Oh, Barbara, he’ s adorable! And I know those looks so well now. He’ s a great counter cruiser! Luckily, he’ s so much easier than the royal poodle we had for a time who could reach to the back of the counters, that we’ ve been able to avoid hi…

Secured loans can be the best form of loan for homeowners when looking for competitive loan rates…

No, this is insurance such as FDIC or CIPF coverage on accounts with banks and brokerage companies. It is not something that you purchase after the fact – most brokerage and banks require some sort of coverage. For more info on the CIPF, go to http://www.cipf.ca/c_home.htm – here is what they have to say about limits of coverage:

“LIMITS OF COVERAGE

MAXIMUM LIMITS OF COVERAGE
A limit has been placed by CIPF on the coverage provided for a customer’s General Account, and each Separate Account after combination with other Separate Accounts as described below, equal to $1 million for losses of securities, commodity and futures contracts, segregated insurance funds and cash.

DETERMINATION OF CUSTOMER LOSSES
The date at which the financial loss of a customer is determined shall be fixed by the Governors as the date of bankruptcy of the Member, if applicable, or the date on which, in the opinion of the Governors, the Member became insolvent. The 180-day period for filing a claim to CIPF commences on, but does not include, the date of bankruptcy.

The maximum amount of financial loss that CIPF may pay to a customer of an insolvent firm shall be calculated after taking into account both the delivery of any available securities, commodity and futures contracts, segregated insurance funds and cash to which the customer is entitled and the distribution of any assets of the insolvent Member, less any amounts owed by the customer to the Member. The Governors may rely on the trustee in bankruptcy or the receiver under applicable law in determining the amount and validity of claims of a customer and for the purpose of calculating financial loss.

The amount of securities delivered to a customer in satisfaction of a claim shall be the amount to which the customer was entitled as at the date for determining financial loss without regard to subsequent market fluctuations. Where the securities are not available to be delivered, cash in an amount equal to their value as at the date for determining financial loss may be paid to the customer even though the amount of such cash may not be equal to the value of such securities as at the date of payment.

For the purposes of authorizing payments, the Board of Governors may in its discretion reduce the amount of the financial loss of a customer by the amount of compensation the customer may receive from any other source. For example, a customer’s claim for cash will be reduced to the extent that the customer is entitled to deposit insurance in respect of all or any of the cash held for an account or to compensation in respect of other securities or property.”

Good question on how many brokers have gone broke – I don’t know the answer to that but will do some research for a future post.

Thanks Drew.

Great list!