So we went on vacation and I found a new friend.
He even wears a chain around his neck like I do.
For someone who doesn't have very much hair left on the top of his head, my new friend actually offered some great sun protection, LOL!
Getting down to the Dominican with my family, Nick's family, and my brother-in-law's family was a great break.
And it seemed like almost all of Canada was down there with us.
Every resort seemed to be dominated by Canadians.
Apparently Canadians miss the sunshine.
After these long winter months, Nick and I need to ease back into the sun. Our half Scottish, half Croatian skin is sensitive to those amazing rays of Vitamin D goodness.
We celebrated my daughter's 16th birthday while we were down there. To think that our youngest is now 16 is just another reminder how fast life moves.
And to then think what the next 16 years will bring all of us is incredible.
Here's just a sampling of things we're paying attention to right now:
There's a debt cycle that is showing signs of reaching its climatic conclusion.
You have countries like El Salvador shunning the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and "going it alone" by raising money with their Bitcoin Volcano Bond. Can't wait to see if they pull this off! This was unheard of just 2 years ago.
We have the highest inflation in 30+ years here in Canada and our central bank decided to raise interest rates by a tiny 0.25%. LOL!
The Canadian bond market (and many others) are starting to wobble and it's causing fixed mortgage rates in Canada to touch 4%. For context, they were as low as 2.1% just a little while back (variable rate is currently around 2.3%).
Oxford Economics is calling for Canadian home prices to fall by 24%. One day, these forecasters will be right. That would take us all the way back to what…2020 prices?
I don't think these economists fully understand the level of our housing shortage here in Ontario especially.
Mike Moffat put out another great piece outlining how our own Canadian census undercounts our population by millions! You can check that article out by clicking right here.
We're not saying the housing market can't correct. Of course it can.
It just feels like we've been calling for a housing collapse since about 2008 without discussing all the nuances (see: never-ending debt bubble that requires low-interest rates forever).
And with all the real estate activity in Canada, a lot of people are completely messing up how they buy and sell rental properties with tenants.
We released a new podcast this week with Kelly Hawkes, a senior paralegal who specializes in the Tenant Act in Ontario, to discuss the proper way to do this. We also covered some other Landlord responsibilities during that episode.
You can scroll down to access it.
Next, there is a massive and horrible humanitarian crisis going on in the Ukraine. A very good friend of ours shared this Red Cross link with us, here it is in case you'd like to support the ongoing humanitarian efforts: https://donate.redcross.ca/
If you haven't read the book The Fourth Turning yet, then it may be time to at least Google up a summary. Definitely feels like we're going through it right now.
Or if that's too heavy, check out the book The Sovereign Individual.
If that's too old for you (pub: 1997) then definitely check out Jeff Booth's amazing and current book, The Price of Tomorrow.
Creating some context of what's going on in the world during these times is important and will help bring some peace of mind.
Also, if you don't currently own assets that you feel you control directly: gold (not in a fund), Bitcoin (not the ETF), real estate (not in a REIT) we would highly recommend taking direct custody of some of your assets.
We believe that holding direct custody of some percentage of your assets will give you the most freedom and options over the next 16 years.
Your network of friends, professionals and helpful people is more important than ever during turbulent times.
Make sure you keep growing and developing those relationships.
Even if it means making friends with a green friend who sits on top of your head, LOL!
Have a great end to the week, everyone!!
Tom & Nick
