It’s the Super Bowl weekend in Minnesota, but as a dedicated Vikings fan, I have no interest in the game whatsoever. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind if both teams were disqualified and no winner declared. I am a die-hard Vikings fan and I am not afraid to admit that I am bitter about the whole situation. So, if you’re planning to watch the game, you better have some chili in the slow cooker, plenty of beer on hand, and be prepared for what will undoubtedly be the longest football game of the season!
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Table of contents
Spent another 20 minutes on the phone to make my semi-annual RDSP contribution to my son’s account at TD Direct Investing. No, my son’s account is still inaccessible directly on-line for deposits or transfers (i.e. I can automatically deposit to his RDSP from my chequing account). I continue to ask how to fix it, but I keep getting told that is how the system works. Evidently someone who has their own RDSP, that they can contribute to their own account, so that might be the issue, but I also continue to get no explanation from TD why I must follow the circular payment method that I do?
There is a very interesting set of documentaries on Netflix called Dirty Money. The first episode was about the VW Clean Diesel scandal, however, the second episode is even more insidious as it is about Online PayDay Loan companies in the USA. The dirty tricks in the agreements are shocking. The story is also about the owners and their prosecution by the Federal Government, but I was just so disgusted by the way the loan customers were tricked into believing they were paying off their loans, when in fact they were only paying a service charge to roll-over their loan to the next period. I would recommend watching the series just on the basis of the first 2 episodes.
My Recent Writings
Been a busy week for me, so I didn’t put out any new content this week, but I do continue to update and edit many of my 3000+ posts, and if you follow my Twitter feed you will see those updated articles. For #BellLetsTalk I did bring back I’m an Adult Now?, where I lamented the passing of my father 7 years ago. Also remember that Debt is a Four Letter Word.
Micro Blogging on Finance
I hope that Mr. Buckley’s comments about fee erosion is true, too many people are making too much money off my investments.
Ground Hog Day
Will the Ground Hog see his shadow today thus causing interest rates to continue to sky-rocket, or will he (or she) not see their shadow and rates may stay low for now? Hey, it is as good a predictor as anything else I read about these days.
- The Blunt Bean Counter brings us some very sage advice with, If You Are Not Learning – You Are Forgetting . No matter how old you are you must keep learning. Nobody knows it all, except for possibly Dr. Brinovski.
- Do you change your passwords a lot? You should, so Fortune gives us,The 25 Most Common Passwords of 2017 Include ‘Star Wars’. I guess ‘123456’ isn’t that good a password after all?
- RRSP season has begun, so of course, we should talk about TFSA Interest rates?!? Robb from Boomer & Echo gives us TFSA Interest Rate Comparison, but remember that the TFSA is not just a savings account, you can put ETFs and stocks in there as well.
- Doug Hoyes brings us a very good podcast with How to Pay Down Massive Debt: A Realistic Approach , if you are not subscribed to this podcast, why not?
- There are not that many companies that own “the media”, and Here’s who owns everything in Big Media today really does depress me. Luckily they don’t own me!
- Michael James goes deep into some useful algorithms for the markets with Your Complete Guide to Factor-Based Investing. I have to admit it would be easier to just check a ground hog’s shadow, but these sound pretty good too.
What am I reading?
I do read, but I choose to listen to them via Audiobooks (from Audible and the Ottawa Public Library). What audiobooks am I listening to these days? Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House (amazon link), which is an interesting book. Is it fiction, or non-fiction? I don’t really know, but it is a thought-provoking read. The problem I have is that listening to the book, there was nothing that I heard that made me think, “That would never happen”, and that is wild. The stories are wild, but not outside of the realm of possibility.
You want a financial book to listen to? Straight Talk on Your Money: The Biggest Financial Myths and Mistakes…And How to Avoid Them by Doug Hoyes is the one to listen to. Doug does the narration and if you are floundering with your financial life, you must listen to this book (and the podcast too).
The New 2018 Random Thoughts
- OHIP Overload, Doomsday minus 2 minutes, and #MoneyTalk (January 26th)
- Tighter Money, Best Investment, Go North! and #MoneyTalk (January 19th)
- Paper Delivery, Bitcoin and #MoneyTalk (January 12th)
- Polar Vortexes, Minimum Wage and #MoneyTalk (January 4th)
End of 2017 Random Thoughts
- Winter, Inflation and Christmas are Here and #Moneytalk (December 22nd)
- Canadians Owe More , Polar Temps, CPP Survivor Benefits and #MoneyTalk (December 15th)
- DTC Changes, Christmas Present Ideas, Fraud and #MoneyTalk (December 8th)
- Unlocking Phones, Raiding Parents’ RRSP, Household Debt and #Moneytalk (December 1st)
- What is your price, Black Friday, Phoenix and #MoneyTalk (November 24th)
- We Shall Remember, Paradise Papers, Tax Cheats and #MoneyTalk #FLM2017 (November 10th)
- Fall Back, Farewell PC Financial, and #MoneyTalk #FLM2017 (November 3rd)
- Mortgage Tests, Thanks Gord and Bombardier and #Moneytalk (October 20th)
- Halifax Ikea, New Tax Plans, Pumpkin Spice ETFs and #MoneyTalk (September 29th)
