by Mike on March 13, 2010
The EI premiums have gone up for 2010 (no surprise) so I thought it would be a good idea to go over the new amounts. Here are the 2007 EI premiums if you want to compare.
First of all the maximum insurable annual earnings has gone up from $42,300 to $43,200 which means that for someone earning more than $42,300Â – a larger part of your income will be covered by employment insurance.
The way it works is that for any income up to $43,200 you are charged a premium which is 1.73% of your applicable earnings up to the maximum insurable amount.
The maximum amount of EI premiums for 2010 is $747.36 ($587.52 for Quebec).
This premium is not pro-rated throughout the year so even if you make $90k a year – the EI calculation will be applied to your entire pay cheque starting in January even though this means you will reach the maximum limit before the year is half over.
If you change jobs then the EI contributions start all over again for that year so you will probably end up over contributing. You will get this over payment back at tax filing time.
Here are the 2010 CPP contribution limits.
by Mike on March 11, 2010
The Canadian Capitalist site got a big makeover this week as a result of his new affiliation with MoneySense.ca which is a really good Canadian money magazine. I’m very happy for Ram but I have to say I was extremely disappointed in some of the comments he received on the announcement. Numerous commenters said he sold out and they were disappointed and blah, blah, blah, blah….
I think this is ridiculous - first of all, if you read Money Sense and the Canadian Capitalist then you know that they are a great fit. They both have exactly the same approach to personal finance and investing so I don’t see how there would be any interference from MS. Second of all – Money Sense doesn’t strike me as big business. I suspect that they need Ram a lot more than he needs them so I don’t think they will be trying to influence him at all.
Ramit from I will teach you to be rich has been promoting some self-made products over the last year or so and has gotten a bit of flack. His answer is that people who read blogs and don’t want to pay for anything (including even looking at ads) are free loaders and he’s ok if they leave. I couldn’t agree more – there is nothing wrong with “free” content but you get what you pay for. I’ve been involved in blogland for about 3 years and I’ve seen a lot of blogs come and go. One thing I’ve noticed is that the staying power of blogs has a lot to do with the ability of the blog to earn some money and make continuing the blog worthwhile. Bloggers who aren’t able to monetize their site almost always end up fading away. Readers who say they want Ram to “not sell out” and not make any money might not be so pushy if the result was a formerly great site that hasn’t been updated in ages like so many others.
The rest of the links
Financial Uproar rated the hottest personal finance blog chicks. Sure, it’s sexist but I can’t say I disagree with his list. 
 Check out his blog too – it’s pretty good.
Canadian Dream had a great post about guilt from not being able to get everything done. He also uses bad words which I liked. 
Krystal got laid off this week – sounds like she got a raw deal.
Million Dollar Journey (aka Kathryn) gave some tips to know when it is time to leave your job.
Squawkfox shows us how to make a budget.
Fiscal Geek asks if there is such a thing as good debt.
Preet has a 4 part series on going bankrupt in Canada.
Financial Blogger says that the media is full of sh*t. Well duh!
Debt Free Adventure got a refinanced home loan and saved a bundle!
The Wisdom Journal says that Net Quote is a good place to look for home owner insurance quotes.
ABCs of Investing wrote about reasons for doing a Roth IRA conversion as well as explaining how to convert to a Roth IRA.
Carnivals
Carnival of Money Hacks
Festival of Frugality
Carnival of Personal Finance
