder why I keep bugging them to brush their teeth? For your financial future, that’s why!!!