A brilliant plan from the government!!!!

Just for old time’s sake, I need to say something about finance…

Exciting isn’t it!!!!!!!

For those reading this page who have no idea why I say it’s for old time’s sake, before moving to Australia, I spent a number of years studying business and finance and working in the finance industry. Dealing with finances is something I enjoy, and keeping current on the subject not only interests me but has also been highly influential in me making thousands of dollars and saving thousands more.

And it’s on that note that I decided to write something. Even from across the world, I’m able to keep up with current news from my beloved homeland and I just recently read through some documents regarding the budget set out by the Canadian federal government this week. One thing in particular caught my attention and I had to find more information on it. What I read is really exciting because people who properly use this particular provision stand to save many thousands of dollars of income tax in their lifetime. I plan to be one of those people.

The new provision allows Canadian to set aside up to $5,000 per year into a special account in which they can purchase all the same investments they can currently purchase in an RRSP. Like an RRSP, there is to be no tax on growth in this account. Unlike the RRSP, there is no deduction for money put in, but also unlike the RRSP, there is no tax on the money taken out.

Over the years, it has bothered me that financial institutions, governments, and most of the general public has pushed RRSP’s as a great investment for every Canadian earning income. The fact is that for some people, RRSP’s are great options (if the right investments are chosen within the RRSP account) but for many of us, they really aren’t that great. In my case for example, I have had one year in my employment history when RRSP’s were a good option. In every other year, there were better investment options.

With the new provision, the options just got a whole lot better. Starting in 2009, I can take $5,000 per year out of my other investments and transfer that money to this new account. After that transfer, I need not pay tax on that money or its growth ever again. For me and the majority of Canadians, this is a great opportunity to save for the future without paying tax on that saving. Personally, I think this is the most brilliant idea a government has come up with in my lifetime – thus my desire to post something about it. I could get into details of how it will work but I know most people don’t share my passion for great financial ideas and details so I’ll spare you that, just hear that the new plan is wonderful for many millions of people and I don’t think the press has given it enough coverage. Hopefully financial institutions will. I also hope that people will develop the discipline required to actually make use of this new benefit. To give you a taste of what’s possible with the new plan, by simply placing $5,000 each year in this account instead of an RRSP, at my current return on my investments, I can look at buying a really nice new car every second year in retirement and giving the two year old car away instead of selling it or trading it in. Other options (at today’s prices) include taking a Caribbean cruise every second month, flying first class to Australia twice per year, buying two homes in Uganda every year to provide shelter for one widow and eight orphaned children, replacing my bed every second week, eating out at high class restaurants every night of the year, taking a trip to Disneyland ten times in a year – and staying at the Disneyland hotel, buying three Super bowl tickets (or one sideline ticket every 4 years), traveling (economy class) around the world 10 times (flight cost only), or paying 80% of the cost to send a child to any top university in the States. Are you getting the idea??? It’s a simple thing for me to do and I shall reap great rewards.

Now with all that being said, I’m not holding out too much hope that I truly will benefit from this great idea; reason being I don’t trust that the program will stay around. We can reasonably expect the current government to keep it as long as they are in power but nobody knows how long the current government will be in power and we have no guarantees they still be our government come 2009 when the plan is to be implemented. Governments have a tendency of making changes to things the previous government set up so if we end up with a change of government in the next year, I would hold out little hope that the program will actually come into place. It also seems governments like to change their minds as often as some men change their underwear, so while I’m excited about the program, I’m not overly confident it will actually happen. I’ll wait and see. But as long as this program is in place, I plan to take full advantage of it.

Air Miles???

In case the last post didn't raise enough interest, I won't give you more on that topic just yet, but on another topic, I just booked a couple more flights yesterday. It almost seems as though my blog title "Larry in Australia" should be modified to include other places :) I'm now scheduled to fly to South Africa on April 3. I'm travelling with the same pastor I went to Uganda with. He’s been asked to preach at Ray McCauley’s church in Johannesburg so we’re going there for a while, then to Cape Town where we’ll be spending time with some people at the new Hillsong church starting there. I’m also looking forward to spending time with a good friend of mine who moved back home to Cape Town in December. Like I said about the other trip, I don’t think I’ll grasp the significance of it for a while but I’m sure there is something very significant about this trip.

So how’s that for news? Something worth posting on my blog???

Don't know what to say

I’ve been thinking about this blog and the fact that I haven’t posted anything recently and I feel bad because I know there are people who check it faithfully; holding onto every thread of what I say and longing desperately for the day they can see me again (ok, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration). Then I remind myself that there are others who check it once a month or less so for those people it can be overload to have a new post every couple of days.

Is there something happening that is significant enough to put up here? But then again, why should I need something really significant? Why can’t I just tell people how life is going, what the weather is like, what I ate for lunch, and how long I slept last night? After all, if that’s what life is, shouldn’t that be enough?

So I came to a conclusion that I would write something here but still wasn’t sure what – actually, I’m still not sure. I’m just rambling with the hope that something will come to mind before I’m done; sort of like an impromptu speech.

Now, there is something in my life that is significant enough to post here but I’ve been waiting a bit with posting it because there are people I wanted to tell personally rather than have them find out through the internet or their friends who found out through the internet. Now that all those people know (and a lot of others) it may be time to tell the world – or maybe not. I also enjoy keeping people in suspense sometimes… So maybe I’ll just go with this for now… someone has posted comments to my blog in the past and although it’s been a while since I’ve seen comments here from that person, I’m sure that person is still reading the blog once in a while. Maybe I can ask for another comment telling people who you are…Would “GB” like to identify yourself….???

Fake or Copy?

Having hit the ground running when I arrived back in Sydney, I haven’t yet put up an entry from my time in Bangkok. I took a bunch of photos and could put many of them up here, but at this point, I’ve chosen to simply make one point based on an observation I made while out there…

I spent a lot of time around shops and markets in Bangkok. There was much bartering and were many deals to be had – if you can do well enough on the bartering front. My first day there, I stopped at an electronics store and was offered a great price on an Ipod. It was good enough that I had to ask if it was real – and thus I was introduced to their shopping system. With that question, I was then offered a real Ipod for a price higher than I would pay in Canada. As my time went on, I found I could get a copy of anything I wanted – from luggage, to cashmere wool suits, to perfume, silk ties, oil paintings, computer equipment, Billabong t shirts, and Rolex watches that even included a fake seal of authenticity.

The second thing I noticed is that everyone was constantly smiling. Smiling flight attendants, taxi drivers, hotel employees, shop owners, and pretty much everyone else on the street.

My first thought with the smiling was that the people were so incredibly friendly – which they were; together with polite and courteous. But I can’t help but ask… in a culture where you can get everything fake and they take pride in the real appearance of everything fake; in a place where people appear happy at times when you’d expect them to be sad, depressed, or upset; in a culture where people are continually courteous, even when faced with situations that would drive most of us to respond with substantially different words and attitudes; in a world of fake, do they even know what’s real? Are the people even capable of anything real? Not to say they aren’t, but I wonder…

And then I have to ask myself what I’ve been like. I have to ask if I’ve been real. Have I been real with others? Have I been real with God? Have I been real with myself? Am I now?

Are you?