Search found 1166 matches

by Chuck
08 Mar 2024 13:51
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: Tax Instalments
Replies: 940
Views: 103718

Re: Tax Instalments

If it were me, I'd not ignore CRA's amount. Just pay what they ask, it'll all work out in the end. You may find that the next notice for the last two quarters of 2024 are adjusted. I'd tend to agree. However, if you are confident, you could also just try your $750 plan (or zero) and wait the the 3rd/4th quarter installment amounts and pay those. If you are correct about your estimated 2024 income is lower, you'll have everything covered in the end. Or you can just over pay and get credited for the overpayment against taxes owing (so you might get a refund). It's really a matter of - do you want to forgo some earned interest by possibly over paying installments, or would you prefer to take some risk that you will have to pay CRA a bit of in...
by Chuck
29 Feb 2024 19:23
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 39602

Re: Electric Cars

Interesting. With all the other problems I see with EV's I overlooked the lack of a fuel tax for road maintenance. I can see taxing at fast charging stations, but something is going to have to be done for home charging. Maybe more registration fees (I think more than $200 per year will be required to make up for lost fuel taxes).

I expect all Canadians will just get hit with more taxes on electricity in general. EV or no. We'll need to enhance the grid and generating capacity for them anyways. Hopefully, not using coal for the latter. China will do that in the manufacturing phase. ;)

Of course, kicking the can down the road another decade on the great ICE ban is also likely.
by Chuck
29 Feb 2024 19:10
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: RIP 2024
Replies: 34
Views: 2815

Re: RIP 2024

Mulroney - the only Prime Minister not named Trudeau I managed to loath (although free trade and the GST were good policy moves). I remember him more for becoming so reviled by conservative voters the party collapsed and Reform was born.
by Chuck
28 Feb 2024 13:36
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 39602

Re: Electric Cars

I agree with the sentiment of the article. The US automakers eventually figured out how to compete with the Japanese (after a bailout or two). They will have to do the same on the EV front (number of bailouts required en route still TBD).

Of course, in a country like Canada, maybe we can't use tariffs either. If our government plans to ban ICE vehicles in the not to distant future, maybe cheap Chinese EV's are the only path to this virtue signaling goal.
by Chuck
09 Feb 2024 15:22
Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
Topic: BCE (Symbol-BCE)
Replies: 1860
Views: 286352

Re: BCE (Symbol-BCE)

Re piece three, did it ever make sense for telcos like BCE and Rogers to enter the media business? That includes both producers and purveyors of content. In my mind it did not. A classic case of 'diworsification'. But even ghariton raises the question of whether the value proposition is now in providing applications and content. So one can see how management might want to give it a shot. The problem is, there is no reason a facilities company would have any competitive advantage in that space, and it appears Bell Media does not. So in that sense, it's probably good to ditch as much as this as possible. If revenue growth is hard to come by, cutting expenses is a good alternative. I also agree local tv/radio is probably going the way of the ...
by Chuck
04 Feb 2024 15:49
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Tipping
Replies: 38
Views: 1652

Re: Tipping

I also think tipping expectations are out of control. Anyhow, regardless of personal opinion, I would like to see one piece of consumer protection regulation pass. It would be this:

If a POS terminal is used to automatically suggest tipping amounts, the very first option should be zero (or skip). Other options could be for higher amounts. Otherwise, the POS should simply ask yes or no if the customer wants to add a tip, then ask for a dollar amount or percentage which the customer would have to enter manually.
by Chuck
02 Feb 2024 18:28
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: RIP 2024
Replies: 34
Views: 2815

Re: RIP 2024

afulldeck wrote: 02 Feb 2024 15:37 For a guy in great shape 76 is too soon. Carl Weathers, Apollo Creed from Rocky movies, dies aged 76.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68188746
Kind of agree, but one wonders if steroids played a role in his physique. Possibly many years worth. He certainly thrived in the "everybody is doing them" era.
by Chuck
29 Jan 2024 18:31
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: ebook copy not allowed!
Replies: 29
Views: 1604

Re: ebook copy not allowed!

tedster wrote: 29 Jan 2024 16:49 Chuck actually on the ADE forum one person wrote that he/she had bought a new Kobo with the same result, plus they are a lot more than $150 unless they are used.
Well that's disappointing. Seems like a big oversight, but I understand Kobo was bought up by Rakuten, so maybe the parent company doesn't really care about Canadians and their ability to use a library. If they did, they would either get ADE working or switch to something else.

PS> I own a kobo I have just not used it for the library yet. So not happy to learn it may or may not work if I give it a try.
by Chuck
29 Jan 2024 13:34
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: ebook copy not allowed!
Replies: 29
Views: 1604

Re: ebook copy not allowed!

Just to be clear, it the root of the problem that your kobo is so old that it cannot use a current version of ADE? It seems odd that Kobo would not have a resolution to users not being able to check out library books.

But if a more up to date e-reader would solve the problem, you could just go that way vs a tablet. E-readers run about $150 or so don't they? Of course, if you want a tablet anyways, go for it. I find e-readers/e-ink the easiest thing on the eyes next to actual ink on paper though.
by Chuck
24 Jan 2024 13:44
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 39602

Re: Electric Cars

I'm skeptical about the 2035 deadline. Not just Canada's (lots of other countries have a similar timeline). I think Germany is aiming for 2030, so we will see how that goes for them. I think Canada is aiming for 60% of new sales being electric by 2030, so we will see how close we are at that point.

I think there will be serious punting of these timelines down the road when we get there, similar to just about every "eco" target so far.
by Chuck
20 Jan 2024 15:02
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Travel Insurance - Missed Flight
Replies: 26
Views: 1827

Re: Travel Insurance - Missed Flight

Your story prompts me to revisit travel insurance for our next trip (already booked) - we usually self-insure, but I’m going to check into it now. I'd like to hear how the story with the insurance plays out first. If getting the money out of the insurance company is like pulling teeth, then I would be more likely to just continue to self insure. However, if they compensate the poster for at least the cost of the original tickets with little hassle, I might consider insurance in the future. Being late for your flight in Canada? I’d be surprised if insurance would pay out. But isn't that the whole point? A wide variety of happen stance can impact ones ability to get to the flight on time. If they only cover 1 in a 1000 chance type incidents ...
by Chuck
20 Jan 2024 14:27
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Travel Insurance - Missed Flight
Replies: 26
Views: 1827

Re: Travel Insurance - Missed Flight

Mudcrab wrote: 20 Jan 2024 11:02 Your story prompts me to revisit travel insurance for our next trip (already booked) - we usually self-insure, but I’m going to check into it now.
I'd like to hear how the story with the insurance plays out first. If getting the money out of the insurance company is like pulling teeth, then I would be more likely to just continue to self insure. However, if they compensate the poster for at least the cost of the original tickets with little hassle, I might consider insurance in the future.
by Chuck
05 Jan 2024 14:54
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: weevils
Replies: 12
Views: 840

Re: weevils

I take the "sterilized drawer and fill it with flour from the bag. There are no active weevils present. Either in the original bag nor in the drawer. A few days later, voila, there are a few weevils in the flour drawer. From what you have said, the flour bag is in another room, perhaps with cooler and drier conditions. Presumably this prevents the eggs from hatching. Once transferred to the kitchen, where cooking activities probably make the room warmer and more humid than the flour storage room, the eggs hatch. As an experiment, you could try moving your kitchen cabinet to the same room as you have got the flour stored in, and see if the weevil issue goes away. If it does, then you know the kitchen environment is not conducive to flo...
by Chuck
03 Jan 2024 03:26
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Humour (2024)
Replies: 8
Views: 1178

Re: Humour (2024)

brucecohen wrote: 02 Jan 2024 11:46 Why does The Alphabet Song & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune?
Why did you just try to sing those two previous songs???
Gotta admit, I lol'd at this one. Of course, I did sing the previous two songs. Never realized this connection before although now it seems obvious.

Also, I googled the fridge issue. Like most slang, fridge started out as mostly spoken, but as it became a super common term, it got added to the dictionary, and it had to be spelled some way. Frij, using a soft j is not typical in English, such words almost always end in 'ge'. Frig would usually have a hard g sound, and also frig apparently means "to rub or chafe". So the wordsmiths went with fridge.
by Chuck
03 Dec 2023 17:11
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: How large should investment assets be for a couple to retire comfortably at 65 ?
Replies: 23
Views: 1419

Re: How large should investment assets be for a couple to retire comfortably at 65 ?

But, if you were average, you might want to spend $62000 per year, so before-tax you might want $80000 income. From what I can see, the $62K is a pre-tax number. Total consumption is $46K. There is a line in there for $12K of income taxes as an expenditure. Another $4k for insurance/pension/gifts (46+12+4 = 62). I find the shelter costs hard to interpret. Top line for shelter is $14K .There is a line for principle accommodation, then another for owned and rented. Plus other things. It all adds up to a total of about $14K. That seems reasonable if you own your home. But the rent line is $3K. That's too low for an annual cost (so is $14K total for renters IMO), but I can't figure out what stats can is up to with the line items under shelter.
by Chuck
02 Dec 2023 16:48
Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
Topic: Define "rich"
Replies: 71
Views: 4268

Re: Define "rich"

I think we can quantify this somewhat.

I would say if your net worth is over 10 million, you're rich. End of story.

However, quite a few with assets between 2-9 million would consider themselves rich (and be considerer rich by most people). This range is up for debate, but it's either very comfortable or rich.

$500K - under 2 million (maybe leave the primary residence out of this one) is more in the range of comfortable than rich.

Under $500K is not rich. Many people can make do on it, but I doubt they or others consider themselves rich.
by Chuck
29 Nov 2023 16:47
Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
Topic: Digital Canadian Dollar
Replies: 18
Views: 1011

Re: Digital Canadian Dollar

I'm not clear on the benefits of this over commonly accepted electronic payment methods. OK, maybe if the internet is down, which is not unheard off, but it has never inconvenienced me enough to make me think there needs to be another form of cash. If one loses one's phone (or whatever non-internet device it's residing on) can one presume it's lost for ever?

I don't really see much benefit outside of privacy. IE> Move money from your bank account to digital currency, then nobody knows what you are spending your digital currency on. Hmm. Why would people want this? For black/grey market or outright illegal transactions? Tax evasion?

If either of those, should the Bank of Canada be involved in enabling this?
by Chuck
25 Nov 2023 16:06
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense
Replies: 198
Views: 8465

Re: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense

@AltaRed: Ok, I think I have been caught on that twice now. :oops:

I think what has happened (without me really paying attention) is that some of the boomers have already aged off, and the uptick in immigration has replaced them with younger cohorts despite not having any subsequent baby boom.
by Chuck
25 Nov 2023 15:48
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense
Replies: 198
Views: 8465

Re: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense

What I think longinvest doesn't really consider when he argues the 82K senior isn't exactly rich, if we lived in a balanced budget world, we would have to tax working class Canadians (who often don't earn 82K) more, and thereby force them to get by on less, so these 'not exactly rich' seniors can live more comfortably at their expense.

Doesn't really seem fair. And yes, I realize 82K+ income seniors would also be taxed more in this scenario.

However, per other arguments, there are many, many, far more wasteful spending programs the government could cut before they worry about OAS claw back threshold reductions. As Mordko mentioned, it's a theoretical discussion, at least until the voting power of the boomer demographic bloc ages off.
by Chuck
24 Nov 2023 20:08
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense
Replies: 198
Views: 8465

Re: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense

optionable68 wrote: 24 Nov 2023 19:12 I know someone who is a widow and gets part of her OAS clawed back, and she says $82k/yr is not "rich"
It's not - 'I need assistance, I can't pay my bills' country either.
by Chuck
24 Nov 2023 14:53
Forum: Taxing Situations
Topic: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense
Replies: 198
Views: 8465

Re: OAS • Subsidies to rich seniors make no sense

The raw numbers from Georges linked article look frightening, but this makes it seem not so bad: The more recent revision of the 17th Actuarial Report, a supplement to the previous one, changed little to those projections: the peak of 3.12% of GDP would be reached in 2030, then decline to 3.03% in 2040, 2.77% in 2050, and 2.63% in 2060. This makes sense to me, as I was thinking, shouldn't most of the boomers be dead by 2060? And yes, they will be. When you grow your population from immigration as much as Canada has over the last decade, raw numbers are going to go up (same with carbon emissions), but there should be more young workers to compensate. On the other front, lowering claw back thresholds might not save that much revenue as it wou...
by Chuck
20 Nov 2023 15:28
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Donating used computers
Replies: 20
Views: 748

Re: Donating used computers

A friend of mine who volunteers for a second hand store (and is pretty tech savvy) is big on installing Chrome OS Flex (which he carries around on a USB) when people donate old computers to his store.

Most of the people who would buy an old computer from a second hand shop aren't looking for much more than a web browser and some other basic functionality (which they can find in the google apps store). So if they are intimidated by Unix and need something simple, cloud based, and free, Chrome OS fits the bill. No OS updates or virus issues either.

I'm not sure it works on everything, but he has mentioned he is often surprised at how some old clunkers work no problem.
by Chuck
17 Nov 2023 17:26
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: How much is enough?
Replies: 184
Views: 16877

Re: How much is enough?

formerpatriot wrote: 17 Nov 2023 17:08 That seems counterintuitive to me given that February is the shortest month.
I've read that very ill people try to will themselves to live through the holiday season so as to not create sad memories for their loved ones. That would lead me to believe January would be the highest death month, but maybe momentum carries those on the cusp into Feb.
by Chuck
16 Nov 2023 19:13
Forum: Retirement, Pensions and Peace of Mind
Topic: How much is enough?
Replies: 184
Views: 16877

Re: How much is enough?

Also, good points. I doubt many people could afford $250k/year for more than a few years? Also doubt many in accumulation mode anticipate these potential costs in their planning. Other than perhaps by selling an expensive house? Kinda shoots my theory that you can simply retire on whatever you end up with down, doesn’t it? At some point, one just has to pick one's poison. It would seem to me to be poor planning to work and extra decade or so out of fear of expensive end of life care. I'd rather retire early (which I did) and just roll the dice on my health (which to a certain extent I already have). Of course, should I end up in some low end government subsidized barracks in my last few years, I'll certainly complain about my lot. ;)
by Chuck
14 Nov 2023 13:07
Forum: Community Centre
Topic: Electric Cars
Replies: 601
Views: 39602

Re: Electric Cars

What is the explanation for these vehicles spontaneously combusting while being shipped? I would think the batteries would have to be under heavy use or being recharged to overheat and catch fire. Neither of which should happen during shipping, unless it gets very hot in shipping containers/cargo holds.

Google tells me that might be the case, but one would think procedures could be put in place not to run the cars until they have had a chance to cool down. Or find some way to keep them cool during transit. A blanket ban on EV shipping seems like overkill, and a potential costly loss of business.