It’s been another interesting week in the financial markets, with more reports on the coronavirus spreading out of control, accompanied by potential vaccine news. There’s been a bit of a bump in commodity prices, such as oil, lumber and…. Bitcoin, which seems to be surging as well. Strange times for sure – it will be interesting to see what the winter months bring.
This year appears it may also be very different in terms of how we celebrate the holiday season, if Covid-19 continues to spiral out of control in certain high population and hotspot regions. Hopefully we can keep things under control. On a bit of a lighter note, here are some weekend reads – articles of interest from the past week
Changes to Legal Tender Status for Bank Notes | Bank of Canada
Do you have any of those old Canadian $1 or $2 bills lying around? If you live in Canada, it’s likely you or your parents probably have a couple tucked away somewhere in the house. In fact, I remember when they first retired the one and two dollar bills from printing, you could buy entire sheets of them framed as souvenirs. Well, as of January 1, 2021 , the legal tender status will finally be removed from these notes. What does this mean? Well the Coles notes are that you will no longer be able to spend the notes at stores or essentially as currency, but you will still be able to cash them in at the bank for their face value. However, as collectibles you may just choose to hang onto them! Does anyone have one of those pink $1,000 bills lying around, with the pine grosbeak? I’d love to know!
TFSA Limits Announced for 2021 | Canada Revenue Agency
Well I’ve linked probably one of the most boring websites in Canada, unless you’re an accountant or a financial planner. But now on the CRA website you can find all of the updates on indexation adjustment for personal income tax and benefit amounts. This includes down towards the bottom, the updated TFSA contribution limits for 2021, which are once again $6,000 for the year. So how exactly do they come up with this magical number? It’s a good question. Well for 2016 and each subsequent year, the annual TFSA dollar limit is fixed at $5,000, indexed to inflation for each year after 2009, and then rounded off to the nearest $500. You don’t need to run off and try to figure out that calculation yourself, the biggest takeaway here is that you get another $6,000 of room in your tax sheltered account – so take advantage of it!
Why Bitcoin is Stupid | Mr. Money Mustache
Bitcoin has been in the spotlight lately, once again getting close to all-time high valuations. It makes me wonder if this bubble will soon pop, once again leaving new investors holding the bag. Linked above, is an older post, where the man, the myth, the legend… Mr. Money Mustache himself weighed in on what he thinks of Bitcoin back in 2018 – and I somewhat concur. This will probably upset a few people, but it’s generally the same people who have a vested interest in cryptocurrencies of some kind and are emotionally wrapped up in their investments. Not a good thing to do, regardless of the investment. It truly will be interesting to see how crypto plays out in the next decade – whether it will take over, stay the course, or fade into oblivion.
That’s all for this weekend, if you have some time, check out the latest articles on the homepage including my Monthly Money Updates from October 2020.
Have a great weekend!
I don’t think I had any old money laying around. But if I did I’m not sure I would try and spend it at the store. My first instinct would be to take it to the bank.
I agree that it’s a nice little keepsake.
Random currency is always interesting. When we went to Zimbabwe a few years ago it was fun to get a $1 million bill. Their local currency was so overinflated and out of control they all traded in USD.
I feel bad responding so late, for some reason this got marked as spam originally! 🙁
I’m sure there are kids working places, who would have no clue what to do if you handed them a $2 bill. Is this real money?
Wow, you are lucky to get to see Africa. I haven’t been, but think it would be a pretty amazing place to visit. Hopefully, we can get some travel happening again without having to worry about the virus.