What to do with an inheritance + MORE Mar 11th

This is one of those promotions you don’t know if you want to share as the more people who use it the less miles you get but if we don’t pass it along then there is a chance you wouldn’t get any bonus miles at all! Air Canada is running a St. Patrick’s Day promotion whereby all bookings made from today until St. Patrick’s Day (March 17) that are completed by May 31st will earn a share a 10 Million Aeroplan Miles with a minimum 500 miles per booking. Depending on how many bookings are made you know that you’ll get at least 500 miles but it could be higher. For example if there are only 10,000 bookings you’ll all see a 1,000 miles bonus.  To earn the booking bonus you have to use the promo code STPATRICK2015.Here are the links for this promotion:http://www.aircanada.com/en/offers/air/st-patrick/st-patrick.htmlhttp://www.aircanada.com/fr/offers/air/st-patrick/st-patrick.html

Having a credit card with an EMV chip will make it easier to get around in Europe, but don’t insist on one that requires a PIN rather than a signature

Here is your Tuesday update! News, Tips & TricksDelta SkyMiles announced more updates to their program yesterday. They are all good for once! However for us Canadians there is really only one of the three updates that really matters unless you are redeeming for short haul reward travel within the U.S. or from the U.S. to select Mexican and Caribbena markets. That is point number one below, short haul flights from Canada like Vancouver and Calgary to Seattle or Toronto and Montreal to New York are not included so it is really only for the flights we mention above. Point #2 is the main one that affects us, they claim better availability on award redemption via delta.com. A nice update if it holds true. The last point doesn’t affect us as Canadian’s do not have to have MQDs to qualify for Delta Medallion status.New One-Way Award tickets beginning as low as 10,000 miles plus taxes and fees, available through Dec. 31, 2015 for travel in select U.S., Mexican and Caribbean markets…

Last year, I wrote a blog post about debit fraud: A $38.5-Million Problem. The good news is that the figure has dropped to $16.2 million in 2014. The bad news; you always have to be wary of scammers, electronic pickpockets, and other crooks looking to steal your money.
Technical Advances
The Interac Association attributes much of that drop to the almost-complete rollout of “chip and pin” technology – debit and credit cards with an embedded memory chip that require the user to enter a personal identification number (PIN).
Since their introduction to Canada in 2009, virtually every Canadian debit card has been switched over to chip and pin (from the lower-tech cards where the user signed for all purchases). By the end of 2015, all point-of-sale debit card readers in the country will be chip and pin-enabled as well.
Another way the industry keeps fraud rates down, while still enabling easy-to-use tap payment options (such as PayPass), is to maximize individual transactions at $100 and a daily cap of $200 before entering a PIN is required…

What should you do with an inheritance of farmland? (Getty Images / Ron Bambridge)
Q: I recently inherited some farm land and it is worth $200,000. I have a relatively large mortgage of $205,000 and credit card debt of $40,000 along with a truck payment of $500 per month. My initial thought is to pay off my truck and credit card debt and whatever I have left I will pay down my mortgage. I hope to retire in about 10 years, so my hope is I can pay the rest of what remains on the mortgage over that period.
Is this a good plan or would you advise otherwise? I really don’t have much fluidity in terms of cash flow at present and therefore I’d like to pay off the debt I have as much as I can. My income is $90,000 with two dependents, 17 and 14 years of age. The home I live in is valued at approximately $300,000.  —Rich
A: First off, Rich, I like to make sure people understand the tax implications from inheriting. The inheritance itself is not specifically taxable to you, but if the farmland rises in value from what it was worth when the person who willed it to you died and when you sell it, you may have a capital gain, 50% of which is taxable on your tax return…