Short Takes: Invisible Progress, Probate Fees, and more

This has been a week of IT fixes for me.  I’ve been fixing broken links on the blog and trying to keep the family printer/scanner working.  For a long time we’ve been able to print but not scan from my wife’s laptop.  But on my laptop, I could only scan and not print.  So we sent messages back and forth (“please print this pdf” and “here’s the scan you wanted”).  Finally, after an HP Smart app “update,” scanning stopped working for me too.  Several hours of fruitless attempts to install an updated printer driver led me to try the Windows scan app to access the scanner.  It seemed to work at first, but it produces comically large files because it thinks the paper is 23x32 inches (you can’t make this stuff up).  All this has left me planning to buy a new printer.  It seems silly to buy new hardware over a software problem, but that’s where I am.

Here are my posts for the past two weeks:

Financial Warning Signs

Variable Percentage Withdrawal: Garbage In, Garbage Out

Here are some short takes and some weekend reading:

Morgan Housel explains why progress is a yawn while disasters grab our attention.

The Blunt Bean Counter discusses pitfalls with two popular ways of trying to avoid probate fees.

Justin Bender explains (in a video) how ETF investors can take advantage of tax-loss harvesting without getting hit by CRA's superficial loss rule.  Canadian Couch Potato covered the same subject in written form.  Both are excellent sources of reliable investment information.

Boomer and Echo addresses major gaps in your retirement plan.

Doug Hoyes explains why we shouldn't obsess over our credit scores in this short video.

Big Cajun Man explains some of the rules around turning your RDSP (Registered Disability Savings Plan) into a SDSP (Specified Disability Savings Plan).

Comments

  1. Alan WhittonOctober 23, 2020 at 7:56 AM

    The SDSP is for someone who will die soon, so they can get at their RDSP funds (Spoiler alert). Thanks for the inclusion this week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. FerdOctober 23, 2020 at 12:28 PM

    I prefer using Adobe Scan (free) on my smartphone rather than the scanner that's with my printer. Maybe it could save you a purchase!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael JamesOctober 24, 2020 at 9:42 AM

      Hi Ferd,

      I've used the phone for scanning. It's good enough in most cases. It's the case where I've been sent a document and have to print it, sign it, and scan the signed copy where I need a real scanner.

      Delete

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