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by newguy
24 Nov 2023 16:23
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense
Replies: 198
Views: 8383

Re: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense

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Given the amount of taxes and political contributions paid by the rich, I doubt it makes sense. Even extreme clawbacks won't help very much.

newguy
by newguy
23 Sep 2022 13:09
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: What and why did you Buy? What might you buy? (2022)
Replies: 282
Views: 68346

Re: What and why did you Buy? What might you buy? (2022)

HTB, I just found out about this by looking for unhedged US bonds. It's a 7-10yr US treasury frankenfund from Horizons with no distributions. I have accumulated a bunch of DLR across accounts over the years as I moved to (mostly US) cash and I looked it up and it pays a USD div, probably real soon, like end of sept. I don't want TD to play with my USD for a fee and I expect the yield curve to invert soon, so I switched. It's maybe a 1% yield boost as well but of course a bigger downside if longer rates continue to climb. I noted there is also a HTB.U so this can also be used in gambits I guess. Settlement is probably 2 days as I can't find anything to the contrary... and I bought some yesterday in one account and sold DLR (T+1) today for fu...
by newguy
02 May 2020 12:48
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152401

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

StuBee wrote: 02 May 2020 12:27Penetration rate within our area cannot possibly be any higher than 1 to 3%
And what can you do? They're supposed to be in these homes for 'quality of life' in their remaining days. My gf was joking they were in a double prison with half doors on the rooms and the facility locked down. Eventually visitors will have to be allowed.

I'm not even sure the PPE makes a difference. Many trained and equipped staff got sick, while others didn't in all the places around the world. They residents aren't coughing and spreading aerosolized virus. My guess is it's face/mask touching. My gf wears makeup and supposedly never touches her face.

newguy
by newguy
02 May 2020 10:55
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152401

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

There's finally enough staff at my gf's place of work. It took a few weeks and plenty of inadequate help but now a combination of actual helpful nurses, minimally trained volunteers (@$21/hr), and the army has sort of made a difference. 'sort of' because there's a lot less work to do now. Before she did ot since it was necessary, now she does it since they pay her to do almost nothing...and they get free food sometimes. I find it very governmental that help arrives as soon as it's not needed. newguy ps. They still rely on plenty of outside agency help and some don't really understand the job. One person was told just wash but don't get the resident out of bed since they're dying. They didn't do it, confusion and recriminations ensued. They ...
by newguy
21 Apr 2020 20:21
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152401

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

BRIAN5000 wrote: 21 Apr 2020 20:13 Not sure why the American public is not outraged over the handling of this epidemic the USA is leading in cases and deaths.
Quebec is worse per capita.

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/info/2020/c ... opagation/

Scroll down and play with the graph
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newguy
by newguy
21 Apr 2020 20:17
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152401

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

Educate me. What's a CHSLD? List of LTCFs https://cdn-contenu.quebec.ca/cdn-contenu/sante/documents/Problemes_de_sante/covid-19/Tableau-milieux-de-vie-COVID-19.pdf?1586905858 In my mind it's the big homes with 100's of patients. Just look at the list. StuBee's is holding steady but my gf's went from ~10% last week to over 50% now. They aren't even at day 13 yet. They are 2 to a room and in Montreal pretty much every big place has 5-10 agency(temp) workers every day. No way to contain it. Also if the reports of much higher infected numbers are true it really means a much higher R 0 and we're all going to get it. Of course that means herd immunity is essentially 100% as well. Think of the common cold with a side order of death. I think the t...
by newguy
20 Apr 2020 23:08
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: The world post Covid-19
Replies: 115
Views: 6848

Re: The world post Covid-19

TPTB: We're going to have a health care crisis with the aging demographics and high obesity rates. There won't be enough young healthy workers to take care of them. COVID-19: Hold my beer. TBTP: Wait, we have to shut down the economy to make the future even worse. Millenials: Noooooooooooh. Has anybody thought about what this will do to savings rates? Our schizo economic policy will be happy about all the paying down of private debt and investment(not*), but at he same time moan about collapsing economic activity and make us go out and buy. *doesn't matter if the government sector un-saves the same amount or more, which they seem good at. I see Norbert and Scomac complaining about freedom but not the younger generation. The few I know are a...
by newguy
20 Apr 2020 22:48
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology
Replies: 4257
Views: 152401

Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - stats and amateur epidemiology

Community Centre?? Are rants allowed? Not trying to sound like a returning prophet or anything but here are some old posts I came here to look up. It is not hard to concoct scenarios, perfectly plausible scenarios, where effective marginal rates are 100% or more in Canada. ...I can see 77% in Qc. and I don't think the difference matters much.... It's true that the poor aren't stupid. I keep hearing comments about it from mothers who work with my gf. They're all at around $35k and don't see the point in doing OT. I'm sure you could solve any nursing shortage by paying them cash (no ot or benefits, just actual folding money). [An enlightening nursing home nurse's perspective from 2010.] I told my gf it[mailman salary] works out to over $25/hr...
by newguy
01 Jun 2018 17:27
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Science is amazing
Replies: 818
Views: 55254

Re: Science is amazing

Google has been sorting my news by category...helpful?

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by newguy
16 Feb 2018 21:54
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Budget 2018
Replies: 58
Views: 2730

Re: Budget 2018

govt spending as % of GDP: 20.4% in 2016. That's just federal. In 2016 it was 51% (.82/1.6 trillion) for all levels of government. I just went to Ottawa and it always bothers me to see the size of government but I never trusted GDP. I looked up all income by the people and all spending by the government. The income is only available for 2005 and 2015 I think. All numbers are billions. 2005 2015 Income 911 1152 Govt 535 790 pct 59% 69% I find it unreal that all levels of government spent 69% as much as everybody earned in all non government, market income, ie. not including govt transfers. Of course they have other revenue than taxes like resource income but I doubt it's relatively that much and it's really the people's resources in the fir...
by newguy
16 Feb 2018 20:18
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Cell phones and phone plans [2018]
Replies: 58
Views: 2141

Re: Cell phones and phone plans [2018]

Koogie wrote: 15 Feb 2018 14:34I was skeptical but went in on Tuesday afternoon and had the screen replaced while I waited across the street having a cappuccino. 20 minutes and $79 later and I have a phone that feels and works almost like new.
I've replaced the screen 3 times on a nexus 5. It's about 20$ to buy the parts on ebay and diy. There's a cheaper ~5$ option to just replace the glass but you have to melt the glue and pick out all the splinters and then re-glue. I have one kit and the loca glue that I might try next time.

The replacement screens aren't as good at fingerprint protection.

newguy
by newguy
12 Jul 2017 14:54
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Flying
Replies: 809
Views: 23874

Re: Flying

newguy wrote: 12 Jul 2017 12:14I've read some speculation that 24L (left runway) didn't have the lights on but ??. If that's the case, choosing the right line of bright lights makes some sense.
Here's a screen shot from a night landing video. Pick the right hand runway.
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Note the lights on the left are off and the right taxiway is a nice long line of blueish lights. The wt-wt-red-red lights are called PAPI and they are normally on the left side of a runway. Blue lights means taxiway, but you don't really know what it looked like in real life. Landing at night in a big city is a confusing disco light show.

newguy
by newguy
12 Jul 2017 14:37
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Flying
Replies: 809
Views: 23874

Re: Flying

kombat wrote: 12 Jul 2017 12:54
I could be wrong, but I think it would be very unusual to be landing planes on parallel runways simultaneously.
It probably depends on current traffic and policies and installed equipment etc.
by newguy
12 Jul 2017 12:49
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Flying
Replies: 809
Views: 23874

Re: Flying

kombat wrote: 12 Jul 2017 12:25 If meteorological conditions permit it, the pilot can opt to continue the approach under VFR rules, with ATC approval. If the weather is below VFR minima, the pilot must proceed with an IFR approach.
It sounds the same as the truth, but it's not. They are still under IFR rules but doing a visual approach and still following a specific flight path, almost certainly in the FMS (computer) for all airlines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_approach

newguy
by newguy
12 Jul 2017 12:45
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Flying
Replies: 809
Views: 23874

Re: Flying

Is a pilot on a visual approach required to notify the tower of this? ISTM that it's (potentially) more risky ... Can the other pilot monitor ILS whilst the pilot is doing a visual? Or is it completely off? A visual approach is a specific type of instrument approach where you don't actually use the instruments. You can monitor the ILS but it's unlikely since you can already see the airport/runway anyway. Almost no one looks at the instruments (except airspeed) below 200' anyway*. That's the normal minimum decision height where you decide if you can continue to land by seeing the runway. SFO 28 L/R are too close together to have both ILS systems in use at the same time. I think they probably get a lot of visual approaches, they're faster, q...
by newguy
12 Jul 2017 12:14
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Flying
Replies: 809
Views: 23874

Re: Flying

Note the pilots asked if the runway was clear since they saw planes (lights) sitting on it (actually the taxiway). I don't know why they continued the approach but they never would have landed on the planes they saw. The approach has you come in from the right and turn to line up. You can see they were straight in to the taxiway for a while. The other track is delta going to the correct runway. http://www.avgen.com/ACA759(2).jpg I've read some speculation that 24L (left runway) didn't have the lights on but ??. If that's the case, choosing the right line of bright lights makes some sense. I was been doing night circuits (in a faster more annoying plane than all the others) and saw a plane on the threshold waiting for takeoff in the wrong pl...
by newguy
12 Jul 2017 11:49
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: Vanguard Canada ETF changes
Replies: 83
Views: 15629

Re: Vanguard Canada ETF changes

This should be in Blackrock etf changes but it's really Vanguard's fault. A while ago I sold my XSB/XBB in anticipation of today in order to buy the cheaper VSB/VBB. So doing my DD, I looked up what's what and https://www.blackrock.com/ca/individual/en/literature/press-release/pr-2017-5-19-en.pdf Toronto, May 19, 2017 – iShares, the industry-leading exchange-traded fund (ETF) business at BlackRock Asset Management Canada Limited (BlackRock Canada), an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (BlackRock), announced today that it is lowering the annual management fees on three of its fixed income ETFs. These funds – the iShares Canadian Universe Bond Index ETF (XBB), iShares Canadian Short Term Bond Index ETF (XSB) and iShares Cor...
by newguy
10 Feb 2017 17:54
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Economic future of Canada and immigration
Replies: 24
Views: 2303

Economic future of Canada and immigration

The latest census report shows how much the G7 depends on immigration nowadays. You may have read in other news that not everyone is in favour of immigration. I have some things that concern me about the future. -population decline -population growth. -population static. Perhaps I'm neurotic, and worry too much. If population declines we get in the situation of Japan with deflation and a powerless central bank with extravagant fiscal policy. Can't end well. If worldwide population continues to grow, eventually Malthus wins. I still think there's room in Canada. If population stays static we get the same problems as a decline, just less so. I also feel it's more sustainable but will require politicians to redo our growth at any cost policies...
by newguy
10 Feb 2017 17:40
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Which Broker Do you Use?
Replies: 117
Views: 18133

Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

Dunno how I missed IB either :oops: +1

newguy
by newguy
10 Feb 2017 13:57
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Which Broker Do you Use?
Replies: 117
Views: 18133

Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

AltaRed wrote: Brokers inevitably screw this up. Maybe you don't care if your broker carries the wrong Cost Basis?

P.S. I noticed IB was not in the list either, but then I don't care anyway. :wink:
I wouldn't care even if the number was used for something*. But then I use IB who used to routinely screw up tax reporting which I just ignored :wink: .

I think I've heard rumours here that cost basis would be reported to CRA one day??

newguy
by newguy
10 Feb 2017 13:34
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Any questions about CPP?
Replies: 516
Views: 86732

Re: Any questions about CPP?

LoriAnn wrote:It makes me wonder if my bookkeeper is writing off a higher percentage of expenses then he should be? Or perhaps the other providers are choosing to pay even though they also after expenses make under the $3500?
You should ask your bookkeeper. I'm too lazy to do the calculation but the amount of incremental CPP you earn on a $3500 salary is very minimal. I wouldn't worry about paying it.

It's better not to declare too much income as long as you aren't breaking any rules.

newguy
by newguy
10 Feb 2017 13:24
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Which Broker Do you Use?
Replies: 117
Views: 18133

Re: Which Broker Do you Use?

No IB option? Just TD for me I guess.

As a side note I've never called a support line for anything in my life. I guess there's never been a reason, but it makes me feel like I've gained a few years of life over those who do.

newguy
by newguy
10 Feb 2017 13:19
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: Planning for Retirement
Replies: 116
Views: 11507

Re: Planning for Retirement

We've talked about IRR before around here.

http://www.financialwisdomforum.org/for ... 11#p553211

You can sort of see the smile Bruce talked about in the upper quintile, but I'm sure the health care coverage makes it quite lopsided.

newguy
by newguy
07 Dec 2016 17:44
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Clippings 2016
Replies: 189
Views: 19529

Re: Clippings 2016

http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/fu ... 086/689575
Cash transfers have been demonstrated to improve education and health outcomes and alleviate poverty in various contexts. However, policy makers and others often express concern that poor households will use transfers to buy alcohol, tobacco, or other “temptation goods.”
The result surprised me. Paywalled but the abstract has all you need.

I found it in my newsfeed from a new (to me) site. I found all their most popular stories as of now interesting.

-that last one
-one about globalization of services through tech.
-Apple's AI
-100lb filipino gift boxes (personal experience :) )

http://qz.com/popular/

newguy