Canadian Personal Finance Blog

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.

Thursday caused the world to stop worrying about the Financial Apocalypse and start worrying about the demise of their Celebrity Aristocracy with the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and finally Michael Jackson.  I remember seeing Farrah Fawcett on the wall of most boys my age bedroom, and hearing her passing makes me feel a little older.

When celebrities die, does that change the economic climate? Hey anything is possible in this day and age, maybe we will see the Michael Jackson recovery?

The Poster

In the Financial Blogs This Week

With the summer coming is there an economic malaise about to fall? We shall see:

• The Canadian Capitalist points out that Borrowing Costs are Going up even though interest rates are staying the same.  Time to buy Bank Stocks again?
• Michael James points out Grocery Bag Lessons in Economic Incentives, and now he is a bring your own bag man.
• Preet at WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo is pushing a Great Father’s Day Gift (OK I’d like to get it, but I am not entering as I feel there is a conflict of interest), if you want to go fast, go check this out.
• Four Pillars points out How to Use Aeroplan points, always useful to read case studies for services I use.
• Larry MacDonald wrote about how the Media’s Influence on the Stock Market, you’ve got to admit the media does swing things some times.
• Gail Vaz Oxlade asks How Do You Track Your Money, which is always a topic I love to talk about, although Gail’s method is a bit higher work than I’d do.
• The Canadian Tax Resource gives you 5 Tips to Pay Off Your Mortgage, which is always useful.

With Summer coming very soon (on Sunday in fact), and Father’s Day on the same day this weekend looks to be an eventful one for us all.

Financially the week has seen the Nortel CEO Mike Z. standing in front of a group of Canadian politicians and saying, “It simply wasn’t feasible to pay severance,” , you have to respect his chutzpah, but when he started saying he might not get his sweetheart pension, I think he lost all credibility. With the CPI at 0.1% we are in interesting areas where allegedly our prices are not rising, yet the price of food is up 7.1% over 12 months, so the numbers are actually hiding a big issue (i.e. the poor and fixed income folks dealing with huge food price increases).  Evidently this means our interest rates may stay as low as they are for a while longer, which is just wild (IMHO).

Financial Blogging Views

Some interesting posts from my regular reads on the Financial blogging front:

• Techcrunch talks about the new Apple iPhone 3GS which is out today, will this entice more Canadians to sign up with Fido and Rogers (and their ridiculously expensive data plans)? I’m sticking with my iPod touch, thanks.
• Ellen Roseman has a little Fun and Games with her students at U of T’s continuing ed program, with Ellen Degenerates Share Club, she wins the funniest one liner of the week.
• Michael James points out that the CRA No Longer Taxing Loyalty Programs, with a few caveats added on. I wonder if my PC Points fit this new rule?
• The Canadian Capitalist points out that ‘Simply Save’ with TD Bank might be a no-brainer to sign up for, for someone like me who already does his banking with TD.
• Preet from WhereDoesAllMyMoneyGo points out that the Ultimate W Expert Challenge (which he is a part of) starts this weekend on Sunday! Worthwhile just to see and hear what Preet sounds like (since you aren’t likely to see me on the big screen any time soon).
• Larry MacDonald points out that Ontario Savings Bonds are on Sale (for a few days more), but wonders if it might be better just to go with high yield bank accounts?
• Riscario muses about The Three Major Obstacles to Growth according to Brian Tracy, which is a very interesting read.
• The Four Pillars writes about Freegans, which shouldn’t be confused with Veegans, and sound like the same guys who take my crap from the bottom of my driveway.

Stay tuned this weekend, there may not be a video interlude, but there might be something even more interesting. Enjoy the start of summer and remember to call your Dad on Father’s Day!

In the summertime when all the leaves and trees are green, and the gas prices double, I’ll be blue… OK, that is not how that song goes, but it looks like we are in for another summer of spiking gas prices again. Certainly can’t be blamed on demand this time, since the number of unemployed folk and folks not driving their gas inhaling SUV’s is up and down respectively, wonder what might be causing this? Maybe a secret Canadian Conspiracy to force the U.S. to rely heavily on the Tar Sands in Alberta? Not a bad concept, except this is driving the Canadian Dollar back up to equal value with the U.S. dollar, which will spike the Canadian Economic recovery if we are not careful.

Financial Blog Highlights

This week’s treasure trove of nuggets of wisdom are a wide spectrum of financial discussions:

• One Million and Beyond tackles the argument for the ages about money, Quality of Life and Frugality, can you live without your $5 latte? Yes, I can, but I can’t live without my digital cable, so I am just as guilty, really.
• Million Dollar Journey does a comprehensive comparison in High End Chequing Comparison, a good read for those who might be shopping around for a new bank.
• Michael James’ cynicism shows through in his post A Phone Call From Bell, but he isn’t wrong either. I’m sure if he asked the young lady to repeat “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers” five times fast, and he’d agree to the deal, she might do it.
• The Canadian Capitalist tackles a topic near and dear to my heart in Tips on Safety Deposit Boxes. One thing he missed that you shouldn’t put in your safety deposit box, your spare dentures or eye glasses.
• Preet’s attempt at Television fame at Where Does All My Money Go continues on with Watch Me Compete on the W Network, he is entertaining to drink with, let’s hope it translates well to TV.
• Larry MacDonald discusses the Deflation Threat and is skeptical about hyper-inflation and deflation as well. I like reading cynics, makes me feel safer.
• The Canadian Tax Resource writes about Job Loss and Your Retirement Pension Options, interesting ideas, if you have the money or pension.

Don’t miss my weekend post on the one sure fire way to make some coin!