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Welcome Americans and #MoneyStories

Another historical piece, when President Trump as elected SO many Americans said they were going to move to Canada, never really happened, that I saw.

Welcome our American cousins, and all those who are claiming that if Donald Trump (or Hillary Clinton) gets elected they will move out of the United States of America. We Canadians welcome you with arms wide open, however, please leave your arms down there (thank you). It is always interesting to hear folks down south claiming they would move up north, a few good examples were:

The Noble and Under-appreciated Stubby
Drink Canadian Beer
  • If Obamacare passes! So you are running away from socialized medicine to move into a country with socialized medicine?
  • If gun control laws are passed? Canada you want to move to? The big one up north?
  • If marijuana is legalized?
  • I am not even going to mention abortions

Should be an interesting choice down south, guess I should look into Wall futures? Remember that Toronto in the 60’s was a haven for Draft Evaders from the Viet Nam war, and that time was viewed as a Golden Age for Toronto, so who knows, maybe this is a good thing for Canada?

For any folks thinking of moving here, the topic for March is either, the Weather or Taxes! Luckily we have plenty to complain about on the tax side of things, with the Ontario Government slapping new taxes on many things, and the newly crowned Liberal Federal Government (or am I supposed to call them The Trudeau Government) talking of more taxes needed as well, the cold might not seem so bad. You see what I did there, I did the old switcheroo where it sounded like I was going to complain about how cold it was, and instead, I zinged in with a Tax Complaint (that is a very Canadian thing too).

It is Tax Time again!

My Writings for Week Ending March 4th

We leaped out of February into a short beginning of March, with RRSP season leaving us, but Tax Season is now in full bloom.

With this being a leap year did we have an extra day for RRSP contributions? Maybe, a few folks said it didn’t matter, but if you only worry about your RRSP at the end of February, you may have a financial planning problem, as I pointed out in Leap into Your RRSPs and Financial Planning

As I have mentioned many times I have a massive backlog of unfinished ideas, and I found one and added a bit of polish and a lot of sarcasm poking fun at Financial Services Web Pages

A Friday Thought

The hardest times to say the word no, are usually the most important times to say it.

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Retirement

RRSP Time and #MoneyStories

Attention! If you were planning on rebalancing your RRSP or any similar account, you only have until the end of Monday to get it done. While there may be exciting articles out there to read, always remember that the RRSP is more than just a savings account. It’s a tax deferral system, which means that you will have to pay taxes on the money you withdraw. But don’t worry, it shouldn’t be more than what you saved by putting money in your RRSP in the first place. Is it worth panicking to try to make a last-minute RRSP deposit if you don’t have a specific need to do so? Absolutely not! You will do better by putting the money in your TFSA (if you have room, for either, for that matter), or paying down debt. So, take action now and make the most of your investments.

Expanding Debt
The Expanding Ontario Debt

The Ontario Government decided that they wanted to have the biggest sub-national jurisdiction Debt in the world ($308 billion), so they continue to run big deficit budgets with big promises. I will be reviewing the alleged extra funding for the Autism programs (with a lot of input from Mrs. C8j, hopefully), $333 million over five years. Why couldn’t they just give me a cut of that? Speaking of huge debts, evidently the World Debt is Rising (according to Bloomberg) but who are we borrowing from then? Mars? Venus? Maybe that is how Pluto ended up being demoted from planet (it owed too much money to the Intergalactic Banks).

Did you realize that Mattel has brought back the Thing Maker as a 3D printer? In case you were wondering what to get me for Easter.

A thought for a Friday:

“Don’t confuse comfort, for happiness”

My Writings for Week Ending February 26th

Another very confusing week of weather here in Ottawa, but luckily my writings didn’t seem as confusing (I hope).

To absolutely no consumer’s surprise Stats Canada published last week the monthly inflation numbers and it showed that healthy food costs a lot more than it did a year ago, and even Gasoline is more expensive too? Given the new taxes the Ontario Government is going to put on booze and smokes, that won’t help these numbers either.

What is a Spousal RRSP? That is a question a few folks have asked me, and I keep thinking about how only 10 years ago it was really the only way to income split (in retirement), but now thanks to Pension Income splitting the Spousal RRSP seems to have disappeared off folks’ savings radar?

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Snowy Day

Digging Out, Ransomware, RRSP Time and #MoneyStories

Yes it is that magical time of the year RRSP time, do you need to defer any income this year? Save for your retirement? Stick it to the feds by lowering your income?

Scary Financial Tales

Spooky Prices, Falling Back, and #MoneyStories

Halloween is tomorrow, and it seems to have become yet another excuse for folks to lose their minds decorating their houses. I think a significant growth industry would be convertible home decorations, which can change from Halloween to Christmas with a simple switch. The lights should be easy enough, but I am unsure how you might change a 10-foot-tall inflated ghost into a 10-foot inflated Rudolph? Did you realize in 2011, 13.3 million Canadian homes gave out Candy? That is a lot of homes (and even more Candy).

Clock

Time to Fall Back !

Some very spooky food prices this week as well, OK, last week, but I note that no one seemed to really care that much about it. The election is, however, a hot topic with many of our regular contributors in terms of how the change in government will affect their lives (and yours as well).

Also, remember that on Sunday morning (really early) the clocks go back an hour, which means that if you don’t do anything, you will be early to work on Monday morning. The only way I remember is Spring Forward, Fall Back. The one nice thing about most technology is that they change their clocks themselves (except for older technology which changes on the wrong days).

For me, it is a lovely weekend ahead as well as the Rugby World Cup Final on Saturday, with New Zealand playing Australia. I think this time, I will cheer for the All-Blacks.

My Writings for Week Ending October 30th

It’s another fun Halloween ahead, or as we call it at my house, my youngest daughter’s birthday. Halloween is an OK time to have your birthday. You don’t end up getting short-changed on presents as much (like those unfortunate folks born on Christmas Day or around then).

Facebook Post of the Week

What do you mean there can be negative interest rates? In Sweden this may well be the case!

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Election Reflections, Loose Money and #MoneyStories

Well, that was a very interesting election result that I suspected might happen. However, it does make for a very interesting future (note I am not saying good or evil, just interesting). Trudeau is PM, and it was back to the Future Day on Wednesday? Welcome to the ’80s? Guess I need to find my Nash the Slash T-shirts?

For the direct money view, we go to the Globe, which explains 9 Things that the Liberal Victory will change in your financial life. I am going to miss that income splitting with my spouse, maybe they can bring it back later, or I may have to retire to do it with my pension. Everything else is kind of meh to me, but the $2000 back on my taxes last year was mighty sweet. You realize these new MP’s will be paid $167,400 per year, right?

One of the big topics is how exactly is Mr. Trudeau going to change the TFSA limit back to what it was? A general amnesty for a year? Really not sure, but it should be interesting to see how he treads gently around the topic.

What happened to the NDP? The Jack Layton Party returned to being the NDP again, and are back to their normal historic seat counts, which is too bad in some ways, and good in other ways (remembering Bob Rae in Ontario for one thing). Interesting that the popular vote levels are not that different, but all it takes is a few areas to change their previous voting habits (i.e. Quebec) and voila, a change of government.

In Ottawa, there was much rejoicing in the demise of the Harper Government (in the Public Service area, remember I am a Civil Servant) and here is one of the reasons that Ottawa was part of the Red Tide, an open letter from Mr. Trudeau to Public Servants. I may do an article on how Mr. Clement’s plan to revise the sick leave system in the Public Service might have been a good idea. However, it had some flaws.

It was pointed out to me that Mr. Harper’s hair was never really mentioned in the election (even though Mr. Trudeau’s had its own catchphrase “Nice Hair Though”), but am I the only one who said it looks like LEGO hair?

In celebration of the Liberal victory, the Bank of Canada did not change their key overnight rate, and money continues to be as loose as can be (all right, it had nothing to do with the election). You should really read the Monetary Policy Report for 2015 as well. The bank’s exact statement was:

The Bank judges that the risks around the inflation profile are roughly balanced. Meanwhile, as financial vulnerabilities in the household sector continue to edge higher, risks to financial stability are evolving as expected. Taking all of these developments into consideration, the Bank judges that the current stance of monetary policy remains appropriate. Therefore, the target for the overnight rate remains at 1/2 per cent.

My Writings for Week Ending October 23rd

I actually felt very re-energized by my attendance at CPFC15 (and am thinking I will be back next year), however, that still doesn’t expand my schedule, but I will be trying to write more soon. I did enjoy chatting with my peers and some very experienced writers and enjoyed the fellowship.

  • In Home Insurance: Three Strikes and You Are Out, I was pointing out that my mother’s home insurance was cancelled after three (major) events that she made insurance claims on, and that is the way home insurance works, so keep that in mind. Chime in the comments if you have your own stories in this area.
  • The Bank of Mom and Dad is a cautionary story about lending money to your kids (and family members in general) and how bankrupting one generation so the other can have a lovely house might not be the best idea.
  • I did check out my archives and found a classic, Top 5 Reasons You Are in Debt. It is a swerve post, as it is not what you think it is.

Facebook Post of the Week

Dave Ramsay does have a way of summing it up in one line

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