Frost warnings continue in the Ottawa Valley, warning folks who have planted things that their newly planted stuff may die thanks to Ottawa’s tough weather. For those who have planted in Ottawa, you are gardening dangerously. Most horticultural books state that for the Ottawa region you shouldn’t be planting anything until the May long weekend, and I plan on following those orders.
The Ontario Election continues on with great disinterest. Rob Ford is getting much more media attention than the candidates, which seems fair, since most candidates are simply trying not to say the wrong thing (whereas Mr. Ford appears to revel in his “bull in the china shop” media strategy).
Saddened to read that Farley Mowat passed away (although I thought he had died a few years ago). Cantankerous, out spoken, pipe smoking and story-teller extraordinaire would be how I best describe him. I modelled my writing after his novel Always Cry Wolf (what? it was Never Cry Wolf? Never mind).
My Writings for Week Ending May 9th
The Ontario election has got me on pins and needles, as you can see by how much I wrote about it:
- Work Less and Pay Less Tax outlined an interesting discussion I saw on Twitter about whether rich(er) Ontarians might think about working less to not have to pay the proposed (and now de-posed) Liberal Provincial Surtax on those who make more than $150K
- Consolidation Loans Jump Starting Things ? Are they that similar? At least you have a nifty diagram on how to correctly jump start your car.
- Fund Management Like Long Distance Phone Revenue? the parallels are interesting, but I am sure that traders will find other ways to make money
- Finance and Gen Y Can Gen Y survive the 800 lb. weight around their neck from retiring baby boomers?
This Week’s Finest
The Financial Jabberwock has been slain but he may return one day :
- This week I called my insurance company to renew my car insurance and they gave me a discount for having snow tires? Who doesn’t have snow tires in Ottawa? Never look a gift tire in the mouth I suppose.
- Michael James has an interesting question about Why Don’t More Bank Machines Give Out $50 Bills? I remember when they used to give out $5 bills.
- The Ontario election much like a visit to the Zoo, very exciting, lots of noise but eventually you get overwhelmed by the smell
- Mark over at the Blunt Bean Counter asks us to pity The Burden of Singledom (he didn’t write it but it is interesting). You mean folks that don’t have to pay for University, Kids Sports and clothing feel burdened? They better never have kids!
- Best #SPAM comment so far, “Say yes to this message and we will help save a fictional dog!” , I want to say #YES!
- Michael Regan at Bloomberg Business asks Rule of 20: Is the Stock Market Fairly Valued? Fair is always a relative statement, in my mind. If I am not filthy stinking rich on my investments, then my investments are under-performing.
- I trust you got your Tax Return sent in to the CRA and are now anxiously awaiting your
auditrefund? - Any investment device that is going to outlive me I am wary of, as is Mark from My Own Advisor with his statement A 50 year bond is bad news for investors. Why would I buy something that wouldn’t mature until after I am dead?
- The Tories statements about shortages in the job market were based on including jobs advertised in Kijiji ? We going to include that in the CPI next?
- Rob over at Earn, Save, Grow talks about one of my favorite topics (hell I have a menu item dedicated to it) RESPs: How to get a guaranteed 20 percent return
I Miss Preet
We do too, but here is a great video on defined benefits, that has a Khan Academy feel to it, wonder if that is his actual hand?
What About the Khan Academy
Strangely they have a quick outline on Pensions as well!
Random Thoughts for 2014
Lots of these kinds of Best of articles in 2014. Here is a list of them.
- Cuba, Rubles, Christmas and #BestThisWeek – getting close to Christmas but Ian McKellen can teach us about impulse control.
- Snow, Christmas, Enhanced and #BestThisWeek talk of more festive ideas, like how to save money at Christmas.
- A Gentleman, Day of Disability, Christmas, Rugby and #BestThisWeek noted the passing of Jean Beliveau and John Oliver’s views on Lotteries.
- Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek speaks of the blessed Black Friday and associated sales but also includes a Fanfare for the Common Man.
- Lake Effect Snow, Web Cameras, Travel Insurance and #BestThisWeek November brings snow in Toronto, as we see, and other financial ideas.
- Asteroids, Tax Cuts, Lemurs and #BestThisWeek how many times has the Earth almost been hit by an asteroid? Too often to remember.
- Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek lame duck leaders never really get that much done, no matter how they negotiate.
- Happy Halloween, Income Splitting and #BestThisWeek a wonderful financial time of the year is Halloween? Maybe income splitting is a better subject.
- Ottawa We Shall Remember, Bank of Canada and #BestThisWeek after a bad week in Ottawa, with senseless violence.
- Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek even in 2014 the markets were a little volatile.
- Hockey, Turkey, Leaves, Carry On Bags and #theBestFin4TheWeek is it right that the hockey season starts before Thanksgiving?
- October, Hello Ebola, Give Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek October arrived unexpectedly this week, almost unnoticed. As we have entered the final (calendar) quarter of the year 2014, it may be time to start considering a year-end review of your financial plans.
- Autumn , United Kingdom, Beer Money, and #theBestFin4TheWeek the colours in Ottawa during Autumn are truly spectacular.
- Pins, Alibaba , Apple Pay , Lecosse , and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when Alibaba the IPO happened, those were heady days.
- Home Despot, iPhones, and #theBestFin4TheWeek
- Back to School, Tim Burger King, Knee Defenders and #theBestFin4TheWeek will the dutchie ever come back? I can only hope.
- Broken Humerus, Ebola, Anniversaries, Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when we thought Ebola was going to wipe us out?
- It is Done, Ice Bucket Challenge, Media Perceptions and #theBestFin4TheWeek
- WW1 Centenery, More Hacked Passwords and #theBestFin4TheWeek
- The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek
- Unmasking Super Heroes, Dogs of Summer and #BestOfFinancialForThisWeek
- All Stars, Al Stars and the #BestOfFinancialForWeek the world cup was a big thing in 2014 as was Bastille day too.
- Brazilian Defeats, Tour De Chunnel, and #BestOfFinancialForWeek you mean Brazil can lose at the world cup?
- Tennis, Racing, Inflation and #BestofFinancial Canada Day is the start of the summer for most Canadians, and financial stories too.
- The Stand, Football Biting, Naughty Banks and #BestofFinancial even in 2014 the banks were misbehaving with shenanigans.
- Elections, Dad’s Day, World Cup, Friday the 13th and #BestofFinancial somehow the Liberals won the 2014 Ontario Provincial Election
- No Rate Hike, Better Performance, Montreal Grand Prix and #Bestof-Financial back in 2014 we were worried about rates, but they were already pretty low.
- Elections, Farewell Knowlton, May Done, and #Bestof-Financial Knowlton Nash was the voice of news for Canada for a while.
- Internet Memory, Grand Prix of Monaco and #FreeFormFridays the Internet has memory?
- Time Off, Elections, Victoria Day and #FreeFormFridays Victoria Day is always a fun weekend.
- Frosts, Elections, Farley Mowat and #FreeFormFridays it does get cold in May!
- Rain, Budgets, Bloggers Meeting, May Day and #FreeFormFridays When financial bloggers meet what happens?
- Beware the Financial Jabberwock, Netflix Expansion, Model Trains, Backups and #FreeFormFridays a thematically odd article.
- Easter is Here and a Saturday #BestOf for the Weekend a time of renewal, new beginnings in life and financially as well.
- RIP Flaherty, Heartbleed, Tax Time, Quebec Elections and #FreeFormFridays the former finance minister did a lot of good for the economy.
- #Selfies, Quebec Election, Big Joe, Awareness, and #FreeFormFridays would Big Joe Mufferaw have been a good fit for the Redblacks? We’ll never know.
- Don Quixote, Tax Time, Cheap Mortgages and #FreeFormFridays gotta hate tax time.
- Spring Has Sprung, March Madness, Celebrity Blogger and #FreeFormFridays talking about Spring in March in Ottawa can be a bit early.
- Pi Day, March Break, Two Ferns, Snow and #FreeFormFridays given pi is infinite, how much pie can we expect?
- Quebec Elections, Eating Sugar, Suing Parents, Big Rocks and #FreeFormFridays those elections in Quebec are never dull.
- Saint David’s Day, Big Posts, RRSP Time, the Dating Game and #FreeFormFridays always a good time to put a Welsh Choir Clip in an article.
- Hockey Day, Tax & RRSP Time and #FreeFormFridays Hockey day in Canada? Well it does happen, right around RRSP time too.
- More Olympics, Budgets, Love Day and #FreeFormFridays Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Love and Dealing with Financial Whining.
- Olympics, Not Super Bowls, Creationism and #FreeFormFridays 2014 Olympics Opening Ceremonies and Soshi Stadium’s Doppleganger: The Super Bowl.
- Senators, Weak Loonie, Superb Owls and #FreeFormFridays Rugby is a Hooligan’s game played by a Gentleman.
- Polar Vorteces, Olympics, Mayors and #FreeFormFridays The Polar Vortex brings Winter in Canada. But don’t worry – -30C highs in Ottawa in January are normal.
- Giveaways, Oil tanks, Eagles and #FreeFormFriday Have you checked your oil tank if you heat with Oil? What will your insurance do if the tank ruptures?
- Truly Canadian Issues, Ultra HD TV, Car Loans and #FreeFormFriday Get your lock de-icer and unlock your Super Mailbox cubicle like I did – Canadian Tire to the rescue!
- Some #RandomThoughts from 2014 Some of the best of, best of posts on my random thoughts weekly post.
- CPP Reform, Snow, Christmas, Boxing day and #FreeFormFriday Did the CPP reform of 2013 fix much? Kind of, but Christmas was coming too.
mnt22
Thanks for the mention, Alan! I’m in the easy stage of the RESP cycle right now – can’t wait to see what the withdrawal process will be like in 12-15 years.
Learn how the withdrawal process works for your bank NOW, just so it is easier when you want it. Also remember this is really only going to be able to cover the Tuition portion of your bill!
Thanks for the shout.
Most of us probably have some kind of travel insurance already but it’s always best to double check your coverage. Like regular insurance every policy is different.
The biggest thing to note though is OHIP doesn’t cover much so you’re making a big mistake travelling without travel medical coverage.
I find the discussion of the temporary foreign workers surreal. Some talk of skills shortages. No doubt there are some skills shortages — maybe brain surgeons or rocket scientists or things like that. But we have foreign workers at a McDonalds. You’d have to be brain dead to think that working at McDonalds is a skill Canadians lack. All McDonalds would have to do is increase pay slightly to get workers. This is about keeping costs down, and has nothing to do with skills shortages.
Thanks for the mention.