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by Bylo Selhi
18 Mar 2024 12:04
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Final Tax Return / T3 adjusted cost base help
Replies: 9
Views: 305

Re: Final Tax Return / T3 adjusted cost base help

My "grandfather in law" passed in 2018. The problem was far from him not keeping records. He never threw out any records, so there were 14 bankers' boxes of financial records of all kinds, unsorted. Every single bank statement and cancelled cheque, and probably most receipts for anything he ever paid for, e.g. parking meter receipt from 1982. Some boxes had mouse nests. We estimated ACB for his remaining taxable investment account as best we could, and kept records of our assumptions. It was not easy, since he lived below his means and so added to it, modestly, several times a year from the excess of his pension + RRIF earnings minus living expenses, over a period of 25+ years. Our best guess yielded a tax owing on investment gai...
by Bylo Selhi
18 Mar 2024 09:52
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

Re Brim MC: Brim's main business seems to be offering a CC system to third parties like CWB, Laurentian, AF/KLM who want their own branded cards but don't want to build the infrastructure to support it. Do any of those cards offer 0% FX? I don't think so. Perhaps the explanation for Brim's move is they want to stop competing against the FIs that they're trying to attract. Re Home Trust Visa: HTV uses a US company, eZCard , to operate its CCs. eZCard is essentially a lower-tech version of what Brim is trying to be in Canada (and the US.) They provide their system to numerous US-based FIs and CUs. So perhaps the next shoe to drop will be when HTV decides to replace eZCard's system with Brim's and ends 0% FX as a result :shock: This isn't as ...
by Bylo Selhi
18 Mar 2024 07:35
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Your favorite asset class
Replies: 23
Views: 2044

Re: Your favorite asset class

If, for the next ten years the average global equity index returns 0.0% annually and my assets grow by 1.0% as was the case from (more or less) 2000 to 2010, I'll be more than happy. Indexers, well, they'll be at -0.12% per year. And what if your crystal ball strategy results in growth of only -1% or worse in the next 10 years. Those indexers who lose "only" 0.12% will look pretty good. P.S. How did your assets perform between 2010 and 2024 compared to the same index? I’m not predicting. I’m just stating facts of a certain period in history. My (only one) global equity fund +1%/yr, the index 0%/yr, the average equity fund -1%/yr, index funds -0.12%/yr. "Past performance does not predict future results." Perhaps you have...
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 22:30
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Your favorite asset class
Replies: 23
Views: 2044

Re: Your favorite asset class

robgizz wrote: 17 Mar 2024 22:15 If, for the next ten years the average global equity index returns 0.0% annually and my assets grow by 1.0% as was the case from (more or less) 2000 to 2010, I'll be more than happy. Indexers, well, they'll be at -0.12% per year.
And what if your crystal ballstrategy results in growth of only -1% or worse in the next 10 years. Those indexers who lose "only" 0.12% will look pretty good.

P.S. How did your assets perform between 2010 and 2024 compared to the same index?
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 17:55
Forum: Financial Planning and Building Portfolios
Topic: Your favorite asset class
Replies: 23
Views: 2044

Re: Your favorite asset class

I know a few very good mutual funds and a good closed-end fund You know them based on past performance. You (and I) have no idea what will be their future performance. but I’ll stay away from index ETFs as I find your potential returns are limited to that of the index. That's a feature, not a bug. "Successful investing, based on indexing, depends on trading off the low possibility of doing better than the index, for the high probability of doing better than most other funds." ...Ted Cadsby [From: The Power of Index Funds, 1999] Of course if you know with certainty which of the few funds will outperform AND if you know which funds in each asset class will outperform in their class AND you know this for the entirety of the rest of ...
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 16:55
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: T+1 Settlement is Coming! On May 28, 2024
Replies: 37
Views: 1592

Re: T+1 Settlement is Coming! On May 28, 2024

When you buy a GIC the transaction settles that day. Even if you do a Sell on MMF/HISA at the same time to cover, it will take a day for the funds to arrive in the cash portion of the account. TD charges a day's interest on that "loan" even if the GIC you buy is issued by TD and your funds were always at TD. That's why I suggested that at minimum they should detect such simultaneous Buy and Sell transactions and waive the interest. (Of course it will never happen.)
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 14:32
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: T+1 Settlement is Coming! On May 28, 2024
Replies: 37
Views: 1592

Re: T+1 Settlement is Coming! On May 28, 2024

Unwise wrote: 17 Mar 2024 14:13 anyone buying with a limit order or option assignment
This also applies to GICs. It even applies to TD-issued GICs where the money remains in TD's hands throughout and the interest is totally gratuitous. (Ask me how I know.)

Another compromise would be to check if the customer also did a Sell from MMF or HISA on the same day as they did the Buy.
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 14:00
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

johnny cash wrote: 17 Mar 2024 11:32 As others have complained that Home Trust Visa is also prone to billing errors
I've had a HTV since 2017 (when Chase Amazon Visa shut down) and made 100s of transactions using it. I've never had any billing errors or fraudulent use.

Of course it can happen, just as it can with other cards. I know that because I've had billing errors with TD cards and had at least two of them replaced due to fraudulent use.
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 13:56
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: T+1 Settlement is Coming! On May 28, 2024
Replies: 37
Views: 1592

Re: T+1 Settlement is Coming! On May 28, 2024

OptsyEagle wrote: 17 Mar 2024 13:25 I suspect the cut off times the brokers use is designed around their own opinion of how much time they feel they might require in order to cancel a mutual fund trade entered by a customer on their trading platform.
They should sweep accounts like all the US brokers. Every night they sweep cash into a MMF (a HISA would be even easier in Canada.) When you buy a security they automatically redeem enough of your MMF holdings to settle it when the time comes.

Simple.
Automatic.
And in the customer's best interest. [Oh wait...I think I know why Canadian brokers don't do this.]
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 11:15
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

I have encountered instances that you are unable to opt out in Europe and Asia. Like you only get the pin pad to enter the pin(a small pin pad like a calculator) but the machine itself is away from the till and you cannot see it. And some machines are default to DCC. etc. When that's happened to me, also in Europe, I just handed the terminal [yes, I do know how it looks and how it works...] back to the clerk and repeated Nancy's refrain until they redid the transaction, allowing me to follow her advice. Sometimes these clerks crooks will mumble some bullshit about how they accepted the DCC prompt on my behalf as a "convenience." I don't believe it. Not for a second. Neither should you. If all else fails, you can also do a chargeb...
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 10:35
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

johnsmith1 wrote: 17 Mar 2024 09:56 V/M's DCC is a pill too hard to swallow
As Nancy Reagan once advised about pills and other drugs, "Just say no."

I've never met a DCC prompt I couldn't refuse. There's no requirement other than mental disability and/or severe brain-damage to let merchants and FIs suck you into accepting DCC.
by Bylo Selhi
17 Mar 2024 10:31
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

johnny cash wrote: 17 Mar 2024 09:26 Isn't it simpler to keep cash in a WS account, earn a decent 4.5% interest, and use the WS cash card when needed? To use the TD VISA debit card, you must have cash in your TD account anyway.
Prepaid cards often won't work at places like hotels and car rentals that place a hold on the card. They also don't have most features of conventional credit cards like various insurances, etc. And of course you lose the 2x day payment float.

But yes, all of WS or EQ or Wise prepaid card are options to replace Brim. Personally my fallback CC remains Home Trust Visa with all three prepaids for small transactions as well as cash withdrawals at ATMs.
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 13:45
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Boeing
Replies: 6
Views: 314

Re: Boeing

Profit not Prophet wrote: 16 Mar 2024 13:25 I like ask the pilot by patrick smith, lots of good stuff there...this is a little bit on topic
https://askthepilot.com/united-757-slat/

the main page https://askthepilot.com/
"It’s a terrible look for sure, but the danger here was minimal."

It's not unlike what's happening in Ottawa these days. Every government stumble, however minor or benign, reinforces the overall negative narrative.
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 13:20
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 38972

Re: Electric Cars

Marcus Aurelius wrote: 16 Mar 2024 12:58 I agree that they have concentrated too much on luxury vehicles. For one affordable car example: We have friends that are picking up a Chevy Bolt for 37,555 including taxes and BC/Fed incentives but GM has discontinued the car (for now).
Roughly speaking, the same batteries that would go into a low-profit econobox can be put instead into a high-profit luxury car. It's an easy decision for GM (unless they're trying to grab EV market share, as the Chinese appear to be doing in markets like Europe.)
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 13:16
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

agraham wrote: 16 Mar 2024 13:02I get some satisfaction from jumping through these hoops. I just don't like being nickle and dimed. I don't like fx fees, annual fees, minimum balances, service charges and I'll put in the effort to avoid it even if it doesn't pay off.
It's also useful to look at the personal value of jumping through these hoops compared to just the dollar savings. For example, suppose you can save a few $100s by spending a few minutes shuffling funds around. That will buy you and your partner one or more nights out. To many people when viewed that way the pleasure derived from that "reward" makes the decision a no-brainer.
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 12:43
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

Insomniac wrote: 16 Mar 2024 12:30 EQ card has a $5K (per day) limit. That's a problem when buying airline tickets for two.
In an emergency, any CC that works is a viable option. Everything else like 0% FX or cash back is secondary.
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 11:23
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Boeing
Replies: 6
Views: 314

Re: Boeing

To add to the mix of Boeing's (and their customers') woes... Left with few options, major U.S. airlines are using Boeing's safety crisis(*) as leverage Airline executives are frustrated with Boeing as its safety crisis has upended their business plans. But in a tight market for large aircraft supplied by two companies, they have little choice but do business with the U.S. plane maker. Despite some public displays of alarm — United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby flew to France to talk with Airbus as Boeing's latest crisis erupted — carriers are still negotiating new plane orders, looking to leverage Boeing's delays to secure better terms... Several weeks ago, American Airlines CEO Robert Isom blasted Boeing for its persistent quality issues, askin...
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 09:09
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

If it's going to take days to get funds into your account and unhold them, you're screwed. At least you can pre-fund the accounts with a large amount before travelling, earn some interest on it, and then move it out again after you come back. But still an inconvenience. This may not be the perfect solution to the "$n,000" problem but I found a way to quickly load my card with cash. I went to my Tangerine account and I e-transferred to myself the funds I needed on the Eq card account. A few minutes later the e-transfer arrived in my inbox. From the inbox I completed the transfer to my Eq account. As long as "n" is small enough this can work without multiple transfers from other banks. The other option is to proactively m...
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 07:49
Forum: Property: Owning, Renting, Managing, Investing and Mortgaging
Topic: Housing Market 2024
Replies: 21
Views: 2143

Re: Housing Market 2024

freedom2022 wrote: 16 Mar 2024 07:09 We all know about 2008 property crashed in US.
I did google search about how much house prices in US dropped.
Nation wide, the median existing-home price in the U.S. fell by 12.4% in the fourth quarter of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.
In certain areas, the price fell by 50%.

I hope if the property prices in Canada fall, it will be only 10% - 15% nation wide.
In the US situation there was outright fraud with mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations along with overly optimistic rating agencies. There were also so-called NINJA (No Income No Job Application) mortgages.

Is there anything comparable happening up here now?
by Bylo Selhi
16 Mar 2024 07:41
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

I do still have the WS Cash card for 0%FX for the moment. Both the WS and EQ cards are 0% FX and offer cash back, 1% and 0.5% respectively. The downside is that these are prepaid cards so one needs to have cash on hand in order to deal with large purchases. Imagine you're at an international airport and need $n,000 to buy tickets to get home. If it's going to take days to get funds into your account and unhold them, you're screwed. At least you can pre-fund the accounts with a large amount before travelling, earn some interest on it, and then move it out again after you come back. But still an inconvenience. Or use a Home Trust Visa. That's still a 0% FX credit card although there's no longer any cash back on FX. AFAICT the Rogers MC WE on...
by Bylo Selhi
15 Mar 2024 16:38
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)
Replies: 499
Views: 31556

Re: Best Credit Card (2021 - 2025)

BREAKING NEWS!!! According to discussion on RFD, Brim is in the process of committing suicide. They've eliminated the 0% FX on the card and reduced the cash back percentage etc.

See also Major devaluation to Brim Financial Mastercards: Lower earn rates and FX Fees introduced
by Bylo Selhi
15 Mar 2024 13:34
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 38972

Re: Electric Cars

Our Condo in downtown Toronto recently offered owners a chance to install chargers alongside their parking spots. Cost about $4,500 per charger. About half the owners installed chargers. I installed one that can reach to both our side-by-side parking spots even though we don’t have an EV nor plan on getting one. Just thought it was good to have for resale value and the inevitable adoption of EV’s. One issue that apartment buildings, including condos, face is that there's a limit to the aggregate amount of power the electricity utility can deliver to the building. There may also be limits to how many vehicles can be charged at the same time. Think of 100A vs. 200A service in detached houses. So that may have been a good decision if your bui...
by Bylo Selhi
14 Mar 2024 17:57
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 38972

Re: Electric Cars

leoc2 wrote: 14 Mar 2024 17:14The lack of action from those who have the resources to help with our environmental crisis is crushing my hope for a sustainable world.
Not to mention the disingenuous politicians who are (ab)using the issue for their own personal interests.
by Bylo Selhi
14 Mar 2024 17:55
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 38972

Re: Electric Cars

The increasing number of people living in condos will be a huge barrier to EV adoption until public chargers are as prevalent as gas stations. FWFers have already discussed the problems facing condo unit owners and their boards. A friend who owns a centre city Toronto condo casually asked management about installing a charger for his parking space as some had done. He was told it would need its own meter and cost about $15,000 -- if the board approved it. Unless rapid charging [see links upthread] makes it possible to get a fill-up in about the same amount of time it now takes to do it with fossil fuel. When that happens the early adopters in condos will have wasted a lot of money and those who dragged their heels will have dodged an expen...