Feb 13: Best from the blogosphere

February 13, 2017

By Sheryl Smolkin

There is always lots of speculation prior to the federal budget about possible tax changes. Last week we noted that Prime Minister Trudeau publically backed off from rumoured changes to the taxability of employer-contributions to group health and dental plans.

However, in the Financial Post Jamie Glombek writes about more tax changes to watch out for in the upcoming federal budget. He covers tax rates, “boutique tax credits,” employee stock options, capital gains inclusion rates and possible changes that may be of interest to small business owners.

MoneySense has a great slide show profiling 10 personal finance heroes you really need to meet. For example, star tennis player Milos Raonic learned to save 90% of his income. Philippe Alberigo, from Whitby, Ont worked several jobs and started stock investing at a young age. When he hit 22 in 2014, he had a $100,000 portfolio.

Financial trainer and blogger Avraham Byers writes in the Huffington Post that The Snowball Method Can Help You Put Your Debt On Ice. Method 1 which he calls the Debt Avalanche prioritizes paying off your debts from the highest to lowest in order to minimize the amount of interest you pay. In contrast, Method 2 – Debt Snowball tells you to pay off your debts from smallest balance to largest — ignoring your interest rates. The idea is that paying off your smaller debts sooner will give you confidence and financial momentum to stick with your plan to the end.

Leo T. Ly, a blogger who is new to this space blogs at ISaved5k. He says the first step to save $1 M is for young people to research the jobs/career that have the potential to make six figures salary a year in the industry in which they want to build a career and get the required training. The second step is to minimize various kinds of debt.

In 2016, millennial personal finance expert and award-winning blogger Jessica Moorhouse announced she was quitting her 9 to 5 job to become a full-time entrepreneur. In Here’s What Happened to My Finances After I Quit My Job she explains that in 2016 she made just over $34,000 from her side business and she made sure she had an emergency fund of $25,000 before she took the plunge. She also embarked on a “spending cleanse” to simplify her life and be smarter with her money.

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