Weekend Business and Blog Roundup – Dec 1st

Mark J. Carney, the Governor of the Bank of Canada controls what our central bank does on interest rates. Governors get paid between $431,80 to $507,900.  The reason our mortgages are so affordable today, and why Canada didn’t have an economic meltdown during the last recession is largely because of Mr. Carney. Prior to his current job he had a 13 year career with investment bank, Goldman Sachs and has worked in their Tokyo, New York, and Toronto offices.

mark carney

Earlier this week, Mr. Carney was appointed to become the next governor of the Bank of England. His new job will start around summer of 2013. This is most certainly a loss for Canada, but we should celebrate that a Canadian has been chosen to become one of the most influential financial leaders in the world. Nobody knows why he decided to accept the offer, but I think it might have something to do with the ₤624,000 ($993,000 CAD) compensation at his new job 😉 It’s hard to say no to practically doubling your salary. It’s okay Mr. Carney, we understand it’s nothing personal. It’s just business 😀

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The TFSA contribution limit is going up next year from $5,000 to $5,500. This means one month from now we can invest more of our money and not get taxed on the interest or dividends we make \(^_^)/ If you’ve been keeping track, that’s a total of $25,500 contribution room from 2009 to 2013 inclusive. The loonie bin blog takes a more in debt look at the announcement. If you are making less than $60,000 a year, I would strongly recommend you consider maxing our TFSA before your RRSP. On the other hand if you make six-figure annual income like more than a quarter of you readers apparently are (referring to the poll on the right ->) then contributing to your RRSP is most likely a better strategy, especially if you’re married.

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In global news, a couple in China has refused to allow the government to destroy their home to build a freeway. They claimed the relocation compensation offered to them by the government would not be enough to build a new home for themselves so they decided to stay put and the road was forced to be built around the intact home, probably making this an unintentional tourist attraction now 😀 It’s nice to see that Chinese citizens do have property rights after all.

house in middle of street in china

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Foot traffic analyst ShopperTrak estimates nearly 308 million shoppers hit the streets for Black Friday sales, a year-over-year increase of about 3.5 percent. Yeah, go consumers! Keep buying stuff at record amounts so the companies I own will continue to make record profits! The S&P 500, Dow Jones and NASDAQ were up 1.3%, 1.35% and 1.38% respectively on Black Friday, Nov 23rd.

line up of shoppers for target

Cyber Monday 2012 was also a huge success, with preliminary figures showing a 17 percent increase over the already robust sales from 2011. A total of $1.46 billion was spent online in that single day, making it the busiest day for online commerce in American history :0)

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maria@moneyprinciple
maria@moneyprinciple
12/01/2012 1:02 pm

Thanks for the shout out! A good round-up and I love the Chinese house :).

Joe
Joe
12/01/2012 2:28 pm

Thanks for the mention.

I think Mark Carney bailed because he sees the Canadian economy entering a slow motion disaster. The debt bubble is popping and the housing market is starting to implode.

As for China, that’s a hilarious picture and kind of emblematic of the bizarre-o things that can happen if you slip enough money into the correct official’s pocket in a communist nation. I don’t want to make light of the plight of the Chinese people; I think they remain horribly oppressed by a tyrannical government, and they’re bent on ruining North America through currency manipulation, manufacturing hollowing-out, and the purchase of natural resource assets.

Pauline @ Reach Financial Independence

Glad you are sending Carney over, my UK mortgage is about to get cheaper then! thanks for the mention have a great weekend

Yakezie (@Yakezie)
12/01/2012 7:21 pm

Wow, is that picture of the Chinese house for real? AMAZING if so!

Sam

mochiandmacarons
mochiandmacarons
12/02/2012 6:51 am

I think Mark Carney is leaving for a few reasons:

1) HELLO!!! Doubling your salary!? I’m there.
2) A new challenge — sometimes it’s boring to do the same thing over and over again
3) He’s seeing Canada is entering (slowly) a debt bubble burst and housing market meltdown, although not to the extent of the U.S.

As for China….. Having been there, I am not a fan. That’s all I’ll politely say.

RetireInNiagara
12/02/2012 9:48 am

NICE !!! lol

About the house:

Apparently they have now accepted a somewhat larger offer of compensation, and the wrecking crew rolled right in. The Associated Press reported that Xiayangzhang village chief Chen Xuecai said the house was bulldozed on Saturday after Baogen agreed to accept compensation of 260,000 yuan ($41,000).

Jordann @ My Alternate Life
Jordann @ My Alternate Life
12/02/2012 11:34 am

Hey thanks for the mention! I’ll be very sad to see Mark Carney go.

Matt
12/03/2012 7:40 am

I read a column somewhere saying, we welcome foreign football managers, because they’re the best, why not do the same with the BoE?? BTW, thanks for the mention. I got quite excited when I read the post and saw it (first time for me), so cheers for that 🙂

Matt
12/13/2012 6:16 am

Oh you’d be surprised! I’ve nailed old bits of carpet and allsorts to the bottom of basement doors in friends houses – that’s when there’s like a 2 inch gap at the bottom though – you don;t get foam strips that thick!!

Phil
12/03/2012 4:56 am

Remember his predecessor – David Dodge? I would not discount how he set-up Mark for some of the success during the meltdown. Most people/organizations seem to discount longterm thinkers unfortunately, and David was definitely one of those. It is unfortuante that people with skills to organize things for the better beyond their tenure rarely get the kudos.

Phil
12/04/2012 7:51 am

Hey let me think about that… hummm, NO! The money may be good, but the headaches that go with it I can do without. My life is about balance and freedom to do the things I want, when I want. Besides, I think when you are that that level they severely limit you investment opportunities which is why the pay is so good. I have a freind who works as a finanacial auditor for a global audit company, and it is next to impossible to hold good stock investments as there are possible conflict of interest issues or insider information concerns since their company audits like 40% of the Canadian companies books.
Back to the main point though, ensure you review your history, especially financial side as history ALWAYS repeats. We humans really have not changed much -Go buy a good bookand chill that you will know how it will probably work out – “This Time is Different”

Vicky
Vicky
12/03/2012 11:30 am

Haha, man i wonder what rush hour is like at that house! 🙂

Thanks for the mention!

Mo' Money Mo' Houses (@momoneymohouses)

Thanks for the link love!

Alex Yang (@yyangalex)
12/03/2012 8:42 pm

thanks for the mention! I’m really sad to see Carney go. Carney/Flaherty have been a good 1-2 punch for Canadian economy.

agentfang
agentfang
12/03/2012 9:16 pm

Thanks for the no mention lol! That house reminds me of UP! I don’t even know who Carney is… must be nice to have a salary like that!

Veronica @ Pelican on Money
Veronica @ Pelican on Money
12/04/2012 10:45 am

That house photo cracks me up every time!

nursefrugal
nursefrugal
12/12/2012 11:35 am

Thanks so much for the mention!!!

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