Canadian Personal Finance Blog

The Tories saying they are reviewing the lyrics of O Canada, while the economy is just recovering and the Government has blown more money than Paris Hilton on a shopping spree in Paris, is possibly either the greatest strategy ever, or the dumbest, I am not sure which. How many Canadians are worried that “… in all thy sons command…” is not inclusive, is more important in comparison to where the Economy stands, and the size of the national debt? I am sure there are some that are losing sleep over our National Anthem, but frankly it really doesn’t grease my wheels much (but then again, I have a son, and he is commanding, so maybe I am biased).

With glowing hearts we read many great postings this week written by the financial bloggers, from the true North strong and free. From far and wide we searched to find those posts that stood on guard for us, and here are a few of them:

• Michael James looks a gift horse in the mouth, and finds a few rotten teeth, in his post Overpaying for “Free” Life Insurance. I guess we should figure out whether “free” is too expensive for us.
• Preet sure talks to a lot of interesting folks, and thanks to his chat with Michael Moore he is giving away copies of Capitalism: A Love Story — Giveaway. Remember true love, is always saying you are sorry.
• The Canadian Capitalist has some Tips for your RRSP Contribution which is useful, even with RRSP season being over effectively.
• Larry MacDonald talks about the 2010 Budget and Personal Finance, and he should know he’ll have been locked away learning about it.
• Canadian Financial DIY points out that Canadian Computer prices might not be as big a gouge as they used to be in The Mighty CAD.
• The Quest for Four Pillars takes on a topic near and dear to my heart with Buying an iPhone From Rogers? – Don’t Believe a Word they Say. I’d like an iPhone, but they are just too darn expensive.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade gives us something to think about with 8 Reasons Why YOU Don’t Save, how did she know?
• Ellen Roseman returns from a nice vacation and gets Back to Work, helping people get refunds. Vacations are refreshing, wish I knew how to go on one.
• To Succeed Financially you must Know Yourself says Million Dollar Journey, which is true. No financial plan works unless it fits how you want or can live.

Remember folks, there is a new budget and maybe soon we’ll have a new, non-descript, non-threatening and boring National Anthem. I suggest that we hire John Tesh or Air Supply to write it! Have a great weekend.

Don’t You Usually Comment on the Budget?

Yes, I’ll wait until Monday to comment on what the budget means to me. It seems I have walked into another cost cutting world, wonder if the Public Sector’s lay-off scares are worse than in the Private Sector?

For parents one cool thing is that your estate can transfer (after your death) from your RRSP to your disabled child (or Grandchild’s) RDSP, which could be a very good thing for those with disabled kids or grandkids.

Friday, Stats Canada published their monthly update on the Labor Force Survey for January and the numbers were a little better than the prognosticators were guessing, as employment increased by 43,000 jobs last month (the number bandied about I had heard was 15,000), which actually pushed the unemployment rate down 1/10% as well.

This is relatively good news, given the gloom and doom from the stock markets and the commodities world of the past few days (at the end of last week).

Employment gains in January were driven by women aged 25 to 54 and youths. This was the first notable increase for youths since the start of the employment downturn in the fall of 2008.

So more part time jobs, but at least work is out there, for the youths.

Employment Curve up to January 2010

Unemployment dropped a little, which should make folks happier, but it is still well over 8% which is a number that does not reflect a healthy thriving economy.

Unemployment Graph up to January 2010

Much of the gains were seen in Ontario (30,000), but Ontario’s unemployment rate stayed at 9.2% as more folks were also looking for jobs, which means unemployment is actually on an upward trend since the summer.

The Big Table

Here is the Big table from Stats Can, find your age group and see what happened to folks of your age and gender.

Nothing New on Jobs Front

Stats Canada published their Labor Force survery for December 2009 on Friday, and it seemed to suggest not much changed in December after a surge in November. This is to be expected with most firms slowing down for the holidays, so the data really only reflect a 2/3 of a month snapshot (if someone got hired between Christmas and New Years I would be very surprised (but it would be a nice present too)).

In the last nine months, employment has stabilized but remains 323,000 (-1.9%) below the October 2008 peak.

Very interesting statement, but given we are only “recovering” not attempting to get back to record highs, it is a slow and steady slope.

At least the graph does not show a slope down.

Unemployment Flat Too

The good thing is that this month’s data also shows that unemployment is stable as well, although seeing it drop would be another good sign of the “recovery” gaining momentum.

Following a large increase in November, employment was unchanged in December and the unemployment rate remained at 8.5%.

Another Big Table

This is the big table of Labour Force Characteristics by Age and Sex

The National Film Board has put out a set of videos reflecting how the economic downturn has affected Canadians. This one is quite poignant, I invite you to check out the other videos as well.

“My mom always had a job – I never had to work,” says 18-year-old Jessica. Then the recession hit, and those difficult teenage years suddenly got a little tougher.

For my regular readers, I am so lazy swamped over the holidays that I am taking some time off and putting up a “Best of” anthology until the New Year (January 4th to be exact). Enjoy two Best of posts a day over the Holidays and have yourself a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

For me the year 2009 was a roller coaster of ups and downs both financially and in my life. As some of you know I worked at Nortel for 20+ years and got laid off at the end of 2008, but I was lucky enough to find a job this year, and I have no complaints about 2009, other than the normal rants my regular readers have seen.

I have picked out three posts that sort of sum up Nortel and me in the past year. I don’t bare any ill will to the folks I worked with at Nortel, they were great, but I still have a festering loathing for the upper management team(s) and some in specific on how this all “went down”. My guess is that Karma, or God or whatever force that makes things equal in this world will get them eventually.

Interesting that I never really had a specific post stating I was back at work, I simply slid it into a Random Thoughts posting.

A Questionnaire for Everything (2009/01/06)

In August as part of the entire severance process that I lived through with my now former employer a few odd things happened and this incident really was the most odd…..

To read complete post click here

Sometimes It’s Better to Be Lucky (2009/01/15)

With Nortel’s bankruptcy protection announcement yesterday there is a sickening scenario for some very unlucky folks (many I know personally). Today’s title comes from one of my favorite expressions, “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than talented”, and that is how I feel right now….

To read complete post click here

A Year Ago (2009/07/30)

This is the one year anniversary of my lay off notice from Nortel. A lot has happened in the past year (unfortunately not a job offer for me, but I am still optimistic), that have me thinking that for something bad, it may end up being a good thing…..

To read complete post click here

Random Thoughts: Back to Work Edition (2009/08/07)

For my regular readers you will know I have been on the hunt for a new job for over a year now, but I am pleased to say that I will be embarking on a new career as of Monday, which is a great relief to me (and to my wife who will gladly have the house back in a regular working order soon enough)……

To read complete post click here