Note: TBB is on vacation at the Canadian Rockies in Alberta, Canada. Until his return, this blog site will likely not have any of the usually legendary Buzz posts:-) TBB is taking the opportunity to do his own filler posts. The eclectic journey through the blogosphere may return after vacation is over, stay tuned! This upcoming week will be very light, mega hiking expected to be done!
Left the magnificent Lake Louise and drove up north through Jasper National Park all the way to Hinton! Started the day at 5 am and took my kids down to canoe in the lake. 3 breakfasts and a whole canoe (3 persons max) for just $54 plus tax, best deal in the Fairmont Lake Louise. The sunrise was the best I have ever seen (even better than the one in Santorini). The sun gave the mountains around the lake this amazing color which just kept covering them more gradually, kind of surreal! I forgot the darn cable so I can not just show you a few pics right now! Then we went back to sleep and did a late checkout. It was a little longer than usual applying so many dining certificates and some gift cards;-) On the way we stopped to watch another bear which makes it #5 now! More elk and then after Jasper we saw two mountain goats. First time I see a mountain goat; our eyes met I swear and he looked into my soul and I think he said “TBB dude, you are all right” or something like that lol. Stopped at Athabasca Falls, the power of the water is so powerful! Then drove to a Holiday Inn at Hinton. Here for 2 nights at 5,000 IHG Rewards points per night on Pointbreaks promo. Tomorrow we hit Maligne Lake for sure. It’s so gorgeous up here!
As promised, some filler stuff…
What financial suggestion would you give to newlyweds?
Have a financial plan in place. Max out on retirement savings; the sooner you start, the better. Have an adequate cash emergency fund and get in the habit of saving for short-term goals. Ignore advice to buy more house than you can afford. Diversify your investment portfolio with low-cost index funds and ETFs and rebalance it at regular intervals. Invest in yourself by getting more education and continuing to add to your skills. Does this sound similar to the advice given to people who want to lose weight (eat healthier, exercise more)? If it was that easy, most people’s finances would not be in such a mediocre state today! For some people it makes sense to hire a good fiduciary financial adviser who will prevent them from making mistakes and keep them disciplined to follow a prescribed financial plan.
First again
Back on track!
Have fun George. I was in Asheville NC and Danvers MA. It’s good to take a break from reading all the travel bloggers, except TBB of course.
Thanks! Saw bear #6 today. Saw him ran super fast across a road, did not have enough time to grab my camera. Too many elk too. I am scared to check my Feedly feeds list now…screw it, having a great time here!
Finding a good fiduciary financial adviser who will prevent them from mistakes is the hard part. Finding one who has the client’s best interest in mind, not getting the highest commission or fee is ideal. I learned that the hard way when I was a newlywed. My wife and I were making good money (she also flew for TWA) when we got married and we were able to put away lots of money (you didn’t think that F/A’s turn in ALL that liquor/headset rental money, did ya). Dean Witter Reynolds, later owned by Sears seemed like a trustworthy place for investment advice, but really it wasn’t. We were pushed hard into things like Reality Reits, because it turns out that is what paid the highest commissions to our adviser. Years later we sold them for pennies on the dollar. Finding someone with values like you, Buzz to advise you, is essential. When your young you really don’t know what you are doing, but you think you do.
PS I showed my wife your Norway post and she loved it. Also she was happy that I wasn’t pulling an Anthony Weiner, AKA Carlos Danger with all the time I spent on the PC. She said to invite your family out here the the Pacific NW to see the Columbia River Gorge. You’ve got a bunch of us here in Portland that read you daily, so put it on the bucket list and I’ll fire up the smoker for ribs…………..Speaking of Anthony Weiner can you believe he is still running for Mayor, Weiner has balls………………….Also those “Aspirational” First Class Seats look claustrophobic and uncomfortable, give me the old fashioned, non high tech, double wide cushiony F/C seat of yesteryear.
I second the motion! Come see us out here in the PNW!
TWA44..you are from Queens, do you remember Gouz Dairy, “Gouz rhymes with Cows”?
Nope! But I share you astonishment that Anthony Weiner keeps on ticking.
@LRR, if you find a good place for ribs in the PDX area, you got to post it here! Besides your smoker, that is…
Bluecat, are you a PDXer too?
yep, just N
Seems like we need a McMenimins happy hour!
indeed!
TBB new motto:
Will Blog for Ribs
lol
Yeah, way TOO many charlatans and wolves in the financial advice business I agree! There are good fiduciary advisers but they are so few that the odds are stacked against consumers finding them…and that is so so sad.
When I was laboring away in a big CPA firm I was looking to get into the financial advice business somehow. Friend of friend got me hooked up with this life insurance company expanding to mutual funds. So..I signed up. I thought I can learn something you know. So, first “education meeting” at the Michigan headquarters office and I go hoping to learn something. And for the whole hour the dude from the HQ was explaining a “system” how to sell enough of this crap I could never sell to my dog and win a trip to Jamaica (all expenses paid of course). I got sick to my stomach and cancelled my relationship with this company. This still haunts me. That day I decided if I go into business for myself I would NEVER ever let sales commissions dictate what I recommend. So…I did! I starved my first five years in business (thanks Mrs TBB!) but now I make enough and I can always tell clients what they should be doing and they pay me directly and they always know what the fees are (FULL transparency!). I never got along with them sales types:-)
Oh, Dean Witter. I remember them well. Did you ever see this by SNL?
http://www.hulu.com/watch/1410
Oh crap, I am in Canada and hulu does not work here! i think this is the ad but can’t confirm it!
>>>>>When your young you really don’t know what you are doing, but you think you do.
That is so so true you know! My son keeps telling me “I don’t know anything” and shake my head. Then I remember I used to say the same to my dad too:-)
Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate it. I need to visit Portland, I have only been to the airport passing through a few times. I keep hearing so many good things about it!
That Weiner guy is something else. I forgave the guy the first time, hey we all make mistakes. But for him to continue doing the same thing, with “Carlos Danger” as his handle and then putting his wife in such an awkward role AGAIN…is simply inexcusable! Can you imagine the jokes if he becomes NYC mayor? “Weiner is declared the weener in NYC mayor race” LOL.
I liked Virgin Atlantic on the ground more than the air;-)
” may return after vacation” What George? Don’t give up on blogging please. Your humor and photos are outstanding. But a switch to Financial Assistance would be a great change of topic.
And remember, I still have the name TabloidBloggerBuzz.com if you need it.
Rick
I am not sure which direction this baby will go. All I know is if I quit I would have a lot more free time:-)
I am just not convinced on adding the personal finance angle here. It is TRAVEL Blogger Buzz after all.
I do enjoy doing things my own way and I do value my independence A LOT!
The IB staffer behind the FTG twitter handle was out of control last night, tweets kept coming back to back to back non stop, wow!
As far as Tabloid goes, they deal with fiction…I deal with real life;-)
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment as always!
I saw bear #6 today, wow!
I know I got skillz that you wish you had. I’ll take your “wow” as a compliment. Thank you.
“The power of the water is so powerful!” – Quote of the day!
Yesterday’s caption on an H&M bus ad: “Wow!”
My advice to newlyweds is to have a conversation about how money will be handled and what you envision saving for and splurging on. My sister went to counseling with her then-fiancee; they developed a three-part bank account in which money comes into a general fund and then is sent in limited amounts separately to his and her “fun” accounts for discretionary spending. Works for them.
The main point is that differences over money are primary points of stress in a marriage, and for that reason it’s important to start and continue a conversation about financial matters.
…says someone who hasn’t celebrated a second wedding anniversary yet….
I have answered a question about that very subject too, I need to dig it up!
This year is year 20 for me. As Mr. Pickles likes to say…Wow;-)