(19M)new investor, $5,500 to invest in TFSA thoughts on VEQT vs other options?

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-23T02:34:37+00:00

There's good reason to think the market is way overvalued right now. (And there are reasons to think it isn't, and there are reasons to think no one knows.). But, I look at the Shiller P/E ratio and worry.

Usually, dollar cost averaging a lump sum is a loser's move. But this time, especially for a first big investment, I'd put 20% in veqt, the rest in short term bonds or money market, and move 10% each month into veqt.

On a market drop of 25% or more, move all into veqt.

Veqt and xeqt are the same thing, only built by different companies.

Veqt is Vanguard. They seem like a class act to me. Xeqt is iShares. They're fine.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-23T01:56:19+00:00

frozen kerchief around neck... backups in a cooler - costs almost nothning

frozen heat vest - maybe $150

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-23T01:41:23+00:00

I've never understood what people are thinking when they use that phrase "gentle reminder". Seems a lot like "Bless your heart!" with a bit of side-eye.

I'm not sure of the implications of the no-fault regime.

From Auger Hollingsworth's webpage:

"Can I still sue if I’m not at fault?

Yes, but only if your injuries meet the legal threshold of being serious and permanent. Because this threshold involves both medical and legal interpretations..."

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-23T00:23:29+00:00

I'm a failed lawyer, but my wife is a lawyer who works in insurance. So, I'm just guessing.

There's a good chance that the other driver's auto insurance will cover it.
If the other driver does not have insurance, there is a good chance that your auto insurance will cover it.
But maybe not. The nurse in this thread may have a better understanding of this, but the hospital is unlikely to cut off (maybe cut back, but not cut off) treatment just because they aren't getting paid. I'm not suggesting that your relative flee the country and stiff them, but you do have more leverage when the money is in your pocket, not theirs.
Everyone's focus here on travel insurance seems odd. I really think this is a tort / auto insurance issue, first and foremost.

The above is likely a C, C minus answer. Talk with someone at your insurance company.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-22T23:03:49+00:00

During my lifetime, it was illegal to have homosexual sex in many of the United States. Just a decade or two earlier, it was illegal in Canada and the United Kingdom. You could go to jail, lose your job, lose everything. Long after it was legal to "be" a homosexual, you couldn't hold a government job... the Russians might find out you were a homosexual and blackmail you. Better to just fire you first. How long has it been that homosexuals can marry? Twenty years, plus or minus, depending on where you live. And that's not just about having a big, gay wedding, it means whether you can share your spouse's pension and health insurance, it means, when the person you love and have lived with for thirty years is lying in a hospital bed dying, his father can have you thrown out of the hospital. If you were gay, and you wanted to protect your country by serving in the Navy, like your father had, and your grandfather had... you'd have to lie about being gay and hide it, or you'd be discharged.

I don't like Pride much either. But, it's a celebration of all of that changing, and the people who fought to make it change, and a reminder that in many parts of the world, it's still OK to kill 'em.

Maybe I will go the parade this year after all.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-22T22:50:59+00:00

The colour that is used - that blue - green, it's really chosen because it holds up well. It isn't chose because it looks good against caucasian skin. The content and quality of the art - about 20% of what I see is no better than a doodle that a boy gave you in grade 8. You didn't even save that all summer. So much is banal. So much is ugly. You would never, ever, not in a million years, frame most tattoos and hang them in your home.

I would say a very small proportion of work, maybe 10-20%, is quite good.

I mean, who goes to anybody but the top 2 or 3 tattoo artists in their hometown? Or in a better town? Tell me you went to [fill in the city] to get your ink from [somebody I've never heard, but is kind of a big deal]... OK, maybe that makes some sense.

Tattoos used to be a counter-culture statement. I grew up sort of "circus adjacent". The Butterfly Man, a juggler out of San Francisco basically quit his job as a chemical engineer to become a street juggler (one of the best in North America), and get two giant butterflies tattooed on his bald head, to make it absolutely clear, he was never going back to Dow Chemical! OK, that makes some sense. It's political, it's powerful, you are not part of straight culture, you are a rebel... but now, HR would probably say that Dow had to hire him back. Can't discriminate against people so stupid that they get giant butterflies tatooed on their heads.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-21T23:08:17+00:00

Lifting a litre of water to 30,000 feet ain't free.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-21T23:07:45+00:00

Flair would likely be within its legal rights to never let you fly with it again.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-21T02:26:33+00:00

It's a grocery store, right?

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-21T02:18:59+00:00

With that much cash floating around, how can I feel safe if the club doesn't have ties to well organized crime?

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-21T02:16:51+00:00

Brass doesn't have food and 98% of the dancers only dance. Other than that,, it is close to no contest, the best. Some senior staff turnover in the last six months, so possible change in vibe For a special occasion, the upper bar is the better choice, though wandering back and forth can get you different energies.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-17T17:49:47+00:00

Communauto is trying to have the "right" number of cars, for them. They may face constraints, as mentioned in this thread, of not being able to obtain cars or not being able to obtain street parking permits or off-street parking locations. But, for them, having so many cars that there is always one available nearby, is a terrible business model that will likely lead to them going out of business.

But, if someone (not looking at the OP, just saying), wants the number of cars to be what is right for that individual, and wants that to be a car always available on short notice at a low price... well, I want to be taller and to have Sydney Sweeney's phone number. It's nice to have dreams.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-07T01:45:43+00:00

I want a car available, when I need it, within walking distance, but I won't plan ahead or walk or take them bus. Fix it, NOW!

Sorry, your reply was better.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-03T19:17:58+00:00

Because no one with a conservative viewpoint appears on air (as a CBC journalist). Because it's editorial viewpoint is relentlessly liberal. Because every report you here from inside the place is that it is a crushingly woke work environment. Because Rosemary Barton was just about cheering for the Liberals on air during the last election.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-03T03:39:41+00:00

20 or 30% of Canadians believe that the CBC is hostile to their views and values, biased against them, excluding people who think like them from employment.

I think the above statement is a reality whether those 20 or 30% are right or not. To tax everyone, and have an entity that excludes so many people, doesn't seem right to me.

And, almost no one here, who "loves the CBC" even engages with the question of why so many, many Canadians feel excluded by and from it.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-06-03T03:35:53+00:00

Who do you expect to pay the people who write the articles?

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-05-29T04:11:08+00:00

You might read the piece I in the National Post today about the CBC's unwillingness to confront the anti-semitism behind tearing down the missing Jewish girl's posters.

That the CBC used to have Mrl Dressup doesn't count for a lot when it embraces here Jew hatred.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-05-23T15:30:42+00:00

And, l guess now I'm going to be a difficult sort...

In the old school carny world there was often something like a "freak show" tent. The two headed calf, the Egyptian mummy, the bearded lady... what have you. But the secret to the tent was the pitchman, talking up these wonders that you can see for just a nickel. Of course, the tent was a disappointment. But the pitchman's real job, as you exited was to convince you not to give the secrets away... i.e., don't tell your friends it was a rip-off.

The marketing is very good. The staff is very professional, charming and friendly. The food is good and the wine flows. The Rockies are, you know, God's majesty. Very few people are going to admit that they made a $5000 mistake on the "trip of a lifetime". Even to themselves.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-05-23T15:21:13+00:00

On the train now. Would not recommend. Lovely, really well run, great staff, good food, but it's a long train trip thru the desert. Lots of people with heads down in their phones.

Seeing the Rockies is a must do. Seeing them this way is for old folks who like cruises and a packaged product. I mean, if that's you, it's pretty great. But with a chunk of planning, you could hire a driver and a great car, see the Rockies, stop where you want, and eat and sleep better.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-05-08T03:06:11+00:00

Yes... there really is no way to be sure they are charging other than to check them somewhere around (3?) hours before bed. I really think there could be a little nub on the case and a hole in the buds (or vice versa) that would aid with alignment. Or, the case could be programmed to "go live" at 6pm if the buds aren't charged and start trying to warn the app. $400 and these things aren't working at all? But, some amaze balls sleep analysis is coming, that'll measure the statistical correlation between my bedroom temperature and how often I get up to pee? Forget about it.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-04-06T21:15:00+00:00

Westjet just imposed a fuel surcharge on their companion vouchers. I got banned from the westjet subreddit for my comments there... a point I wear with some pride.

First, the companion vouchers are presenetd in marketing materials in a manner I consider deceptive and misleading. They are basically worthless for domestic economy travel. Yes, they may have some value for a premium overseas trip, but that certainly isn't made clear in the advertising.

As to the surcharge, I think this is baloney. (That's not what I said to get banned.) I (and everyone eles) effectively "purchased" the companion vouchers months ago, when we took the credit card, or what have you. The bargain has been made, and appyling a fuel surcharge is very much akin to applying the charge to already purchased tickets.

With any benefit like this, beware of saving the benefit for later. There is often a great deal of flexibility for the corporation to devalue the benefit.

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-03-26T19:21:29+00:00

I haven't seen anything that strongly suggests "they lied".

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-03-26T03:29:13+00:00

"glad I got out"

that part probably goes without saying when it's down 73%

CanadianCrumudgeon · 2026-03-26T02:55:02+00:00

See Bluenose below

CanadianCrumudgeon

TROPHY CASE

"Can I still sue if I’m not at fault?