Magical Number 12 (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on October 12, 2012

The more we look at it, the more Number 12 appears Magical!

In its original stages, our research revolved more around number 15.

But, as soon as we dug deeper, 12 evidently became the front running candidate. 

For one thing, a dozen always fits way better in a box!

More seriously, remarkable Twelve as deep roots throughout History; 
it even has some kind of mystical character associated to it.

The Number of Nature

Improving Email Management

Six or seven years ago, I was wasting a lot of precious time processing emails. It also seemed like I was often loss in a huge pile of information.

On top of numerous directives from my superiors, my inbox was flooded by system alerts and client requests…I was always afraid to miss something important.

I had to do something to organize myself better but didn’t have a clue where to start.

Being Productive with Less Stress

Then, I stumbled upon the Getting Things Done (GTD) methods by David Allen.

I won’t go into details of GTD here but let’s just say it provides great methods to relieve pressure and prioritize.

Inspired by GTD and using the same basic concepts, I adapted it to my context and needs. With time, I was then able to build my own system. I now consider myself virtually stress-free.

Easy Vacation Saving Tips

This week, booking our summer vacations reminded me of some easy saving tips.

Comparing seems to be our common theme. It sure can be profitable for you also!

1- Book two separate one-way flights instead of a roundtrip one

We’ve been doing this for a while. We look up flights using roundtrip information but book it separately or at least, compare it to the roundtrip fares.

We usually save 40-50$ per vacationer. Airport fees are quite expensive up here; that may be why we save so much when we book it the other way.

2- Book directly with the hotel

Again, we use specialized sites to look for our preferable hotel but book directly on the hotel’s website or sometimes, even call the hotel on the phone.

That way, it’s often easier to get access to additional discounts or to make special requests tailored to your needs.

Investing The 12-Minute Way (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on September 12, 2012

Keep It Simple

You should only use financial products you understand. So, stick to the basics. Complex and complicated products often only serve those who sell them.

Same goes for stocks, only invest in solid companies you know and understand.

In this great Internet/Information era, it’s relatively simple to get data on any public company. To stay effective, we recommend you only take 12-Minute when you first analyze a potential candidate for your portfolio or watch list.  

Avoid Wasting Money on Costly Mortgage Insurance

A few weeks ago, two people asked me questions regarding the same subject, their mortgage insurance; they were concerned and had some doubts about it.

My initial intentions on the matter were to quickly write about them while adding brief comments. I started my draft. But ideas kept coming the more I thought about it.

After a while, I finally decided to let my mind go on and freed up my pen (it’s more like my keyboard but you know what I mean); a «quick beef» post transformed into a much more elaborate article.

So here’s what came out of it. Hope you like it! 

The conversation I had with those folks reminded me of an Article I wrote back in 2010. Looks like the financial institutions are still singing the same old tune.

It was kind of late for them because it seemed like they already wasted a lot of money on these products, but as they say, better late than never.

With their permission, I will abort the outline of their respective situations. Afterwards, exposing my point of view, I’ll share with you 12 Helpful Tips about Mortgage Insurance.

Note that to protect their privacy, some figures have been altered and rounded up, irrelevant details may also have been omitted but the spirit of each situation was respected.

The Average Person Pays Too Much

First off, my neighbor (we will call him Joe) is renewing is mortgage soon and did not really know how much his mortgage insurance cost him so far.

Exhilarating Tax Time

I take advantage of a brief intermission in my day to tell you that last week; I took some time to file our taxes. It was kind of exhilarating as we are getting a huge tax return this year because of our Special Extra RRSP Contribution for 2015.

My old college teacher wouldn’t be proud of me as for him, getting a juicy tax return meant you lent your money to the governments for nothing. It certainly would have been better to arrange for smaller payroll deductions and get a smaller tax return afterwards. But I’m sure he would be lenient with me for once as special circumstances justify my oversight. The bottom line is that, in the end, we will have more money in our pockets.

We will use that substantial return to save some more in 2016 as all our main family projects already have been planned for. This will generate some kind of snowball effect: special savings in 2015 result in special tax return in 2016 which leads to even more savings in 2016 and so on and so forth.

For many years now, I’ve made it a point to file our tax returns myself. That way, I can understand all the implications and save as much as possible on unnecessary taxes; for example, applying all our family’s medical expenses only on my own tax return made us recover a couple hundred bucks again this year.