Just Business

I am so excited this week to be nominated for Canada’s Best Personal Finance Blog (Help keep me in top spot – Vote Retire Happy!).  It such an honor to be among an esteemed group of people.  I also found out that RetireHappyBlog is ranked 16th for finance blogs on Technorati.com.  I’m not sure exactly what that ranking means or how I got that but I’m in good company on that list.  Add in the fact that my financial education business is firing on all cylinders and you’ll understand why I have lots to be happy about.  Oh, and one more bonus . . . it’s mother’s day this weekend.

For this week’s Best of Blogs, I thought it would be appropriate to share some work from each of the nominees from the Globe and Mail contest:

• For the Love of Money says that the beliefs and attitudes you developed in childhood are influencing how you deal with money as an adult
• Mike, author of the RESP book and the chief of MoneySmartsBlog gives great information on RESP withdrawals from a family plan.
• Michael James on Money highlights some contradictory investment advice

• Ram, the man behind Canadian Capitalist summarized what we should expect from the Conservatives after their majority win in this week’s election
• Dan, the Canadian Couch Potato has a terrific article called Finding the Right Advisor (one that can help people with a passive strategy.
• Canadian Mortgage Trends talks about Pre-payments to your mortgages to cut your penalties
• Chris Umiastowski gives his view on RIM after Capital Markets Day
• Humble Student of the Markets compared government and private compensation
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade pulls no punches with her 9 Money NOT to Do’s
• Krystal from Give Me Back My Five Bucks is very candid and shares her financial goals and budget for May
• Frugal expert Kerry Taylor (Squawkfox) shares 50 ways to save $1000 per year
• Sustainable PF shares 16 driving tips to improve gas mileage
• Big Cajun Man talks about the humor behind a reputable tattoo parlours and other contradictory descriptions of financial services
• Echo from Boomer and Echo gives the numbers behind his personal inflation rate
• Get Smarter About Money tells you how to find money to pay the taxman
• Balance Junkie gives 5 ways to clear financial obstacles
• Consumer advocate Ellen Roseman says customers should come ahead of shareholders
• And let’s not forget about Money Index – the site where you can find all the blogs.

Congratulations to all bloggers for their nominations.  If you haven’t voted yet, what are you waiting for?

This week, I’ve been hitting up all of my contacts, clients, colleagues, friends, and workshop participants to vote so why stop now!  I’ll take any votes you want to give me.  Help keep me in top spot – Vote Retire Happy!

This week, I posted 2 articles

• What is your retirement price tag?
• Did you learn anything during Financial Literacy Month?

Thanks to others who included my articles in their weekly carnivals

• This and That by Canadian Capitalist
• Linkstuff by MoneySmartsBlog
• Friday Links on Canadian Finance Blog
• Totally Money Carnival by Money Beagle
• Festival of Stocks by Fat Pitch Financials
• Integrated Finance Carnival by Integrated Loans

Related posts:

1. Three different types of RESPs
2. RESP carryforward rules
3. Investment strategies for Registered Education Savings Plans (RESPs)
4. The Ins and Outs of RESPs
5. Saving for Education Using the RESP

Best of Blogs – The Globe and Mail contest edition originally appeared on Retire Happy Blog on May 6, 2011.

As the old saying goes, “Time flies when you are having fun.”

Finding a place to rent for two months is turning out to be a lot more difficult than we thought.  Apparently landlords aren’t too keen on short term rentals to people with pets…so that’s two strikes against us right off the bat.

And for all of this talk of renting instead of owning, I’m not seeing much of a discount on rent in our city.  Most of the places we’ve looked at are asking for as much per month as we currently pay on our mortgage.  The good news is that our new house is still on schedule for an August 1st possession date, even with the rotten weather this Spring.

Enough complaining, let’s take a look at some interesting articles from the personal finance world this week:

1. Canadian Capitalist weighed in on Garth Turner’s Dodgy Advice
2. Million Dollar Journey looks at Types of Stock Chart Patterns
3. Financial Uproar is Obsessed About Money
4. Canadian Finance Blog explains How to Find the Best Rental Apartment
5. Money Smarts Blog Saved Money with Priceline, sort of.
6. Retire Happy Blog asks Should You Write Your Own Will?
7. The Passive Income Earner reviews Telus Corporation
8. Young and Thrifty created the Ultimate Guide to Canadian Deals Websites
9. Give Me Back My Five Bucks Breaks Down the Numbers on Her First Home
10. Studenomics discusses an interesting topic of Investing Your Student Loans

We were also mentioned in the following blog carnivals this week:

• Upside of Money hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance and included Save Money Purchasing Beef In Bulk
• Personal Dividends hosted the Carnival of Wealth and included When You Need Cash From Your Investments
• Canadian Finance Blog hosted the Canadian Finance Carnival and included Delta Privilege Hotel Rewards Program: A Review
• Control Your Cash hosted the Carnival of Financial Planning and included Why You Shouldn’t Care About Credit Card Interest Rates
• Stupid Cents hosted the Totally Money Blog Carnival and included Save Money Purchasing Beef In Bulk
• My Wealth Builder hosted the Wealth Builder Carnival and included When You Need Cash From Your Investments

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Have a great weekend!

Share and Enjoy:

• What’s New Around The Blogosphere: May 6th, 2011
• What’s New Around The Blogosphere: April 22nd, 2011
• What’s New Around The Blogosphere: April 15th, 2011
• What’s New Around The Blogosphere: April 8th, 2011
• What’s New Around The Blogosphere: April 1st, 2011