March 2010
Could too many financial products be ruining your finances? Part 2
Posted by admin on March 10, 2010 in Investment Information
Today’s post is a continuation on the effect of choice on our personal finances. Yesterday’s post dealt with how the paradox of choice impacts on our finances generally. Today’s post deals with the effect of too much choice on asset allocation and costs. When an issuer launches new mutual funds or exchange traded funds, this [...]
Could too many financial products be ruining your finances? Part 1
Posted by admin on March 9, 2010 in Investment Information
When I first took up running, I went into the store, looked at a wall of specialty shoes- stability, control, neutral cushioned, performance etc. etc.- and just blanked out. Were my feet so screwed up that I needed a special shoe? What if I bought these specialized shoes, at a whooping cost of $200, and [...]
Condos are eligible for the home renovation tax credit
Posted by admin on March 8, 2010 in Real Estate, Taxes
Congrats to Veselin who won a free copy of the QuickTax tax preparation software. As many Canadian taxpayers know, the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) was a one year tax credit for eligible home renovation expenses incurred between January 27, 2009 to February 1, 2010. The 15% credit applies for eligible expenses between $1,000 to [...]
Life and finance lessons from the Vancouver Winter Olympics
Posted by admin on March 5, 2010 in editorials
I normally don’t post on Friday but I wanted to remind readers today is your last day to enter to win a free copy of QuickTax tax preparation software. To win, please post a comment in this week’s post announcing the draw. Winner announced Monday. The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics drew to a close on [...]
What are these mysterious cash flow positive real estate vehicles?
Posted by admin on March 4, 2010 in Real Estate
For anyone who is interested in investing in real estate, one undoubtedly runs across individuals or groups who speak or write about cash flow positive joint ventures or some other variation of this phrase linking real estate, passive income and investment returns. The pitches tend to have a familiar refrain: there a generalized notion of [...]
Balancing active management & passive management
Posted by admin on March 3, 2010 in Investment Information
Life has little absolutes- death, taxes and change come to mind- but, yet, the discussion between active management vs. passive management assumes that one absolutely has to be in one corner or the other. Either one is an active portfolio manager in an attempt to outperform the market or one makes as little decisions as [...]
Why do small businesses fail?
Posted by admin on March 2, 2010 in entrepreneur
Although small business starts appear to be consistent regardless of the economic cycle, many people are forced into entrepreneurship during downturns. Some will succeed. Others will fail. Why a small business succeeds or fails is often a subject of great debate and academic research. As a general comment, economic conditions, in and of itself, is [...]
Free stuff! QuickTax tax preparation software
Posted by admin on March 1, 2010 in Misc.
The good folks at Intuit have provided to me their QuickTax tax preparation software (standard version). The software includes up to 8 returns and allows for importing of data from Ufile and other tax software. Retail value is $39.99. If you want to win a free copy, simply post a comment. Canadian residents only are [...]
