The CPP program was reviewed in 2009 and it was determined at that time, CPP was well funded and on solid financial ground.  CPP will be there for Canadians.

Last week, OAS was the hot topic when Harper made some comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland about making some significant changes to those elements of the Canadian retirement system that are not properly funded. Now the big question is Do You Think Old Age Security needs change?

In doing some research on OAS, I found some interesting data that I thought would be worthwhile sharing:

• Canada’s first public pension plan had been introduced in 1927 with the passing of the Old Age Pensions Act. That legislation established a means-tested pension for men and women 70 years of age and over who had little or no income.
• The Old Age Security Act came into force in 1952, replacing legislation from 1927 requiring the federal government to share the cost of provincially-run, means-tested old age benefits.
• Back in 1952, OAS paid a $40 per month universal, flat-rate pension for people 70 and over, with 20 years residence in Canada immediately prior to the approval of an application as sufficient qualification. 308,825 people were participating in the program
• In 1965 the age of eligibility was moved from age 70 to age 65 over a 5 year period (to 1969).
• In 1967, the program was expanded with the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS).  The GIS program was and still is a tax-free, income-tested supplement to pensioners in receipt of the Old Age Security Pension, but with little or no other income.
• Indexation of benefits was introduced in 1972
• In the 1996 budget, a new Senior Benefit was introduced that would replace OAS, GIS and 2 tax credits for seniors. Although the government argued that 75% of seniors would have the same benefit or higher, the proposal never materialized.
• In 2000, benefits and obligations were extended to same sex common law partners as well

How much does OAS pay?

Currently (2012) Old Age Security pays a maximum of $540 per month at age 65.  You cannot collect OAS earlier than that.  If you don’t apply, you don’t automatically get it.  You must apply.

OAS is also income tested so Canadians need to be aware of the OAS clawback.

Before the government messes around with OAS and cuts the retirement income of Canadians, I think they need to look at their own lucrative MP Pensions which is costing taxpayers a lot of money.  Canadians, you need to voice your thoughts before any changes are made to Old Age Security.

Related Posts:

• What Is The Old Age Security (OAS) Pension?
• What Is The Canada Pension Plan (CPP)?
• What Is The Québec Pension Plan (QPP)?

The History of OAS originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 7, 2012.

Pay vs. Perks

For some workers, money isn’t everything. You might have, in the past, done a job that, no matter how much you were paid, it didn’t seem worth it to do the job. Additionally, there are times when non-salary perks are better than having extra pay. Some of the perks that can really make a company good to work for include:

• Inexpensive on-site childcare
• Gym membership, or on-site gym or fitness room
• Excellent health beneftis
• Flexible personal time off (paid or unpaid)
• Flexible work hours
• Coupons and promotions
• Food and snacks available
• Pleasant work environment
• Ability to telecommute at least a couple days a week

A company might offer any number of perks in addition to regular pay. In some cases, the perks offered by one employer might outweigh better offers of payment from another potential employer.

There are some instances in which an employee might even be willing to forgo some payment for flexibility in a schedule, or for extra days of unpaid leave. Perks like good food in the cafeteria and on-site childcare might also be desirable. There are a number of reasons that you might be willing to accept a little less pay — especially if it benefits your life in some other way.

Money Isn’t Everything

While it’s true that money is necessary to buy the necessities — and some of the comforts — of life, it isn’t everything. You might value more time with your family, or you might want better benefits. The flexibility to choose certain hours, or telecommute on some days, can be worth more than extra money. Indeed, there are those who won’t work overtime, even though it means more pay, because they would rather spend the time in other pursuits.

Consider your situation, and whether or not you might be happier with better perks. There are companies that offer good work environments, as well as opportunities for you to gain recognition for your hard work, without paying huge salaries. You can earn enough money for your needs, and some of your wants, and enjoy the perks that come with your job. In many cases, that can mean an improved quality of life.

Earning a lot of money can provide you with luxuries. However, if you spend a lot of time working, and you don’t have time to do what you enjoy, it affects your quality of life. Additionally, you might not be happy with your job. If you don’t enjoy where you work, what you do and your co-workers, it becomes tedious to go to work. If you can choose a job with perks that increase your quality of life, pay may not be as important. Consider your options, and evaluate your priorities and preferences. Decide what works for you, and whether a job with more perks might be right for you.

Related Posts:

• Self Worth and Net Worth
• The Other 8 Hours Determine Your Happiness and Net Worth
• Are Live Sports Worth The Cost?

Perks or Pay? What Makes a Job Worth It? originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 6, 2012.

N.W. Journey at Net Worth Journey presents Stay Within the Boundaries, saying “Learn how staying in the boundaries reaps massive rewards.”

Craig Ford at Christian Debt Coach presents Little Changes Make Big Differences: $100 Spending Cut Challenge, saying “Cutting a $100 spending per month can make a big difference.”

Glen at Parenting Family Money presents 5 Kids Expenses to Budget For – Apart from College , saying “There are other expenses for kids-not on the magnitude of college-that are also worthy of budgets all there own. Make sure you budget for these kids expenses!”

Business

Small Business Resource at Small Business Resource presents Top Tips For Small Businesses To Survive The Recession, saying “Here are some tips for small businesses to survive the recession …. courtesy of the everywoman network!”

Eddie at Finance Fox presents Airline’s Charge to Check Bags = One Big Cash Grab, saying “Despite a pretty smooth trip overall, I had the pleasure of paying $25 to check my bag. Three different airports, three different starting points and that’s $75 less I had in my wallet.”

Career

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents 3 Common Selling Strategies for Your Small Business (and Which One Actually Works), saying “Everyone knows that a thriving business needs customers; finding them, however, is usually much easier than getting them to buy. Recently, I’ve noticed a wide range of methods for obtaining new business in a variety of fields. In freelancing, blogging, and social media, specifically, I’ve seen the greatest range of tactics. They go something like this:”

Chris at Experiglot presents Attitude and Sales, saying “Could you make it in sales?”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents How to Deal With Difficult Clients and Customers, saying “In our day to day work, we often come across difficult clients or customers. We ought to have tricks to handle them in certain way so that at the end mutual ego and sanctity is maintained.”

Debt and Credit

Jason at Live Real, Now presents Can Bad Credit Cost You Your Job?, saying “Many companies feel that your credit report gives them a sneak peak at your true character. Having a good credit history indicates that you are a responsible person with excellent character. Having a bad credit history means that you are an unreliable person of poor character. True or not and fairly or not, this is the current belief running throughout company hiring departments.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents PC MasterCard Review, saying “If you bank at PC Financial and shop regularly at Loblaws or Superstore, it makes sense to use the PC MasterCard to earn even more PC Points.”

Lisa at Thriftability presents Living Life on a Debit Card, saying “If you don’t qualify for a credit card for whatever reason—no history, troubled employment situation, self-employed without significant financial backing, poor credit score, etc.—there is still hope for retaining the convenience of plastic without all the added negatives that come with using credit cards. The answer? Debit cards, of course.”

Dr. Jason Cabler at Celebrating Financial Freedom presents Winning Without a Credit Score, saying “A story about my friends mom “Marge” who got turned down for a credit card because she has no credit score, and how that means she’s been winning with money for over 40 years.”

Economy

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents Is Our Old Age Security Program Sustainable?, saying “It appears the government is planning to gradually change the Old Age Security program so that the age of eligibility is raised to 67 from age 65.”

Frugality

Young at Young and Thrifty presents Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel Book Review and Giveaway, saying “Secrets of a Stingy Scoundrel is written by Phil Vallarreal. If you don’t know who he is, I have to be honest with you, you’ve been living under some sort of rock because he’s one of the writers/ contributors to the Consumerist. Basically, the book give 100 dirty little money-grubbing secrets that will help you save money.”

Sandy at Yes, I am Cheap presents Get Out of Debt in 2012: How Much Do You Owe?, saying “The money that you earn must be greater than or equal to the money that you spend. Most of us tend to be okay with the left side of the equation; it’s the right side that’s the problem. I know that many of you will probably disagree with me and say that you’re just not making enough money, but trust me, that’s usually not the case.”

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents How to Host a Superbowl Party on the Cheap, saying “The Super Bowl is just around the corner and if your house is about be invaded by party-goers, you might be worried about what hosting a huge party is going to cost you. Potlucks and BYOB are always a good way to host a party on the cheap!”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents How to Shop for Furniture at Thrift Stores, saying “If you are looking for ways to cut costs in your household, you should take the time to check out some of the thrift stores in your area.”

James Petzke at James Petzke: Graduating with a Surplus presents Choosing a School that Makes Financial Sense, saying “Choosing what school to go to can be difficult. This post breaks down how exactly the financial element of this important decision comes into play.”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Money Saving Tips for Buying Video Games, saying “We simply can’t afford to buy our kids a new $50 or $60 video game every time a new one is released. Here are the money saving tips we use to reduce our costs:”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Money Saving Tips for New Parents, saying “Here are the top five money saving tips for new parents to help ease the cost.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents Getting More Miles Out of the Old Van, saying “My 2004 Pontiac Montana just clicked over 167,000 miles, and I couldn’t be more excited. It is my goal to get up to 200,000 with it. “

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents Use Less and Sve Money! 25 Things You Can Cut Your Use in Half, saying “No matter what the cause, becoming aware that you may be needlessly wasting money by using too much gives you the opportunity to examine the way you currently use things and see if you can get the results you want without using quite so much.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Why Use Cloth Diapers?, saying “What follows are my thoughts on why cloth is more sustainable, not only for the planet but also for your pocketbook – the reasons why we use cloth diapers.”

Pam Whitlock at The MoneyTrail Blog presents 20 Inexpensive Indoor Activities for Kids and Teens, saying “How many days of winter can your kids handle before you hear those dreaded words, “I’m bored”? Here are 20 cheap, indoor family activities to get you through the darkest of winter days.”

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Calling Retentions Can Really Slash Your Bills, saying “The big secret here is that you don’t have to wait until you are unhappy with your service or you want to cancel before you call retentions! They are overcharging you now, so why wait?! “

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents Biggest Money Wasters in Your 20s, saying “How you’re blowing money in your 20s.”

Brian at Wallet Watcher presents Saving on Energy Costs: Insulation, saying “If you aren’t up-to-date with insulation in your home, you might be wasting plenty of money on energy. Take some of the following tips in stride – there is a lot of information that simply can’t be covered presently.”

Sabrina at Frugal Living presents Money Saving Clubs: To Join or Not to Join?, saying ““To join, or not to join?” That certainly is the question when it comes to saving money. Every company would have us believe that by applying for their credit card, joining their rewards program or becoming a member of their club we will save more than we ever dreamed possible. But while that idea may seem too good to be true, there is some truth to it: we may sometimes save money by jumping on the bandwagon. So the question you really need to ask yourself is this: is it worth it to me?”

Melissa at Fiscal Phoenix presents Do You Really Want a Typical Valentine’s Day?, saying “Showing your love on Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be through the gifts that companies and marketers make you feel you have to buy. Instead of using your hard-earned money on consumables that will be gone in just a few days, choose a different activity that will help you create a memory.”

Investing

W at Off-Road Finance presents Adjusting To Market Volatility, saying “This article looks at what market volatility is, how it’s measured, and how it impacts you as an investor or trader.”

Hank at Money Q&A presents The Beginner’s Guide – How To Find A Mutual Fund, saying “There are tens of thousands of mutual funds out there for investors to choose from. It is very intimidating for new beginner investors to learn how to find a mutual fund.”

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents How You Can Build Wealth, saying “Building wealth takes time and knowledge. There is no get rich quick method. There are a few ways to begin building wealth. Passive income is the key.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Passive Income Done Right, saying “Do you often think about how you could create a passive income? Maybe you’re just itching to get out of your job and would love to create a real estate empire, or perhaps a franchise that is run completely by someone other than you. These dreams are all well and good, but you must first have your finances in order before you can pursue opportunities such as these…”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents 10 Easy Tips for Saving Money on Car Insurance, saying “Everyone has to have car insurance, but it can be a pain to find something that works for you and that you can afford. If you are tight on funds, or if you simply want to save some money, here are ten easy tips for saving money on your car insurance.”

MR at Money Reasons presents Why Taxing Dividend Income Hurts The Elderly, saying “Taxing dividends at a higher percentage hurts the elderly and the young.”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents A Review of OptionHouse’s iPhone App, saying “Despite a few quirks, I’m impressed with the App! This is by far the best trading App I’ve come across! The feature list is just right and not overwhelming. Though I don’t like the dark background, the screen doesn’t look too cluttered. A couple of features I would’ve expected in a trading app but missing in OptionsHouse’s App:”

Kanwal Sarai at Simply Investing presents My Best Investment Yet, saying “275.97% return since I first purchased shares in TransCanada Corporation (TRP) in 2000. “

Matt at RamblingFever Money presents Keeping a Mortgage for Greater Investment Gain, saying “The 15 vs 30 year mortgage debate. I ran some numbers and was shocked to find out that it might actually make mathematical sense to stick with the 30-year. Is this the best choice though as it pertains to your “personal” finances?”

Mich at Oil and Gas ETFs presents Learning How to Invest in Oil to Maximize Profits and Minimize Risks, saying “Let’s face it, the era for cheap oil is behind us, oil has become more expensive to find and to extract from the ground which requires sustained high oil prices to ensure future supply. A look at ways to invest in oil.”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Are Target Date Mutual Funds Right for You, saying “An article from my friend, Jeff Rose caught my attention recently: Why I Hate Target Date Mutual Funds and You Should, Too. The title caught my attention – hate is a strong word that I haven’t seen Rose use too often.”

Martin at Studenomics presents Should You Invest in the Stock Market in Your 20s?, saying “Should 20-somethings be involved in the stock market?”

Div Guy at The Dividend Guy Blog presents Dividend Bubble? Think Again!, saying “What does the future for dividends hold?”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Dividend Investing Will Make You Rich, saying “Are you still waiting to get into the dividend game?”

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents Learning to Invest, saying “Here is a great break down of researching stocks the smart way.”

Lifestyle

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents Why a Young Conservative Supports Ron Paul, saying “I am guided by my principles, not people. Should Ron Paul one day forsake them, I will no longer support him. I don’t agree with him on everything, including some of his foreign policy. But I know that under his presidency, my freedoms would be protected, and I would rather be free than safe from harm. Ultimately, this is why young conservatives like myself support him.”

Peter at Bible Money Matters presents 8 Important Bible Versus about Money for Christians, saying “Today I want to give 8 of my favorite bible verses about money, and talk about why I think they’re important for all Christians to know and understand.”

Craig Ford at Money Help For Christians presents When a Pumpkin Is More Valuable than a $1,000, saying “When a Pumpkin is More Valuable Than $1,000″

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents Don’t Underestimate the Cost of Living When Deciding Where to Live , saying “There are a lot of factors that can go into deciding where to live, but one many underestimate is the cost of living where you want to live.”

Phil at PT Money presents 31 Days to Financial Improvement, saying “The culmination of a month-long series aimed at helping readers make incremental improvements that will positively affect their financial situations.”

Suba at Wealth Informatics presents Stay at home or to work : What is the financial & professional price?, saying “Stay at home or to work : This is not a post to convince anyone that they should stay at home or that they should be a working parent. Rather this post is a thinking process on what changes financially/professionally so that we can better prepare for it (as much as possible).”

Real Estate

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Mistakes Young Families Make When Financing Their First Home, saying “Money mistakes made by young, educated and affluent families were a direct cause of our current economic turmoil. If families fail to learn from those home buying mistakes, we are doomed to repeat the consequences.”

krantcents at KrantCents presents Protecting your home when on holiday: top tips, saying “Whatever kind of neighbourhood you live in, you will want to protect your home while you are away from it. Should you be embarking on a big holiday in the coming weeks and months and you find yourself away from the house for two weeks or more, there are a number of things you can”

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Simple Home Maintenance Anyone Can Do, saying “If you own a home, you can save time and money by learning to do some common and simple home maintenance. The time you save is the time needed to locate a repair person, wait for them to arrive and do the task. The money you save is their labor charge.”

Little House at Little House in the Valley presents I Know I Should Buy but I Am Not, saying “I knew I had to do three things before I buy a home: improve my credit, pay down my debt, and save for a down payment. I’ve completed two of these three things with the last one being a bit more challenging for me”

Martin at Passive Income Now presents Why Does Everyone Want to Buy a Home Instead of Renting?, saying “Is it better to buy or rent?”

Retirement

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents Double Tax Benefits for Mid to Low Income Households Who Contribute to Retirement Accounts, saying “When you think about retirement, are you stuck in disillusionment somewhere between your dreams and the reality of an empty retirement account? “

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents Early Retirement, saying “In preparation for early retirement, what are you doing? Find out what I am doing to prepare for early retirement.”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Are You A Mental Accountant? Grand Finale, saying “Remember when Jeff Foxworthy came out with his unforgettable series, ‘You Might Be A Redneck?’ It was a huge hit that led to book deals, TV shows, and enough riches to fund every redneck’s retirement. Read my take on being a mental accountant with a Jeff Foxworthy spin.”

Todd R. Tresidder at Financial Mentor presents Are Safe Withdrawal Rates Really Safe?, saying “An exhaustive analysis that finally puts to rest the safe withdrawal rate debate. The 4% rule is dead so learn the alternative solutions so you can safeguard your wealth in retirement.”

The Passive Income Earner at The Passive Income Earner presents How To Maximize Your RRSP, saying “Do you really know how to maximize your RRSP? Have a look to see how you can grow your nest egg even bigger.”

Saving

Teacher Man at My University Money presents More Rewarding: Earning vs Saving, saying “Us personal finance nerds seem to have an ongoing debate raging (ok, maybe a slightly aggressive term) concerning who is cooler, the guys/gals that save more, or the guys/gals that earn more. Clearly the coolest peeps are the ones that save as much as possible and instead of wasting valuable time partaking in a fairly mundane exchange of stale views, earn more than the rest of us as well…”

Marie at Family Money Values at Family Money Values presents Five Fabulous Financial Moves, saying “Life is full of decisions. As you come to them – you make them, the best you can, with what you know and have at the time. Some of them turn out to be gems, others are more like dog poop. Looking back over my adult life from the ripe old age of 63, highlighted some of my and my spouses finest financial moments in bold relief. Some other day, we’ll talk about the dog poop side of things!”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents How-to Overcome The Fear of Getting Rich Slowly, saying “How you can make money over time.”

Ken Faulkenberry at AAAMP Blog presents Emergency Money Fund: Building Savings in a Low Interest Rate Environment, saying “Having adequate emergency money is the foundation of a solid financial plan. Here is one way to build an emergency savings fund.”

Taxes

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents 37 Must-Read Posts for Tax Savings, saying “A collection of the best tax tips posts that cover a wide range of tax topics, including deductions, tips for filing, and working with an accountant.”

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents 2012 IRA Contribution Limits, saying “Curious what the 2012 IRA Contributions Limits are?”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents How to Make Money Buying Virtual Real Estate, saying “Real estate is such a valuable investment, you no longer need it to be real to make money. Learn how real-life virtual real estate entrepreneurs have made millions.”

Other

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents How ‘Do Not Need’ Lists Can Save You A Buck, saying “I am on a three month no-buy resolution. I figured it is a good prelude to start implementing my next resolution – de-cluttering. Where do you usually start? I, of course, started with my favorite place which happens to be you guessed it, right! my closet.”

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents Paypal Income Reporting Requirements for Bloggers, saying “The IRS required PayPal to issue Form 1099-K to those making over $20,000 a year on PayPal. Since it was so confusing, the IRS did something smart.”

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents What to Look for in Mutual Funds – Part 1, saying “This is my first part of a two part series on what to look for in Mutual Funds.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents Confidence is Great, Right? Nope, It’ll Wreck Your Life, saying “We’re all taught to be confident from childhood. You know, those confidence boosters like getting a trophy no matter where you placed, parents telling you that you can do anything in life and so on. On some level, having confidence in yourself and what you can achieve does allow you to think big, stretch your your limits and achieve great things.”

Hank at Money Q&A presents How To Raise The Next Millionaire Entrepreneur, saying “Giving them a solid foundation to launch their creative ideas will help them achieve a financial freedom. A true millionaire entrepreneur knows that they can’t wait for opportunities to find them.”

Mich at Beating The Index presents Investing in Canadian Well Completion & Drilling Companies, saying “The oilfield services industry provides investors with exposure to the oil and gas commodity sector minus the inherent risks associated with exploration and development drilling.”

FG at Financial God presents Is Canada Immune to a Financial Blowup?, saying “My Own Advisor recently wrote about the heavy austerity in Greece, and thanks his lucky stars that things are nowhere near this bad in Canada. I agree that those in Canada are very lucky that the country has weathered the financial storm in relatively good shape, and not only that but the Canadian government has wasted less of the people’s wealth on ‘stimulus’.”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents My Biggest Financial Fear, saying “Sometimes fear can motivate us and other times, it can paralyze us or dictate our decisions. I have plenty of fears, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Of all…..”

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents How do you talk about money with your husband?, saying “Who manages the finances in your relationship? And how do you decide how to spend your money?”

John at Married with Debt presents Frugal Living is All About Creating the Debt Free Magic in Your Life, saying “This site is about helping people, both financially and in all aspects of their lives. Because I want this site to be a community, you will see from time to time, guest posts from readers and fellow financial bloggers. “

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Unexpected Crisis, saying “Find out how I managed to take care of a lot of things in a short amount of time.”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Redneck Dividends, saying “As I was editing the notorious 101 Centavos Dividend Portfolio that is featured on this site, it occurred to me that some of the dividend picks shared …”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents Cheap Things That Make Life Easier, saying “Sometimes people get so caught up in the idea of saving money that they won’t use their hard earned cash to buy something that would improve their quality of life. What the heck are you working for if you can’t buy yourself something that will make you happier? “

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Cheap Romantic Dates, saying “Cheap romantic dates are great on the budget and relationship. Find creative ideas here.”

Corey at Steadfast Finances presents Fake Prosperity: U.S. National Debt Growth vs. GDP Growth, saying “If you’re a member of Gen X and Gen Y, this is probably the scariest chart you will see in in the Economy, and possibly, right up to the time you’re old and gray.”

Dr Dean at The Millionaire Nurse Blog presents Disabiliy: Nothing to Quack About, saying “You owe it to your family to make prudent plans to protect them in the event you are injured and can’t work. Read all about why you need disability insurance and what to look for in your coverage.”

Related Posts:

• Canadian Finance Carnival #35
• Welcome To The Canadian Finance Blog!
• Canadian Finance Blog Book Giveaway

Canadian Finance Carnival #74 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 5, 2012.

In spite of its importance, it poses various challenges for the financial sector manager.

Branch Collaboration

Managers have the task of ensuring that branches are working in tandem with the overall strategic goals of the main institution. In managing the branches’ performance, managers often take a top-down approach. This approach may impose performance targets upon branch networks; the branch networks may then lack ownership of these targets. Managers can develop management systems that allow network branches to contribute to their own operations and to collaborate freely with the main branch. Collaboration is a management tool that offers the managers clearer information on which branches are profitable, what is making them profitable and actions to take to improve the performance of branches.

Employee Engagement

Engagement ensures that managers identify talented employees, keep them and get the most out of them. This involves mapping out a clear career path for these employees and communicating to them how important they are to the organization. Managers face the main challenge of identifying the most valuable employees and retaining them. Managers can overcome this by using management tools which are designed to identify an organization’s core objectives. These core objectives are then tied in to measurable results of how individual employees are meeting these organizational objectives.

Information Access

Managers face the challenge of ensuring that communication channels are clear, to improve employee and organizational performance. This requires that systems adopt advanced technology based systems. Technology based performance systems ensure that employees access information conveniently. Also when managers adopt technology based performance system, they will promote the exchange of feedback between managers and their employees. This approach not only saves money but ensures that financial sector managers keep up with changing objectives of the company.

Productivity

Managers face the task of ensuring employees stay productive for the profitability of the institutions. A large majority of the current workforce in the financial sector is young, dynamic and in need of new knowledge. This type of workforce is most productive in an organization which values technology and collaboration, to ease the exchange of knowledge. The challenge for managers is to find new ways of increasing opportunities for employees to network effectively and to explore emerging technologies, which make work in the financial industry much easier. Managers can encourage the use of tools such as instant messaging and portals not just for communication between employees; but also to track employee concerns and find ways to address these concerns.

Compensation

A considerable challenge facing financial sector managers is the issue of compensation. In the past, it was assumed that performance based pay improves employee performance. But changes in the financial sector indicate that there is little evidence that this assumption is applicable. Performance based compensation does not necessarily retain the best employees nor does it improve employee performance. Managers are, now, increasingly under pressure to adopt other methods of motivating and retaining employees other than differentiated pay for employees.

Although compensation is important, managers need to focus more on performance tools such as clear goal setting, peer feedback, and fair performance metrics. These tools give employees a clear map of how they are doing and what they should be doing to optimize their performance.

Related Posts:

• Book Review – Master Your Money Management
• Workers Feel Less Loyal To Employers
• What is Financial Literacy? Part 1

The 5 Cornerstones of Performance Management in the Financial Sector originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 4, 2012.

Related Posts:

• 14 FREE Ways to Spend a Friday Night (FUN Included!)
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• Take Advantage of American Black Friday Sales

Friday Links originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 3, 2012.

It seems like every blog is touting the advantages of passive investing. And yet, millions of Canadians continue to invest in mutual funds that, thanks to fees, will continue to underperform the underlying index. Will passive investing ever make actively managed mutual funds go away? I don’t think so, and here’s why:

Marketing

Between Canada’s big 5 banks and our handful of actively managed mutual fund companies, billions of dollars are spent promoting their wealth management products. They’re clever at their advertising, never actually pushing their products directly, rather preaching a message of security. Financial security is only a few trips to the bank away, at least according to their advertising.

TD uses two old men primarily in their advertising, along with a big comfy green chair. Just go to TD, the commercials say, and you won’t have to worry about money. The old men seem pretty happy with TD’s offerings, after all, they do hang around outside of the bank.

I’m picking on TD specifically, but each bank in Canada is guilty of using the same marketing techniques. And why shouldn’t they? They don’t really care about how much investors in their products make. All they care about is driving results for their shareholders.

The Way They’re Sold

Let’s divide mutual fund salespeople into two groups, the people who work at banks and the people who work for separate wealth management companies like Investor’s Group.

Both groups are similar in the way they get compensated, which is a sales fee when the investor buys the fund, as well as a fee every year the investor holds the fund, called a trailer fee. Advisors are thus rewarded for getting more business.

In a bank, there isn’t much need for the mutual fund folks to go out and drum up new business. The bank places promotional materials around the branch, especially during RRSP season, urging investors to contribute to their investments. Bank tellers are also encouraged to upsell products to people with large chequing account balances, or people who just don’t have any investments with the bank. Bank mutual fund representatives have a whole branch funnelling prospects their way. So they don’t have to work that hard to sell.

Meanwhile, the independent salespeople do have to drum up business. They do the usual things to drum up business – networking, marketing and the like, all in the hopes of increasing their assets under management and their trailer fees. With several different companies offering very comparable products, it’s a dog eat dog world out there. They work hard to get the business the banks do not.

And then we have the world of exchange traded funds and index funds. The companies who manage them make money, but once a product is introduced that seeks to replicate a certain index, that’s it. You can only have one product per index. Since management fees on these products are minuscule, (hence making them best for investors) nobody has any financial interest to push them. Financially savvy people learn about them, while Joe Investor does not.

There’s a whole army of people selling actively managed mutual funds, and hardly anybody singing the praises of passive investing. This is starting to change, but it’s not going to be an easy fight.

A Lack Of Education

Fellas, if you ever want to ruin a date, start talking about investments. You might catch a woman who’s legitimately interested, but for the most part, the ladies don’t care about this stuff.

Okay, to be fair, I also know a fair share of guys who don’t give two hoots about investing either. People can’t be bothered to learn even the basics. The terminology is hard. The content is boring, and often too math-y for people. People just aren’t interested in learning about how to be better investors.

Then comes along the friendly mutual fund salesperson who caters nicely to this attitude. Don’t worry about anything, they say, just give your money to me and some smart investment type people will manage it. This appeals to somebody with little investing education, so they’re happy to oblige. Some might call it preying on the uninformed, but banks call it good business.

Until everybody becomes better educated financially, I don’t envision actively managed mutual funds with high fees to go away. What do you think?

Related Posts:

• Dividend Funds That Don’t Pay Dividends
• TD e-Series Funds
• Would You Invest In The O’Leary Funds?

Will Actively Managed Mutual Funds Ever Go Away? originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 2, 2012.

What is an emergency fund?

At first, by far the best thing to do (other than making sure you’re not missing debt payments) is to build an emergency fund. What is an emergency fund? An emergency fund is simply a separate stash of money that is reserved exclusively for emergencies. Ideally, it is a separate bank account that is more difficult to access, so that you’re not tempted to use it – but accessible from anywhere, so that you can get it, in case of an emergency. Why not just use a credit card? When an emergency happens, and it will happen, it is obviously a lot better to simply have an interest free way of getting out of that situation. If you are forced to use a credit card, your emergency gets that much worse as now you have a deadline to get that money back, or else you’re paying interest on top of it. As a result, the best option for an emergency fund is an online bank account like ING Direct, or a separate bank account through your normal bank where you can stash the cash until you need it.

How big should your emergency fund be?

There’s plenty of advice out there about different formulas you can use to determine just how large your emergency fund should be. Dave Ramsey says it should be a thousand dollars, assuming you have debt to pay back. Get your emergency fund to 1k, then pay off debt, then make your emergency fund bigger. Others say the best thing to do is to figure out how 2 months worth of expenses, and save up that amount. That way, in case of emergency, you have 2 months to figure something out before you start going back into debt. In reality, it all just comes down to personal opinion. Do whatever makes you comfortable, but please save at least a minimum of a thousand dollars before you cut off saving for your emergency fund. You’ll thank me later.

How to save money in your emergency fund

What’s the best way of getting all that money into the emergency fund? Simple. Set up an automatic transfer (ING is really good with this, get a head start with an orange key) for the day that you normally get your paycheck. Set it for something easily manageable, like $30 or $50. Then, just wait. If you have a lump sum that you can set aside, then definitely put that in there straight away to get it going, but even with a modest regular deposit, you can grow your emergency fund in no time. Even at $50/paycheck, you can have your thousand dollar emergency fund in less than a year, and because you’re taking it out on the day that your paycheck goes into your account, you’ll never even notice the difference. Just make sure that you adjust your other spending accordingly so that you don’t start spending more than you make. Keep tracking your finances!

When should you use your emergency fund?

Finally, when should you use your emergency fund? Again, there’s plenty of rules and guidelines you can attempt to follow, but you simply should use your best judgment. If you think that buying a new TV is the best use of your hard earned money that you’ve been saving for an emergency, well then, go for it! Have fun! But when your car breaks down on the way home from the store, and suddenly you don’t have the cash for the mechanic to fix your only mode of transportation, well then, I guess you can’t blame me for not warning you. To best honest, my wife and I have dipped into our emergency fund for non-emergencies. When we purchased our car we drained it so that we could pay for the car outright, as opposed to getting a loan. We deemed it was worth the risk, even though it wasn’t an emergency. It worked out well in our favour, but we both were quite stressed about our finances until we built it back up again.

Do you have an emergency fund? Have you ever dipped into it? Why or why not?

Related Posts:

• How To Build An Emergency Fund
• Back To The Basics Of Personal Finance
• Personal Finance Basics: Spend Less Than You Make

Personal Finance Basics: Build an Emergency Fund originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on February 1, 2012.

Being The Little Brother Sucks Sometimes

Two things that I believe most Canadians don’t realize in light of the last three years is that the Canadian dollar is artificially high right now, and that it isn’t good for the long-term health of our economy.  Our trade relationship with the USA is still the biggest in the world.  A few years ago (I couldn’t find anything to verify if this was true any longer) my political studies professor shocked us when he said there was more trade between the Detroit/Windsor port of entry than between any two countries in the entire world!  That’s crazy when you think about it.  Over 80% of Canada’s population lives within 100 miles of the USA border and according to The World Factbook in 2007 over 84% of our exports go to our big brother to the south, and we receive over 56% of our imports from them.  Long story short, we need the USA… a lot!  When the dollar goes up, it definitely appeals to our “little brother” complex and it feels like we’re punching above our weight.  It’s also nice to go on a shopping trip and get a lot of bang for your loonie/greenback.  In the bigger picture though, a higher dollar means that we can’t sell as many exports to the American consumer (the engine of the world economy) and with more and more “buy American” laws coming into play (despite their questionable legality), this is going to put a serious dint in our economy.

Liquid Gold? I’d Rather Have Real Gold!

We haven’t yet noticed this dint because we are awash in commodity and energy dollars.  Our oil and other natural resources have given us some huge advantages and have allowed us to show strength at a time when few countries appear to have any.  Eventually this cycle will go back around as it always does and our economy that is heavily dependent on petro dollars will shrink back to its average, while the American one will likely leap to the forefront again if it can ever solve its political gridlock problem.  Most analysts I’ve read, and a brief look at that statistics since 1971 (when the USD allowed itself to start “floating” independent of the gold standard), reveals that our natural exchange rate is likely somewhere between 80-85%.  When you look at the relative size of the economies involved this seems fairly logical.

As Close To a Sure Thing As You’ll Get In Investing

So, if you’re like me, you’re probably wondering how to take advantage of this unique exchange rate situation right?  Well, the first thing you can do is look seriously at cross border shopping.  The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) allows you to head down to the states for 48 hours and return with $400 worth of goods for each person in your vehicle tax- and duty-free.  If you know anyone that smokes or drinks then the sin taxes you save on those products alone can be worth a short jaunt.  The far more lucrative option that I would recommend is to invest with the idea that the CAD is extremely likely to sink back to its average over a long enough time horizon.  I wouldn’t try to speculate when this change will take place, but when you consider the size of our respective economies, and the cyclical nature of commodity prices, I think the eventual return to the mean is a near certainty.

Those Yankees Sure Do Fees Right

Instead of merely trying to make money off of straight currency conversion, I would use this opportunity to add some non-hedged American investments to my RRSP account (where their withholding tax won’t hurt you).  I personally love the Vanguard low-cost ETF series.  It allows you to track huge segments of the American or world markets for extremely low fees (probably 1/40^th of what your mutual fund charges).  By purchasing a basic Vanguard ETF product form your discount brokerage you should see a nice little capital gains run in the long-term (I still believe the USA will rise again, stronger than ever), but you will also likely gain when you eventually sell the ETF and convert the currency back into Canadian funds again.  Right now there are a few brokerages that allow USD holdings and at par conversions within RSPs.  Off the top of my head I know that Questrade, Qtrade, and RBC Direct Investing offer these advantages.  These minor currency exchange fees used to eat into returns big time, so it is definitely worth looking into if you plan on taking advantage of the current economic situation with non-hedged investments.

Related Posts:

• What Exactly Is Contrarian Investing?
• Use a Credit Card for Overseas Spending this Holiday Season
• Want An Investment That Can Manage Itself?

The CAD vs USD originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 31, 2012.

What Home Business Expenses Can You Deduct?

There are a number of home business expenses that you can deduct. However, you need to make sure that the deductions you take are related to your efforts to earn money. Otherwise, you could find yourself on the wrong side of the CRA. Make sure that you keep proper documentation of your expenses so that you can prove the appropriateness of your business deductions.

Some of the items that you can deduct as home business expenses include:

• Internet-related costs: Domain registration, web development, web hosting, and other fees.
• Dues: If you join a professional organization related to your business, you can deduct the dues.
• Office supplies: Make sure these are just used in your home office, and not used for personal purposes.
• Advertising: Online and offline ad costs are deductible.
• Travel: You can deduct business-related travel, including mileage for driving, hotel costs and airfare. You can also deduct the fees related to conventions and conferences in your business field.
• Entertainment and meals: Business meals and entertainment is deductible, but only 50% of the cost can be deducted.
• Bank charges and interest: Your related bank fees and interest charges can be deducted.
• Payment to others: Payment for business-related services are tax deductible, as are salaries and contracts paid to employers and hired workers.
• Courier and postage: When you mail items, or have them sent via courier, you can deduct the costs.
• Use of your home: In some cases (make sure you qualify according to the CRA), you can deduct costs related to the business use of your home. This includes utilities, taxes, mortgage/rent payments, and insurance costs.

Add up all of the expenses you pay in order to keep your home business running, and consider deducting them. Remember, too, that some of your costs are only partially deductible, since you might use your Internet connection for business 70% of the time. Determine the percentages involved, and be careful not to deduct personal use as business use.

Deducting Your Home Business Expenses

Your taxable income will be reduced, even though a deduction isn’t a dollar for dollar reduction in what you owe in taxes.

In order to claim home business expenses, you will need to fill out a form T2125. The form contains sections that may or may not relate to your home business. If you aren’t selling actual goods, for example, you won’t need to fill out Part 4, which deals with tangible inventory. Your business expenses will be listed on Part 5 of the T2125.

Because you will need to list your total income for the year, make sure you have been keeping track throughout the tax year. Indeed, it is best to keep good records of your income and expenses throughout the year so that you can reference your information easily. Financial software and bookkeeping software can help you with this. As long as you keep good records, and your business deductions are truly for business expenses, you shouldn’t have a problem with the CRA.

Related Posts:

• Business-Use-Of-Home Expenses
• Starting A Home Business
• Claiming Business Income And Expenses

Tax Time: Deducting Home Business Costs originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 30, 2012.

N.W. Journey at Net Worth Journey presents Teaching your Children about Money, saying “Tips for teaching children about money”

Business

Marissa at Thirty Six Months presents What is an entrepreneur?, saying “What is an entrepreneur and do you become one? “

Ronika Khanna at Montreal Financial presents Essential Facts about Shareholder Loans for Incorporated Small Business Owners, saying “There are three primary ways in which you, as an owner-manager, can withdraw funds from your corporation. You can pay yourself a salary, you can declare a dividend or you can borrow money from the corporation. When you borrow money from your own corporation the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has put into place strict rules as to when you have to repay the loan. This is essentially to ensure that the owner-manager does not avoid paying taxes indefinitely. “

Career

Suba at Broke Professionals presents Need a $100,000 a year Job? Be a Butler and Earn Big Bucks, saying “The job market has been bad for a very long time, but there are high paying careers out there. Apparently being a butler is one of them! Free room and board plus up to a hundred thousand dollars a year ‘ why not consider being a butler? You don’t even need a college degree, and Need a $100,000 a year Job? Be a Butler and Earn Big Bucks!”

Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff presents My Husband Is Now Working from Home with Me!, saying “Yes, you read that right. Mr. BFS resigned from his position as a school librarian last week!!! Last Friday was his last day! Today is his first official day working with me at home!!! HOLY MOLY “

Teacher Man at My University Money presents Afraid of Life? Grad School Isn’t the Answer, saying “Many have of course moved on to jobs, others to careers, and still others are pursuing leisure travel or other whims. One option I am seeing taken more and more is to go back to grad school.”

Mike at The Financial Blogger presents From 30K to 176K in 8 years; The Chronology of My Income, saying “A look at a steady increase in income.”

Debt and Credit

Eddie at Finance Fox presents 5 Rules to Teach Your Kids About Credit Cards, saying “Some parents think that credit cards are evil and that keeping kids on the other side is the only way to keep them safe. My parents just never had the time or true knowledge to share anything with me about credit cards.”

Darwin at Darwin’s Money presents Mortgage Activity Gone Wild Due Record Low Rates – Are You Taking Advantage?, saying “Last week, there was a 20″

Erika at Newlyweds on a Budget presents Taking control of our finances, saying “How one young couple hopes to take control of their finances, pay off debt and save money in 2012.”

Shaun at Smart Family Finance presents Get Your Family Out of Debt, saying “Being in debt can feel like you are being held captive by your finances. Many find that once they begin getting into debt, it begins to spiral out of control. There are ways to get out of debt if you put your mind to it, and focus on being debt free.”

Mike at Rewards Cards Canada presents Scotia Rewards Program Review, saying “The Scotia Rewards program is a points-based system where members are awarded one Scotia Rewards point for every $1 in purchases charged to your ScotiaGold Passport Visa account or ScotiaGold Passport for business Visa account.”

Mike at Rewards Cards USA presents Create A Plan To Earn More Rewards Points, saying “One of the biggest complaints that many people have regarding their credit card rewards is that it takes too long to earn the requisite number of points to redeem for anything worthwhile.”

Janet at Credit, Eh presents Two Reward Cards: Priority Club World MasterCard from Capital One, saying “If you are looking for a solid travel rewards credit card, you have two options when you consider the Priority Club World MasterCard from Capital One and the Priority Club Platinum MasterCard. “

Extra Income

Kevin at Invest It Wisely presents Problems with Askimet? Try These Great Free Alternatives, saying “Akismet was once the only game in town, but this is true no longer. Here is a list of plugins that can improve upon or even replace Akismet entirely:”

Marie at Money Spending Mommy presents Ways Your Teenagers Can Increase Their Spending, saying “If your teen is short on cash, here are some ideas that he could use to earn the money he needs.”

Justin at Money Is the Root presents Blog Goals and Updates, 2012 – #3, saying “Reach earnings of $30,000 from all blogging related activites in 2012. (This is $2,500 per month average, I’m at $1,735 through so far, can I do it?)”

Grand Per Month at Grand Per Month presents How to Start a Money Making Blog – Part 3, saying “Welcome to our little Saturday series on starting a money making blog. I am sharing my tips and advice for developing a steady stream of blogging income just like I have been able to do for the past few months.”

Linsey at 1099 Mom presents Working from Home. . .With a Toddler, saying “I can imagine that for most Moms, there is at least one “high-needs” kid in the household. Working from home with one in your care, however, takes a delicate balance of being attentive and not allowing yourself to be completely run over. “

Frugality

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents Differences between TFSA and RRSP – Explanation and terms, saying “According to the BMO Financial group, 40% of Canadians still don’t know the difference between a TFSA and RRSP. This sounds like a high figure but in speaking to some of my peers, personal finance is not a topic most people enjoy to talk about.”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents How to save money eating a gluten-free diet, saying “I have tried a lot of gluten free breads, cookies, and pastas and have finally found some wonderful products. Now I have yummy gluten free substitutes for all of the foods that I was used to eating before going gluten free. Here are some tips for eating gluten free on a budget:”

Aloysa at My Broken Coin presents Stop Being Cheap and Invest In Yourself, saying “The following post was featured in a blog swap in November 2011 at My Personal Finance Journey. Now, that I have many more readers and much better exposure, I decided to publish it on my blog. I am a spender. But even big spenders like me have their limits.”

Money Cone at Money Cone presents How to Cancel DirecTV without Paying a Penalty, saying “Yes I actually did cancel DirectTV before the end of my contract without paying a fee and without even asking (at least not directly)!”

D.J. at The Family Wallet presents Seek Alternatives to Save on Your Monthly Phone Bill, saying “If you are looking to pay off debt or just to trim your household budget, one good place to look to make further cuts is your home telephone service. With so many options currently available, you may find that you don’t even need your home phone service or the expense.”

Wayne at Young Family Finance presents Cheap Movie Alternatives, saying “It isnt uncommon for young families to be strapped for cash. When you are looking for creative ways to save money without making a huge sacrifice, it is time to get creative. With the popularity of motion picture, it is hard to give up movies. Yet, going to the movies is not getting cheaper.”

Miss T. at Prairie Eco Thrifter presents 5 Home Renovation Saving Tips, saying “Home renovations are a necessary process when you own your home. Sooner or later you will want or need to remodel your bathroom or your kitchen or perhaps finish off that basement. Not only will renovations provide pleasure and function to you, but they could increase the sale value of your home a bit. Here are a few tips on saving money while doing renovations.”

Sustainable PF at Sustainable Personal Finance presents Sorry, I Recycle for the Money, saying “Unlike most individuals, I don’t recycle for the greater good, sorry. For me, it’s not about the environment, saving resources, or minimizing pollution. It’s about cold, hard cash.”

Kelly at Wallet Watcher presents Seven Fun Hobbies that Won’t Cost You a Cent, saying “Here’s a handful of hobbies that are sure to be entertaining, beneficial and basically free of charge.”

SB at One Cent at a Time presents 8 Tricks to Get Cheap Flight Tickets, saying “Over the years, I learned to be more observant, practical, and strategic with my flight ticket purchases. They became some of my techniques in looking for cheap flights. If you want to get them at a bargain, take note of these tips”

Steve Zussino at Grocery Alerts presents Complete Guide to the Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Program, saying “The Shoppers Drug Mart Optimum Program is one of the most popular retail loyalty programs. The program is really easy. When you make any purchase at Shoppers Drug Mart you earn Optimum Points.”

Steve Zussino at Canadian Personal Finance presents How to download and watch legal and free movies for Canadians, saying “With the price of admission to a movie close to $12 (depending where you live in Canada), I wanted to share some free resources to watch and download movies online in Canada legally.”

Lina at Baby Alerts presents Valentine’s Day DIY Projects for Kids, saying “I have put together a post full of more than twenty ideas for Valentines for classmates, recipes, Valentine’s Day decor and more.”

Glen at Parenting Family Money presents How to Save on Groceries When You Have a Food Intolerance , saying “When you discover you have a food intolerance, your diet has to change. But you’ll find that groceries get expensive. Save with these tips.”

Investing

krantcents at KrantCents presents Term Life Insurance Is My Choice!, saying “Term life insurance is my choice, should it be yours? We all know that life insurance is important, so it is a matter of choice which one is right for you. If you are young, healthy and expect to stay that way, term life insurance should be your choice.”

Cash Flow Mantra at Cash Flow Mantra presents More Factors Affecting Covered Call Premiums, saying “We have already discussed a couple of the factors that influence the premium that one might receive for selling a covered call and will summarize those at the end, but another important factor that can influence the price of an option contract is the volatility of the underlying stock.”

Barbara Friedberg at Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance presents WHAT’S THE BEST AGE AT WHICH TO EXPERIENCE A STOCK MARKET CRASH, saying “Fascinating look at how your future wealth is impacted by a stock market crash. Obviously, the youngest investors are least affected by a crash. Enjoy this well written guest article by Rob Bennett.”

Craig Ford at Money Help For Christians presents What Your Financial Advisor Won’t Tell You About How to Successfully Reduce Your Nest Egg, saying “What Your Financial Advisor Won’t Tell You About How to Successfully Reduce Your Nest Egg”

John at Buy Stocks Online presents What is a Good Dividend Yield for a Stock?, saying “What is a good dividend yield for a stock? The answer depends on your investment strategy. Some investors prefer to buy stocks that have lots of growth potential while others may prefer to target value stocks.”

Green Panda at Green Panda Treehouse presents Important Dividend Information for Young Investors, saying “Do you know how dividends work?”

IS at Intelligent Speculator presents Dividend Investing Is Not Just A Trend, saying “Why dividend investing will be around for a long time.”

Martin at Studenomics presents Should You Even Bother With a Savings Account?, saying “We look at savings accounts and if they are worth it.”

Lifestyle

Jon the Saver at Free Money Wisdom presents How to Raise Kids to Be Wise with Money, saying “Today’s children still need to be taught good financial habits so that they end up more like Millennials and less like Millennials’ Gen X parents and Boomer grandparents. That’s why I’m sharing a few things you can do to teach your kids about good personal finances:”

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money presents Reviewing My 2011 Goals, saying “With 2011 now a distant memory, it’s time to go back and look at my goals for 2011. That’s one major benefit of blogging, there’s accountability baked into everything I do. In 2011, I had set 5 goals, most of them business-related.”

Pam Whitlock at The MoneyTrail Blog presents Teaching Your Kids about Money: January Edition, saying “What sources of income are available for kids and teens? We kick off our Teach Your Kids about Money series by examining common resources for kids, from allowances to part time jobs.”

Sunil at The Extra Money Blog presents Negative People Will Impede Your Progress – Act and Respond Accordingly, saying “The world is full of skeptics and negative people. Just the other day we met a couple at a friend’s house who was extraordinarily vocal about their negativity, so I thought I’d take a quick break from entrepreneurship, internet marketing, blogging and personal finance to discuss this topic, which can impede your progress toward achieving your goals and objectives in the endeavors you choose to embark on.”

Jeffrey at Saving Advice presents How to Save Money on Clothing: Confessions of an Image Consultant, saying ” Over the (many) years I’ve been in business, I’ve learned certain principles that I think can help anyone improve their wardrobe no matter what their budget.”

Kelsey at Money Mum presents 5 Time Management Tips for Busy Mums, saying “If you’re feeling overwhelmed or short on time, here are some time management tips to get you back on track:”

Emily at PT Money Personal Finance presents The Costa Concordia Tragedy and the Need for Travel Insurance, saying “Uses the tragedy as a springboard for a discussion on the necessity of travel insurance.”

Mike at Saving Money Today presents How to Pay for Kid’s Activities without Breaking the Bank, saying “If you have children who want to explore many extracurricular activities, here are some ways to keep them active without breaking your budget. “

Real Estate

KT at Personal Finance Journey presents How People Buy Real Estate with “No Money Down”, saying “Some of my favorite infomercials include the ridiculous ‘No Money Down’ real estate videos. If you haven’t already wasted your $360, allow me to spill the beans.”

Don at MoneySmartGuides presents Live A Life of Wealth, saying “If I were to ask you to describe what being wealthy means to you, how would you answer? A young me late teenager would have answered that question as follows: Wealthy to me is a huge house with an outdoor pool, but now I see wealth differently.”

Kyle at The Penny Hoarder presents How People Buy Real Estate with “No Money Down”, saying “Some of my favorite infomercials include the ridiculous No Money Down real estate videos. If you haven’t already wasted your $360, allow me to spill the beans.”

Retirement

Andy at My Retirement Blog presents How Much Should You be Saving?, saying “The following is a guest post. When you are young, retirement seems to be a lifetime away. Being told that you should save for that day is difficult to comprehend. But the fact of the matter is that even if we are young and healthy and fit, we have parents and grandparents who are older. So the question is how much should you be saving?”

Boomer at Boomer & Echo presents How CARP Benefits Aging Canadians, saying “CARP stands for Canadian Association of Retired Persons. It is a national advocacy organization that serves the needs of Canadians age 50 and over.”

Saving

LaTisha at Financial Success for Young Adults presents Some Unusual Savings Tips, saying “If you find yourself short of cash when it comes time to add to your ISA, it may be time to consider a few money saving tips for individual savings accounts.”

Shawanda Greene at You Have More Than You Think presents 10 Things We Love to Buy and Hate to Use, saying “10 Specific products that are fun to buy, but far less enjoyable to use. “

SavingMentor at HowToSaveMoney.ca presents Buying on Sale: Are You Really Saving Money?, saying “It seems that everybody loves a good sale, but the real question is when you buy stuff on sale are you really saving money? Well, sure, you are saving money off the regular price of that particular product at that particular store, but is that even meaningful?”

Glen Craig at Free From Broke presents How to Negotiate Lower Rent in Your Current Apartment , saying “You’d love to take advantage of the lower rents you keep hearing about but you already have a place you like. See how to negotiate lower rent in your current apartment.”

Taxes

Daniel at Sweating the Big Stuff presents Should Tax Evaders Be Given A Safe Haven?, saying “The IRS has given tax evaders who have hidden money in offshore accounts a chance to avoid jail time, netting the IRS at least $4.4 billion.”

Other

PITR at Passive Income To Retire presents My Blog Owning Strategy, saying “Find out my blog owning strategy that I am using to approach building up my multiple blogs.”

YFS at Your Finances Simplified presents Can I Survive At the Poverty Line?, saying “I completed my interview with 107 WINA on Sunday December 18th concerning my article on ‘Can you survive the poverty line’. I would like to thank Wendy Edwards for reaching out to me and giving me the opportunity to conduct the interview.”

MR at Money Reasons presents Are Famous Personal Finance Authors Too Rich To Understand You?, saying “Do rich personal finance authors forget what it’s like to live in the middle? Do you think personal finance bloggers walk the walk and talk the talk better?”

Hank at Money Q&A presents How I Recently Invested In A Rock Band, saying “There are tons of other great projects on Kickstarter that you can invest in like the new Crowfield album. Kickstarter is a great way to invest in a rock band and other awesome projects.”

Young And Thrifty at YoungAndThrifty presents Bloggers for Charity: Trans-Himalayan Aid Society, saying “Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter created an initiative called Bloggers for Charity where people can bid to guest post on some well-known Canadian finance blogs.”

Kevin at Thousandaire presents My Budget Spreadsheet is Too Much Work, saying “My budget spreadsheet is too complicated. I’m making things easier on myself and switching to Mint.com”

A Blinkin at Funancials presents Are You A Mental Accountant?, saying “I hope most of you have had a chance to read my previous article about The Legend of the Man in the Green Bathrobe. If you haven’t, go back and read it. It’s a prerequisite for continuing this post. I anticipated what the responses would be in the comments before they came rolling in.”

101 Centavos at 101 Centavos presents Nickel-Plated Trailers: a Centavos Dividend Portfolio Update, saying “With the last portfolio update back in November, we’re about due for another one. Some new additions to the lineup: United Mobile Homes UMH, read more to find out my lineup!”

Mich at Beating The Index presents Hyperion Exploration Carries Strong Operational Momentum into 2012, saying “Hyperion Exploration exited 2011 with a bang; the company was able to exceed its exit guidance by spending less capital than anticipated. I believe this strong operational momentum will carry into 2012 with the upcoming operational update and the 2012 capex program due at any day before the end of this month. Find out why!”

Jester at The Ultimate Juggle presents Efficiency for your Business, saying “If you are trying to be more efficient at work, you may be curious of ways to maximize your time and lower your costs. Jester and I certainly value the importance of multitasking, but sometimes this just isn’t an option.”

FG at Financial God presents Immigrant Workers Are Coming to a Shore Near You to Steal Your Jobs!, saying “Silicon Valley has been put on notice: A new startup, Blueseed, plans to set up ship just 12 miles off the coast. These ships will hold hundreds of bold and creative entrepreneurs from countries such as India and China. They will circumvent immigration laws and restrictions by placing their ships just outside of the territorial!”

Jeffrey at Money Spruce presents Making Space For Roommates: Are the Savings Worth the Hassles?, saying “Sharing an apartment with roommates can save money, but it often means making other sacrifices too. I weigh the pros and cons of roommates for my next move.”

Corey at 20s Finances presents Confessions of a Street Canvasser, saying “Have you ever been walking down the street in New York City, Boston, DC, Chicago, or San Francisco and been stopped by a young person carrying a clipboard and wearing a charity t-shirt? This strange phenomenon has a name ‘ street canvassing.”

Amanda L Grossman at Frugal Confessions presents How to Save Money on Dieting, saying “Comparing diet program costs is one way to maximize the amount of money you have to spend on dieting or to make you run the other way with your hard earned money, see how they stack up against one another!”

Jen at Master the Art of Saving presents Everybody Can Have an Emergency Fund!, saying “If you don’t have an emergency fund at all, then why not start with a goal of $100? Sure it’s not going to be too helpful should a big financial emergency.”

Chris at Experiglot presents Traits of Success Based on Reading dozens of Presidential Biographies, saying “Great insights learned from past Presidents.”

Related Posts:

• Canadian Finance Carnival #35
• Welcome To The Canadian Finance Blog!
• Canadian Finance Blog Book Giveaway

Canadian Finance Carnival #73 originally appeared on Canadian Finance Blog on January 29, 2012.