Credit Cards, Cheques, and Random Thoughts

I seemed fixated on credit cards and modes of payments this week, but with the RCMP shutting down a large (worldwide) credit card and debit card fraud ring, I guess I was spot on target for topics (I’ll have to thank Mrs. C8j for having her debit card cloned again).

In Quebec, students continue to complain that they have the lowest tuition fees in Canada, and in fact are now asking that Post Secondary Education be free and available to all who wish to attend. Why does that sentence seem like something out of Alice in Wonderland? I wish Les Etudiant et Membres de CLASSE bonne chance, because they are going to need it (and let’s hope it is not them who are disrupting the Metro in Montreal, enraging already uptight Montreal commuters is not the way to build public support).

Our European friends continue to make daytime soap operas seem dull, with more plot twists than a thoroughbred horse intestines! France elects a new president who says “retirement should be at 61 not 63” and Greece elects representatives who want nothing to do with the on-going austerity measures. This will give the financial pundits no end of fun and excitement, discussing the impending Global Economic Implosion.

In the U.S. Obama may have come across a stroke of genius in his re-election campaign, which is the infamous “bait and switch” topic trick. He has now openly spoken about Same Sex Marriages, which will cause a fire-storm of discussions, which may distract folks from the still ailing U.S. Economy. This tactic could win him the election (or lose it, depending on your point of view), the Republicans may have to respond with, “It’s about the Economy Stupid!”, because a moral discussion about same-sex marriage will dull the Republican arguments about the economy (or at least muddy the waters greatly).

Weekly Recap

The topic of money security and identity theft is never a bad topic, but remember you must continue to remain diligent to protect yourself from these syndicates that want your personal info:

• Our friends in Europe seem to think they are not the problem, so they don’t need to fix it, and have Answered Austerity Measures with Tais-Toi (effectively saying they don’t want an austere lifestyle).
• As I mentioned Mrs. C8j had her bank card cloned (again), and so Debit Card The Saga continued on, it’s annoying as hell, but at least this time we didn’t have any money taken out of our bank accounts.
• I really want to figure out how to stop these Credit Card Cheques from appearing on my doorstep, they are of no use and are financially a Molotov cocktail!
• After the close of another basketball season, I went back to one of my favorite rants with I Blame the Refs (financially speaking).

Links for the Week

Ain’t life grand? No I didn’t win $50M with the Lottery, so it ain’t grand yet, but maybe tonight, wonder what I’d write about if that happened? We know that my favorite writers would keep writing and pump out more quality posts like these:

• Larry MacDonald points out that the Canadian Health Care System Needs Reform, which is pretty obvious, and as the years pass, the more obvious this is all going to be. If you are a francophone Larry’s book on Bombardier is now available in French.
• My Own Advisor explains about his struggles with GDSR and TDSR, a good try at explaining what these fees are, getting down to brass tacks is a good thing.
• Rob Carrick hopes Canada’s Days of Berserk Borrowing are (almost) Behind Us, we shall see whether his prediction will come to pass, but following Polonius is not a bad idea.
• Ellen Roseman is looking for Your Tips on How to Fight Back, I would suggest hiding your money in your mattress to avoid bank service fees, but that might not be a good tip.
• Mr. Money Mustache showing his U.S. roots wonders Can We all Stop F*cking Complaining About our Government? Strong words, but a fun read none the less, it seems our American cousins like to complain about Government as much as Canadians like complaining about the weather.
• The Blunt Bean Counter wonders is A Family Vacation – A Memory Worth Not Dying For? No, it’s not about overspending on vacations, it is about inheritances and gifts, if you haven’t added this writer to your RSS feed you are missing something (even if he is a Leafs fan).
• Michael James gets out his slide rule again and points out that Long-term investing Confuses our Sense of Scale, which shows that simple arithmetic is not applicable in long-term growth problems.
• Canadian Capitalist wonders what is iShares Planning after Acquiring Claymore, a question I am asking myself, given I have some Claymore funds in my portfolio.
• The Canadian Couch Potato wonders Can you Protect Your Investments from Drawdowns? The answer is of course, maybe!
• Boomer of Boomer and Echo  helps us out with Turning 60: Some Things to Consider, given I am 9 years away, I read this closely.
• Miranda at Planting Money Seeds, needed to replace her Quicken 2006 so she gives us Personal Finance Software: Moneydance, being a Quicken lover, I am not as likely to try this software, however, still worth reading.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade helps us kids out with Mother’s Day Savings ideas, always useful for those of us who must buy things for their Wives/Mothers.
• Preet gives us an interesting point of view on smoking but I think he got the title a little wrong with Quit Smoking or Blow up a Porsche? It really should have been Quit Smoking or Blow up a Porsche (with you in it!).

Other Bookkeeping

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Some Comforting Porsche Words

Keeping with Preet’s Porsche theme:

I couldn’t find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself.

Ferdinand Porsche – what would he do now with all the investing options? Would he make his own Mutual Fund?!?