Canada turns 150 tomorrow, and the City of Ottawa has put out its best for folks to celebrate. Should be interesting, I vaguely remember 1967, and I hope I am around for 2067 guess I should really push out the boat on this one.
My family, immigrated to Canada, and I am so thankful that they did. While I respect and love the land of my parents (Wales & Britain), Canada is my home, and it will always be with me.
The Bank of Canada Governor is saying he thinks low-interest rates have “done their job”, however:
“… certainly we need to be at least considering that whole situation now that the capacity excess capacity is being used up steadily.”
Yes, the first 1/2 of the final season of Game of Thrones starts soon too. Rising rates will bring financial winter for some folks.
Writings This Week
I have been working on RESPs and High Fee Mutual Funds for a while. It has languished, but I was able to figure out what I was trying to say (I think). Just because it is easier to use a Bank Mutual Fund account for your kids’ RESP accounts, doesn’t mean you should use it. If you ever hear someone from a Mutual Fund firm brag about how high their fees are, please drop me a line.
Guess what is back for a short time? The Dutchie! My old friend is back at Tim Horton’s to help celebrate #Canada150. For the true connoisseur of the dutchie, it is still available in the Atlantic provinces, it is just back in Ontario, for my enjoyment.
I spent a lovely day a few weeks ago at my youngest daughter’s graduation from the Queens Faculty of Education. She already had a Science Degree from Trent, so this means my investments have now paid out 4 degrees, not bad pay out. There is another degree I have a small stake in, so I am hoping that pays out next year. For those parents unsure if they should put money in an RESP, yes this is a very good investment (and not just for the free money from the government).
There will be higher non-repayable grants for lower-income students, which is good. Having graduates saddled with massive debts is a very American thing, let us remove it from the Canadian lexicon. Will this help lower-income families get their kids into University? My opinion is not likely that much. The funding is still too low, the tuition (and associated fees) continue to sky-rocket and the costs of living away from home at school can be very high (especially in large urban areas like Toronto).
The other part of the equation, is what will the Federal Government part of the Canada Student Loans program do?
Summer is now here, and the days are getting shorter (if you are in the Northern Hemisphere). Remember how you hated the winter months? These are the months you were waiting for.
Things I wrote
Given I haven’t put out a random thoughts post for a while, you’d think I’d have lots of things that I must have written, but I haven’t really. I did write Banking is Necessary, Banks are not , which pokes fun at the FinTech phenomenon that many folks are hyping.
Is there such a thing as Bad Budgeting ? Yes, if all you do is adjust your budget to balance your inflated spending, that is bad.
There are a few new features in Quicken 2017 update that are making it better than earlier versions. The Android and iOS clients are making things better, but there are still some odd crashes (and importing data is still kind of weird at times).
Fun Tweets
While my RDSP page is quite good, there are many people who have helped me and one of them is Milburn Drysdale. He has updated his website, and here is a great tweet to send to anyone looking to learn more about the Disability Tax Credit.
Three of the big banks in Canada announced good profits ( TD, CIBC, and RBC) which has caused another jump in their value, and dividend output. Michael James thinks that the Canadian Banking system is in for a day of reckoning (i.e. their profitability will drop), but evidently not today.
Canadian sportscasters have been lampooning Ottawa Sens fans for not selling out every playoff game. The Sens do, however, have the highest average attendance in the playoffs of the remaining teams. Financial talking heads are annoying, sports talking heads are wastes of space.
When is the best time to buy a house? The answer is simple – when you need it, period. Don’t let the real estate industry convince you otherwise. I have always purchased a house when I required it, and that’s how it should be. Renting may be an option, but if you need more living space and have enough savings for a down payment or rent, then go for it. Don’t be a follower of the herd mentality that urges you to buy a house just because everyone else is doing it. Make a logical decision based on your needs and financial situation, and don’t let anyone persuade you otherwise.
This weekend, the Indy 500 and the Grand Prix of Monaco. You can guess what I will be doing on Sunday, and no, I won’t be going to Church (this week). There is also the Coke 600 if you have a few hours spare.
The Canadian economy’s adjustment to lower oil prices is largely complete and recent economic data have been encouraging, including indicators of business investment. Consumer spending and the housing sector continue to be robust on the back of an improving labour market, and these are becoming more broadly based across regions. Macroprudential and other policy measures, while contributing to more sustainable debt profiles, have yet to have a substantial cooling effect on housing markets. Meanwhile, export growth remains subdued, as anticipated in the April MPR, in the face of ongoing competitiveness challenges. The Bank’s monitoring of the economic data suggests that very strong growth in the first quarter will be followed by some moderation in the second quarter.
They seem to imply that housing prices will start going up everywhere.
Ramadan begins on Saturday, so Happy Ramadan to my Muslim readers and friends.
Things I wrote this week
I did write something new this week, by cribbing Kerry’s presentation on RDSP‘s on the CBC. Being one of her researchers for her piece, I felt I had the right to use the intellectual property. The piece is called 5 Steps to an RDSP, which is a short synopsis of the steps needed to set up a Registered Disability Savings Plan.
On the sister technology site, I wrote a short piece attempting to explain, What is Ransomware? Quite topical as Mrs. C8j was the victim this week of a FedEx phishing scam. Her boss received the infamous, “You have a package with FedEx” e-mail with a “hinky” link. Unfortunately she clicked the link, but luckily her anti virus software caught things before they got out of hand. Never trust links in an e mail from anyone, even on a trusted web site, by the way click here.
COBOL rules
For all of you lovers of FinTech, this tweet (from me) does sum it up quite nicely.
Will stop ordering avocado toast really help you save money to buy a house? There are differing opinions, and here are a bunch of other great financial reads for the weekend.
The video of her interview is at the end of this post. The major things to take away are:
The system is daunting for disabled folks (or their families) to set things up. No argument from me, we are lucky we got help.
It is not used by 85% of folks eligible (over 500,000 Canadians who could use it, don’t)
These folks need help, but not from the “Helpful firms” that will scrape up to 30% of their tax refund to do
Certainly the way it feels sometimes dealing with DTCs and RDSPs
I must commend Kerry for her exceptional efforts in this area and her impressive presentation on the topic. She also acknowledged me (for those of you curious about who the Big Cajun Man is, watch the video) and the significant help that Mrs. C8j and I provided her with on this matter. Fortunately, Kerry was the one responsible for presenting and writing it, which made it straightforward to comprehend and sensible.
Let me point out that I do not claim to be an expert on the topic of DTC or RDSPs, I simply have lived the system and have many useful tips for those trying to use it.
Democracy was in evidence in B.C., when an election was decided by 9 votes (effectively). The riding of Courtenay-Comox was won by a 9 vote margin, in the Wednesday Election. There will be a recount, but if the NDP holds the seat, there is a minority Government in B.C., with the Green Party holding the balance of power. If the Liberals win the seat, they will have a slim majority. Yes, this is why you should always vote.
It is Mother’s Day on Sunday in North America, so remember your Mother. We all had one, and all she wants is for you to give her a call, and maybe visit sometimes.
The Real Estate market in Toronto might be slowing down, but in Ottawa it is starting to heat up. Have not heard of many bidding wars, yet, but maybe folks are thinking Ottawa is a suburb of Toronto?
All you folks who collect Aeroplan Points (like I have for over 25 years) must be shocked as I am that Air Canada is severing their relationship with them. I don’t have many points left, but evidently there is no transferral of points to Air Canada’s new point system either.
Things I Wrote This Week
I wrote three articles this week #Wow. On Monday I wrote about an older book Preet wrote RRSPs: The Definitive Book on Registered Retirement Savings Plans, which is still topical. It was written before the TFSA, so it could use an update with the TFSA added in, but still a very good reference book.
After working with Kerry K. on her research, I came across a great quote about an issue with the RDSP program, and its horrible subscription rate. DTC RDSP Vicious Circle talks about how you need a DTC to set up an RDSP, but why some folks don’t bother with the DTC.
On the sister site to this site, I wrote about an important personal security issue, The Difference Between Phishing and Spear-Phishing,outlines what to look for in both cases. If you are under a Spear Phishing attack, it is most likely due to your friends having their accounts compromised.
