We had a mid-May heatwave in Ottawa – bright sun and temps above 30 degrees. That’s unusually warm for late spring, but not a shocker. What was shocking was the number of parked cars I recently spotted that still had their winter tires on.
Running winter tires in warm weather is like throwing money away. The cost of operating a car is way up in 2022 as a result of soaring gasoline prices. Don’t compound the damaged by grinding down your winter tires in warm weather.
The rubber that winter tires are made of is softer than all-season or summer tires, which helps it function well in cold weather. In summer, softer rubber wears faster. Not only that – winter tires also don’t handle as well, which means there could be safety issues if you needed to steer yourself out of a tight situation.
Winter tires also have more rolling resistance in warm weather, which means higher fuel consumption. Gas prices hit $2.06 per litre in my neighbourhood last week and worse seems possible for the May long weekend coming up. Help offset the higher cost of gas by swapping out your winter tires this week.
If your local service station or car dealer can’t do the job in a timely way, you have options. There are mobile tire-change services that will come to your home to do the job – just google the name of your town and the phrase “mobile tire change.” I have also lately noticed that oil-change locations will swap your tires for you.
One more benefit of preserving your winter tires: You reduce the chances of having to go to a tire store next fall and hear about how inflation has boosted prices. You probably hear that enough already.
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Rob’s personal finance reading list
Canada’s hottest city for housing
Reading this blog post about soaring prices in Kingston, Ont., reminded me of an interview I did a year ago with a women who hoped to move back to Kingston from Ottawa, but was finding housing there too expensive. The average Kingston home sold for $641,200 in March, up 32 per cent on a year-over-year basis. Also check out the episode of our Stress Test personal finance podcast on soaring real estate costs in small cities (Season Four, episode one).
Let the good times roll
The New York Times on how these are the best of times for people who have had big gains in the value of their homes and investments. Real people talk about how their lives have changed.
Does everyone have an air fryer but me?
My wife and I ate at the home of friends twice in the past week and in both cases dinner involved the use of an air fryer. I got curious about these devices – what they do and how much they cost. Here’s a good intro.
NFTs were so 2021
An update on non-fungible tokens, which took off in the speculative investing boom of 2020-21. Comparisons are made to played out trends like Beanie Babies and Pokemon cards. And then there’s cryptocurrency, which has been hit hard lately. I liked this commentary on what it means when politicians – Conservative Party leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre, for example – start supporting crypto.
Q&A
Q: I’m almost 64 and, as you know, everything is very expensive right now. My wife still works as a nurse and I don’t have an income. We have no mortgage, and no debts. I’m planning to take my CPP when I turn 65 next year. Do you think I should wait until then or go ahead right now?
A: As noted in a newsletter earlier this month, starting CPP retirement benefits as late as 70 means higher monthly payments than if you start earlier. But there are reasons to start CPP at 65, or as early as 60. One is if you have health issues that affect your longevity, while another is whether you need income. Delaying CPP makes no sense if you can’t afford to cover your costs in the interim.
Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Sorry I can't answer every one personally. Questions and answers are edited for length and clarity.
Has inflation derailed your financial plan?
Get some FREE advice from The Globe and Mail about your unique financial situation by emailing finfacelift@gmail.com to be part of our Financial Facelift series. You can share your story under a false name and our photographers will obscure your identity in one of our trademark Financial Facelift photos. We’re especially keen to hear from the young, the struggling, the self-employed, the partially-employed, restaurant workers, freelancers, contract workers and small business owners. Hopefully, our advice can help you weather these stormy times and help make sure your financial future is secure.
Today’s financial tool
Find out how your investing decisions may be guided by behavioural biases that can lead you astray.
The Money-Free Zone
For my fellow Maple Leafs fans: Hang Down Your Head, by Tom Waits.
Watch this
Investing great Jack Bogle on what to do when stocks crash. Mr. Bogle was an index investing guru who founded the ETF and mutual fund giant Vanguard. I interviewed him back in 2010 – here’s our Q&A. What a great communicator – right to the point, without jargon or equivocation.
What I’ve been writing about
- A five-step plan for dealing with the sad fact that almost every investment is falling lately
- Sell the family home to lock in profit and then rent? Better not
- The latest in online broker perks for clients is basically free cash paid every month
More Rob Carrick and money coverage
Subscribe to Stress Test on Apple podcasts or Spotify. For more money stories, follow me on Instagram and Twitter, and join the discussion on my Facebook page. Millennial readers, join our Gen Y Money Facebook group.
Even more coverage from Rob Carrick:
- 🎧 Catch up on Stress Test: Are your parents giving you money? • Why it’s time to stop shaming the renting lifestyle • Is now the right time to buy a house? • Why are young Canadians leaving the cities they love? • Eating in: How COVID has shifted our food spending • Crisis-proof your finances? • Can you afford to live downtown? • The cost of kids
- ✔️ The housing file: The housing boom is ripping apart the financial fabric of Canada • Shut out: A well-qualified millennial home seeker throws up his hands after losing multiple bidding wars • Big city housing affordability is over – now what? • She sold her Toronto house to retire somewhere cheaper, but it didn’t work • How young adults and the whole country win with a tougher mortgage stress test for home buyers • Can’t afford your house? It’s likely not your fault
- 📈 Investing: Robo-advisers have grown out of the novelty stage. Here’s help in finding one right for you • The 2021 ETF Buyer’s Guide: Best Canadian equity funds • The 2021 Globe and Mail online brokerage ranking: Who’s best for investing ... and answering the phone • Are these the stock market returns of a lifetime? • On the cusp of retirement and wondering about an ETF that pushes the limits on aggressiveness
- 💰 Your money: The five most important numbers for checking the health of your personal finances • Today’s freakishly low mortgage rates can’t last. What will pandemic home buyers do when they rise? • There’s a cost in money, isolation and family stress when seniors choose to remain in their own private homes • Taking CPP early can cost you $100,000 and limit your long term options • Fleeing the city for the suburbs? Watch out for higher property taxes, more cars and other costs
Are you reading this newsletter on the web or did someone forward the e-mail version to you? If so, you can sign up for Carrick on Money here.
Rob Carrick