Canadian Personal Finance Blog

What is FUD Financial messages? FUD is a technical term from the world of politics where you try to create Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt with your message. FUD is usually a strategy to influence perception by spreading negative and dubious or false information leading to fear-mongering and concerns by the public. Naturally, you do this to create an advantage for yourself, or cast aspersions on an opponent.

It is easy to see the power of FUD in the last few elections, but politics is not the only arena where FUD works well.

FUD financial messages are out there. Usually to cause you to wonder whether you are using the right bank, insurance company or you are missing out on a great deal. All Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) messages are in this genre.

Some might argue this blog is a FUD financial message, however, getting out of debt is not really FUD in my book.

The message continues to be confusing to most folks. The Truth in finances is not clear to many folks (if any), and there are few places where consumers can get clear and truthful financial information.

Investing FUD

I find the entire investment industry seems to be a FUD Factory.

• Cryptocurrency seems to be the leader in FUD. You will miss out on untold riches unless you buy one of the over 200 cryptocurrencies (even though you have no idea what it is).
• In Canada there is tons of FUD swirling around legalized Marijuana, even though most of the companies seem to spend a great deal more than they are making currently.
• Actively managed funds want you to be unsure that you are not making the huge growth they can offer, however, Index Funds point out that actively managed funds can’t keep up their claims (and thus are part of the financial FUD game).

Get the tools you need to comprehend truth from fear-mongering, and create Financial Firewalls to filter out the disinformation.

Remember that sometimes FUD is a good thing, and the sales person you are dealing with is trying to allay your personal FUD, with any lie that will cause you to buy their product.

Another Guest Post from Sean Cooper. Yeh, I am getting kind of slack on my rules.

Unless you’re filthy rich and you can afford to buy your home in cash, maintaining a good credit score is important. Not only does your credit score help you qualify for a mortgage, it can help you obtain the best mortgage rate, saving you thousands of dollars in interest over the life of your mortgage. If your credit score isn’t the greatest, you could pay a higher mortgage rate, or your application could be denied altogether. Not only does a poor credit score make it harder to borrow money, you could have a tough time finding a rental unit, since landlords often look at credit.

Credit has three parts: credit history, credit report and credit score. Your credit history is a lot like your resumé. It’s a summary of any time you’ve borrowed money. From your car loan to that $1,000 cell-phone bill you’d like to forget, your credit history is a tell-all of any time you’ve been extended credit. Your credit report is like an annual performance review of your credit history. This is where the student loan you failed to pay back in college can come back to haunt you.

Last but not least is your credit score. Your credit score is the magic number that lenders care so much about. You credit score is based on your credit history. This number helps lenders decide whether to approve your mortgage. The higher your credit score, the more favourable the mortgage terms will be. Credit scores typically fall somewhere between 300 and 900.

Credit scores don’t just come out of thin air. Credit reporting agencies keep track of your credit history and credit score. You can obtain a copy of your credit report for free, so take advantage of it. The easiest and fastest way is to use Equifax and TransUnion’s interactive phone services. You can also download and complete forms from the Equifax and TransUnion websites. Best of all, it won’t lower your credit score to check. Request a copy of your credit report and find out what your credit score is at least a year ahead of when you’re thinking of buying a home, to avoid any nasty surprises. (If your credit score is poor, you need time to work on improving it. This can take a year or more because of reporting lags.) If you find any inaccuracies or mistakes, get them fixed as soon as possible.

Understanding Your Credit Score

Five main factors affect your credit score. It’s important to understand each of them to help maximize it.

Click here to see those important factors !

With the new Canadian cannabis laws coming into play (October 17^th) it struck me as an excellent opportunity for Canada to enter the world of Ganja Tourism. We must remember that you may only smoke in your home (or a friend’s home), and given that most hotels have a strict No Smoking rule, where could these tourists imbibe ? I think this is a huge opportunity for AirBnB to create a Ganja Tourism section. The guests can buy their legal ganja, and then enjoy it in their friends home. We shall see whether this idea catches on.

I have been busy figuring out how to smuggle more shoes across the border, but #Moneytalk returns this week. Sneaker Smuggling is evidently something else we dastardly Canadians do to our friends down south. I must admit I am guilty of sneaker smuggling about 10 years ago I was on a business trip and bought myself a new pair of shoes and forgot to declare them when I returned. I am thinking of branching out and becoming a Weed and Feed smuggler (the weeds in my front lawn are winning the battle and I can’t buy the good stuff in Canada any more).

The 21^st was the longest day of the year in the Norther Hemisphere, and thus summer begins! Yes the year is about half over, time to start planning for Christmas.

The National Energy Board published Which cities have the highest solar potential in Canada? Where is the best place in Canada to have Solar Power? Regina, of course! Ottawa is better than Montreal and Ottawa (by a small Amount). Surprisingly Yellowknife is up there on the list, and not so surprising St. John’s NFLD is way down there on the list. Might be good to turn all of Saskatchewan into a Solar Array?

My Recent Writings

The next time someone asks which is the Best ETF, I think I have an answer

It has been a while since I wrote one of these so here is the long list of the topics I have hit since my last #Moneytalk.

Risk Profiles and E-series Orders Rejected shows that no matter how optimistic I get about TD Mutual Funds, I end up being wrong. My daughter is still working to clear up the no you can’t have E-series funds fiasco that was set up.

I do enjoy Doug Hoyes’ podcast (remember I was even a guest on it), but I also enjoyed his audiobook as well, and I reviewed it in, Straight Talk on Your Money. Well worth listening to and buying the book too. Hopefully a sobering set of stories for those that are sure they have their financial world figured out.

I actually had a Guest Post but by a friend of the site, Sean Cooper (who I still hate). Qualifying for a Mortgage: The 4 Factors Lenders Consider (and WHY!) is an essay on how to get a mortgage, worth having a look at.

Phishing Phor Phun and Prophit, is a cross-post from my technology site telling you just how vulnerable you are to a Phishing attack. The bad folks are getting quite good at catching you out.

My 5 Best Investments is really just a proud Poppa boasting about his kids, but also the fact that I was smart enough to invest in their educations.

Micro Blogging for Motivation

When was the last time you changed your banking password? You might want to check this one out to figure out what you should change it to?

Our ‘Guidance for Securing Passwords’ provides system designers, operators and end users practical guidance on the design, implementation and use of password-based authentication systems.

Learn more: https://t.co/Sqo2aeF7uM pic.twitter.com/JklsIcVp9F

— CSE 🍁 (@cse_cst) May 30, 2018

💻 If you want more great financial stories click here 💻

I have written previously about my 4 best investments, but I feel it is important to update and follow up on that statement. I now feel I have 5 best investments that I can boast about.

Last week one of my daughters graduated as a Chiropractor, so now my 5 best investments are

• Bachelor of Arts from Wilfrid Laurier University
• Bachelor of Kinesiology from Acadia University
• Bachelor of Science from Trent University
• Teaching Certification from Queen’s University
• Doctor of Chiropractic from CMCC

The last 2 investments I didn’t actually spend that much on, but the previous three I feel were mostly my investments. I did have a rule that I pay for the 1^st degree (and if I pay for a degree I don’t pay for a wedding). As with all rules they have not been adhered to verbatim.

My parents invested in my education, and for that I am eternally grateful. I have had folks comment that if a child pays for their own education, they are more invested in the process. In my case, letting my parents down was actually a strong motivating factor, so I think that is a wash in terms of arguments.

I like the fact that it wasn’t a foreign investment either. I don’t think I could have afforded sending my kids outside of the country, it was expensive enough out of the city.  If you are planning on helping your kids, an RESP is where you should start with your plan, and then look into CO-OP programs, OSAP and the Scholarships out there (and there are many).

Regrets?

My guess is if I hadn’t put the money away that I used to help my kids’ educations I would have blown it on something stupid, so I am glad I can point to something tangible for where the money went. It has also been pointed out that I didn’t do any of the work (aside from repairing a few computers). Why is this a good investment? I have always relied on the good works of others.