Short Takes: CMHC Limit, Real Health Insurance, and more
Canadian Mortgage Trends reports that CMHC is approaching its limit on mortgage default insurance and takes in in-depth look at what this could mean for the industry and borrowers.
Where Does All My Money Go? provides further analysis of the impacts of the CMHC reaching its limit.
Boomer and Echo have some clear thinking on health and dental “insurance”.
The Blunt Bean Counter explains the rules and pitfalls with claiming automobile expenses on your taxes. I tried keeping a log book for a while. What a pain! The tax savings would have to be quite substantial to get me to try this again.
Canadian Couch Potato evaluates market forecasters.
Wealthy Boomer quotes a BMO Retirement Institute report saying that “younger Canadian job-seekers should be looking for employers that offer traditional Defined Benefit pension plans.” A problem with this strategy is that expecting to spend you whole career with one employer is unrealistic. Finding an employer with a DB pension is not enough. You need to have the right to carry your pension value to a new employer who has a DB pension plan without losing too much service credit. Good luck with that.
Retire Happy Blog wades into the debate about changes to Old Age Security.
Big Cajun Man has to revisit his equation for deciding whether to take the bus or drive to work.
Million Dollar Journey gives us some insight into his conservative approach to computing his net worth. For example, he does not include RESPs because he thinks of them as his children’s money.
Financial Highway lists 6 things that most people don’t know about a home equity line of credit (HELOC). I only knew 4 of the 6.
Where Does All My Money Go? provides further analysis of the impacts of the CMHC reaching its limit.
Boomer and Echo have some clear thinking on health and dental “insurance”.
The Blunt Bean Counter explains the rules and pitfalls with claiming automobile expenses on your taxes. I tried keeping a log book for a while. What a pain! The tax savings would have to be quite substantial to get me to try this again.
Canadian Couch Potato evaluates market forecasters.
Wealthy Boomer quotes a BMO Retirement Institute report saying that “younger Canadian job-seekers should be looking for employers that offer traditional Defined Benefit pension plans.” A problem with this strategy is that expecting to spend you whole career with one employer is unrealistic. Finding an employer with a DB pension is not enough. You need to have the right to carry your pension value to a new employer who has a DB pension plan without losing too much service credit. Good luck with that.
Retire Happy Blog wades into the debate about changes to Old Age Security.
Big Cajun Man has to revisit his equation for deciding whether to take the bus or drive to work.
Million Dollar Journey gives us some insight into his conservative approach to computing his net worth. For example, he does not include RESPs because he thinks of them as his children’s money.
Financial Highway lists 6 things that most people don’t know about a home equity line of credit (HELOC). I only knew 4 of the 6.
Thanks for the mention!
ReplyDeleteMerci Monsieur le bloggeur...
ReplyDeleteYup, the bus is convenient and timely (i.e. about the same time), so it wins for now... I should write a blog about it, I hear there is a good one, but the writer has shut it down for a while.
Michael, thx for mention, yes keeping a log is a pain, but recreating one for 3 years is not a day in the park either. Great post on stock options this week
ReplyDeleteThanks for the mention Michael, have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link Michael - recording mileage is quite a hassle. I'd be surprised if 5 years from now some way to integrate a car's mileage to a calendar on your outlook or gmail account couldn't be developed to make it easier.
ReplyDelete@Mark: I agree that it's better to keep a log than to try to recreate one. Back in my consulting days I was choosing between keeping a log and forgoing the tax savings.
ReplyDelete@Preet: Maybe my car should just ask me each time I start it whether this trip is a business trip or not. Either I'd say no or the car would record what I say for the purpose of the trip. Without the prodding, I'd forget to make a record too often.