Canadian Capitalist

Derek Foster is a bit vague in his book on how much he had to save over 12 years that enabled him to retire at a young age with a portfolio much less than a million dollars plus a fully paid-off home. In many articles he says that he has saved and invested at least [...]

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As Ontario officially goes to the polls, it is time to recall Premier McGuinty’s most unpopular “health premium” on Ontario taxpayers. The health premium kicks in on taxable incomes above $20,000 and the levy could be as much as $900 on a taxable income of $200,600.
Unlike regular income taxes, the health premium is a regressive [...]

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TD Waterhouse has announced a new commission schedule effective September 4, 2007:
Clients with household assets of $100,000 or more with TD Waterhouse Discount Brokerage will pay a flat rate of $9.99 per Canadian or US equity trade.
If you qualify for the lower commissions, TD Waterhouse becomes the best choice for consolidating all your brokerage accounts. [...]

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Much ink has been spilt over the conviction of Conrad Black in Chicago last week. I’ve read a few biographies of the newspaper baron (I recommend Shades of Black by Richard Siklos) and followed the case with some interest. Surprisingly, the real-life Shakespearean drama of the prodigal Canadian offers some financial lessons for little capitalists [...]

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I made an earlier post about a friend who has a young daughter and a stay-at-home spouse who simply assumed that (a) his family is not eligible for the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) because he makes a fairly high income and (b) if he were eligible, he would get the checks automatically. Turns out, [...]

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Investing Intelligently recently posted [Update: Investoid broke the news a while back] that Canadians could soon be getting our own social lending service, which would allow you to lend money to (or borrow money from) other people eliminating the middleman (read bank) from either side of the transaction. The lending service called CommunityLend will be [...]

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The Fraser Institute estimates that tax freedom day falls on June 20th this year. The institute defines tax freedom day as:
the day in the year the average Canadian family has earned enough money to pay the taxes imposed on it by the three levels of government: federal, provincial and local.
It is easy to accuse the [...]

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After keeping interest rates steady for just over a year, the Bank of Canada has clearly hinted that interest rates will be going up in the near future:
On balance, the Bank judges that there is an increased risk that future inflation will persist above the 2 per cent inflation target and that some increase in [...]

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Jamey from Guelph writes that he doesn’t have a will yet and wonders if the widely-available Canadian Will Kit is a good solution. We have already talked to a lawyer and are not taking the will kit route because I don’t want to take any chances with such an important document. What do you think? [...]

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Here’s what personal finance columnists in the mainstream media and other bloggers are saying about the budget:
Mainstream Media

Derek DeCloet writes in The Globe and Mail that you can get a capital gains benefit from the budget by buying a fishing boat. Or a tractor.
Rob Carrick, also of The Globe and Mail, rates the budget a [...]

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