“I can’t believe,” wrote Tracy, “that this came from you.’
It didn’t.
Days ago messages poured in saying the homely, little-used but manly Instagram account under my name had been hacked. Well, sort of. More accurately, my furry face had been stolen, slapped on a fake account, then used to sell stuff.
Some people call it Instafishing. A fake profile is set up assuming the identity of the victim, then followers, DMing friends and others can be phished by the faking dirtbag. For crusty dinos who use social media for idle amusement, this is irritating. For those who take their entire identity from what online strangers think of them, or use it for career-building and networking, it can mean crisis.
Some research revealed this shocking fact: there are 1.3 billion Instagram users. Almost half of all those Insta accounts are fake. Only 55% of profiles on the platform belong to real people. And now that we have AI and Chatboy to worry about, the day may come when humans are in the minority.
Meta (IG’s big daddy) says it will remove fake profiles, but with almost 600 million currently active, it’s not exactly covered in glory. And to even consider that, the platform requires government-issued ID to be submitted, plus personal data. Good luck with that.
So what is the dude who stole my profile doing with it? This:
Yup, that’s the fake me, slinging Bitcoin. Just like a regular Pierre Poilievre, telling people they can beat inflation by sending in their money to be converted into stuff backed by faerie farts. Of course, BTC is one of the most volatile widely-traded assets in existence, essentially unregulated and inevitably on its way to zero.
By the way, who’s doing this?
Beats me, but the contact for the Bitcoin heist is one Mark Roland. His current Insta profile looks just as sleazy as you might imagine, leaning on an exoticar and shooting out come-hither looks at the pulchritudes while flashing his fleshy calves with his lunch in his pocket.
But, alas, he’s probably fake. His profile is fake. His IG addy is fake. The car’s a fake. And if you get a message from Garth Turner telling you to embrace crypto mining, well, he’s fake, too.
* * *
Time for a couple of quick questions. First up is Andy. “Long-time reader of your blog,” he says, “never a commenter… because, well, I don’t want to turn into those people! How you deal with that volume (& calibre) of steerage baffles my mind.” Me, too.
My question is this: it’s time to churn to the old spousal RRSP (my wife with the public sector job is the contributor), to which we last deposited in 2020. Can I withdraw this year (which attributes it as my income) and subsequently contribute to her personal RRSP this same year (giving her the tax break)? Plenty of withdrawal examples out there, but none address whether a deposit can follow a withdrawal in this manner.
Sure you can. Three years after the last contribution to a spousal plan, the money belongs to you and can be removed – taxable in your hands even though it originally came from your partner (who got the tax break). This is a basic strategy for splitting income (and taxes) in a relationship where one person earns a lot more.
But the amount that can be inserted into your squeeze’s own RRSP will be determined by her personal room. And, secondly, people with defined benefit (government) pensions shouldn’t strive for big, fat RRSPs. Once they hit 71 the retirement plan converts to a RRIF and income must be taken annually. This could land them in a higher marginal tax rate since it’s added to the DB payments.
So better to put it in her TFSA. Better still to leave it exactly where it is.
* * *
“Just looking for the best advice with the straight goods like you seem to deliver,” says Kate. “Fan of your blog and looking for the best direction for my daughter.”
First year DAL student with 15 k saved in savings accounts and needs a great start to a money-making future. She works hard in the summer and probably will only contribute to this amount moving forward vs taking it out. What’s the best option? She is currently at CIBC but I have never had the comfort with the big banks.
The bank is fine. Get her to open a TFSA with Investor’s Edge and stick all the money in there. No point using an RRSP since she likely has no taxable income to reduce. Of course, she could also flip over to the weird FHSA when it emerges. Buy a balanced ETF to put in there (there are several good ones, from Fidelity, iShares, BMO or Vanguard). No stocks. No lock-ins.
Tell her to not look at the account every week (or month), not to make a withdrawal until at least graduation, and to shun Mark Roland when he hits on her. Or phish him.
About the picture: “A rather nice shot of our Post Covid rescue dog Skip,” write Kris and Colleen, on the prairies, “looking out the window and patiently waiting for Spring so he can run around outside in the mud… Hopefully the Spring Real Estate rutting season will be as pleasant as the greenery displayed. You are welcome to use the picture in your banner if you see fit.”
120 comments ↓
Well, my revenge on the Australians is complete.
I was right, and I won.
Those media and narrative pandering anti-freedom wimps Alex de Minaur and Scott Morrison…I handed them their butts, before winning the Australian Open in straight sets.
Suck it up and admit it. I, Novak am THE MAN!
“Mark Roland” wants you to invest in bitcoin?
How many Gift Cards do I have to send him to start my investment portfolio?
I have to admit I’ve assumed the identities of people on usenet once they’ve stopped posting for a long while. By bringing them back to life on usenet I can correct all their previous faults.
#88 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.28.23 at 11:50 pm
Let’s assume your numbers are correct.
Canada’s house prices are much higher than the US’s.
Therefore mortgage debt must be much higher, accounting for the higher household debt numbers.
But that higher debt is offset by higher net worth.
So we are more house rich than the Amis.
———————————————————–
Sigh. Really? I wonder why I bother sometimes.
A 10 second google search reveals that the Americans have the highest amount of NET financial assets in the world at $259,780 euros (study done by European bank) vs Canada down in 9th place at a measly $125,290.
I know it hurst to admit that those damn yankees are much wealthier and better at all things economy wise than we virtuous Canadians, but facts are facts.
p.s. They also happen to be the ones paying for the defense of Ukraine, and many other nations, whether you agree with that or not. If Canada paid their fair share in defense spending we’d be even further behind.
RIP Hurricane Hazel McCallion. The best there ever was……….
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan said it will write down its stake in FTX to zero, taking a US$95-million loss barely a year after making its first investment in Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. If a fund so large as the Ontario Pension Plan can be taken, why not you. Looks like they continue to find more and more hidden money from Mr. Friedman, one wonders how a 30-year-old can fool Millions of man hours from investment firms. If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If people are dumb enough to follow what they believe to be easy money, good luck to them and happy landing if they succeeded, for the most part, its after they pay you back into other people’s money, they wait for the buildup of suckers, then they are gone after you have been sucked in with much bigger contributions into thin air.
If you have a financial advisor or banker who motivated you to invest in Crypto coin, Bitcoin or similar, you need to fire them on the spot, its gambling in disguise, with your money.
For the non-believers, like it or lump it, hard work never hurts anyone, there are no free rides, a couple generations still need to figure this out.
Across the country, there is a silent frustration brewing about an age-old practice that many say is getting out of hand: tipping. Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they are tired of being asked to leave a gratuity for a muffin or a simple cup of coffee at their neighborhood bakery. What is next, they wonder — are we going to be tipping our doctors and dentists, too? For myself, I worked for 52 years before I retired and I have my first tip to ever receive, if my family relied on gratuity, we would have starved within a week. As more businesses adopt digital payment methods, customers are automatically being prompted to leave a gratuity — many times as high as 30% — at places they normally would never have seen it happen before.
Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigators and official warnings suggest. Insurance investigator Brian King, president, and CEO of King International Advisory Group, said his firm had received 30 such claims in Ontario. Most recently, there have been three arrests in Ontario. I hope they get life without parole.
For a fraud of this nature to happen, both the Realtor and Lawyer were asleep at the wheel, with one piece of ID required, it’s a joke and a half. Even if you went for a Covid shot, they ask for two pieces of ID, but for some reason, one piece of ID is OK for a Realtor to accept.
Trump said: “I am angrier now and I’m more committed now than I ever was, with the Top-Secret Documents also being found at Biden’s locations, what a gong show the American elections will be this time around, stay tuned, it’s entertaining to say the least.
Quote of the day: Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people.” “Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy, how do you make a small fortune in Bitcoin, start off by putting a large fortune in Bitcoin.
I’ll never understand why anyone would risk their hard earned income into anything that doesn’t provide cash flow. Of course Bernie Madoff did a brilliant job of providing the latter to those who insisted on it. Due diligence! Invest in 20 fine companies with consistent earnings over a 10 year time span is all you need to do. CN Rail, CP Rail, Emera, Fortis, JNJ, Telus, P&G, Royal Bank, Enbridge, Metro. There’s 10 right off the top of my head. Live off the dividends as I do or better yet reinvest them. Then there’s that most wonderful gift from Harper – TFSAs. Wow! Ours are almost at 400,000 with a 24,000 income if needed … but it’s not so it gets plowed back in.
Lots of these messages on YouTube too.
You’d find that many Bitcoin millionaires and crypto kings were involved in scamming or are currently being investigated for pump and dump, Ponzi and fraud schemes.
For those of us who follow you Garth the BTC message would have been one big red flag that something was up, since your columns have consistently pointed out that BTC is not a wise or safe investment:)
Regarding opening an RRSP when one has a DB pension plan, while it is true that the amounts one can contribute tend to be small due to the pension adjustment it was useful to reduce one’s tax bill. Still is for that matter, though I’d advise those with workplace DB plans in addition to CPP to first stuff $ into a TFSA now that option is available. Ditto the FHSA now it exists. Given that the FHSA allows everyone to contribute $8K per annum I’d urge those who qualify to stuff it to the max allowed since they can then move $ into their RRSP if they don’t use the FHSA to purchase a PR. Good way to supercharge RRSP growth later in life & if one’s workplace pension plan should come to grief (hello there, Sears, Nortel etc.) then at least there is a possible backup to one’s income upon retirement still available. I’d add while government employee pension plans ‘should’ be safe, plenty of examples of how even those ‘safe’ plans have had changes that eventually impact benefits – the elimination of COLA being the most common.
Instagram Idiots are prolific.
As are Tik Tok Turds, Face Book Freaks, and Twitter Tar Holes.
Bill Maher had Frances Haugen on last Friday (the Facebook whistleblower). She made some good points about how social media is destroying young lives.
For instance, Tik Tok use is regulated and restricted in China among kids because it worms away at their brains. In America? Nahhhh, let them rot.
Social media and its users are a scourge on society. A festering cesspool of filth and garbage.
Now, what was it again you’re selling on there? Where can I sign up?!
98 Summertime on 01.29.23 at 10:53 am
#88 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.28.23 at 11:50 pm
Let’s assume your numbers are correct.
Canada’s house prices are much higher than the US’s.
Therefore mortgage debt must be much higher, accounting for the higher household debt numbers.
But that higher debt is offset by higher net worth.
Now that was funny. So if the way to wealth is debt let’s get some more, shall we?
Tell Warren Buffet about that, the poor shmuck who tir to invest vs loading on debt…
———————————-
Unfortunately, loading up on debt is the only way for most Canadians to buy a house to live in.
And there’s nothing wrong with it.
If you can afford the payments, and if that’s what your wife wants.
Getting into debt to buy investment property.
Is another story.
So much fakery in this world, a bigly problem for sure. I suggest that money is also subject to fakery, the most obvious being crypto-currency. But then, so is fiat currency, which has no tangible backing, only a promise based on trust.
Time for a couple of quick questions. First up is Andy. “Long-time reader of your blog,” he says, “never a commenter… because, well, I don’t want to turn into those people!
======================
Now now….
WE commentors always up OUR standards …so why don’t you UP YOURS !
Here’s an interesting paper out of UBC on the prime reason for the Great Resignation – that has reduced the overall labour force and contributed to wage growth.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4335860
Here a couple of key excepts.
“Following the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. labor force participation declined significantly in 2020, slowly recovering in 2021 and 2022 – this has been referred to as the Great Resignation. The decline has been concentrated among older Americans. By 2022, the labor force participation of workers in their prime returned to its 2019 level, while older workers’ participation has continued to fall, responsible for almost the entire decline in the overall labor force participation rate.”
“We show that the Great Resignation among older workers can be fully explained by increases in housing wealth.”
All makes good sense to me.
My Sports Team Portfolio, which consists of Manchester United, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Flyers and Carlton Football Club in Australia is barely breaking even.
Manchester United is starting to pay dividends, the American owners are looking to offload the team, I think they are playing their best football since the Sir Alex Ferguson days.
Chiefs, Mahomes injury gives them an excuse if they don’t get the deal done. I’ve only been supporting the Chiefs since 2013 when they hired Andy Reid, I had to pick a team to shut Mrs Flop up from telling me I had to go for the Seattle Seahawks just because they are are short distance away down the I-5.
Carlton and The Flyers, well they say every portfolio has a few dogs.
Garth’s getting stalked, probably knocked him out of his groove of his normal Sunday real estate slag.
I saw some stats on Vancouver detached sales for January, so I’ll regurgitate them with my Vegamite on toast.
46 detached sales for the month in the city proper.
17 of these sales were in the 1.25 to 1.75 bracket, so that’s what’s selling right now, with higher than average sales ratios despite the sluggish overall performance of the market .
I would have respected the Bitcoin scammer a little bit more if had had parked the sports car and posed instead with a Mirror Filler…
M48BC
4 AnonyMusk on 01.29.23 at 11:27 am
#88 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.28.23 at 11:50 pm
Let’s assume your numbers are correct.
Canada’s house prices are much higher than the US’s.
Therefore mortgage debt must be much higher, accounting for the higher household debt numbers.
But that higher debt is offset by higher net worth.
So we are more house rich than the Amis.
———————————————————–
Sigh. Really? I wonder why I bother sometimes.
A 10 second google search reveals that the Americans have the highest amount of NET financial assets in the world at $259,780 euros (study done by European bank) vs Canada down in 9th place at a measly $125,290.
I know it hurst to admit that those damn yankees are much wealthier and better at all things economy wise than we virtuous Canadians, but facts are facts.
—————————-
As usual.
One has to know how the numbers are calculated.
Net worth in residential properties is sometimes not included because it’s unrealized.
And also, there are many more Gazillionaires in the States.
One should use the medium.
And BTW,
Any decent research should be more than a”10 second Google search”.
#4 AnonyMusk
No. of Households in Canada, 2021
15.3 million
—-
Net worth (wealth) Q4 2021
16,082,255,000,000
—-
Net Worth per Household
$1,051,128
—-
No. of People per Household
2.51
———————————————–
NET WORTH per Person (includes the kids)
$418,776
———————————————–
Implied total population # Households x # People/Household (rounded numbers):
38,403,000
Reported Population 2021 = 38.23 million
Sources:
Net Worth
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=3610066001
Households
https://www.globaldata.com/data-insights/macroeconomic/number-of-households-in-canada-2096147/
Population
https://www.statista.com/statistics/263742/total-population-in-canada/#:~:text=The%20statistic%20shows%20the%20total,to%20about%2038.23%20million%20inhabitants.
*************************
Curious, where did you find the
$125,290 number?
——-
How Wealth calculated by StatCan:
Financial assets = Life insurance and pensions + Other financial assets + Non-financial assets (Real estate + Other non-financial assets)
Liabilities = Mortgage liabilities + Other liabilities
Financial assets – Liabilities = Net worth (wealth)
Instagram:
I use a different first name based on my Facebook profile.
Use my junk email address (hotmail) for Facebook.
Never a problem other than the 10 or so Phishing emails/day in Hotmail.
Then again I am not famous in the World of Financial Advisors like you Garth.
——-
Price of Fame. Success.
Sorry to learn your persona was the object of desire of a fraudster and thief.
Chin up Garth.
#14 The Great Gazoo on 01.29.23 at 12:05 pm
Here’s an interesting paper out of UBC on the prime reason for the Great Resignation – that has reduced the overall labour force and contributed to wage growth.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4335860
Here a couple of key excepts.
“Following the Covid-19 pandemic, U.S. labor force participation declined significantly in 2020, slowly recovering in 2021 and 2022 – this has been referred to as the Great Resignation. The decline has been concentrated among older Americans. By 2022, the labor force participation of workers in their prime returned to its 2019 level, while older workers’ participation has continued to fall, responsible for almost the entire decline in the overall labor force participation rate.”
“We show that the Great Resignation among older workers can be fully explained by increases in housing wealth.”
All makes good sense to me.
———-
Me too. We only have one retirement age dude left in the shop now. Covid took all the fun out of coming to work, meanwhile their homes were shooting to the moon. They all bailed, one sold and moved out East for a double win.
Couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to hang up the gloves.
We should play a fun game.
Human bodies adorning themselves in bling a la in-bread monarchs and their jewels in form of cars.
What does your car brand choice say about you? As bonus, you can also speculate on the colour choice.
As example, in the case of the chap in above photo:
McLaren is for image and ego, which is clearly purchased often by those lacking understanding of both, and certainly having no control of the latter. Any type of open door or bonnet in a photo is a clear sign we’re dealing with a simpleton/manchild who’s amazed that a vehicle has these things that open and close. Very much like a child playing with a Matchbox car and being fascinated by the opening doors or trunk. Red, well it’s a colour of passion, and is a warm colour that seeks attention. Not as much as some of the neon or fluorescent colours McLaren offers, but seeking attention nonetheless.
Perhaps in this case he really wanted a Ferrari (red), but the waiting list was too long and his ego and image wouldn’t let him buy a second-hand Ferrari and be second or third name on the owner registrar.
I think that’s quite spot on.
Someone do Tesla, it’s an easy virtue singling one you can have fun with.
And considering that Garth’s colleagues drive Porsches, probably in SUV form, be careful if you choose to comment on what that brand says about you. It’s a minefield and could get you BANNED.
Thank you so much for this inspirational story of adaptation and innovation, Garth!
This makes me realize that we need to get creative, in these challenging times with very few listings for real estate agents to earn any income from. I’ve gotta pay my Audi lease in three days and I am terrified right now. Haven’t had a sale in almost a year.
Some people I know have already dived into these new opportunities, and are doing really well – just look!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/organized-crime-groups-behind-gta-home-sales-mortgages-without-owners-knowledge-1.6719978
So, Garth, my friend, we’ve just had a conference call, and here’s what my team is doing:
Remember that condo you bought near Bay St a few years ago? This was the “love shack” as you called it, where you used to have your friendly discreet meetups with Smoking Man, Stormy Daniels and TurnerNation. (Party on!) It was only registered in your name, so don’t worry, Dorothy will never know about this.
So we found a fella with chiseled abs and had a barber trim his furry face to look just like you, and included your photo from this website (Thanks!) He just went to a local jewelry store and got a mortgage on your condo in your name and to our bank account. Plus we’re putting it up for sale this afternoon and expect a sale by tonight or tomorrow. (Don’t worry, just make sure you have title insurance and you’ll be covered for all of that stuff)
After we pay our car leases and empty office expenses, we’ll put the rest into Bitcoin and ChatGPT stocks and expect to triple our money in a few weeks. We promise to do our best, if possible, to pay you back your share by April or sometime after. We’ll probably be in touch by email, so just be patient for a bit, no worries.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR GIVING US THIS CREATIVE AND HOPEFUL POSSIBILITY!
All fiat currencies have failed… Fake money created out of thin air.
USD is going to have its day too. They’re at a point of no return.
BITCOIN was created to fix this.
The world runs on US$, and will still be doing so when your grandkids have grandchildren. – Garth
#7 Barry on 01.29.23 at 11:49 am
I’ll never understand why anyone would risk their hard earned income into anything that doesn’t provide cash flow. Of course Bernie Madoff did a brilliant job of providing the latter to those who insisted on it. Due diligence! Invest in 20 fine companies with consistent earnings over a 10 year time span is all you need to do. CN Rail, CP Rail, Emera, Fortis, JNJ, Telus, P&G, Royal Bank, Enbridge, Metro. There’s 10 right off the top of my head. Live off the dividends as I do or better yet reinvest them. Then there’s that most wonderful gift from Harper – TFSAs. Wow! Ours are almost at 400,000 with a 24,000 income if needed … but it’s not so it gets plowed back in.
++++++++++++
You nailed it.
“People with defined benefit (government) pensions shouldn’t strive for big, fat RRSPs.”
Interesting comment. I’d be curious to know thoughts from anyone willing to chime in on whether someone with a gov’t DB should try to draw any RRSP (from a previous private sector job for example) down early?
For example if you have enough in RRSPs to participate in the HBP ($35,000) but that’s about it. Maybe not pay it back and have 1/15 added to income over as many years so it’s not a hit all at once?
#16 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.29.23 at 12:12pm
Re: Net worth Canadians vs Americans
—————
The disparity is probably due to mindset. We immigrated to Canada with our young family 16 years ago when I was 34, and joined a local firm on an equal footing with the other engineers but at a salary 30% lower than in the US.
16 years later, our family’s net worth is multiples of most of my previous peers, with 3 consistently profitable businesses. Plus well-adjusted, independent kids who have already tried kicking off businesses of their own. Mindset. Entrepreneurialism and the courage to try.
Always remember money is a construct, and one of the best ways to accumulate lots is to play the game properly. Do an excellent job and charge lots. High-end private clients take a perverse pride in paying eye-watering fees for the best engineering, international firms want a solution and don’t care about fees, resource enterprises add your fee as presented to the investor information sheet and competitive govt contracts just need close attention to administrative reporting. Ally yourself with the best mentors. Invite them to paid board seats.
But what about the CBs?
Eroding the power of money over time in a big way.
Always mismanaging the ups and downs.
Now look where we are?
Lots of smart people and pension funds jumper on Bitcon as well
And your Mr. Trudeaus green plan is a joke.
The mania for EVs is over that’s for sure.
Its not the cars Trudeau.
10,000 planes in the air. The military’s, the transport ships burning bunker crude and on.
Time to wake up.
scammers everywhere unfortunately. At least your ID was not stolen and the house you own fraudulently sold out from under you by realtors, lawyers, and brokers who barely check the authenticity of IDs and documents.
Imagine the mess if one does not have title insurance on your house (must admit that we have never bothered with this). The outcome would likely be tied up for years in court battles with people with very deep pockets, while 1Million+ is simply stolen from underneath you. Lax laws would almost guarantee little jail time if the perps are ever caught.
“Of course, BTC is one of the most volatile widely-traded assets in existence, essentially unregulated and inevitably on its way to zero.”
I’ve been hearing this since Bitcoins inception in 2009. The network is still running and growing at an exponential rate year after year.
BTW how many currencies have FAILED since 2009?
DELETED
# 21 Yukon
# 7 Barry
I agree wholeheartedly.
I have a bunch of blue chip stocks and only use about half
of the proceeds , and the rest i drip.
And no fees.
Garth, if you are going to use Brobdingnagian words like “pulchritude” to impress the “intellectually disabled” on this blog, I suggest you first make sure you know what they mean!
Any time I can help, feel free to supplicate.
Yours unruly,
Gratuitous Gratitude
Pulchritudes = a bevy of pulchritudiousness. – Garth
DELETED
Dolce and Ponzi
I only spent 10 seconds looking for the truth because that’s all that is required.
Anyone who has even a superficial knowledge of economics knows that the Americans have more wealth than Canadians.
No one cares if your inferiority complexes demand you disparage Americans, but maybe stick to their foreign policy or rugged individualism and risk taking nature that tends to have them lose more people during pandemics, but serves very well in creating industries and innovations.
Global wealth (per capita) data has been published by Credit Suisse for many years, and is a proper comparison of apples to apples, not an improper one using different measures by Stats Canada.
Here is the 2022 Global Wealth Report, where you will (hopefully) be enlightened by the data on page 13:
https://www.credit-suisse.com/about-us/en/reports-research/global-wealth-report.html
Mean Wealth per adult in US$:
2. USA $579,050
7. Canada $409,300
The average American is 40% (!!!) wealthier than the average Canadian.
Please feel free to waste the rest of your Sunday scouring the report for ways to measure things differently.
You’d be wiser to spend time wailing about Americans being loud tourists.
Hi Garth, I have always been under the impression that purchasing a residential property to live in and then selling in less than a year for a profit that the gain would be a taxable capital gain. However, it seems that this has not been universally enforced by CRA . I recall that there was some resent proposal or actual legislation put in place that gains on principal residence within a year will now be taxable.
My question for you is: as many people who bought last year will be facing a real loss if they have to resell will CRA allow you to claim any loss against a future capital gain? Thx.
There is no time associated with the PR exemption. That is urban myth. But as of 29 days ago we have a one-year flip tax in place. – Garth
Wait ’til they find out why Elon felt it was essential to leave Queen’s U to attend school and then work in the USA.
Re: #25 Chaddywack on 01.29.23 at 1:05 pm
I’ve got a LIRA and a defined pension. I’ve been trying to drain my RRSP’s over the past decades and will covert one to a RRIF this year to get the $2,000 pension tax credit the next 7 years. My income will go way up at age 70 when my fixed pension for life comes due and at 72 when I have to start to drain my LIRA that will convert to a LIF. Haven’t figured out what to do with OAS to avoid a total clawback.
The Global Wealth Report cited has a great comparison of USA vs Canada on pages 44 and 45.
A large part of the average Canadian’s wealth comes from real estate, imagine that, while Americans wealth comes more from financial assets (stocks).
Which do you think is healthier, economically speaking?
(Lots of other fascinating info in the report as well)
#25 ‘Chaddy’ – I can think of a couple reasons offhand. Lots of pension plans have clauses that penalize those who seek to draw ‘early’ benefits. Think CPP with its 36% reduction for those who take it at age 60. So if someone has an RRSP that could allow them to say retire ‘early’ yet hold off on taking their pension benefits until such time as those benefits are not reduced for early withdrawal. Or even living off the RRSP & postponing government benefits, in order to qualify for the higher payments that accrue if one waits until age 70+ to begin CPP or OAS.
Bad idea. Sheltered, untaxed growth is a precious thing so registered investments should not be cashed in early. Do the math. – Garth
I see the frontman for the rock band Television has died.
Not familiar with them, but didn’t want to google Television’s greatest hits, just in case Keeping up with the Kardashians or The Apprentice with Donald Trump came up.
I see Triple J in Australia just released their Hottest 100 song list as voted on from last year.
Did not see Men At Work , INXS or Rick Springfield on the list.
Top song didn’t impress me, saw a band called Spacey Jane had two songs in the top 5, here’s one of them here with some throwback sounds from the 80s.
More rockier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQl9J_JuiJs
Trackie likes his new music, so let’s see if he likes this one.
This one more heartfelt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsO1WCJn930
I see the guy likes to wear tank tops that in Australia we colloquially call wife beaters, for some strange reason.
Mrs Flop has yet to fully grasp the meaning of the wife beater, as when I put a sleeveless top on and jump on the couch, she seems to think that I’m giving her the go-ahead to beat me up…
M48BC
“because, well, I don’t want to turn into those people! How you deal with that volume (& calibre) of steerage baffles my mind.”
:):):):):)
Hi Andy, I’m going to take that as a personal compliment! It’d be impossible to turn into me if you tried but I could help, that’s for sure. Its called “Og’s Swagger and Godliness Training – Enter whimpering, exit radiating”. (Disclaimer – you WILL get more attn. from your sig. and random others. Blue pills are recommended upon leaving – we supply one weeks worth). Send payment to [email protected]
Og
#31 tbone on 01.29.23 at 1:32 pm
# 21 Yukon
# 7 Barry
I agree wholeheartedly.
I have a bunch of blue chip stocks and only use about half
of the proceeds , and the rest i drip.
And no fees.
++++++++++
Bingo bango bongo. The way to do it.
#39 Linda on 01.29.23 at 2:16 pm
Bad idea. Sheltered, untaxed growth is a precious thing so registered investments should not be cashed in early. Do the math. – Garth
______
The math shows it’s can be a good idea in certain circumstances:
https://www.moneysense.ca/columns/retired-money/delaying-cpp-and-oas-to-age-70/
Nope. Deferring old age pogey is, for most people except for those who know their death date, a complete mistake. – Garth
Property hoarders are learning the lesson of their lives. Their stupidity is crashing down on them from many directions – stocks, crypto, bonds, housing crashes all happening now wiping them out.
Land barons sitting on dead money and unsaleable developments and projects are next up to get wiped out.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/25/briefing/tech-layoffs-economy.html
#37 Tony on 01.29.23 at 2:08 pm
«» Haven’t figured out what to do with OAS to avoid a total clawback.
==========
1) Look in the mirror
2) Say out loudly: You worked smart/hard and do not need social assistance . Congratulations. You do not depend on anyone else to provide for your needs .
3) Go enjoy life.
Blame goes to all Financial Advisers and the MSM out there who constantly focus on the OAS as if it were a god’s gift to everyone , some sort of BLS/UBI.
It is not , it is a form of welfare , social assistance meant for those unfortunate enough to need it so they can have basic necessities in life.
I for one hope that I will get most if not all of it clawed back when I retire.
And I will be proud of it.
While I’m on a roll here let’s also remember that the RRSP is basically a social contract where you get to deffer tax from the years when you have high’ish employment income to further down the road when you don’t.
If you don’t want to pay tax on RIF withdrawals then simply do not save anything in an RRSP , pay your taxes upfront ,save in the TFSA (no tax on withdrawals ) and non-registered accounts ( take Capital Gains only and qualified dividents) , and hopefully you get maximum CPP.
I understand tax planning and don’t say that one shouldn’t maximize tax savings , but expecting to not pay any significant tax on eventual RRSP savings is counterproductive to the intent of the account.
As we all know Death and Taxes are the only constants in life.
Sir Garth:
“There is no time associated with the PR exemption. That is urban myth. But as of 29 days ago we have a one-year flip tax in place. – Garth”
Not to counter your point with details, however, if one rents out a personal residence and then moves into that same property for their own personal residential use, it is subject to capital gains tax if then sold within 20 years, pro rated.
One has to sign a CRA form when changing use from income producing to personal use. Unless the rules have changed since we did this in 2008.
22 Quintilian on 01.29.23 at 12:57 pm
#15 Flop… on 01.29.23 at 12:06 pm
17 of these sales were in the 1.25 to 1.75 bracket, so that’s what’s selling right now, with higher than average sales ratios despite the sluggish overall performance of the market .
—————————————————————————-
Flop, the low listings, and higher than average sales ratios, yet prices are still trending downward; that would indicate to me that as soon as new spring listings show up, prices will drop further.
Still recognizing that there will always be buyers who are not affected by the higher interest rates, ie, lawyers, plumbers, criminals etc. but that will be a diminishing pool of buyers.
What say you?
///////////////////////////////////////
We’ll see, brother.
I guess I’m just not a very good Blog Nodder.
I don’t just nod my head and go along the narrative of the day, if I see something, I try and put it up even if it contradicts current proceedings.
People have been using the word pivot a lot, rhyming aside that’s why I used the word divot the other day because a decent size chunk of potential buyers seemed to have been removed from the market.
The current sales stats seem to indicate buyers are just trying to put a roof over their heads, obscene rental prices still a factor in this decision making, rather than speculation seems to be driving the bus at the moment.
Nothing is set in concrete, the current trajectory is a slow burn down, lack of inventory in detached definitely a factor though, in the rambunctious years this is about when inventory and sales go into high speed, most people I know seemed to gave gone into the defensive wait and hold position.
A block of land with a knockdown house in Flopville will have an assessment of close to 2 million, the same property, even with a lack of inventory will struggle to get 1.3 million.
Mind the gap.
People seem to be gravitating towards something liveable around 1.5 million, any half decent Vancouver Special that has a mortgage helper, or two, still seems to be in play, with shorter sales times.
The only reason I have to do any of this amateur reporting is because the realtors, and media, like to drive the market down one way streets and don’t like to report two-way traffic.
Tesla seems to cop a lot of flack when they crash.
Audi’s seem to also have a problem, the realtors that drive them don’t know how to manoeuvre honestly when the market goes into reverse…
M48BC
Yogism #38: “When the Pareto Principle becomes the Peter Principle the spell is gone”.
#14 The Great Gazoo
The UBC will be the last to catch on and probably be wrong anyway.
I retired in 2013 and as a member of our retirees group I can tell you our membership has increased. Why you ask?
When the Canadian Government crashed the whole system, the company could not see the future. Their response – offer a bunch of people early retirement with a buyout.
Those people ain’t goin back.
#14 The Great Gazoo
By the way. The people they offered retirement to, were all skilled tradesmen, not paper pushers.
All those skills left the work force.
You mean, the link I clicked on is not to Gartho’s dog’s OnlyFans account? :-)
Haha, Garth, like you’d start off an Instagram post by saying “Hey everyone. ” I reported it…
The sage of North has a 25 year old Bitcoin coach. Totally believable and i will fall for it. Lol.
Its hard to believe enough sheep jumped into bitcoin and ran the price up to almost $80,000 / coin before the crash.
Its not even a feasable replacement for currency unless is figures out how tos cale, its limited to around 7 transactions per second, if the whole world adopted bitcoin they would be hours or days of delays before transactions go through.
Ah, a beautiful zero degree three-hour shirtless clearcut run in the sun. Jacking up those vitamin D and chlorophyll levels!
What does someone need to do to get at 10/10 online? I mean the fake Garth turned $1000 into $13000 in 3 hours because of Mark Roland and poor Mark was only worth a 9.5/ 10.
As ’freedom convoy’ supporters celebrate their anniversary of the occupation of Ottawa, plunging an American flag into the snowy parliament hill, and Tucker Carlson asks “why are we not sending an armed force north to liberate Canada from Trudeau?“, Mr.louzhu on reddit, a dual Canadian and American citizen, writes:
As a dual citizen who recently moved to Canada, I gotta say whatever downsides come with being here—longer medical queues, more expensive stuff, colder winters—it’s been worth it.
I came here from the US south east. It’s really sad living in a place where the darkness of ignorance and hatred casts its shadow over every aspect of life. And people are so used to it that they aren’t even aware. Instead they just simmer in anger and impotent rage, occasionally taking it out on others in the form of racism, sexism, gun violence, and bold faced religious fundamentalism. The “good old boy” politics is corrupt and trash too. It’s oppressive.
By contrast, Canadians are far more chill. Life isn’t so melodramatic. People are nicer. And their values aren’t rooted in this low key animosity towards other human beings at all times, like the US political mood is these days. Y’all still have a functioning community up here. And the biggest threat to that, if you ask me, is Americanism.
#34 AnonyMusk
You have yet to answer the question, where did you get the:
Canada down in 9th place at a measly $125,290
from?
Oh, the heady 10 sec Google Search ’cause that number certainly wasn’t on page 13 of the Credit Suisse report you cited.
—–
Clearly you searched later on and found my calcs in $Cdn close to Credit Suisse (they put Cdn wealth higher in $US) and you decided to use them instead, post haste. Your CS source pg. 13:
Mean USD per ADULT (they do not define the adult age threshold)
Credit Suisse = $409,300
StatCan data, Mean …
Convert to Adults 2022 (StatCan Labour Force Survey down, used population data below a year later – people of working age per StatCan = adult):
StatCan 15 yrs and older population, Dec. 2022 = 32,007,000
StatCan Net Worth Dec. 2022 = $16,205,394,000,000
StatCan Per “Adult” 2022 = CAD $506,308 or USD $380,222
[2022, 2021 exch rates similar]
Credit Suisse OVERESTIMATES the Cdn “Adult” wealth vs. that from StatCan, the latter albeit from 1 year later, USD:
$409,300 (CS) vs. $380,222 (StatCan)
2022 StatCan data is lower than the CS number, even after 1 year later – tells you something went wrong at CS.
CS source is itself:
“Source: James Davies, Rodrigo Lluberas and Anthony Shorrocks, Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2022”
————————
I CONCLUDE this:
1. People like you have a superfluous, addled treatment of crucial data such as wealth – they like to bandy about numbers without trying to determine the source underlying data and its believability. Worse, when caught in the act “measly $125,290” they back track, find other data to pass off and remain unrepentant. Ego, save face?
2. I trust StatCan more than 3 Internal Lackey WONKS at Credit Suisse.
Next time, have a care with the off the cuff remarks esp. about something as important as the wealth of Canadians and do some thinking while you are at it.
#58 Observer on 01.29.23
Canadians are far more chill. Life isn’t so melodramatic. People are nicer. And their values aren’t rooted in this low key animosity towards other human beings at all times, like the US political mood is these days. Y’all still have a functioning community up here. And the biggest threat to that, if you ask me, is Americanism.
—————
Hey, maybe he’s on to something. I’m Canadian and must admit I am indeed quite extraordinarily happy most of the time. Of course, so is most of my extended family in the US, Costa Rica and even Venezuela.
Maybe some people are just genetically happy? Our dogs are happy, too. Nature or nurture?
DELETED
BitCoin versus fiat U.S. dollars
BitCoin fans, call me when U.S. dollars are quoted in units of BitCoin instead of BitCoin trading and quoted in U.S. dollars. When do you think that will happen? Half past never?
#56 Sail Away
Vitamin D on the Left Coast in Winter my buttocks.
In later years you will find your Doctor, as mine did, prescribing you Vitamin D tabs in Winter and rain or cloud, I went outside near all the time. *
A colleague at SFU, American, had to go back to the US as his wife went stir crazy with the constant Winter rain and cloud cover (and lack of Vitamin D body production).
* In the meantime and for today, live La Vida Loca while you still can ’cause the next 9 days you will see little sun, much rain, if the Left Coast weather people are correct.
Let us know how your Vitamin D body production calculator/watch number went.
————-
Euphoric Left Coast when they get the rare Winter sunny day. Poor things. Ark dwellers that they are.
Ciao d’Italia, not called Sunny for nothing.
#43 ‘Love’ – I read that bit about how Canadians should postpone government benefits as well. Obviously Garth does not agree. Myself, I think it depends on one’s circumstances. As for holding off on using one’s RRSP to keep the tax sheltered growth going, again it depends on circumstances. If I wanted to retire before I qualified for an unreduced pension, the loss of a few years of RRSP growth would be more than offset by the benefit of not seeing my eventual pension reduced by taking it early. I’m talking workplace pension, not just CPP.
That having been said, I myself would not recommend deferring CPP or OAS past age 65. The chances of one dying before receiving ‘more’ by deferring the benefit(s) make doing so a losing bet for most.
#26 Sail Away on 01.29.23 at 1:06 pm
#16 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.29.23 at 12:12pm
Re: Net worth Canadians vs Americans
—————
The disparity is probably due to mindset. We immigrated to Canada with our young family 16 years ago when I was 34, and joined a local firm on an equal footing with the other engineers but at a salary 30% lower than in the US.
16 years later, our family’s net worth is multiples of most of my previous peers, with 3 consistently profitable businesses. Plus well-adjusted, independent kids who have already tried kicking off businesses of their own. Mindset. Entrepreneurialism and the courage to try.
——————
Mindset is only in your mind.
You still owe us proof of that you actually exist.
DELETED
Olivia called our landline from 800#’s, 888#’s and local area code and exchange #’s about five times in a 15 minute period today. Then we stopped picking up, for the next six calls.
She was a recording expressing a problem with our account.
No one in this house has ever used Amazons services, except once for a $30. hard to source item a decade ago.
Fake world.
#4 says that if Canada spent its fair share of defence spending we’d be even poorer (than americans). Not necessarily. We pay heartily. $28/barrel of oil, 20% lumber duty, ships loaded with raw logs,mining concentrates, unrefined oil leaving. Oil tankers loaded with diesel & gasoline arriving. Few mills & no smelters or refineries hereabouts. Heavy manufacturing? Whats that? When the oil price went up lately the $C didn’t follow for the first time. Because the oil companies are not reinvesting in Canada & are paying profits in dividends & share buybacks. Their 80% owned offshore. The Senate had a special session so Bill Gates could increase his share of CN from the previous one owner max 18%. The Vietnamese for a thousand years loaded their elephants with silk & gold & spices & women & commodities to pay tithe to China. We too pay our liege lord. I’d bet we’d be better off if we had strong military. When the 2nd war ended there were 12 million Canadians. Independent,strong, free & rich. We walked the talk while Ottawa politicians degraded our armed forces. Once nepotism was entrenched & the army neutralized they gladly became satraps for the American Empire.
#60 SailAway
Whooosh…!!! As per usual. Must be frustrating.
#63 Soren Vita
Euphoric Left Coast when they get the rare Winter sunny day. Poor things. Ark dwellers that they are.
Ciao d’Italia, not called Sunny for nothing.
—————
I love Italia.
But She has no monopoly on the the SUN.
‘I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says any time there’s a deficit of more than 3 percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.’
-Warren Buffett, 2011
how about being stalked by dead people… so many accounts of dead people now… linkedin truly terrible for this… zombie world of social media
I am cursed with longevity genes.
Two generations of my forefathers & mothers all lived to their late nineties, and so I’ll gladly take the 46% bonus by waiting to 70 before collecting CPP. All I have to do is live to 80 to come out ahead.
There is no doubt ID theft is a problem, but let’s keep it in perspective. I could write a book about the crap I’ve witnessed in my small town. Stealing houses is nothing new folks. I personally know the victim and the perpetrator in more than one case. No fancy high tech, just a family member willing to sell out granny as she battles dementia, or someone in the know at the hospital or old folks home. Nothing new here, theft is the world’s oldest profession. Well, maybe second oldest.
Is it wrong to think Garth getting hacked and endorsing crypto funny? hahaha
In Canada from October and until May everybody need Vitamin D supplement b’s skin not open enough to sun.
Here is everything you should know about Vitamin D —->
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/how-much-vitamin-d-is-too-much
and
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/
OR short info
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-Consumer/
#62 Shawn on 01.29.23 at 5:29 pm
BitCoin versus fiat U.S. dollars
BitCoin fans, call me when U.S. dollars are quoted in units of BitCoin instead of BitCoin trading and quoted in U.S. dollars. When do you think that will happen? Half past never?
———–
I predict it will happen when the USD loses reserve currency status. Word is that Saudi Arabia will begin acceptung oil payments in currencies other than USD. This is important because the petro dollar arrangment kept the USD as world reserve after Nixon went off the gold standard.
Now, what will happen if the USD loses world reserve status? That’s right, trillions of USD flooding back into the US causing hyperinflation.
We are almost at that point, barring WW3 or some other game changer, it looks like a done deal. It’s over.
They will try to implement CBDCs, but they will be widely rejected. Gold and BTC will be held by central banks.
Never. – Garth
#6 chalkie on 01.29.23 at 11:46 am
Chalkie, why bother. This is 96% plagiarism. Just all copy and paste stuff. Let’s try to be original
From a plagiarism checker:
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Ontario Teachers writes off FTX stake, taking $95-million loss
https://financialpost.com/fp-finance/ontario-teachers-writes-off-ftx-stake-taking-95-million-loss
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Fake nation – Greater Fool
https://www.greaterfool.ca/2023/01/29/fake-nation/
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twitter.com › YahooNews › statusYahoo News on Twitter: “Some fed-up consumers are posting …
Jan 23, 2023 · Some fed-up consumers are posting rants on social media complaining about tip requests at drive-thrus, while others say they’re tired of being asked to leave a gratuity for a muffin or a simple cup of coffee at their neighborhood bakery. 23 Jan 2023 20:25:02
https://twitter.com/YahooNews/status/1617619439360348167/
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Title fraudsters have hit at least 32 homes in Ontario and B.C.
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/mortgage-and-title-fraudsters-have-hit-at-least-32-homes-in-ontario-and-b-c
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Impersonators posing as homeowners linked to 32 fraud cases in Ontario and B.C.
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Umunsi mwiza nshuti za Energy Radio. Ikaze mu … – Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/EnergyRadioRwanda/photos/a.1114023975323125/3195667123825456/?type=3
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Family, friends hold rally for late Michael “Mikey” Benedict
https://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/story/news/2021/11/06/family-friends-hold-rally-late-michael-mikey-benedict/6282118001
#77
Maybe not the complete loss of Reserve Currency status, but Eurasian integration, SCO & BRICS+ is going to change the game substantially.
All the leaders who attempted to sell oil in currencies other than the USD are dead -we’ll see how MBS fairs.
#71 Sail Away on 01.29.23 at 6:09 pm
‘I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says any time there’s a deficit of more than 3 percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.’
-Warren Buffett, 2011
———————
The more I hear about the guy.
The more I disrespect him.
He may be good at investing.
But sure not smart in other, important ways.
And Sailo, don’t worship false idols.
Wait till you learn about fake shares! Nvm fake IG accounts…
#67 Wrk.dover on 01.29.23 at 5:57 pm
Olivia called our landline from 800#’s, 888#’s and local area code and exchange #’s about five times in a 15 minute period today. Then we stopped picking up, for the next six calls.
She was a recording expressing a problem with our account.
No one in this house has ever used Amazons services, except once for a $30. hard to source item a decade ago.
Fake world
————————————————————–
Olivia was calling us as well. Friends suggested next time she calls to take the phone off the hook and leave it for a half hour. No calls since. But then, how many people have land lines anymore?
#23 BIG CHIEF on 01.29.23 at 1:04 pm
All fiat currencies have failed… Fake money created out of thin air.
USD is going to have its day too. They’re at a point of no return.
BITCOIN was created to fix this.
———————————————————–
The world runs on US$, and will still be doing so when your grandkids have grandchildren. – Garth
———————————————————–
Yes and we’ll be riding horses instead of cars, taking boats across continents for vacations instead of planes, and the internet will be gone…..back to B/W tube TVs and roto-dial phones.
But if you promise then I’ll just keep stacking up those US dollars that keep devaluing every year.
RE: #25 Chaddywack on 01.29.23 at 1:05 pm
Interesting comment. I’d be curious to know thoughts from anyone willing to chime in on whether someone with a gov’t DB should try to draw any RRSP (from a previous private sector job for example) down early? should try to draw any RRSP (from a previous private sector job for example) down early?
=======================================
Well, it all depends on your situation.
One scenario:
If you wanted to retire early but haven’t worked the required number of years, your monthly benefit will be penalized 5% for every year prior to your 60th birthday. So if you retired at 58, then your monthly pension payment will be 10% less than if you had quit at 58 and deferred your pension until 60. An RRSP could be used to bridge those two years so you can avoid the 10% lifetime penalty.
#59 Dolce Vita on 01.29.23 at 5:15 pm
The numbers I posted first from the Global Wealth report were net Financial assets (not including real estate.)
The Global Wealth report also has total net wealth, which includes real estate. The data on page 13 of the report is very clearly there and perhaps you can point to an error somewhere? It is repeated on pages 44 and 45.
I notice Stats Can does not have a comparison to the USA using the same methodology, so you’ll continue to ‘just believe it’ without any evidence whatsoever, ignoring the well respected and widely cited GWR.
I suppose you will ignore the obvious fact that the USA income per capita is $70,930 while for Canada it is a mere $48,310.
Source: https://www.worlddata.info/average-income.php
See, that’s what happens when a country’s GDP per capita is much higher over many decades: Its population becomes wealthier.
US GDP per capita: $70,248
Canada GDP per capita: $51,988
Source: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD
I know, your ‘feelings’ about it are more accurate than some mere wonks at the World Bank.
Keep it up, this is fun, and revealing.
RE: #67 Wrk.dover on 01.29.23 at 5:57 pm
She was a recording expressing a problem with our account.
No one in this house has ever used Amazons services, except once for a $30. hard to source item a decade ago.
=======================================
The silly thing with these calls is that Amazon always EMAILS you about your order status. They NEVER telephone you.
Same with those silly VISA account robo calls. As if VISA is going to robo call you about a problem. No, it’ll be a live person. The scammers have gotten lazy and uncreative.
#77 Sooner Than You Think on 01.29.23 at 7:35 pm
An instant ‘tell’ for someone who actually believes what they read on zerohedge is when they claim (as zh has for a decade now) that the USA will lose reserve currency status.
That it will happen because someone decides to pay for oil in another currency is the really funny part.
The US dollar is held in reserve by central banks around the world because the US is the biggest consumer in the world and most countries sell more to the US than they buy from it.
The US effectively trades its paper for goods and services.
Every time I hear this silly assertion I ask the question that is never answered, and it’s a simple one:
“What will the countries holding trillions of US dollars do with them?”
The answer of course is that there is really only thing they can do if they want to rid themselves of US dollar reserves: Buy goods and services from the USA.
Now, zerohedge readers might think that would be a terrible thing, but most of us realize that it would be a massive benefit to the US.
And if foreign nations stopped accepting US paper for their cars and machinery who on earth would they sell to, and what happens to their economies when they lose their number 1 customer?
Which is why Garth is right, it’s never going to happen.
Going to have to find something else to perma doom about I’m afraid.
I told Mrs Flop the other day the next time The States has a real estate meltdown we’re gonna have to have a serious conversation about buying a small apartment down there.
No touching the TFSA, RRSP or other superannuation, if we don’t have it in the ashtray of The Mirror Filler then forget it, most likely less than 200k CAD.
Corpus Christi, dunno.
The best value I’ve seen on the sunshine list probably is a quirky retirement in Albuquerque…
M48BC
The 25 Sunniest Cities in the U.S.
1. Phoenix, Arizona
2. Tucson, Arizona
3. Las Vegas
4. El Paso, Texas
5. Reno, Nevada
6. Pueblo, Colorado
7. Sacramento, California
8. Key West, Florida
9. Flagstaff, Arizona
10. Fresno, California
11. Albuquerque, New Mexico
12. Midland-Odessa, Texas
13. Ely, Nevada
14. Roswell, New Mexico
15. Los Angeles, California
16. Amarillo, Texas
17. Lubbock, Texas
18. Miami, Florida
19. San Diego, California
20. Denver, Colorado
21. Grand Junction, Colorado
22. Tampa, Florida
23. Dodge City, Kansas
24. Abilene, Texas
25. Little Rock, Arkansas
“Albuquerque, New Mexico
Sunny days help make Albuquerque the hot air balloon capital of the world. But that’s not the only benefit of living in New Mexico’s largest city. Its high desert climate delivers warm days and cool evenings, making it comfortable year-round. Additionally, Albuquerque remains a great value. The median listing home price is $324,000 or $185 per square foot. The cost of living is 4 percent below the national average.”
https://www.moving.com/tips/sunniest-cities-us/
@#80 Pugnacious Ponzie’s pap
“And Sailo, don’t worship false idols.”
+++
Billionaire Buffet is a “false Idol”?
Spare me.
I’d take advice from a billionaire over a bile burper every day of the week.
Here’s a basic old school apartment for less than 80k USD
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1100-Alvarado-Dr-SE-APT-211-Albuquerque-NM-87108/67908858_zpid/
Mrs Flop calls 17 degrees muggy, remember, so some parts of the States are only for a quick visit, if I want to cook my skin like Thanksgiving Turkey, I might as well go back home to Australia.
No bogans in Albuquerque, we’ll there probably is their version, but I’ll tolerate them…
M48BC
Month
High / Low(°C)
Rain
January
10° / -4°
2 days
February
13° / -1°
2 days
March
18° / 2°
2 days
April
22° / 6°
1 day
May
27° / 11°
2 days
June
33° / 16°
2 days
July
34° / 19°
5 days
August
32° / 18°
5 days
September
29° / 14°
3 days
October
22° / 8°
3 days
November
15° / 1°
2 days
December
10° / -3°
2 days
Warren Buffett
#80 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.29.23 at 7:58 pm
#71 Sail Away on 01.29.23 at 6:09 pm
‘I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says any time there’s a deficit of more than 3 percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.’
-Warren Buffett, 2011
———————
The more I hear about the guy.
The more I disrespect him.
He may be good at investing.
But sure not smart in other, important ways.
And Sailo, don’t worship false idols.
*********************************
To learn about Buffett don’t “hear about him”. Read what he writes and listen anytime he speaks. It’s impossible for an intelligent person to get to know what Buffett has written and said and to not respect him.
He’s an economic genius and a management genius and an all around great person. Not to mention he is a barrel of laughs with his friends.
Learn from your betters once in a while.
#87 AnonyMusk on 01.29.23 at 8:37 pm
#77 Sooner Than You Think on 01.29.23 at 7:35 pm
An instant ‘tell’ for someone who actually believes what they read on zerohedge is when they claim (as zh has for a decade now) that the USA will lose reserve currency status.
That it will happen because someone decides to pay for oil in another currency is the really funny part.
The US dollar is held in reserve by central banks around the world because the US is the biggest consumer in the world and most countries sell more to the US than they buy from it.
The US effectively trades its paper for goods and services.
Every time I hear this silly assertion I ask the question that is never answered, and it’s a simple one:
“What will the countries holding trillions of US dollars do with them?”
The answer of course is that there is really only thing they can do if they want to rid themselves of US dollar reserves: Buy goods and services from the USA.
Now, zerohedge readers might think that would be a terrible thing, but most of us realize that it would be a massive benefit to the US.
And if foreign nations stopped accepting US paper for their cars and machinery who on earth would they sell to, and what happens to their economies when they lose their number 1 customer?
Which is why Garth is right, it’s never going to happen.
Going to have to find something else to perma doom about I’m afraid
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Here’s a novel idea: The rest of the world will start consuming what they produce instead of sending the fruits of their labor to the US in exchange for worthless paper?
#91 Shawn
To learn about Buffett don’t “hear about him”. Read what he writes and listen anytime he speaks. It’s impossible for an intelligent person to get to know what Buffett has written and said and to not respect him.
He’s an economic genius and a management genius and an all around great person. Not to mention he is a barrel of laughs with his friends.
Learn from your betters once in a while.
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What I learned about investments I learned from this blog (suck up) and from utilizing my extensive financial and management education and experience.
For the rest of my life long learning I followed great Authors, Philosophers and just simple people that I found on my journey of life.
And I’m very content with the choices I made and the spiritual company I keep.
Not need to lecture me.
Air used to be free at gas stations. Now it’s $2.
Inflation is expensive.
Dumber than youn think?
Here’s a novel idea: The rest of the world will start consuming what they produce instead of sending the fruits of their labor to the US in exchange for worthless paper?
*******************************
Sure, we will repeal the laws of comparative advantage that led to trade and all its advantages and the huge increases in standards of living that it brings.
And why stop at countries making their own stuff? Towns too. Even households. Go back to making your own cloths. You go first.
“Here’s a novel idea: The rest of the world will start consuming what they produce instead of sending the fruits of their labor to the US in exchange for worthless paper?”
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The USA included.
Grossly less efficient than the current system, but better from a national security pov.
If everyone’s doing it you can’t argue it benefits ROW and hurts USA. It’s either a good thing for a nation or not.
None of this will ever happen rapidly in any case. China already sold $400B of US treasuries and no one even noticed. The US $ rose during the entire time.
“Fidelity, iShares, BMO or Vanguard”
Is this in no particular order, Garth?
What a surprise. Spin the Smart Cities wheel of fortune, I bet you get Control over Travel, and War on Small Business.
2020 was the test run for this. Data gathering phase.
Our cell phones were tracked.
Now will come the final implementation.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-taxes-fees-debate-1.6729032
Facing a $993-million budget shortfall this year, city council could be poised to once again study new taxes on parking, congestion or retail sales to shore up Toronto’s fiscal health.
Congestion pricing set at $5 to $20 a day could generate between $89 million and $377 million annually.
.City of Oshawa approves 4.98 per cent tax increase (durhamradionews.com)
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–So this is why Wifi is free in public areas and why 5G towers are every few steps. Technology we use is military-based. The battlefield, our streets and homes is well mapped out.
https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/see-through-walls-using-wi-fi-routers
Created: Jan 19, 2023 08:38 AM EST
Researchers have been working on ways to “see” people without using cameras or expensive LiDAR hardware for years. In 2013, a team of researchers at MIT found a way to use cell phone signals to see through walls. In 2018, another MIT team used Wi-Fi to detect people in another room and translate their movements into walking stick figures. Now, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Waterloo are advancing our ability to see through walls using Wi-Fi.
#95 Shawn on 01.29.23 at 10:33 pm
Dumber than youn think?
Here’s a novel idea: The rest of the world will start consuming what they produce instead of sending the fruits of their labor to the US in exchange for worthless paper?
*******************************
Sure, we will repeal the laws of comparative advantage that led to trade and all its advantages and the huge increases in standards of living that it brings.
And why stop at countries making their own stuff? Towns too. Even households. Go back to making your own cloths. You go first
———
You misunderstood. There will still be global trade, it’s just that the rest of the world will consume more, thereby raising their collective standard of living at the expense of the USA. Zero sum game, wealth distrubution, a “great reset” if you will.
“Ponzie was a misanthropic Austrian expat who had lived in several countries throughout his life. He was known for his disdain for human interaction and for constantly declaring that all he needed to know about life he learned from a rutabaga. His attitude and behavior alienated him from those around him, and he lived a solitary existence, never forming any meaningful connections with anyone.
Despite his constant negativity and lack of social skills, he remained convinced that the wisdom he gleaned from his beloved rutabaga was all he needed to navigate the world.”
*redistribution
#55 Victor Llearna on 01.29.23 at 4:39 pm
Its hard to believe enough sheep jumped into bitcoin and ran the price up to almost $80,000 / coin before the crash.
Its not even a feasable replacement for currency unless is figures out how tos cale, its limited to around 7 transactions per second, if the whole world adopted bitcoin they would be hours or days of delays before transactions go through.
———————————————————–
Perhaps learn how it works first?
There is a massive amount of development work going into applications that essentially ride over the main network. Check out the Lightning network.
Imagine in the future people paying for movies through a secure network that will only allow a single view, with no ability for governments to censor.
The number of small users around the world continues to grow, and they aren’t going away.
The overleveraged big boys have been taken down like the Junior Mining Stock promoters they were. None of them were counselling people to buy and hold BTC, and keep the private keys. They were pumping ancillary services like exchanges.
I expect most altcoins to fail, including Ethereum, although it will be one of the last. They are all securities, Bitcoin is property, learn the difference.
The price of BTC may go up and down, but the value is growing, we’ll see where the price is in 5 years compared to Canadian RE.
#11 Ponzius Pilatus on 01.29.23 at 11:59 am
98 Summertime on 01.29.23 at 10:53 am
Unfortunately, loading up on debt is the only way for most Canadians to buy a house to live in.
And there’s nothing wrong with it.
Absolutely. Everyone has the right to take on as much debt a a creditor would be willing to lend.
The problem is with the cost of money aka as interest on that debt. It should be determined by market forces/based on past savings and the risk associated with it, not based on funny money issued by money ‘authority’ aka central ‘banks’ that is just made up and has no past labour or capital behind it.
The later is basically a theft from savers, but also causes excessive inflation that hits everyone on fixed income and is detrimental to the economy and consumption.
It is only beneficial for debtors/government and banks
so in essence it is hidden tax on the poor, this is why there is so much lies around it and attempt to miscalculate real inflation always to the downside.
The problem with every lie is that inflation lie at some point will distort so much the economy that it will practically kill it. And then we will start again, this time with CBDC.
The herd has to be skinned and milked here and there, keep it lean.
“Fake nation”
That is right, Canada is a fake nation. A nation is the spatial and political expression of a people and a people is essentially of one common race or ethnicity.
Instead Canada is an multi racial empire that has to be kept together by force and a lot of official BS and it is also a paradise for real estate investors, realtors, landlords ,government employees and PC groups. But not for the people who founded this country or work at market wage rates. They have been priced out of this country and censored. This is not the country I was born into anymore.
Indeedy, fake solicitations on platform like FB are legion. FB etc are also used by the card scams . But incredibly FB etc does nothing . You’ll be banned for a comment about a sleazy politician, but card scammers using crime to pay internet advertising , ID impersonators stealing sexy girl photos and asking to “friend ” or introduce you to a “master trader ” are never censored. The internet providers really suck. My advice is to always block every solicitation and never open any dm or email you aren’t 100% on. FB etc has no avenue when you can log a complaint.
Rates, I think a 5 + handle in the US will be a reality. Canada has no choice but to follow. There are only two other CBs that aren’t spitballing a pause, Indonesia and Poland. Not exactly putting Canada in the heavy hitters club. There’s a recession coming, the yield curve is no fan of moral suasion sucker. The inversion is extreme. Sure , the Dems want to media blackout into the 24 election cycle but there’s no soft landing on the horizon. Select investments are the game going forward. My ETF picks would be big cap energy and cash.
@#101 Sail Away
“he remained convinced that the wisdom he gleaned from his beloved rutabaga was all he needed to navigate the world.””
++++
Please tell me he named it “Vilson”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyRmL0k8RpU
Flop; that stretch of I-40 (rte 66) from Kingman AZ to Amarillo TX. has a steady winter wind howling, every time I’ve stopped long enough to gas up. Warm and sunny in the car set at 140Km/hr on cruise though, watching the back and forth of mile long double deck sea can trains on the adjacent Union Pacific line, every five to ten minutes.
Las Cruses to the far south, gets 330 days of at least partial sun, if you want to stay in NM., and your wife can hack a city of reasonable proportion, rather than the biggest. Best part, it is upwind of El Paso, which is down wind of mega sized feedlots. Ah, the smell of bovine urine on a warm day!
Ruidoso NM. looks like home to me. Trees and acreages.
DATA POINT OF THE DAY:
– Since Jan 1st, 2023, 4000 listings in the GTA (Toronto, Peel, Durham, York & Halton) “failed to sell” (fell through, terminated, expired, etc)
2614 sold.
– Jan 22, 1665 Fell through, terminated, expired, or suspended.
– 5475 sold in the GTA in Jan 22.
https://twitter.com/shazigoalie/status/1620046420337373184
#94 Sail Away
Air used to be free at gas stations. Now it’s $2.
Inflation is expensive.
————————————————————————————————————
I don’t care who you are, that’s funny right there!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFlCD5CYAcU
#64 Linda on 01.29.23 at 5:45 pm
…Myself, I think it depends on one’s circumstances…
That having been said, I myself would not recommend deferring CPP or OAS past age 65.
__________
Thanks Linda. Agreed, especially about OAS. The calculation if different between OAS and CPP so if you’re going to wait to take one the correct choice is CPP.
Another interesting fact I found is that if you are working past 65 you still have to contribute to CPP. That is unless you have started taking CPP, then you don’t have to contribution. An important point for those in that situation.
Cheers.
Now that Green Energy has invaded the electrical grid on a large enough scale for a long enough time, it is apparent that a 100% green electrical grid is not only impossible, but destructive to the environment and society.
The reason is that past a certain point (25% – 30% of grid capacity) green energy destabilzes the grid and requires additional fossil fuel back up capacity to compensate for the on/off nature of wind and solar.
This grid stability limit is called the “Pollock Limit” and I expect that we’ll be hearing about it in the future, whether we want to or not.
You see a mini-scale example of the Pollock Limit effect every time your lights brown out slightly when you turn on the vacuum cleaner. The grid compensates by having enough overcapacity that the brownout is filled and the lights brighten again.
But with renewables, the Pollock Limit is seen on a grid wide scale as wind and solar constantly and randomly turn off and on. Fossil fuel generators must always be kept idling inefficiently so they can back fill the holes left by wind and solar. Similarly, when wind and solar produce power spikes that aren’t needed on the grid, the power must be “dumped” to another grid, usually at a huge financial loss. Ironically, at these times of excess generation, Green Energy producers are paid to NOT produce electricity.
What we have is a system where a very few people are cashing in on making life worse for the rest of us. That needs to stop.
Several European countries have already hit the Pollock Limit and the consumer is paying through the nose for the self-inflicted idiocy.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/01/29/why-installing-pollock-breaching-wind-or-solar-is-costly-and-wasteful/
#100 Sooner Than You Think on 01.29.23 at 11:34 pm
“Zero sum game, wealth distrubution, a “great reset” if you will.”
——————————————————
Ah there it is, the old zero sum game theory. I guess all the wealth creation of the past 200 years was merely shifting things around, no one created anything.
I wonder who the poor sap is that lost the wealth I have now?
Next you’ll be telling us that resources are finite and that plants don’t grow. Sigh.
#112 The Pollock Limit and Green Energy on 01.30.23 at 10:13 am
You are confusing real vs reactive current in an AC power system.
Due to economics and politics, the necessary control features are now being bundled into large scale battery systems. These are now getting up into the 500MW range per site. They control both real and reactive power(MW & MVAR) independently, and are working on frequency control for when there are not enough spinning generators.
The market will determine the limit, there are no technical limits, but the battery costs are not low. If there is a lot of sun, like in the US Southwest, the limits will get over 50% in a few years.
It will be a solar and natural gas world, with a bit of hydro and a bit of wind added.
#112 The Pollock Limit and Green Energy
Thanks for that. But your analysis is far too sophisticated for His Wokeness and his subservients in Ottawa to comprehend.
I’m reminded of Nigel, the lead guitar player in “Spinal Tap”. He boasted their amplifiers went “all the way to 11” as opposed to the usual 10. “That’s one more!”, he said. It was suggested to Nigel that maximum volume was just that, regardless if you called it 10 or 11. He developed an offended look and protested: “No, ours go all the way to 11”. This nicely illustrates the mindset of present-day “progressive” politicians.
In every other facet of human endeavor there is a premium to be paid for better service and reliability. Except one. Unreliable solar & wind cost the same as the fossil fuel derived energy that backs them up and thereby guarantees reliable base load supply 24 hours a day.
That should be fixed immediately. But things need to get far worse before any significant movement is seen in the Church of Green where such misguided thinking originates.
Year 4. — Our Global Rulers keeping us in a state of crisis. Your compliance is key Comrades.
https://www.who.int/news-room/articles-detail/interim-position-paper-considerations-regarding-proof-of-covid-19-vaccination-for-international-travellers
The WHO Director-General concurs with the advice offered by the Committee regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and determines that the event continues to constitute a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC
“At the present time, it is WHO’s position that national authorities and conveyance operators should not introduce requirements of proof of COVID-19 vaccination for international travel as a condition for departure or entry, given that there are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission. In addition, considering that there is limited availability of vaccines, preferential vaccination of travellers could result in inadequate supplies of vaccines for priority populations considered at high risk of severe COVID-19 disease. WHO also recommends that people who are vaccinated should not be exempt from complying with other travel risk-reduction measures.”
—
— It’s been said…we trust our health to the very people that profit from our sickness.
.And for Moderna, the pharmaceutical and biotech company based in Cambridge, that means more than quadrupling the price of its COVID vaccine — from the $26 per dose it charged the federal government in their latest contract to somewhere between $110 and $130 per dose on the commercial market. (msn.com)
#114 AM in MN on 01.30.23 at 11:36 am
Thanks for chiming in.
#87 Anon
“For a half century the petrodollar has supported the value of the US dollar and ensured financing for America’s large budget and trade deficits. By billing for oil in dollars, the Saudis guaranteed a worldwide demand for US dollars. Without this demand for dollars, the constant increase in the US money supply would have eroded the dollar’s exchange value in terms of other currencies. As the US has offshored so much of its production for home use, the US is import-dependent, and the widening trade deficit would have eroded the dollar’s exchange value and resulted in high inflation.” -PCR
#117 Stoph on 01.30.23 at 1:13 pm
#114 AM in MN on 01.30.23 at 11:36 am
Thanks for chiming in.
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Same here.
#111 ‘Love’ – actually, once one turns 65 one can choose to take CPP even if still working. There is some form to fill out. I can’t recall if one must submit said form every year one continues to work past age 65 or only the one time, but it allows the cessation of CPP deductions off the pay cheque once that 65th birthday occurs. Of course any CPP benefits get added to income, so maybe not the best move unless one is earning so little that getting the benefit while still earning really improves one’s financial situation.
Hacked! Drag for you…but for me as well! I was so proud that I thought you were now a fan of my jazz guitar instagram page that I screened shot the “garthturner_started following you” comment and boastfully sent it to a few friends!
Alas, it was not meant to be.
Stay in your lane, self!
Demand generates supply. Would there be so many investors if we wouldn’t see a 100k net increase in GTA’s population?
You can build new houses and keep rates high, but as long as new people keep coming into this city, the rents and home prices will be at a level where the ones can pay for.
Nothing new here.
Look at Detroit (now you can buy a house there for $2). Look at San Francisco (now you can buy a house there for $4M, because of big tech and high paid jobs).
The rate increase made many wait on the sidelines for either the prices to drop or money become cheaper. Once the house prices dropped under a threshold where more people can pay for them, the prices stopped dropping and the sales increased.
A $3000 rent for a condo – is the new normal.
A $4000 monthly mortgage payment – is the new normal as well.
Unless we get a Chernobyl in Toronto, don’t expect affordable real estate in GTA.