TFSAs creating a GIS crisis and "welfare for the wealthy? Not very likely + MORE Dec 3rd

TORONTO – Some of the most active companies traded Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (14,620.07, down 5.25 points):
Coalspur Mines Ltd. (TSX:CPT). Miner. Down half a cent, or 33.33 per cent, to one cent on 13.4 million shares.
Surge Energy Inc. (TSX:SGY). Oil and gas. Down 15 cents, or 3.40 per cent, to $4.26 on 7.5 million shares.
Long Run Exploration Ltd. (TSX:LRE). Oil and gas. Down 11 cents, or 6.15 per cent, to $1.68 on 7.5 million shares.
Whitecap Resources Inc. (TSX:WCP). Oil and gas. Up 18 cents, or 1.58 per cent, to $11.56 on seven million shares.
Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (TSX:COS). Oil and gas. Down 40 cents, or 2.90 per cent, to $13.40 on 6.6 million shares.
Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. (TSX:LEG). Oil and gas. Down seven cents, or 2.66 per cent, to $2.56 on 5.5 million shares.
Companies reporting major news:
Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO). Bank. Down $1.87, or 2.25 per cent, to $81.42 on 2.7 million shares. BMO kicked off the banks’ fourth-quarter earnings season with profits that were weaker than analysts expected…

Last week, the CBC published on its website an article by James Fitz-Morris provocatively titled TFSAs will lead to ‘welfare’ for the wealthy, government warned. This week, the Financial Post followed up with a sky-is-falling article by Jonathan Chevreau, How the Guaranteed Income Supplement is on a collision course with TFSAs. Take a valium people. I disagree.Some FactsGuaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) is not the same as Old Age Security Pension (OAS)The first step in toning down the rhetoric (since confounding the two and adding the numbers together makes the problem look bigger than it really is) is to distinguish these two sets of federal government payments with completely different purposes and different eligibility requirements. In this discussion I’ll stick to figures for a single person. Quoting figures for couples makes them look bigger, without helping to address whether abusive use of a TFSA will take place. It’s simpler and more direct to deal with an individual.GIS (per the official Service Canada website description) is the true low income benefit, the only payment that qualifies in any sense of the word “welfare” (which incidentally is not used officially by any Canadian government)…

“Investing can be a scary thing. There are entire TV stations dedicated to the topic, yet for many it’s completely unfamiliar. It can be technical with its own language, and requires a long-term perspective unlike the rest of everyday life. It also looks suspiciously like math in places.” – John Robertson, Author, The Value of Simple.
I think John’s comments above are spot-on and The Value of Simple was written specifically to change all that for Canadian investors, to help you get a handle on your investments.  Using The Value of Simple as your guide here’s how Canadian investors can start saving, start investing and get your money working for you now.
The Value of Simple on Money Management Fees
What I liked about this book is it hits you early, meaning, successful investors appreciate early-on in their wealth-building process that money management fees paid to others is the money they never see again for themselves.  This doesn’t imply paying for some financial advice along your financial journey is not value-added, it certainly can be, rather all investors should be skeptical of any high-priced fees for products they are invested in…

DHX Media Ltd. said Tuesday it is far from finished with acquisitions as it announced it will pay up to $57 million in cash and stock for Vancouver-based animation studio Nerd Corps Entertainment Inc.

QUEBEC – Quebec is imposing an additional $600 million in tax increases and other revenue-generating measures in its zero-deficit drive.
Finance Minister Carlos Leitao is hoping to balance the province’s balance sheet by fiscal 2015-16.
Leitao issued an economic update in Quebec City on Tuesday and said his government hopes to save $338 million in tax credits that were destined for banks, insurance companies and research centres.
A tax credit on union dues will also be reduced, bringing in an additional $112 million to goverment coffers.
Vehicle registration fees will increase, as will payroll taxes for financial institutions.
Leitao also warned the government has only reached 85 per cent of its cost-cutting goal and that he must find another $1.1 billion in savings before the 2015-16 budget is tabled this coming spring.
Last spring, Philippe Couillard’s Liberals said that without a strict cost-cutting plan, Quebec’s deficit would have reached $7.3 billion by 2015-16…