Best of

I understand you’re aware of the profit-driven approach taken by banks, and the recent CBC coverage on this topic. It’s important to recognize that banks are not your friend, but rather they are businesses focused on generating profits for their shareholders. As a customer, you are simply an income stream that banks can exploit to meet their financial goals. We need to remember that our relationship with banks is purely a business one, and it’s up to us to be vigilant and protect our interests. The onus is on us to take charge of our finances and not rely on our banks to have our best interests at heart. Oh those naughty banks.

Remember those thoughts the next time you think your bank is helping you out, by allowing you to have a new service. The only reason they let you have it, was to make them money.

March Madness has begun, I am cheering for Deep State to take the whole thing. Curious stat I found that this time of year is when the most vasectomies occur (and around time for the Masters), so the patient can “recover” at home and watch the games in peace. Seems a little extreme just to have the family leave you alone, but, to each his own. One day I will write about my two vasectomies. Might this be March Vasness ?

Have I mentioned how much I dislike finding snakes in my car? As Bugs Bunny said, “Good Bye Florida!”.

It snowed, in Ottawa, too much. That is all.

My Writings for Week Ending March 17^th

I took a week off, given it is March Break. Stay tuned we will be celebrating my 12th year of being the “Cranky old man of Personal Finance”, next week!

A Money Thought

Stan Buell has the correct view on the whole, “The Banks are out to get us” statement.

'We are all doing it': Employees at Canada's 5 big banks speak out about pressure to dupe customers https://t.co/vQbJ2xeYDM – Surprise!

— Stan Buell (@BuellStan) March 15, 2017

Read More »Naughty Banks, March Madness, Big Snow and #MoneyTalk

Lent for 2017 has begun, and as usual, I hope folks use this period to enrich and change their lives (spiritually and financially). This is an excellent time to try new lifestyles, financial ideas, and concepts. The period is only 40 days, which allows for a short-term experiment.

The Bank of Canada has decided the Inflation scare from Stats Canada is to be ignored for now. The happy world of loose money continues on, but for how much longer? The Bank did comment on the current economic state:

“In Canada, recent consumption and housing indicators suggest growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 may have been slightly stronger than expected. However, exports continue to face the ongoing competitiveness challenges described in the January MPR…. In this context, Governing Council judges that the current stance of monetary policy is still appropriate and maintains the target for the overnight rate at 1/2 per cent.”

The days of incredibly loose money policies may be numbered, but I have been saying that for about 10 years.

Ontarians will be paying less for electricity soon (17% less?), but will be paying for it later. What will lower hydro bills in Ontario do to the Inflation numbers? Will this somehow salvage the Liberals’ chances in the next provincial election?

RRSP season is over, but it has also begun again for 2018. What if you put a little away every pay cheque, and adjusted your tax at source to reflect that? That way, you will not be loaning the government money this year.

It is Crashed Ice weekend here in Ottawa. Crazed skaters go up and down a roller coaster of an ice track, racing each other? Luckily it has cooled off. What better way to help celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday?

My Writings for the Week Ending March 3rd

It was a busy week for me, with plenty to write about. I started off with Gasoline Pushed Inflation to 2.1 %, which of course is from our friends at Stats Canada. The good news is that fresh fruit and veggies are cheaper. With RRSP season coming to a close on March 1st, I felt it important to remind folks about 5 Things to Remember about RRSPs. Finally with Lent starting on March 1, I gave a few good ideas of things to try out during Lent with, Money and Lent : Clutter too ?

A Money Thought

I sometimes like making flow charts, and this is one of my favorites. Yes the box shapes really mean something.

Time to start a financial plan, A good time to start a new journey, try something new a Financial Plan is needed https://t.co/sUUqbjxAcb pic.twitter.com/H2PfLht3iS

— Big Cajun Man (aw) (@bigcajunman) March 2, 2017

Read More »Lent Begins, Loose Money and #MoneyTalk

It is RRSP Season, now, but also the whole year round, but now is the deadline for getting a tax break on last year’s taxes and other financial articles.

Yesterday, a rodent may or may not have seen his or her shadow and winter may or may not be ending sooner or later. What would financial ground-hog day be like ? This happens pretty much every month, when the Bank of Canada sets key interest rates, maybe they decide on the basis of the Governor seeing his own shadow? No, but that is a worthwhile indicator I suppose.

It is the year of the Fire Rooster, to our friends who observe the Chinese Lunar Calendar. If you are a Rooster, this may not be a good year for you, but I still enjoy the Festive Celebrations for this new year. We shall see how fortunate a year it ends up being, but it will be a long year, with 13 months .

In Ottawa we begin Winterlude , the festival celebrating the winter here. The weather rarely co-operates, it is either too warm and the canal melts or so cold no one wishes to be outside. The forecasts suggest  this might be a good year to enjoy the festival.

My Writings for Week Ending February 3rd

I have been meaning to publish this week’s article for a while, but wasn’t sure whether I got it right. I have been approached by a few “Promoters” of companies that charge a fee (or percentage) to help folks get their Disability Tax Credit, and I have ignored their offers, as I feel they are taking advantage with their fees. When I came upon Bill C-462 I thought that finally the government was agreeing with my opinion, however, as I wrote in Bill C-462 : Protecting Disabled Canadians or a Paper Tiger ? it seems this act is dead on arrival.

If anyone has any more insight on this, please contact me as I am very interested to find out whether this Act will ever be put into practice.

Editor’s Note: I have now included the last update date on all my articles, so you can see that those that I may “reprint” in social media, has usually been updated (or edit’ed to make it more readable).

Read More »Year of the Fire Rooster, Financial Groundhog Day and #MoneyTalk

It seems some money lenders are not happy with the new Mortgage rules, so they are attempting to bamboozle the system by marketing something called a Bundled Loan (or as I call it bungled mortgages ). The CBC’s explanation of this new poly-morphed debt vehicle is:

Canada’s subprime mortgage providers are increasingly teaming up with unregulated rivals to sidestep rules designed to clamp down on risky lending. … The result of these partnerships are so-called bundled loans, which pair a primary mortgage with a second loan from unregulated groups called Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs).

This loan offer appears to be nothing more than the old trickery of offering 1st, 2nd, and perhaps even 3rd mortgages, except that the 2nd and 3rd mortgages are being provided by different lenders. Despite the fact that this practice is not illegal, the primary lender is obligated to consider all of the borrower’s outstanding debts when offering the main mortgage. It is unclear whether they are taking into account the other parts of the loan bundle. Nevertheless, this situation is a clear example of mishandling mortgages and should be addressed as such.

It is Friday the 13th today. Is it a bad day to invest? I don’t know call me in a year and I will tell you. Should you sell on Friday the 13th? Depends on what you are selling, and whether what you sell goes up in value after you sell it. I never get tired of giving these kind of testicle busting comments. Did you realize that Friday the 13th, always occurs after a Thursday the 12th ?

My Writings for Week Ending January 13th

Last week the year end employment numbers were published by our friends at Stats Canada, and it showed that 2016 Was the Year of the Part-time job, since that is where most of the job growth in Canada took place. It is good there are more jobs, but it is disturbing to see that many folks careers now consist of a few part-time jobs, quilted together to create enough income to live on. Let us hope they are not also looking for bungled mortgages.

A Money Thought

Well, it costs you money, because in Ottawa it is Pothole season!

A giant #pothole in East Ottawa damages a dozen cars in the morning rush hour. @AnnieClaireBO reports. https://t.co/XzfZsJHyfR pic.twitter.com/9VpXDxfUoA

— CTV Ottawa (@ctvottawa) January 13, 2017

Read More »Bungled Mortgages, Friday the 13th and #Moneytalk