Random Thoughts
Another Friday ends another week of fun and finances.
- Suze Orman had her latest book published on line on the Oprah Winfrey web site, and I picked up a “copy” for my wife (of course now I am going to print it out, which sort of defeats the purpose of publishing it on line, doesn’t it?). The book entitled “Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny”, seems interesting enough. Hope Suze is more interested in Debt reduction these days (who cares about credit ratings girlfriend, get out of debt FIRST). When did it become trendy to lose the “i” in your name?
- I am getting my money’s worth out of my medical plan with my son going on antibiotics, my daughters using physiotherapy and still more drugs. It would be interesting to figure out whether I am getting my money’s worth out of my medical plan (my initial guess would be YES, given I have 4 kids).
- RRSP deadlines are looming soon, with February 29th being only 2 weeks away now. Are you planning on doing something about it? Might want to check out the Canadian Capitalist, he is doing a lot of posts about this topic.
- Our friend Michael James wrote a poignant post about the two kinds of people in this world unfortunately he is one type and I am the other, and he thanks me for it whenever I see him. I make up for it by drinking a lot of his liquor.
Posts For the Week
- Happy Valentine’s Day? No Happy Anniversary at least for my parents who celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary.
- Tomorrow Might Be My Last Day at work? Well if it is I better have a good plan.
- Procrastination and Finances really don’t mix, do they?
- New Housing prices are up across Canada.
Hey Gail, perhaps it’s because there aren’t very many ‘high profile’ Canadian authors making appearances on TV and the media so people are less inclined to seek out books by them. Sure, Derek Foster and his mid 30’s plan is around in the media, and the Dave Chilton’s the Wealthy Barber. Other than these, I can’t think of any other popular Canadian authored books that I would bring up in conversation. I carry around Preet’s RRSP book just in case someone wants to read it at work though.
I’m sure there are hundreds of personal finance books by Canadian authors, or at least with Canadian content. When I go in to our local Coles/Chapters store it’s filled with Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, Jim Cramer, Robert Kiyosaki and the like because the sheep have been told by the TV that this is who you follow to build wealth. It seems to me all the normal books not by mass media marketers are all on the bottom row or you have to order them in if you specifically know about them.
On that note, when are you releasing an all around ‘fix everything’ money book for Canadians Gail?
Well Suze at times comes off as a bit too slick and talks about the importance of Credit Ratings, when maybe the most important thing is to GET OUT OF DEBT first and foremost.
I just don’t understand why Canadians feel they have to turn to Americans for their expert financial advice. Because they’re doing so much better than us? Really? You hardly ever see Americans beating down the doors of Canadian authors/experts. That’s because our tax laws are different, our retirement plans are different, and even the way interest is calculated is different. Yup. We are not Americans. Course, Suze was brazen enough to tell George S. on CBC that Canadians are “almost” Americans. Hmmm. Not sure how I feel about that. If I sound rabid about this, I am. It really picks my butt that we put so much stock in how smart Americans are when we’re also willing to dis them for being credit-crazy, soul-less paranoids. Maybe they aren’t in the best position to lead us into the light.