I was tickled pink to see that my favourite party had returned, the Rhinoceros Party for this election. This party had a plank in their platform about damming the St. Lawrence River for Hydro-Electric power. In Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s riding, it ran another candidate with the name Pierre Trudeau (I got to vote in that election in that very riding). Their first plank for this election in their platform? Nationalize Tim Horton’s! Glad to see the return to common sense politics.
I was glad to see Steadyhand come out with the commentary Good Debt, Bad Debt which points out the alarming rise in Canadian debt. Tom Bradley’s commentaries about the Banks encouraging an already heavily in debt society that a concept of “Good Debt” distresses him, and I agree. With low-interest rates about to go away, what will happen when the rates go up? Thanks to reader @Gene2u for pointing this out. An excellent article.
The rest of the parties seem very excited about the Mike Duffy trial, except for Mr. Harper, who hopes we aren’t watching it. We’ve lost 1 or 2 candidates thanks to unfortunate tweets in their past (I guess I’ll never be running for public office) as well. That is about all that has been going on in the election.
Gas prices continue to drop, which is bound to screw up the CPI for the coming months, but with oil sitting at below $40 a barrel, it is about time that gas prices dropped. Is this doing any good for Canada? It depends on where you live. If you live in Alberta, NO!
The summer is slowly coming to a close, and an entertaining fall lies ahead (with plenty of election shenanigans and tom-foolery):
Keep this in mind if you want to change your Bank
Before the dawn of oppressive bank fees my idea of having a bank account at whatever bank that was near my work was a great idea, however since high bank fees became the norm, A Great Financial Idea Dies.
As if I really needed more reasons to espouse changing banks if you are being treated shabbily, however somehow I found More Reasons to Change Your Bank.
There was an excellent article on Disability Tax Credits for disabled children and how to apply for it (on the Brighter Life website) done by Sheryl Smolkin, that I most heartily suggest you go read. This article and “interview” with me were what caused me to write RDSP Questions and Answers, but as usual, Ms. Smolkin did a much better job on the subject. Go and have a read to understand the intricacies folks with children with disabilities must go through to get help from the CRA (getting help from other places is even more exciting). I’d like to thank Ms. Smolkin for interviewing me.
There have been a couple of interesting articles talking about frugal NFL players living within their means, which is a heartening topic to read about. The St. Louis Rams have a program for rookies about how to be Money Wise, but John Urschel (a noted mathematician as well), who is an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens, has a roommate and drives a very frugal car. Urschel is a mathematician who has published a few papers, which is a few more than I have (and I claim to be a Mathematician as well). Another player Ryan Broyles (a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions) is also living a frugal life because he is aware of just how short his career might be. How short can your career be? Ask the Steelers who tore his ACL during the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday night. My plan for Fantasy Football this year is to have Watson be my Fantasy Football Coach. Did you know that Zdeno Chara of the NHL has a financial planning certificate from Algonquin College? Not all players will squander their fortunes (but unfortunately, far too many do).
Good to see Mr. Duffy back on the public payroll during this trying time in his life. The biggest excitement economically was the Chinese government’s enforced devaluation of the Yuan. What will be the impact on Canada’s economy (ouch), and the fragile commodity-reliant Canadian Economy take another hit.
My Writings for Week Ending August 14th
Another sluggish week for me in terms of writing, but that was mostly due to being busy doing other things. I am attending CFPC (which LSM Insurance is giving tickets away for), so that may really reinvigorate my writing :
The only new writing I did this week was pointing out that there were 6600 more jobs in Canada (from June to July). Whether anyone on the election trail will use that as fodder for discussions, is unknown.
The continued Financial Blogger advice for young folks in debt, to move back in with their parents to “… save money…” caused me to erupt on Twitter and to also bring back one of my favourite acronyms in this area K.I.P.P.E.R.S. , read it and understand why a 54-year-old father of 4 might get twitchy with that kind of advice.
I do remember an N.C.F.B.A. that Rob Carrick attended where he erupted with a great line that I had to use as the title to an article Atrociously Dangerous Investment Advice.
