Prince Philip announced his retirement from Public Life, and at 95 I think he can finally stand down. Prince Philip is a man who speaks his mind, and for that I thank him. One instance from not too long ago was when a photographer was commissioned to take a picture of the remaining pilots from the Battle of Britain. The photographer flitted around trying to get the perfect pose, to which Prince Philip replied, “Just take the f*cking picture!“. Here, here good sir, they were all over 90 and didn’t have time to waste!
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Prince Philip is also a metaphor for millennials since they will not be able to retire until 95, either.
The Census showed that there are now more oldies than young folk in Canada. This is the first time the number of folks over 65 outnumbered the number of kids under 14 by 5.9M to 5.8M. I’d like to voice my support for those seniors by shouting, “Get off my grass, you kids!”. While this number seems trivial, it is an important point. Is Canada ready to deal with the explosion of senior citizens? Are there enough care spaces? Can existing pensions deal with this kind of draw? Plenty of interesting questions.
To paraphrase The Sweet, “So recognize your age it’s no longer a teenage rampage, now!”
A Money Thought
You might want to add another useful money podcast to your list. They attract some classy crowd and butter tarts too.
The Rain, Rain, Rain came Down, Down, Down
Hopefully the markets will not follow the weather in Ottawa, because there is a lot of rain happening here. This weeks selection of articles, will hopefully keep you financially dry, during the economic typhoons of these days.
- Another great podcast is the Canadian Couch Potato’s podcast, and this week, on the web site, we have Bond Basics 2: Why Your ETF Isn’t Losing Money. Just because “Bonds are losing money” does that mean my Bond ETF will as well? Dan B.,
has an answer for you. - There was a disconcerting rumour on Reddit that the TD E-series Index Funds were closed, however it seems to have been a false alarm. I asked TD, and they say that the funds are still up and running.
- A title that caught my eye was, How secure are mobile banking apps? The article points out a long list of issues with many of the apps. Remember nothing on your phone is secure.
- Jason Zweig had a very interesting analysis of some of the False Profits , and false prophets out there. Trendy trading portfolios are three words that should send you running like me when I see a snake.
- Robb from Boomer & Echo points out another dark side of investing with, The Biggest Lie in Investing: Protection on the Downside . It’s a bit technical, but well written and explains the manipulations and truth-stretching the investment players use to entice you.
- Speaking of the lies we tell, a while ago I wrote Don’t Confuse Spending Less with Saving (Spending Less isn’t Saving). The lies we tell ourselves sometimes are even worse than those others use to trick us.
- Michael James does seem to be a ravenous reader of financial books, and this week he write about Nudge (the book). Interesting perspective on the “opt in”
tricks some banks play, and that some companies should play. Still wowed by the commentary about Mortgage brokers, and their lack of success.
2017 Random Thoughts
- MLM, Balanced Budgets, and #Moneytalk (April 28th)
- Overheated Housing Market, Rent Controls and #MoneyTalk (April 21st)
- Ladies on Panels, Good Friday, Friendly Skies, Loose Money and #MoneyTalk (April 14th)
- Tax Time, Housing Bubbles, Financial Easter and #MoneyTalk (April 7th)
- April Fools, High on Life and #MoneyTalk (March 31st)
- Ho Hum Budget, Brackets Busted and #MoneyTalk (March 24th)
- Naughty Banks, March Madness, Big Snow and #MoneyTalk (March 17th)
- Teller Upselling, Auto-filling Taxes, Spring Forward and #MoneyTalk, (March 10th )
- Lent Begins, Loose Money and #MoneyTalk (March 3rd )
- RRSP Season, Tax Time, and #MoneyTalk (February 24th )
- Farewell Vinyl Café, Snow, Monopoly and #MoneyTalk (February 17th )
- RRSP , Tax , TFSA , RESP, and RDSP Time and #MoneyTalk (February 10th )
- Year of the Fire Rooster, Financial Groundhog Day and #MoneyTalk (February 3rd )
- Alternate Financial Facts, 1984 and #Moneytalk (January 27th)
- Bungled Mortgages, Friday the 13th and #Moneytalk (January 13th)
- Merry New Year, CPP, EI and #MoneyTalk (January 6th)