ING Direct sent me a link to some videos and a powerpoint presentation deck on a workshop they held recently that explains the ins and out of the new HST for business owners. I thought it was worth passing on for those who want to learn more about the new Harmonized Sales Tax. I think [...]
Iceland's Smoke Monster
While sad, it is worth pointing out that the volcanic ash emanating from Iceland is highlighting how some people are balanced on a knife’s edge when it comes to their finances. I have read stories of how some people (who until now have been stranded a maximum of 5 days) can no longer afford to [...]
Changes And Facebook Fan Pages
It’s been two weeks without a Lap Of The Blogs. I’ve been busy with filming some stuff for the W Network and regular programming will resume this week. In the meantime I’m going to be making a few changes in preparation for a bit of a change to my online persona. Don’t worry, nothing drastic… [...]
Name That Visionary… and win a 32GB iPhone 3GS
Advisor.ca is a website geared towards financial advisors that is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. One contest it is holding promises the winner a 32GB iPhone 3GS (service plan not included). Name That Visionary To enter, all you have to do is submit up to 10 nominations on an online form indicating your choice(s) [...]
iPad Review
So the cat’s out of the bag: there is no iPhone Macro. I indeed purchased an iPad. Here is my review after having used it for the last few days. iPad Models There are six models to choose from, but the only factors of differentiation are memory size (16GB, 32GB, 64GB) and whether or not [...]
My New iPhone Macro
I picked up an iPhone Macro on the weekend. The latest product offering from Apple definitely has some serious cool factor going for it but I find it a bit impractical at times. For example, it much easier to run on the treadmill with my iPod Touch which can easily fit onto an armband. The [...]
Gold Plated Member of Parliament Pension Plans
A long standing MP can collect a $100,000 annual pension. After just 6 years as an MP you can qualify for a $27,000 annual pension. What’s even more curious is that the pension benefits are secured by tax-payers. There are no actual investments, only a big IOU on paper which is guaranteed to grow every [...]
Vanguard starts rolling out eight page prospectuses – Simplifying things for investors
When you purchase a mutual fund you are required to receive a simplified prospectus no later than two days after making the purchase decision although you would normally expect to receive this document BEFORE making that decision. However, many investors rely on a financial advisor for recommendations and quite frankly couldn’t be bothered to read [...]
Options Licensed Advisors Are Rare
How many financial advisors are in Canada? To give you a rough idea as to the number of financial advisors in Canada as a whole, there are about 75,000 MFDA advisors (mutual fund sales reps), 125,000 Life-Licensed advisors (insurance agents) and 25,000 IIROC advisors (licensed to sell individual stocks). Those are rough numbers for a [...]
Mentally Spending Your Next Raise Before You Actually Get It
One thing I’ve noticed with some people is that they get progressively more stressed about money the older they are. That should come as no surprise. But it’s also no surprise that people tend to earn more and more money as they get older too. So shouldn’t things get less stressful? One (of the many [...]
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