Podcast, Tax Tweets and Contest

I have a few things to briefly discuss today. Last week was a very productive week media and content wise. I was quoted extensively in this CBC article about the 6 top reasons people raid their RRSPs and interviewed for a podcast. I created some material for a tweeting initiative and finally wrapped up a 3 part blog, which I will be posting next week on owner-manager remuneration that took forever to complete.

Mostly Money, Mostly Canadian - Podcast

Last week I was interviewed by Preet Banerjee for his Mostly Money, Mostly Canadian podcast. I discuss income tax issues and "Income Tax Horror Stories". The link for the podcast is here. Preet also interviews Mike Holman of the Money Smarts blog about what to look for in a real estate agent. I start around the 22 minute and 30 second mark. The reviews from family and friends were very positive. They thought I was informative and even funny, which beats the reviews from my Rob Carrick videos , were they coldly told me I needed media training. I guess I should stick to radio or podcasts.

I would like to thank Preet for interviewing me. I had a lot of fun and for a TV show host; Preet is pretty down to earth. Although as I told him on Twitter, he is only the second best looking host of his TV show, The Million Dollar Neighbourhood :).

Tax Tweet of the Day

My firm’s marketing manager, Jamie, is very keen on social media. She constantly chides me for my half-hearted embrace of Twitter, as I am still not convinced that Twitter is an effective medium for accountants. Although, I must say I really enjoy that Twitter allows me to chirp the Big Cajun Man about the Ottawa Senators and mock others such as Preet.

If Jamie is one thing, she is certainly persistent and for the last month or so I have been a good little Blunt Bean Counter and tweeted as much as possible. I have thus decided to placate Jamie some more and came up with this brilliant idea of tweeting a tax tip of the day during tax season beginning next week.

For the first 10 days I will tweet organizational tips to get ready for filing your tax return. Then for the next 25 days or so, I will tweet tax filing and planning tips. Feel free to let me know if these tips are of any use or whether my brilliance is too constrained by the 140 character limit. Look for the hashtag #blunttaxtip.

Rob Carrick Book Giveaway Part-2

Perry K, the young adult book giveaway winner of Rob Carrick’s book “How Not To Move Back In With Your Parents” has not claimed his book. Anyone, young adult or adult, who made a comment on the original blog and still wants a copy of the book, can go back into a draw being undertaken this Friday, by sending their name and address to Lynda@cunninghamca.com.

The blogs posted on The Blunt Bean Counter provide information of a general nature. These posts should not be considered specific advice; as each reader's personal financial situation is unique and fact specific. Please contact a professional advisor prior to implementing or acting upon any of the information contained in one of the blogs.

My 7 Links Project

Jim Yih of the Retire Happy Blog, who has acted as an informal mentor to me, recently nominated me to take part in the My 7 Links Project started by Katie at Trip Base.

The purpose of this project is to assign seven of your blog posts to each of the seven categories below, and then nominate five other blogs to do the same. This project was actually an interesting little mental exercise. Anyways, without further fanfare, here are my seven links:

Most beautiful post

An income tax and money blog does not lend itself to beautiful posts. However, if I must, my blog about creating your Bucket List (this blog is at the bottom of my Sign that Will blog) wins my beauty contest for its discussion. Though not necessarily beautiful in its own right, a bucket list may lead to beautiful adventures and beautiful places.

 

Most popular post

Easily my most popular post is: CRA Audit - Will I Be Selected? The title says it all. This blog discusses the situations in which one may be selected for an audit both on a personal and a corporate level.

Most controversial post

The Kid in the Candy Store: Human Nature, RRSPs, Free Cash and the Holy Grail examines whether RRSPs are the holy grail to Canadians, an assertion disputed by well known financial writer Jamie Golombek of CIBC. What made this post cool to me, was that Mike Holman of Money Smarts picked up this theme and wrote an excellent blog titled Canadians Are Not Withdrawing From RRSPs At An Alarming Rate.

Most helpful post

Dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency and Dealing with the Canada Revenue Agency Part- 2 were very practical blogs about dealing with the CRA under various circumstances.

 

Post who’s success surprised you

I thought my post Intergenerational Communication Gap was a bit too philosophical to be successful, but it garnered some attention. It, deals with the fact the older and younger generations do not communicate with one another about money.

A post that didn’t get the attention it deserved

My post on Probate Fee Planning-Income Tax, Estate and Legal issues to consider has picked up over the last little while as far as reads are concerned, but I don’t think people appreciate how difficult it was to merge the various issues of probate into one comprehensive blog. The blog covers income tax issues, joint ownership and right of survivorship issues, legal precedents, the question of legal versus beneficial ownership of property and the legal concept of evidence of intention. All these topics have been discussed before, but I could not find any blog that brought them all together in one place. In order to do this, I had two lawyers review the blog for accuracy.

Post that I am most proud of

This is easy. My post titled Resverlogix, A Cautionary Tale wins this category hands down. Although writing this blog was cathartic, it relayed a very interesting story detailing the ups and downs of investing in one specific stock and putting too many eggs in one basket and how I tried to protect myself in case those eggs cracked or in my case, splattered.

Blogs I nominate for 7 Links

As the 7 Links Project has now been around for a while and I have lost track of which bloggers have taken part, I nominate all the bloggers on my Blog List to participate if they have not yet done so (I know many have already done so). However, I do not seem to recall seeing a 7 Links done by the Canadian Capitalist, Michael James on Money and Money Smarts, nor did I find one when I did a quick search on their sites. Since I am sure they have been nominated numerous times, I either missed them or they have decided not take part. If it is the latter, I urge them to reconsider as they are 3 of Canada's best blogs and would have some great links.. 

The blogs posted on The Blunt Bean Counter provide information of a general nature. These posts should not be considered specific advice; as each reader's personal financial situation is unique and fact specific. Please contact a professional advisor prior to implementing or acting upon any of the information contained in one of the blogs.

Happy Anniversary to Me

I posted my first blog “Let’s See Where This Goes” on September 20, 2010. One year later I am still blogging away, with some people other than my family reading.

In looking back at my first year, my first break was when Seeking Alpha asked if they could publish Resverlogix: A Cautionary Tale, a blog I posted in late November 2010. Seeking Alpha published this blog in January 2011.

I was also fortunate to be recommended by such noted bloggers as Larry Macdonald, Ram Balakrishnan the Canadian Capitalist, Jim Yih of the Retire Happy blog, Michael James and Mike Holman of Money-Smarts. In addition, Jim was kind enough to provide some initial guidance and Tom Drake of the Canadian Finance Blog and Money Index provided some savvy technical advice. None of these bloggers needed to consider my blog or help me in any way, but they did and I appreciate it.

In addition, the Globe and Mail has also contributed immensely to the growth of my blog. Rob Carrick has mentioned me numerous times in The Reader and Dianne Nice and Roma Luciw have been kind enough to feature me in their columns. I would like to thank all of them for being receptive and willing to listen to some of my ideas.

Finally, I am flattered to have been asked to write guest blogs for Jim, Ram and Boomer and Echo.

Since several of my blog topics are income tax related, the blogs can sometimes be somewhat complex. I have attempted to simplify these topics and explain in non-technical terms where possible, and I hope I have made some of these more complex topics understandable to my readers.

I also strive to write original pieces where possible. Although very few topics are original to financial bloggers, I always write my blogs first, and then check to see what was written previously. In this way I at least sprinkle my blogs with some originality. I have received a few emails complementing me on the original nature of many of my blogs, which reinforces my desire to continue using my current technique. In addition, the Confessions of a Tax Accountant blogs that I posted during income tax season received some kudos for the originality of the concept.

I marvel at some of the aforementioned bloggers who blog three, four and five times a week. I don’t know where they find the time, let alone the constant flow of ideas to write so many blogs. I have settled on generally posting two blogs a week. I do however, have some concern that the income tax blogs have a finite topic list. I also wonder how long I can continue to come up with something useful to say on money, the psychology of money, families and estates and business, all of which I find more enjoyable to write about than income tax.

So as my first year of blogging comes to an end, I would like to once again thank all the people I have noted above, my marketing manager Lisa, who reviews all my blogs and most importantly, my regular readers.

The blogs posted on The Blunt Bean Counter provide information of a general nature. These posts should not be considered specific advice; as each reader's personal financial situation is unique and fact specific. Please contact a professional advisor prior to implementing or acting upon any of the information contained in one of the blogs.