Author: Mike Holman

Categories
Personal Finance

Buying An iPhone From Rogers? – Don’t Believe A Word They Say

I recently wrote about my experience buying an iPhone from Rogers. To summarize: when I called, I had only planned on trying to get the $35 activation fee waived. I was fairly confident I’d be able to accomplish this since I’d read online that it was fairly common for new clients to get this. To be honest I didn’t really care about the $35, but I would have felt like I didn’t negotiate hard enough if I didn’t try to get something. I’ve always been a poor negotiator so I wanted to try to improve on that skill.

When I called, the guy I talked to didn’t even let me try to negotiate – he just started giving me stuff; activation fee waived, first month free, upgrade data plan from 500mb to 1 gig. Of course I agreed thinking that I had done quite well. In a similar vein to my Swiss Chalet story, I thought that giving the first month free was a bit dumb, but I wasn’t complaining.

Unfortunately, it turns out that while I thought I had been talking to the ol’ Gil of Rogers, in fact I had actually been talking to the Lloyd Braun* of Rogers.

*In one Seinfeld episode, Lloyd Braun worked for a short time for George’s father, Frank Costanza, allegedly selling computers (although the phone line he was “using” to make sales wasn’t even connected). He was the superstar salesman that George couldn’t be.

Things were fine the first month – no charge on the visa and everything was great until I got charged $126 in the second month. I called up to see what the deal was and the girl I talked to said that it was for the monthly charges and the activation fee. I told her about what I had been promised and she said that my account had none of those things noted. She couldn’t do anything for me – couldn’t waive the activation fee and would only upgrade the data plan if I paid $5 per month. I told her that I was pretty annoyed that I had been promised all these things and none of them happened. She documented my claim and promised to escalate to a manager who would get back to me within 4-24 hours.

Still waiting for that call.

Young and Thrifty (an excellent new blog) recently wrote about her experiences with “negotiating” with Rogers. Her take on it was a lot more upbeat than mine, but it seems that the same modus operandi was used in her case – a deal was reached (with Lloyd Braun*), but later on it turns out that there were “no notes” with any details about the deal.

Maybe someone should tell the Rogers reps that the “notes” screen is actually the equivalent of the Springfield power plant pneumatic tube system.

Homer drags Marge away from her paperwork for lunch. He takes her
form, puts it into a canister, and sends it through the pneumatic
tube system.

Marge: But where does it go?

Homer: Don’t worry Marge, the tube will know what to do.

The canister takes a wild ride through the tube
system, eventually being deposited… outside, where a nearby beaver
collects it and adds it to a dam built entirely of message canisters.

I hadn’t really thought about it before, but when someone promises you something on the phone then you really have no way of making it happen. Now that I’m an existing customer, Rogers can treat me like shit like all their other customers so I can’t get anything done until my 3 year contract is up

FU Rogers! You won’t be getting my phone business next time around.

I did learn one thing from the call – apparently I had been given the upgraded data plan for a couple of months free. I didn’t even know that. Oh well – I think that time frame is almost over so I better get going with some downloads.  After 2 months, I have yet to download an app.

Categories
Real Estate

Consider The Risks Before Buying A Foreclosed House

This guest post was written by Investing Thesis: Credits Toward Financial Freedom – a personal finance and investing site from a Canadian perspective. If you like this article, I would encourage you to subscribe to our articles

With the number of homes now in foreclosure many people, home buyers and investors alike are jumping to take advantage of the surge in inventory within the housing market. Of course there are plenty of houses for sale outside of foreclosures, however buying a foreclosed property can be a very good investment if you have considered all the risks. If you looking to purchase your first home, you can save a significant amount of cash by buying a foreclosed home. Before doing so, it is important to understand the pros and cons of purchasing a property that is in foreclosure.

Understand The Process

The United States and Canada share similar foreclosure proceedings however there are slight differences from state-to-state and different provinces. In Canada, there are two different procedures that dictate how foreclosures are processed. Judicial Sale refers to the procedure where the lender must petition the court for permission to sell property that is in default. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec follow this procedure. Nova Scotia follows the same procedure, however it is called Mortgage Foreclosure, despite the fact the same proceedings must take place. The provinces of Newfoundland, Ontario, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island follow the Power of Sale procedure. In this situation, the lender can sell the property without permission from the court as dictated by the terms of the mortgage.

In any event, when you buy a foreclosed property you are almost always dealing with the bank versus the homeowner. This should be considered as banks are generally unwilling to budge on price or conditions of sale. Where a seller might negotiate price or contribute to closing costs, a lender is just looking to get their money back with the least hassle. This could prove to be a deal breaker if you do not have the asking price readily available.

Buyer Beware

It is imperative when considering a foreclosed property to carefully inspect the house prior to submitting an offer. In order for a home to go into foreclosure, the owner must be behind in payments. In most cases this is due to some form of financial hardship which more than likely affected other financial responsibilities. The home may be in disrepair or need renovations to be habitable as a primary residence or for sale or rent to another individual. You might be getting a great deal on the purchase price, however if you have to invest a significant amount of cash to make the home livable, your investment becomes more risky. Another factor to consider is the location of the property. If the neighborhood is experiencing a downward trend, you are not likely to recoup your renovation investments. You can change out cabinets and flooring, but you can’t change location.

Know When To Seek Help

Unless you are a seasoned investor or have experience in the real estate industry, it is important to recognize when you need professional help. Buying a foreclosed property offers many benefits, however it is not the same as buying a home in the traditional manner. Foreclosure, pre-foreclosure and homes sold at auction all have different pros and cons that are readily understood by professionals. It is not simply an opportunity to buy a home at a discounted price, therefore know what you are getting into before whipping out your cheque book.

When the process of buying a foreclosed property is handles correctly, the opportunities can be endless. Many first time home buyers would otherwise not be able to afford getting their first place. In addition, savvy investors can turn a relatively quick profit if they have followed proper procedures in period of time prior to sale.

Categories
Personal Finance

How To Fix Errors On Old Tax Return Plus Claim Your Kids Deduction

Thanks to commenter David on my recent QuickTax software review, I learned that you can claim your kids and I now need to refile my tax returns for the last two years.  It is on the federal TD1 form and is plain as day (now that I look at it). So much for saving money by doing my taxes myself!  Mr. Cheap has asked me a few times if I’ve even considered going to an accountant and I now realize that he wasn’t asking so much as he was suggesting.  🙂

The good news is that I researched how to make corrections on tax returns that you’ve already filed and it looks to be very easy.  Here is the T1 form you need to fill out.  Basically all you have to do is fill out the line number you are changing, the old value, the new value and that’s it.  CRA will recalculate your tax return.

As for the child tax credit you get a $2,000 deduction amount per child starting in 2007.  This amount goes up each year and was $2,089 for 2009 tax year.  It applies to kids who are under 18 at the end of the tax year.

In my case I had 1 kid during the 2007 tax year and then 2 kids for both the 2008 and 2009 tax years.  Please note that I’m counting my kids for multiple tax years – I don’t have 5 kids!  I believe this works out to a bit more than $300 per kid per year which means that I will get back $300 for the 2007 return, $600 for the 2008 return.  A good payoff for a fairly small amount of fixing.

I had researched writing off dependents before but I had only found this article about dependents which clearly doesn’t cover my situation and made me think that you couldn’t claim your kids.

If you live in the United States and are looking for the relevant information then check out this article called Amended tax return.

How about you guys?  Did anyone else cheat on their old returns and need to correct them?

Categories
Personal Finance

Send Me Your Tax Software Review And Make Some Money

Yesterday, Marianne made a comment on my QuickTax post asking if I could mention or review free tax software options such as StudioTax. I responded that although I don’t have the time or interest to review other tax software, I’d be more than happy to publish any reviews provided by a reader.

So with that in mind I’m going to throw the idea out to you, the readers that I would love it if someone writes a review about whatever software they use.  It doesn’t matter if you like the software or hated it – a review is a review.

As a special bonus I’ll even pay $20 for any such reviews.  I will only pay out money using Paypal so you need to have an account (it’s free).

What I’m looking for

I don’t have a set format or length for reviews but I doubt anything less than 400 words would not be of much use.  Most of my reviews are much longer than that.
If you can just describe your situation ie what version of software you need and talk about the different features, what you like about it, what you didn’t like about it, how much it costs etc then that’s probably all you need to do.

I’ll accept reviews for the next week or so.  My email is qffpillars at gmail dot com

Categories
Announcements

Canadian Tax Filing Deadline – April 30 and Plutus Awards

A reminder that the Canadian tax filing deadline is April 30, 2010. You must efile by this date or send your return in the mail on that date. As long as the postmark is April 30 (or sooner) then you won’t be late even though the government won’t get the mailed return for a few days.

I suggest that you get going on your taxes if you haven’t already done so. While the actual return might not take long, gathering all the relevant tax info can take a while. If you have to get any slips reissued then that will delay things as well.

If you are looking for tax software then check out my QuickTax Canadian tax software review. It’s not for everyone but it is pretty good software.

Plutus Awards

We’ve been nominated for a couple of categories of the brand new Plutus Awards.  If you are a blog fanatic then go on over and vote for your favourite blogs.  Four Pillars is in the Best Canadian Blog category and ABCs of Investing is in the Best Investment Blog category.

Some links from this week

Some Carnivals I have been in lately

Carnivals

Festival of Frugality

Tax Carnival

Carnival of Money Hacks

Categories
Personal Finance

QuickTax Canadian Tax Software Review – Get 10% Off

If there is one thing I can’t stand is doing taxes.  I’ve always done my own taxes and although it wasn’t too much of a chore when my financial situation was simpler it was still a pain.  Now I have investment income, investment sales, a small business and things are a lot more complicated than they used to be.  Of course once I finish my return this year I’ll be thinking “that wasn’t so bad” but the problem is that by the time I do my next year, I’ll have forgotten too much info and the process will be painful once again.  This is one of those tasks that if you did it monthly, it would be a lot easier to do.

Please note that Canadian QuickTax is now called TurboTax

I decided to use QuickTax Business edition this year – at one time the idea of paying $40 for fancy software just wouldn’t have happened, but now I value my time far more than money so I don’t mind paying a bit extra if it will make the tax return easier.

Why don’t I use an accountant you might be asking?  Well, I don’t know – I had thought about it this year but one of the problems I have with an accountant is that I still have to do all the bookkeeping tasks in order to give the proper info to the accountant.  I don’t have an accountant so I have to go through the process of finding one.  It might happen still but not this year.

I had been using a cheap efiling program for the last few years which was basically the electronic equivalent of using paper forms.  In other words – no help at all.  I was always skeptical of claims about products like QuickTax and TurboTax (American equivalent) that they could “help” you with your return.


I have to say that I was quite amazed with TurboTax.  Basically you go through the screens filling in appropriate data.  If you need help or clarification at any point then you can branch off onto a different set of help screens.

One of the main advantages I found with QuickTax over the simple program I used to use is that you don’t have to know anything to use QuickTax.  For example if you made RRSP contributions and want to record them on your tax return then you need a schedule 7 form.  With my old program, I had to look that up and ask the program to load that form before I could enter the info.  With QuickTax, it asked me during the process if I had any RRSP contributions and then provided boxes to fill in.  Same thing with dividend income, interest income, interest expenses, business income and expenses.

An example of the type of help

I thought I would show exactly the kind of help you can expect.   At one point in the return it asks you if you are eligible to claim for the spousal amount.  There is a little check box in case you don’t know if you are eligible or not.

If you don’t know what the spousal amount is or whether you are eligible for it then click the box and you get a pretty good explanation of the spousal amount.

Drawbacks of QuickTax

I was very impressed with some of the features of QuickTax – the help function and interview process is a huge benefit for someone who is filing taxes for something they haven’t done before (ie new business) or haven’t filled out many tax returns.

The problem is that if you do know what you are doing then the interview process gets very cumbersome, very fast.  In my case I have struggled with a simple tax return program for the last couple of years, but I have learned all the forms I need and how to fill them out.  After a while I realized that I would be better off with the old program and decided to give up on QuickTax.  It’s a great software package but it’s just not useful if you know what you are doing.

I also haven’t given up on the accountant idea either – one of the things that came apparent with the QuickTax interview process is that there are quite a few questions that I need answered regarding my business (incorporation?) and even dependents – are kids dependents for tax purposes?

QuickTax versions

For the record, if you don’t have a business then there are lower priced options – in fact there is a free option but you need to have a fairly low income to qualify.  The cheapest version for most people is the online $15 version which should  be pretty good.  The premier version will cover things like investment moves and the business edition will handle your unincorporated business.  There is also a corporation business version but I doubt very many people with corporations will do their own taxes.

Online or desktop?

I was planning to get the desktop version (the one you download to your computer) but the cost was $100 whereas the online version was only $40.  Pretty easy choice.

What do you use to do your taxes?  Does anyone else with a business do their own taxes?

Categories
Personal Finance

Use Your Cell Phone Apps To Manage Your Money

This guest post was written by Investing Thesis: Credits Toward Financial Freedom – a personal finance and investing site from a Canadian perspective. If you like this article, I would encourage you to subscribe to our articles

You would be hard pressed to find a person without a cell phone in this day and age. Parents buy cell phones for their kids in order to have a way to “keep in touch” and even seniors are becoming more comfortable with the technology available today. While some people still prefer to use a cell phone for the original purpose, to make and receive calls, there are many other perks associated with today’s phones. Specifically, owners of smart phones like the iPhone or iPod Touch have so many features on their phones, they might not even be aware of all the benefits they could be experiencing. There are new cell phone apps available that allow cell phone users to manage their money on the go.

Here we look at these cell phone apps and how they can help you manage your cash.

Bloomberg- This free mobile app is available for iPhone users as well as Blackberry users. Bloomberg.com is a website that helps active investors follow stocks, bonds, commodities and other business news. You can download the mobile app free of charge and keep track of all news associated with your investments from your cell phone. This is very helpful for busy investors who don’t have the time to be parked in front a computer all day.

Mint- Available to iPhone users, Mint.com has a mobile phone app that brings all the benefits of the online system to the palm of your hand. A popular website that allows users to track and manage every aspect of their personal finances from checking account balances to credit card payments, Mint.com offers a free mobile phone app that will help you budget and manage your finances when you are away from the computer.

Paypal- Paypal is used worldwide as a means of sending and receiving money. Whether you want to track payments received, send payments or view past transactions you can do so from your mobile phone while on the go. The mobile phone app offered by Paypal is available to iPhone, Android and Blackberry users free of charge.

Stockwatch- Keeping track of your portfolio performance each day is made easier with the mobile app offered by Stockwatch.com. This app will allow you to organize stocks and mutual funds while automatically calculating your daily return. You have access to news, charts, analytical tools, all for just $2.99.

Tipulator- A tip calculator does not offer life changing financial advice, however it can be fun app to have on hand when you are out for dinner. You will pay just under one dollar for this mobile app that helps you calculate the proper tip based on percentage and how to split the bill if there are several parties. Is it necessary to have a tip calculator? No, but it’s fun to try out and very handy for people who are not proficient at doing math in their head.

Pennies- If you need help keeping track of your spending, the Pennies app is a great way to establish a monthly budget while recording and tracking daily expenses. Instead of jamming your money and receipts in your pocket or purse, you can simply update the information on the Pennies app and see if you are in line with your desired budget. This app is not free but very affordable at $2.99.

There are many more mobile apps available for cell phone users. Most large banks offer apps that allow users to receive mobile alerts and reminders to avoid going over their limit or paying a bill past the due date. In the increasingly mobile world in which we live, it only makes sense to take advantage of cell phone apps that make managing your money on the go easier. By staying on top of your financial transactions you can improve your personal finances, in this case, with the touch of a button.

What apps do you guys use to manage money or check balances with?

Categories
Personal Finance

Working On My 2009 Tax Return – Pep Talk To Me

It’s that time of year when I get to do something I really don’t enjoy doing – my taxes.  I’ve concluded that the main problem with taxes is not the form filling but rather the book keeping.  I’ve improved my record keeping system over the last year but it still needs some improvement.  My taxes are a lot more complicated than they used to be so that is also part of the problem.

I had toyed with the idea of using an accountant this year but decided against it since I couldn’t be bothered to find one and I also decided to splurge on QuickTax tax software which so far is making things a lot easier than in past years.  I’ll be doing a proper review of QuickTax next week, but so far I like it a lot.

Why are my taxes so complicated?

They aren’t really – but gone are the days when I used to just have a T4 with my income and a few deductions (taxes, employment insurance, CPP) and a couple of RRSP contribution receipts.  I still have the T4 and the RRSP receipts but I also have a few other things.

Taxable investment income/investment loan and capital gain

Until late last year I had a leveraged investment plan in place which means that I need to declare any dividend income from the investments as well as write off the interest on the investment loan.  This is complicated by the fact that switched from RBC Direct to Questrade last year.  Because I sold all the leveraged investments last year, I need also figure out the ACBs of all the stocks to determine how much capital gain there was.  The good news is that this is the last year I need to do this since I collapsed the leveraged plan.

Home Buyers Plan (HBP) loan repayments

Ok, the accounting for home buyers plans loan repayments isn’t very complicated but it is one more thing than I used to do before owning a house.

Small Business

My business which consists of this site among others makes up the bulk of the work for my taxes.  As a sole proprietorship business it is surprisingly easy to do the taxes for it but the book keeping is another story.  Last year I totally revamped how I kept track of my expenses and income by using an income/expense  spreadsheet inspired by Finance Freelance Life.  I’m going to be experimenting soon with QuickBooks to see if that helps a bit as well.

So that’s my tax story so far this year – has anyone else started their taxes yet?  Using an accountant?  Planning on doing some major cheating? 🙂