Incestuous Bloggers, Word Puzzles, RDSP Menu, All Saints Day and Friday #ShoutOuts

It was an odd week for me, in terms of writing (hit a dry patch), but it was even more interesting, because I got an excellent comment, pointing out that on most “finance blogs” the commenters are just other bloggers attempting to get their blog linked to (from the first blog). I have noticed that a great deal of the commenters on my site are other bloggers, with a few exceptions (mostly on my RDSP specific posts). I must agree that from what I have seen a great deal of the commentary on other sites seems to be from other Finance Bloggers, I wish I did get more comments and questions from “actual” readers, but there isn’t much I can do about it (I suppose I could follow Popular Science’s model and turn off comments, but that seems a bit drastic). I guess incestuous bloggers is an ok audience.

This week I include a Word Puzzle for you to solve, the answer is at the bottom of this post:

A note for those who are looking for more information and/or pointers to the posts I have done about the Registered Disability Savings Plan, I have created a static page with all the relevant posts, on the top of the page (look for RDSP in the menus on top), click on it and you will see the page. I will be updating that page as I write more, and will also try to add more useful information about other sites to read about this important topic.

Oh and if you look at the Google+ page and my Twitter feed there is an actual picture of me on them (not just my cat).

My Weekly Recap

My Writings for Week Ending November 1st Happy All Saints Day!!
Advice to the Love Lorn (Pension Potential) Yes, I kind of went off on a tangent here, but think about if you could find a potential spouse with an easier retirement guarantee?	Blurred Lines or More Thoughts on Financial Bloggers Further to my discussions about Financial Bloggers (incestuous lot that we are).	Jumping to Conclusions I do really get miffed at folks who don’t even listen to my rants, before they tell me how I should fix my problems.	Predictions without Skin in the Game The Princess Bride and finances, two of my favorite topics, melded into one awkward post, good stuff!

Choice Picks for the Week

All Saints Day is upon us, which of course kicks off the Christmas season as well, and soon we will all madly panic’ing about what to buy, and for who(m), it’s the reason for the seaon.

• As I mentioned earlier in the week our friends at Freakonomics had a poke at More Predictions, from Bad to Worse which caused me to write my take on prognostications.
• The Canadian Capitalist pens a tutorial on Tax Treatment of ESPP Benefits, which is important if you are in the private sector (not so important for those of us who can’t buy stock in their employer).
• Mark from Blunt Bean Counter tries to explain a confusing topic for me Bitcoins – From Scandal to Currency Investment and Tax Treatment and even with Mark’s explanation, I still am not sure how this system builds wealth from nothing. In the same theme the FBI seizes over $27 million in bitcoins, likely from Silk Road suspect , but what was it they got for it?!? Free tokens to play Pac-Man?
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade ponders a point many financial planners which is if you have Pension + RRSP do you need to put a lot in your RRSP?
• A technology vanguard passed away this week with William C. Lowe passing away, one of the men behind the original IBM PC.
• Mark from My Own Advisor shows him PM (Project Management that is, not other PMs out there) with Lost in Financial Translation , and yes many projects fail due to poor communications.
• I was really glad to read that Dell is confident their laptops no longer smell like cat urine, good to hear.
• Larry MacDonald Thanked the Bank of Canada in his article: Bank of Canada’s reversal on guidance welcome but late , but yes  it would have been better to have heard that a little sooner.
• Michael James comes back and refines his model and methodology in A Retirement Income Strategy Revisited, I like that he is willing to go back over his work and revise if he thinks it needs it.
• Preet has a new Audio Podcast this week, but he also has a new Video on The Importance of Disability Insurance, that is well worth watching, in fact, I have attached it after the Word Puzzle answer.

Word Puzzle

Did you get it? It’s pretty straight forward for you financial folks:

Working Around Debt

Preet’s Video