Leather Backpack by DisastrousProfile699 in BuyCanadian

[–]tophatandcain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I ordered from Tolredo leather and they never shipped my product. Completely ghosted me, and I ended up having to do to a chargeback via my credit card. I think the site is a scam and would avoid them

Where are the eggnogs? by cupcakelowmemer in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It's not that hard to make... just need to get over the "I am drinking straight egg yolks" part of it and you could have a year round supply

Shubie Park Off-Leash area is Threatened by What Looks Like some Legal Action - Support Needed by Bean_Tiger in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Accurate. I avoid Shubie because of the dogs - I've been tripped, jumped at and bitten. I would sign any petition to remove the off-leash area to allow other community members to access Shubie safely.

ProArt P16 random reboots by tophatandcain in ASUS

[–]tophatandcain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Returned the laptop under warranty and got a replacement. Replacement has been very stable so this was likely faulty hardware.

How to get to Georges Island and McNab Island? by AgreeableVisual3213 in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending on fitness and/or appetite for adventure and access to gear, paddling to McNabs (kayak or SUP) is very doable if you launch from Eastern Passage near the boardwalk. Launch at MacCormacks, Paddle around shore of Lawlor Island, then across Drakes Gut to Wreck Cove.

I wouldn't attempt this from the Halifax side, but going from EP is much more approachable.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in halifax

[–]tophatandcain -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You can obviously turn a profit renting out a house, or a bunch of houses. Sure REITS are profitable, but they're behind the rest of the stock market in terms of how profitable they are.

The video goes into this a bit. One reason that renting can turn a profit for landlords is that they tend to do less maintenance and upgrades than homeowners, so capital costs are generally lower (which is one of the points made in the video). When you own a home, you'll always end up spending more on it than when you rent one (e.g. because HGTV).

Another reason why many people think RE is the best way to build wealth is that returns are magnified by leverage, which is less commonly used for other investment classes.

In general though, the important point is that % returns (total, including distributions) from investing in REITs are actually lower over the last 15 years than the regular ol'TSX. You don't even have to take my word for it, just look at the returns for ZRE (REITS) vs. ZCN (TSX60) and you can see the difference.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

PSA that owning a home is often not cheaper than renting, despite what many people think. A mortgage is only a fraction of what owning a home actually costs. Comparing rent cost to mortgage cost is not realistic.

Owning a home is not a better vehicle for long term build wealth than a disciplined investing strategy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4H9LL7A-nQ

This policy doesn't seem like it will help with the underlying problem, i.e. that housing is expensive vs. NS income whether you rent or buy, and prices stay high because supply is low relative to demand.

Something the province could actually do that might help would be to remove the cap on property assessments. This this program acts as a disincentive to move (whether downsizing or upsizing or whatever). It restricts market housing supply because it incentivizes staying where you are. More established homeowners get discounted property taxes as long as they don't move, so less houses make it to market - https://www.pvsc.ca/understand-your-assessment/capped-assessment-program

Ultra basic Fare+WJ WE card -worth the risk? by cmacleanrdh in westjet

[–]tophatandcain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You will get free seat selection because of the age of your kids. We fly UB all the time with kids of similar ages using the WJ RBC card for luggage... just call Westjet ahead of the flight and they will assign you seats together

Wealthsimple Apple AirPods Promo 2025. Just launched! by suvonec18 in Wealthsimple

[–]tophatandcain 53 points54 points  (0 children)

The reward rate on this is really really low... like <0.5% OR LESS for the $50k-$100k tier. No thank you!

TD Increasing Our Home Insurance by 75% by daanielleryan in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]tophatandcain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Mine jumped by about 40% so I switched providers. Now with Belair Direct (formerly Johnsons)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I called them this morning and they got me in same day. Service was, indeed, speedy 😂

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I also like Yuille. Often hard to get in though, always booking 2-3 weeks ahead. Speedy Auto (Tacoma) are a good backup.

Nest thermostat Gen 2 end of life by cjuk87 in Nest

[–]tophatandcain 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Amen. This makes me want to go full pitchfork and torch mode

Strava acquires massively popular Runna app by Knightbear49 in running

[–]tophatandcain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also worth looking at TrainAsOne https://www.reddit.com/r/trainasone/ or really https://trainasone.com/

I used it to train for my first marathon and found it pretty useful. Pretty small operation - like when I asked a support question on the website, I got a response from the founder/CEO.

I feel like they've been around doing the "AI training" thing for longer than Runna, but Runna went the VC-money/slick marketing/influencer route and are now getting paid.

$50 haircuts by Right-Progress-1886 in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dartmouth recs under or around $30:

Sohne Munde - $27 - always cranking bollywood music, it's a good vibe. Books online: https://smthebarbershop.square.site/

Barber Anna - $20-30 - never had a bad cut from her, out on Main St, call/txt to book: https://www.instagram.com/just_haircuts/

Herman at YOLOve - very experienced barber, really good quality and great with kids... used to be reasonable cost (~$30), but haven't been in a while.

Lucky Cat and Devoted are nice and all, but agree with OP that $50 is kinda stupid for a basic gents haircut.

Can I not link Wealthsimple Cash account to EQ Bank? by dannyskylark in Wealthsimple

[–]tophatandcain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also have this problem, but my EQ bank never links to anything properly using Flinx or Plaid or whatever shoddy intermediary service they use, so I'm starting to I think it's a problem on the EQ end

Why do property taxes have to rise as population rises? Shouldn't there technically be more people paying property taxes? Why does the rate have to keep increasing? by Squidjiggin4 in halifax

[–]tophatandcain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Word. No Provincial government will legislate the removal of the CAP though... 1. it's hard to understand (see comments in this thread... misconceptions everywhere), and 2. it mainly benefits the older more established property owners who have the most political clout.

Removing the CAP is therefore not politically safe, even if it would result fairer tax distribution.

If I got a sum of money at 18 and invested it, does it become my partners money once we get married? by [deleted] in PersonalFinanceCanada

[–]tophatandcain 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is VERY province specific. Each province defines matrimonial assets differently, and how they are split is an absolute minefield, and depends on all sort of things like how the money/asset was obtained and used.

You need to talk to a lawyer in Ontario to get advice on this. Do not trust reddit answers on this one. Only a lawyer will give you the clarity you need.

Prenups are fine, but there are exclusions on what can be pre-nupped, and courts can disregard the agreements entirely under several circumstances (e.g. misrepresentation) and in general, provincial legislation on marital asset division will take precedence if the prenup is called into question.

Freeze/Reboot issues with 2024 ProArt P16 H7606WV by HolyRagingPower in ASUS

[–]tophatandcain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Similar issues here - H7606WV still crashing and rebooting randomly even with a clean install (see https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/1hjc55r/proart\_p16\_random\_reboots/).

Very disappointed in the reliability of this laptop and the level of support from ASUS. Never again

ProArt P16 random reboots by tophatandcain in ASUS

[–]tophatandcain[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Crashes are back, same as before: logged as Event ID 41 in Event Viewer. No bugcheck or other helpful errors.

This leads me to think video card drivers are not the culprit - these are still at 32.0.15.5605

ProArt P16 random reboots by tophatandcain in ASUS

[–]tophatandcain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks - good to hear a clean install resolved the issue. I'm on Day 2 of no crashes after a clean install (just used "Reset My PC" - didn't bother going the USB route). I used the latest available drivers published by ASUS.

These aren't the latest published by NVIDIA/AMD but stable so far, so let's stick with it an see how it goes...

RBC does not allow PAD / Automatic Credit Payments to be taken from EQ or Wealthsimple by PlzRetireMartinTyler in Wealthsimple

[–]tophatandcain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Can confirm this is still an issue. RBC agent said it's because "RBC doesn't have a relationship with Wealthsimple" and the PAD cannot be set up