1. As winner of the W Expert Challenge, Preet Banerjee is hosting a new show that will tackle the spending habits of guests, help them plan for the future and give them an opportunity to make some cash. The producer General Purpose Pictures is soliciting couples or families who want to appear on the show to contact them at casting@generalpurposepictures.com. No prior experience with helium balloons is expected.
  2. The Globe and Mail’s seven-part series on the retirement crisis, underfunded pension plans, disappearing defined-benefit plans etc. is worth checking out.
  3. Tim Cestnick suggested selling an investment in a taxable account and buying it immediately in a TFSA in a column titled Tax-saving strategies that won’t get you a lump of coal. Canadian Money Forum members think that a lump of coal is probably what you’ll get from the CRA if you follow that piece of advice.
  4. You can’t keep a stock market forecaster down. The Wealthy Boomer reported that Harry Dent is at it again: “either the Dow falls to 2000 or there is a mild correction, some sideways movement and the markets continue up. I wish I can land a job doing this; I’m positive I can do a great job!
  5. Million Dollar Journey compared prepaid Visa and MasterCards.
  6. Michael James finds a surprising side-effect of swine flu — cheaper pork.
  7. Thicken My Wallet reported that DIY investors in Sweden choosing funds for their retirement accounts were their own enemies and underperformed the default choice by a wide margin.
  8. Steadyhand’s Tom Bradley warns investors not to chase the outperformance in Canadian markets and add some foreign exposure to their portfolios.
  9. Gail lists the lessons learned from the financial crisis.
  10. Canadian Financial Stuff digs up another gem of a short film from the National Film Board website — a charming story of Quebecois life called The Sweater.