For many young and middle-of-the-road families out there the RRSP vs RESP account debate is a very real one that usually creeps up right around tax time every year if not more often. It is often a confusing topic for some people because the financial industry spends a lot of money trying to convince parents that they need to max out RRSP and RESP accounts, and it is often extremely difficult to do both as people seek to balance mortgages, student debt, and life (that pesky life, always seems to get in the way of the raw numbers right?). There are obviously numerous aspects of each person’s financial situation that will come into play when looking at whether a RRSP or an RESP contribution is right for them.
A Hand Up Either Way (more…)
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Warren Buffett and his pal Charlie Munger always say that they are looking for companies that have a “durable competitive advantage” and have low debt levels. Well, if millions of people around the world are strongly addicted to your product, and you have no real debt to speak of, does that qualify (Buffett has in fact owned stock in a smokeless tobacco company, and the giant RJR Nabisco which sold tobacco products)? From a complete numbers point of view, it still pays to be with the tobacco companies instead of against them. Sure, popular culture in North America might be trending away from the old school Marlboro Man icon, but internationally cigarette sales have never been healthier (now there is an oxymoron) and the smokeless tobacco market seems to be taking off as well. The products created by tobacco giants such as Altria, Philip Morris, Reynolds America, and Lorillard are not going out of style any time soon. They have great profit margins, solid shareholder pay back histories, and will likely be nice little income-generators for your portfolio. For this reason, many investors who usually leave their emotions at the door when it comes to comes to distributing capital are left with a moral conflict. (more…)
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I had a great vacation in Bali (definitely got my dose of Vitamin D…probably enough to last me a year lol).
Bali was absolutely beautiful… everything about it was beautiful. I have never seen any place so lush and fertile before. The people were amazingly friendly, accommodating, and honest. Most people we met were genuine, friendly, humble, and SO laid back. Since everyone else was so laid back and the scenery was so serene, the normally frantic me was forced to chill out a bit. Which is a good thing…haha.
I can see why Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat Pray Love fame “found” herself in Bali. It’s just so beautiful. Speaking of Eat Pray Love, I had to visit Ketut Liyer in Ubud. He was depicted just like the movie and the book, he even pulled out his medicine book like he supposedly did all the time in the movie!
Of course I had to see what he had to say about my future. Unfortunately because of the massive fame that has become of him, the local Balinese say he has memorized the English phrases and fortune telling and therefore he says the same thing to each tourist. He told me that I was very verrrrry pret-ty, that my cheeks were good which made him hap-py, and that my lips were sweet like suuuu-gar. He also said the exact same thing to every other English speaking tourist coming to see him. It was a little disappointing but still a tourist novelty and a pretty cool experience. His wife didn’t tell me to find a good man, but she did hustle and bustle about preparing dinner. She also had a disgruntled look on her face like she meant business LOL. Ketut is certainly doing very well for himself and has become a little bit of a business tycoon!
PF Blog Love
Carnival Fun
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Others can offer you tips on how to make $10,000 in 4 hours a week online (most likely it’s by showing others how to make $10,000 in 4 hours a week online), and I have to admit that my advice pales in comparison to these promised riches. I can tell you that my method for how to become an online freelancer is fairly easily to reproduce, and nearly anyone can do it. It is always interesting to me how many good writers I see trying to make a living on the internet, yet failing miserably. In many ways, they have become the victims of cheap English content outsourcing. If you want to make money by freelancing online you have to find a way to stick out from the crowd, otherwise you will simply be competing for $3 per 500 words and giving yourself carpal tunnel for peanuts. (more…)
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$150, 237 (+1.02%)
Yay- reached my goal- one month ahead of time! It feels great to reach this goal but now I want to set another goal (never satisfied, am I?). A few factors helped in this- one is the acquisition of this website and the other is more scholarship money being granted. However, I haven’t paid for my car insurance yet which is due next month and that’s a whopper.
The new owners of this site have graciously allowed me to keep the ING widget up until I unlock an ING bonus (there’s a little part of me that has OCD tendencies and seeks to unlock bonuses). I think I just need two more referrals to do this. So if you’re looking to get a new savings account- please use the orange key to your right side 
The stock markets were pretty volatile it seems for the past few days. I haven’t bought any more stocks and I don’t really intend to- I would like to focus on buying more bonds or adding more liquidity by increasing in my cash savings.
Also, just to let you know, I have divided the proceeds of the blog sale to average the amount I received when I was the owner for the next year and a half or so while I’m in school. Sorry for the run-on sentence! Basically, I’ll be adding X amount of dollars to my net worth updates every month to reflect the average income I received from this blog.
Okay, so here’s the breakdown for May 2012:
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