It’s Our Birthday… Join the Savings Party! + MORE May 5th

Oil trades above $60 US per barrel for the first time this year, as polls show that Albertans may well vote in an NDP government for the first time in the province’s history. The NDP has pledged to raise corporate income taxes and review Alberta’s energy royalties

(Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
OTTAWA – Justin Trudeau has unveiled the Liberal alternative to the Harper government’s economic plan: hike taxes for the wealthiest one per cent to pay for more generous child benefits and an across-the-board income tax cut for the middle class.
Under the Liberal proposal announced Monday:
— The 22-per-cent tax rate for anyone with a taxable annual income between $44,701 and $89,401 would be cut to 20.5 per cent.
— A new tax bracket of 33 per cent would be imposed on those with taxable incomes over $200,000 a year. The current top bracket of 29 per cent would continue to apply to those earning between $138,586 and $200,000.
A Trudeau government would also scrap Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s newly enriched universal child care benefit and roll together two other existing child benefits into a single, more generous, monthly, tax-free “Canada child benefit.”
“We can do more for the people who need it, by doing less for the people who don’t,” Trudeau said at a campaign-style event at a family restaurant in nearby Aylmer, Que…

Great news, MoneyWise readers… May marks RateSupermarket.ca’s 7th birthday! And because we love a good party, we’re throwing one of our biggest deal bonanzas ever – check out our Special Offers page for FREE gift cards, cash prize sweepstakes and fantastic rates. We’ll have new deals as the month goes on, so be sure to check back – plus, we’ve been known to toss in a freebie every once in a while. It’s all icing on the cake.
Take a look at our first crop of Birthday Deals:
FREE Gift Cards Upon Approval of Credit Card
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Learn More>
Free $50 Gift Card Upon Approval: Choose from: Capital One® Aspire Travel™ Platinum MasterCard®, Capital One® Aspire Travel™ World Elite Mastercard®, Capital One® Aspire Cash™ Platinum Mastercard®
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Exciting Intro Offers!
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Receive a Welcome Bonus of 15,000 Air Miles: TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite*
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Keep checking back for new and exciting offers – this party lasts all month long!
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You’ve probably noticed that several times a year business reporters get excited about a pending announcement from the Bank of Canada on its “overnight lending rate”. They do so because any change in that figure can impact the interest rate the country’s banks charge their customers for mortgages and other loans. Here’s what you need to know about how and why the Bank of Canada guides interest rate policy.
The Overnight Lending Rate
At eight pre-determined dates a year – always on a Wednesday, at 10 a.m. Eastern Time – the Governor of the Bank of Canada makes an announcement about the overnight lending rate. This rate is what the country’s banks charge each other on funds they’re transferring between each other. But, more significantly, it’s what they use to base their “Prime lending rate” on. The prime lending rate is the figure that mortgages, lines of credit, and car loans are based on. (Mortgages are typically offered at a discounted percentage below the Prime rate while car and line of credit loans are charge a premium, “Prime plus” a certain percentage…

The new TFSA limit can work for you even if you don’t have a lot of cash (Getty Images)
As of last week, things were looking much brighter for Canadians seeking financial independence. After all, when the new federal budget was released, near-retirees and entrepreneurs across the country won what I call the “findependence trifecta.”
The lowering of mandatory withdrawals from Registered Retirement Income Funds (RRIFs) will go a long way to alleviating seniors’ fear of outliving their money. And young would-be entrepreneurs and older corporate refugees aiming to create “encore careers” should welcome the cuts to tax rates for small business.
But most welcome of all was the near-doubling of annual Tax-free Savings Account contribution room from $5,500 to $10,000. That helps everyone from young people saving for a first home or car to affluent elders who have maxed out on RRSP room.
Even better: You don’t have to wait to take advantage of the new rules. At press time the Canada Revenue Agency had just given the go-ahead to top up your TFSA by the extra $4,500 specified in the budget…