Canadian Personal Finance Blog

How Many Mortgages Do I have to Buy?

Interesting things you can buy at Costco are aplenty, however, my wife informs me that on Saturday she and a friend saw that you can get a Mortgage from Costco (kind of).

My wife and Michael James‘ wife actually went to Costco to see what the Portable Massage Tables (another interesting thing that Costco sells) looked like (they don’t keep them in stock evidently, not a high number of sales of that product, but you can order it on line). Given that part of their shopping expedition was fruitless they looked around and after picking up Pizza on the way out (another interesting thing sold at the commisary at Costco), they saw a young man advertising Mortgages.

I have checked on the Costco web site, and you can’t seem to order your Mortgage on line, you must go to Costco to get it (the kiosk may not really be associated with Costco, since Primus sells their wares the same way (and they are selling Internet, Cell and home phone something else to check I guess)), but my wife was unable to get any more information on it, as the young man at the Kiosk was busy with another potential customer.

Does anybody know about this “Mortgage”? Do I get points with it? Do I have to get 10 Mortgages since it is Costco? Do I get free food samples? Do I have to buy a trailer home? Anybody has any info on this “mortgage” or on the Primus Internet stuff, please comment.

With Canada Day (July 1st) falling on a Wednesday and the 4th of July falling on a Saturday it makes for odd holiday patterns for both Canada and the U.S.A., my guess would be a lot of folks in Canada are taking Thursday and Friday off and making for a Mega-Long weekend.

To my American brother(s) and sisters I wish you a Happy 4th!

In the Financial Blogosphere

In the blogs this week some very interesting views of important issues in Personal Finance and Investing:

• Michael James and I both spoke about Whether I can Blow $5M but Michael James offers concrete Advice For Wealthy Athletes.
• Preet at Wheredoesallmymoneygo points out the TSX had a Rockin Year so far, and remember to watch him on the W Channel’s Ultimate Expert Challenge as well!
• The Four Pillars are taking a run at the always popular topic in Canada Tax Deductible Mortgage/Debt, always informative he runs down the hows and ifs on this topic.
• The Canadian Capitalist brings forth another irritating subject for me The 5 cent Levy on Grocery Bags Rip Off (in Ontario at least). Remember to wash your reusable bags!
• Loonies and Sense had Good Timing For Once, but even then ran into issues with the strike in the GTA (how high can you pile garbage?).
• In the Tech area, Techcrunch mentions two words that may revolutionize your phones: Google Voice, read this and start thinking about how you might use it, I already have signed up on the waiting list.
• Ellen Roseman continues her discussions about saving energy in Tanks and No Tanks.
• Larry MacDonald gave us an Update: One Minute Portfolio another lazy man’s investing tool (I appreciate folks who make my life simpler).

Remember the Globe and Mail Best of the Money Blogs voting continues until Monday as well! Enjoy the Mega-Long weekend.

Canada Day it is Again!

Canada Day returns this year with Canada turning a majestic 142 years young today. There is no Expo 67 like celebration this year, however Canada is preparing for it’s third Olympics this winter in Vancouver.

Enjoy the holiday Canadians!

Happy Moving Day in Montreal!

For those of you in Montreal, July the 1st is also the day that most leases begin, so enjoy your moving day, hope you found a moving van, and don’t carry too much up those winding stair cases!

And Now A Large Flag

Happy Birthday Canada

And Finally an NFB Vignette

Figured I’d ask since you really only have a few days left to get it all done. You have 9 days including today to get it into the CRA, and if they owe you money, why didn’t you do this sooner, because it is your money. If you owe them money, wait until the last day to pay them, but you can still file early, just don’t pay until April 29th.  Remember the tax man in Canada may not have the sweeping powers that the IRS does in the U.S., but they can still make your life as miserable as possible, if you don’t give them their “fair share”.

Mortgage Lock In Time?

With Interest rates now at historical lows is now the time to lock into your Mortgage rate? 

That seems to be a big question going around these days, but here is a better question to ask, if interest rates go up to 10% can you still afford your house? Can you afford your debt load you are carrying? 

Those are the real questions to ask. When my wife and I bought our first house, we locked in at 12% for five years, because the world was just coming off mortgage rates of 15% and up to 20% so we thought that this was the best bargain we could make at that moment. Turned out we were completely wrong, and ended up paying a lot more than if we had gone variable or gone with shorter terms.

Were we wrong? No, is my opinion, we could afford the mortgage at that rate and did not want variance in our mortgage payments (where variance really means, didn’t want to pay MORE for the mortgage), so we locked in. There is no wrong answer in this area, it is what you feel comfortable and how you want to plan and architect your financial plan. 

For the past 8 years I have carried my house on a completely variable interest rate debt vehicle, and it has served me fairly well, but I am hoping to pay it off quickly, once I find another job. I can withstand a fairly steep interest rate jump (I’ll complain a lot mind you), but for me I feel ok with my current decision about staying at a variable rate.

The whole goal is to get rid of this debt so that you can then use your money to build wealth, not just pay off debt.

Do you feel safe with the current interest rates? What would happen if they shot up to 10% in a year (say like oil prices did)? Are you confident there is no Inflation on the financial event horizon?

For basketball at least (OK for the men, the NCAA Women’s final is tonight), but the madness on the stock market continues on.

The Bank of Canada is talking about “printing” more Canadian money, thus diluting the value of the Canadian dollar (and assuring run away inflation in the very near future). Interesting idea, hope they don’t follow through on that one.

The TSX index was down again yesterday, but who knows what might come of today’s training.

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Mortgage Rates Drop

Across the board Canadian banks have been dropping Mortgage rates, which is good for borrowers who are getting new mortgages, or for those who are about to renew their mortgage. I am on a variable rate mortgage (ok a line of credit) so it does not affect (effect?) me, but still a good thing to see.

18 Canadian Billionaires

I didn’t know that but there are 18 Billionaires in Canada (according to the CBC). Surprisingly I don’t personally know any of them, and no I am not on the list either. Wonder how much tax they pay?