The most contentious part of the package is the harmonized sales tax. HST critics are recalling the imposition of the unpopular federal GST. But focusing on this part without considering the whole package isn't very useful... Apart from ignoring the complete package of reforms, critics have been passing along some myths about the HST that need to be dispelled or clarified. These include:...
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- 26 Nov 2009 08:57
- Forum: Taxing Situations
- Topic: 2009 Ontario budget
- Replies: 86
- Views: 7190
Re: 2009 Ontario budget
Debunking myths about the HST
- 26 Nov 2009 08:54
- Forum: Now Hear This!
- Topic: Version 3 is alive!
- Replies: 103
- Views: 5598
Re: Version 3 is alive!
Good show!
- 25 Nov 2009 12:27
- Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
- Topic: Short term fixed income
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1249
- 25 Nov 2009 12:02
- Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
- Topic: Need some advice re: debt.
- Replies: 21
- Views: 849
You mean the card companies who sell the shovels?iluvnascar wrote:I have no sympathy for credit card companies whose interest rates simply bleed consumers dry.....even though it was the credit card holder that dug the hole. So take advantage of any possibility to dig out from under....
- 25 Nov 2009 11:55
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: Internet Sticks
- Replies: 35
- Views: 1078
Verizon offers an internet stick 5MB for $50 I believe you mean 500MB. Does Verizon include the Internet stick? (Contrast with the €50 I paid in Austria for 2GB (4x more), good for 4 months, including the stick.) How can I determine how much data usage I use in a normal day? There should be some monitoring available with the software that comes with the Internet stick. In addition Verizon should provide some way to monitor usage on their website. (My Austrian carrier does.) How long should I expect a 5MB to last if I am logged onto a quote feed for 6 hrs per day? That depends on the amount of data that's downloaded per hour. Is there any way to track my daily usage? Try DU Meter , free on 30-day trial. There may be freeware out there too. ...
- 25 Nov 2009 10:24
- Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
- Topic: Need some advice re: debt.
- Replies: 21
- Views: 849
It sounds like SoulOnIce is able to service his and his wife's debts, but if not or if it's creating real hardship, then another option is to visit your local credit counselling service.
- 25 Nov 2009 10:03
- Forum: Taxing Situations
- Topic: 2009 Ontario budget
- Replies: 86
- Views: 7190
I think harmonizing the sales tax likely makes sense as it should hopefully lead to more simplification. It would have been nice if it had been accompanied by an income tax cut , but that probably is not possible with the type of deficits we currently have. Yabbut, it was. In addition to the $1,000 bribes next year, income tax rates will fall when the HST is enacted. See e.g. Tax Reforms Would Create 591,000 Jobs And Cut Personal Income Taxes As part of the proposed tax package, 93 per cent of Ontario taxpayers would get a personal income tax cut. And nearly 3 million low-income Ontario families would receive a new, permanent sales tax credit of up to $260 for each adult and child per year - one of the most generous in Canada. Of course, g...
- 25 Nov 2009 09:28
- Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
- Topic: Miscellaneous Quicken Questions
- Replies: 623
- Views: 95291
Bylo, are you running Q09? Yes. Other than online banking support, is there anything worthy of the $99 cost to upgrade? I used to beta test Quicken so I got to see, play with and keep new versions annually. Apart from very minor functional changes and continuation of support for downloading banking and securities data, most of the changes in the past several years can be best described as "gratuitous eye candy." Indeed each year's release introduces new usability "quirks" that only make it harder to use that release once you've become enured to the previous year's version. IMHO Quicken is an example of mature software that does a release every year just to grab revenue. I couldn't agree more. Sadly, the withdrawal of MS...
- 25 Nov 2009 08:48
- Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
- Topic: Short term fixed income
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1249
If you hold a similar ladder of bonds and/or GICs you have the same risk exposure even if it's not as visible, i.e. the market value of your ladder will drop accordingly. In the case of GICs you won't see it because they can't be cashed in early and have no secondary market. But you'll suffer a loss from that inflation (and presumably the higher market interest rates that ensue) nevertheless.SoninlawofGus wrote:XSB has a duration today of 2.84 years and a YTM of 2.03%. If my math is right, if inflation rose rapidly to, say, 8%, then XSB would lose in the area of 15% rather quickly. So, is the rather anemic 2.03% worth the risk of inflation? 2.84 years, can be a long time...2 yen wrote:If one never intends to sell XSB, why worry what others do?
- 25 Nov 2009 08:35
- Forum: Under the Mattress: Protecting Your Money
- Topic: Miscellaneous Quicken Questions
- Replies: 623
- Views: 95291
Or alternativelyPeculiar_Investor wrote:I'm leaning towards Quicken 2009. Quicken 2010 has been recently released and likely not fully debugged based on past experience.
1. Buy Q10 now.
2. Find a copy of Q09 (Canadian version!) via BT.
3. Install and use Q09 until spring, by which time Intuit will have at least one or two bug fix releases for Q10
4. Install and patch Q10, then import data from Q09.
- 23 Nov 2009 20:34
- Forum: Stocks, Bonds, ETFs, Funds, REITS and More
- Topic: Low Fee Balanced Options
- Replies: 12
- Views: 1352
Low-MER, No-Load Indexed Portfolios (scroll down a page or so.)
- 23 Nov 2009 17:33
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: Favourite beers
- Replies: 339
- Views: 10196
Perhaps not such a rip-off. These are the same wheat beer glasses you'll find at fine pubs throughout Bavaria. Made by rastal. Very high quality (as beer glasses go.)
Fortunately I have an in-law who knows of my taste in beer and who keeps buying me Erdinger gift packs at Christmas
Fortunately I have an in-law who knows of my taste in beer and who keeps buying me Erdinger gift packs at Christmas
- 23 Nov 2009 16:09
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: The little search engine that couldn't
- Replies: 50
- Views: 1442
- 23 Nov 2009 10:01
- Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
- Topic: Stop Working: Here's How You Can!
- Replies: 750
- Views: 107984
The game publishers changed their model. [According to Doctorow AIH] when it became obvious that single-player games were too easy to pirate, they introduced multi-player games that required Internet access, registration, subscription fees, etc. The industry is now thriving.NormR wrote:So, much like the situation with pirating video games, the publisher should focus on serving the needs of actual customers. They certainly shouldn't be encouraging profitable customers to become unprofitable hangers on.
Perhaps there's a lesson there for the print media (and the MAFIAA...)
- 23 Nov 2009 08:37
- Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
- Topic: Stop Working: Here's How You Can!
- Replies: 750
- Views: 107984
I quoted from a hand-me-down copy of the current edition of Maclean's, i.e. I didn't pay for it either. Should I feel equally guilty about that?NormR wrote:[rant]While I like to read free stuff, it's about time that magazines/newspapers stop giving all of their content away for free the instant it's published...[/rant]
BTW Kirby's article is rather good for something that appears in a general audience publication. It's all about risk and knowing thyself. Nothing really new for the regulars in these parts, but good stuff for most everyone else -- including the redoubtable Mr Foster -- who wants to learn something from what happened to their portfolio in the past year.
- 23 Nov 2009 08:22
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: Cell phones and phone plans 2005-2012 posts
- Replies: 776
- Views: 22937
Alas, this isn't "news." This is just another instance of Canada's 3-member wireless cartel "competing" under the "watchful" eyes of the CRTCBell quietly drops system access fee
TFA wrote:Bell Canada quietly axing the charge, matching prior moves by rivals Rogers and Telus... like Rogers and Telus, Bell has increased the price of most monthly plans by $5
- 22 Nov 2009 20:58
- Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
- Topic: Stop Working: Here's How You Can!
- Replies: 750
- Views: 107984
Is that a request?DanH wrote:It's not online yet but surely it will be soon.
BTW Kirby goes on to say, "The number one lesson Foster says he learned from the experience was not to share every investment decision he makes with the public."
I wonder if Derek will use that as a blurb for his next book?
- 22 Nov 2009 17:54
- Forum: Taxing Situations
- Topic: Donate Securities to Charity [Doing Well by Doing Good]
- Replies: 147
- Views: 31943
- 22 Nov 2009 09:58
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: multi purpose printers
- Replies: 33
- Views: 655
I went through this recently with our rental property. It has hard to convince the real-estate agent's admin team to scan and email vs. fax. I'm left to wonder what is the legal status of an signed, scanned and emailed copy of a document vs. a signed, faxed document. Interesting. Technically there's no difference. The document gets scanned optically every time and there's a noticeable degradation of quality every time. Indeed a case can be made that scan/e-mail is better because you can set a scanner to a higher resolution and have more control over things like contrast, than a fax machine. You can also preview what you scan before you send it in order to ensure that it's legible. Perhaps the legislation or regulations that give legal stan...
- 22 Nov 2009 09:15
- Forum: Financial News, Policy and Economics
- Topic: 10 Questions for John Bogle
- Replies: 175
- Views: 83730
Attention Christmas shoppers Common Sense on Mutual Funds: Fully Updated 10th Anniversary Edition
- 22 Nov 2009 09:06
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: multi purpose printers
- Replies: 33
- Views: 655
That begs the question of why anyone still needs faxing capability. You could simply scan a document into a file, then attach it to an e-mail. Some multifunctions can even do this in a single operation, i.e. scan to a PDF, then open your default e-mail program and attach. All you have to do is fill in the To: and click Send. (As for incoming, just tell the sender to attach and e-mail.)westinvest wrote:Does the laptop have a modem in it? You could scan into the computer and then use the Windows Fax program.
- 22 Nov 2009 08:59
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: More computer nostalgia
- Replies: 47
- Views: 1247
Mentioning punched cards reminds me of... Back in the day every Bell phone bill came with a punched card that included, among other things, (e.g. subscriber's account number), the balance owing. Customers were supposed to include that card with payment in order to facilitate Bell's processing. Remember the admonition "do not bend, fold, staple or mutilate"? When I was still in high school I decided to perform a small experiment, a "hack" as we might call it now. I ran one of their cards through the 026 keypunch at school, overpunching the last cent column to a value one less than what Bell had, e.g. if the balance was $12.34, I'd punch the 4 column with a 3 hole. Then I retrieved a chad(*) out of the bit bucket and, usi...
- 21 Nov 2009 14:41
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: More computer nostalgia
- Replies: 47
- Views: 1247
Even older is the 026 keypunch that came out in 1949:knotley wrote:http://www.technikum29.de/en/computer/punchcard.shtm
The undergrad debug terminal and keypunch room at UoW used to have maybe 50 of them. What a din.
- 21 Nov 2009 14:31
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: Hey, lower your damn prices.
- Replies: 493
- Views: 12335
UPS charges a rapacious service fee to collect and remit fees on your behalf.kcowan wrote:UPS charges a service fee to collect and remit fees on your behalf.
Not directly but through Canada Post. Their fee for this service is $5. As much as I dislike paying fees, that's reasonable. UPS' fees are usually unconscionable and they get away with it because they're holding your parcel for ransom.USPS does not.
- 21 Nov 2009 12:35
- Forum: Community Centre
- Topic: multi purpose printers
- Replies: 33
- Views: 655
<RANT>
</RANT>
Fortunately I was able to find a Canon MF4350n for ~$150 that does everything the HP did and more (e.g. duplex printing, platen and ADF, scan to e-mail, etc.)
Be thankful it's not a HP 3100 series AiO for which HP has no Vista drivers and no intention of ever producing them. The XP drivers won't install under Vista. So now the unit won't print, won't scan and won't fax. For all intents and purposes, it's a piece of scrap. Way to go HP.bcjmmac wrote:We have had a HP 5100 series all-in-one for ~ 5 years. We like it & have not had any issues.
</RANT>
Fortunately I was able to find a Canon MF4350n for ~$150 that does everything the HP did and more (e.g. duplex printing, platen and ADF, scan to e-mail, etc.)