Mo' Money, mo' problems: Is "free money" for education a fiscal mistake?

According to the Cons, our students are to be trusted
with cash about as much as Fat Joe and Lil Wayne

Yesterday, the Liberals made their first big platform promise for the upcoming federal election, announcing their "Learning Passport," which would provide $4,000 tax-free to every high school student who chooses to go to university, college or CÉGEP. Students from low-income families will qualify for $6,000 or $1,500 for each year of study. 

Reaction from the media outlets not routinely kissing Harper's butt was overwhelmingly positive: See here and here.

Others weren't so jazzed. National Post columnist John Ivison writes,

"All [students] have to do is open an RESP (no need to make any contributions), turn up at college or university and get their $4,000 in free money. For some reason, the words “beer” and “popcorn” immediately spring to mind." 

The Harper camp launched a full-scale attack on the proposal, which I guess is what they're supposed to do and one of the reasons elections can be so dull. Of course, Conservatives are usually pretty hot to trot when it comes to putting money in the hands of individuals (here I think of Harper's clawback of government-funded daycare in favour of cash payments to parents).

So, who is more likely to waste "free money?" Students? Or parents? Or Fat Joe and Lil' Wayne?

Students, you say?

Let's look at it this way. Under this proposal, students must physically go to a bank and open an RESP. They will be able to see the money accumulate. This in itself could instill positive habits, and get them thinking about saving rather than spending

Yes, some students will waste their money. But in the long-run, affordable education for everyone is an investment in our future. Ivison uses the traditional argument that lowering corporate taxes is the way to make Canada attractive to global investors.

Let's be real: Canada would look good drunk at 1pm, in a dayglo tuxedo and fake moustache. Why? Because we have natural resources - aka "stuff the world needs" - the demand for which will only increase. Now if our goverment is stupid, and goes around just giving away our resources and bowing down to the US every time there's a spat (ahem, Harper, ahem, softwood lumber), well, that's a different story altogether...

I say, let's instill some financial literacy and responsibility in our young people. That, coupled with better access to education for everyone could certainly go a long way towards securing our collective financial future.

PS: I often wonder, when rappers throw money on the set of a music video, do they attempt to collect it at the end of the day? Or does a smiling janitor just sweep it into a big, tidy pile?

Federal election: The markets don’t care. Should you?

Do the eye (brow)s  have it? National Post columnist
John Ivison sports the new Ignatieff look.

With a Federal Fun Fest (also known as an election) now slated for May 2, I’m staring down the daunting task of re-evaluating which party’s fiscal policy most floats my boat.

It’s going to be a tough call, because as always I’m torn between voting "for me" and attempting the nobler and more convoluted task of voting for the good of my country. Like many of us, I like to try and go to the polls with a sense of which party could possibly lead us – economically and socially – towards a better version of ourselves. Fiscally, it can be easy to get mired in relatively narrow issues – who will raise taxes for whom being the most obvious. Health care, government spending and social programs all come into play in terms of securing our financial and societal well being.

This article in today’s Globe says don’t worry about your investments – yet. Indeed. Even in a coalition government, the free-spending spoke in that wheel – the NDP – would have to kowtow to the Liberals. That is, barring any crazy upsets, like a mythical landslide victory by the Green Party that everyone knows is never going to happen so long as people continue to engage in certain activities such as the driving of automobiles...

Ramping up to the election, I’m going to try and provide as much unbiased information as possible on the fiscal policy of the key parties. And, because that alone would be totally boring and unfun, I’m going to throw in some extremely biased and hopefully amusing commentary, as well.

Just so you know where my sympathies lie: Steven Harper is not my friend. Nor is he yours – especially if you’re gay, aboriginal, a feminist, or just really don't like war. In past I have spoiled my ballot rather than vote for the Cons. Will that even be an option this time around? Please note also that I am no fan of Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff - a man who still has not fully addressed his latent eyebrow issues. True, there is now an actual separation between the brows. Yet this new effort at grooming seems to have rendered them all the more sinister and Communist-dictator-like. This does not bode well.

In all seriousness, the real test of the men (and one very determined and intelligent woman) will be precisely what was lacking last time around: Vision. Can Harper or Ignatieff come up with one? If nothing else, it will be fun to watch 'em try.

Negotiation 101: Not getting taken to the cleaner

When we think of "negotiation" in financial terms, we may think those stress-inducing, grey-carpet-and-muzac situations: mortgages, loans, car dealerships (I hear this one is particularly bad). But really, financial negotiation happens in a myriad of small ways in our day-to-day lives, whether it's deciding how to split the cheque, or haggling over a cab fare.

Or, in my case, yesterday: Demanding cash compensation after my dry cleaner wrecked not one, but three of my blouses.

Staring at my clothes covered in black ink - ink belonging to a pen that was clearly not mine - I realized that my reaction to the problem would make all the difference in its outcome. Here are my pointers, which I think can be applied to a variety of scenarios:

1. Even if they don't apologize, set the standard for the communication by being calm but firm. Express disappointment, be polite and understanding, but do not be a pushover. My first comment: Oh dear. One of those shirts was my favourite. But, these things happen. Everyone makes mistakes. Then I asked how they planned to make it right.

2.Don't accept less than what you feel you deserve - at least initially. They countered by offering me a dry cleaning credit equivalent to the value of the clothing.

3. Use humour if you can - sometimes it helps set both parties at ease. I replied, with a grin, "I'm not sure a credit will be helpful for me to clean clothes I no longer own." [Blank stare in this case, but I swear it does work sometimes.] I added that I would need cash compensation to replace the items that were ruined.

4. Be honest. No strategic reason, just because it's the right thing to do. I told them what the items were worth - roughly $200.

5. Don't accept less than you feel you deserve - just yet. They offered me $150 in cash. I countered that the items were worth more than that, plus I would have to go to the effort to replace them.

6. If you reach an impasse, put the problem back in the hands of the person who caused it.  When encountered with another blank stare, I said, very nicely, "I'm sure you know what's fair. So what don't you tell me what you think is the correct way to handle this situation." The lady at the counter went into the back and after some tense negotiations with her husband, she offered me $150 cash plus free cleaning for the other items that were not ruined.

7. Be prepared to accept slightly less than you feel you deserve. Yes, I would have preferred a more forthcoming apology and more effort on their part to compensate me for the cost of the clothing and my trouble, but I realized that what they were offering was as good as I'd get - without a time-consuming and potentially Disastrous Duel to the Death with the Dry-Cleaning Duo. They would probably win, too. They are hard-working, wiry, humourless people. These are not things I like in an opponent.

So, I said goodbye to my favourite blouse - and the other two, which honestly weren't that hot to begin with - and left the store *almost* smiling.

The end.

Your Bell rebate cheque: in the trash or in the bank?

You can see the delicacy with which I tore into this -
of course having no idea it was a cheque...

Hey, guess what? Bell Canada is sending out rebates to its home phone customers - and you may have thrown yours out, because it looks a lot like junk mail.

Like everyone else, I get reams of junk from all sorts of companies - Plan your funeral! Find true love! - which I chuck without opening. But I also get "junk" from legitimate companies. Bell in particular has a way of making all their envelopes look the same, so you just have to open their mail containing crappy promos, in case it's, you know, something important.

Having paid my Bell bill already this month, my hand was hovering over the recycling bin in the mail room when I thought, "aww crap, I should really open this." Good thing I did. Inside was a rebate for $67.41 which, according to Bell, is mandated by the CRTC.

It made me a little weak in the knees to think of a cheque going in the garbage, and even shakier being that it's from a company I kind of consider an arch enemy (a longer story for another day). The irony of it going unopened would be somewhat massive.

The lesson here: take a minute and open all your mail from any companies you have or have had business dealings with, even if it it looks like crap.

If you're a Bell customer and haven't received a cheque, take a minute and surf to www.bell.ca/rebate to see if you qualify.

You're going to pay me to do *what*?

Well hello everybody! Happy Monday! Are you as stoked about it as I am? Are you all revved up? 

I'm telling you, when it's Monday, and it's grey and raining, and the roads are clogged with cars that have apparently lost all ability to drive about 20km/per hour due to a small amount of precipitation, I freakin' jump out of bed. I simply cannot wait to get on the bus and watch my fellow passengers eat their breakfast and paint their nails in public.

[An aside: Could someone please tell me, how long does it take to eat one slice of toast? Do you think, speaking theoretically of course, this act could be made to fill the comparative silence of a 45-minute bus ride? I mean, there's nothing quite like the slow rustling of foil and the soft crunch of clean teeth on buttered toast, eaten directly in your face, to really make you want to break into a dance of jubilation and shout, yes, YES, this is what I want. This is what I want every Monday morning for the rest of my non-arthritic life.]

Ahem. Pardon me.

Now that I've got that off my chest, here's what I'm sayin': You're going to pay me to do what this coming Wednesday?

Yes, I started teaching violin lessons - one of my goals for 2011, and so far I've had two sessions with my new student. Each time she hands me $20 for a half hour of help that I'd happy give anyone for free and I scratch my head and say, "Huh? What? Awesome!" This is the exact feeling I want to expand on, so that more of my working hours are like this. I realize not everyone has this luxury, and maybe I'd have to take a drastic pay cut to achieve it. Being paid to write creatively (my other favourite - though at times hair-pulling - pastime) would be equally as luxurious...

Are there people out there who get this feeling from their full-time job? How truly rare is it? Is it worth risking a certain kind of security for a certain kind of freedom?

Don't get me wrong, there are moments in my job when I do feel this way. Only I sense my role - and my industry - shifting. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling I'll be doing less and less of the things I love. It does makes me think...