Short Takes: Free HDTV, Audit Defence, and Emotional Investors

1. Million Dollar Journey tells us how to get free HDTV in Canada legally.

2. Thicken My Wallet did a thorough analysis of the QuickTax Audit Defence product. You can also get my take and Canadian Capitalist’s take on this product.

3. Larry MacDonald brings us Professor Richard Deaves’ thoughts on investing. Deaves believes we should be using passive indexing to avoid behavioural traps like overconfidence and performance chasing.

4. Gail Vaz-Oxlade tells us the difference between living within your means and doing without. The distinction is crucial. We need to find a way to enjoy life within our means. If we think in terms of doing without we’ll eventually break down and spend. The same applies to the food we eat. It’s important to find a way to eat that is satisfying and doesn’t have us gain weight. Doing without enough food isn’t sustainable.

5. Canadian Capitalist shows that CIBC has a good selection of index funds with low MERs if your portfolio is large enough.

6. Preet’s continued discussion of fee-only versus fee-based financial planners generated quite a few comments.

7. I was pleased to make the Money Grubbing Lawyer’s top 10 list of Canadian personal finance blogs.

8. The Big Cajun Man hosted the Carnival of Personal Finance that included my article Teenager Jobs that Pay Well.