Short Takes: Paying Tax Snitches, Aligning Interests in Mutual Funds, and more

The Blunt Bean Counter makes the case for CRA adopting an IRS-like whistleblower program that pays tax snitches a fraction of recoverd tax money.

Steadyhand employees show that their interests are closely-aligned with their clients by having 81% of their collective personal assets invested in their funds. Incentives matter and this says more about their commitment to achieving good long-term results than any marketing message could.

Money Smarts says that the new rules for disclosing advisor trailer fees to mutual fund investors aren’t likely to make much difference. I agree that it is always possible to hide information in confusing account statements, but I’m happy to have this disclosure anyway because it will be relatively easy for honest advisor firms to comply and will complicate life for firms that choose to try to hide this information from investors.

My Own Advisor gave some highlights from the 2012 Canadian Personal Finance Conference (CPFC) held recently in Toronto.

Million Dollar Journey reports on a credit card that offers more cash back for online purchases.

Big Cajun Man has a list of the worst 4-digit bank card PINs and connects it to a funny clip from the movie Spaceballs.