Ricky Shetty's Blog, page 17

Year-end Tax Tips by Financial Sensei

Year-end tax tips by Financial Sensei

By now I am pretty sure you have all heard of Tax Free Savings Account or TFSA. This great plan was introduced in 2009 by government of Canada. Since 2013 you have a $5,500 contribution room per year instead of the $5000 room prior years. So whatever you can contribute up to this limit will be tax sheltered and you can take the money out tax-free. If you have never contributed to this plan, you can carry forward your contribution room. While this plan has been around for a few years, people still think it is just a savings account in which there is no tax on the return. They then do the math and conclude that with the current low interest rates, that it is a pointless plan. However, you can have different types of investment vehicles in this account, such as, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Envision that your $5000 today grows into $10,000 and you will be able to take it out tax-free and never pay tax on the return. This great tool should be integrated into your financial plan to make sure you can fully take advantage of its benefits.

Now not many people know that if you take money out of your TFSA this year, the available room will be carried forward to next year. Don’t make the mistake of putting money in and out of your TFSA then. But if you need to take money out of it, just do it before the end of the year if possible so just after the New Year you would have the extra room available. For example if you take out $5000 out of your TFSA, right after new year you would have $5000 to be added to your contribution room as a carry forward from last year. Try to avoid using TFSA as an emergency fund or short term saving and take advantage of it for the long term saving and investment.

Alireza Fadaie, Financial Sensei www.financialsensei.com

The post Year-end Tax Tips by Financial Sensei appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 29, 2014 20:10

Family Fun at Disney on Ice

The perfect place to take the family on a rainy Wednesday evening!!

With the kids all bundled up, umbrellas in hand, we ventured off to the Pacific Coliseum to see Disney on Ice for the first time as a family of four! Earlier this year, we had lots of fun watching Mickey’s Rockin’ Road Show and last year we saw Rockin’ Ever After with just Rianne so we were looking forward to bringing Ryan along to his first ever Disney on Ice show! Both our kids absolutely loved the show and were calm and collected watching the characters skate only a few meters away from them! This year’s show was called “Let’s Party” with Mickey & Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto organizing one massive birthday party along with 50 characters from 16 movies and shows!

There were so many highlights from the incredible skating performances, the colourful costumes, and the breath-taking sets to the audience interaction, the variety of adventures, and the teachings around friendship, culture, and fun! It’s a full immersive experience from the lights, sounds, dancing, and pure entertainment! Rianne was dressed up as Elsa and Ryan as Olaf from the Disney movie Frozen! After watching a few of the Disney shows produced by Feld Entertainment, we are big fans and supporters of the show. These important family bonding experiences are so important in the formative years of children’s lives. Thank you, Disney, for creating lifelong memories for our family and thousands of families around the world!

“Let’s Party” is still playing at the PNE until this Sunday so make sure you grab some tickets to see Disney one last time in Vancouver this year!

Here are more details about the show:

WHEN: November 26 – 30, 2014

Wednesday, November 26 7:00 PM

Thursday, November 27 7:00 PM

Friday, November 28 7:00 PM

Saturday, November 29 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM

Sunday, November 30 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM

WHERE: Pacific Coliseum at the PNE – 2901 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V5K 5J1

TICKETS: Ticket prices range from $25, $35, $55 (VIP) and $85 (Rinkside);

Kids tickets available for only $15 each for select seating and performances (discount not valid for Saturday & Sunday 3:30 pm shows; not valid for VIP/ Rinkside seating)

Tickets available for purchase online at TicketLeader.ca or at the venue Box Office.

The post Family Fun at Disney on Ice appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 29, 2014 00:01

Strongbody Apparel

Usually, there seems to be a massive divide between fashionable clothes and high performance outfits. However, thanks to Quincy Samycia and Meghan Conyers, the co-founders of Strongbody Apparel, there is finally a solution! Even in my case, I live in Burnaby and my personal trainer is in Downtown. Usually, I will have an appointment before or after my workout and always wish I had more stylish workout clothes so I can run errands without being so self-conscious about the fact I’m still in my workout outfit!

Quincy and Meghan have recently launched their Kickstarter Campaign for Strongbody Apparel! Some of the awesome features of Srongbody include its’ sleek style and performance fit, its’ odor-fighting nano-technology, its’ non-toxic and eco-friendly design, and its’ focus on social responsibility (they help feed a child for every product purchased)! Plus, one of the things I love is that it is both locally-designed and locally-made which helps our economic thrive instead of outsourcing overseas!

Strongbody has a variety of different products that are already designed and going to be designed in the future including:

1) Essential Tank Tops

2) Pulse Sport T-Shirts

3) Performance Shorts

4) Warm Up Pants

5) Flex Hoodies

6) Logo Caps

What’s amazing is they have created a fabric that doesn’t smell. It’s designed from crab and shrimp shells!

You can learn more about the fabric here:

Strongbody Apparel – Fabric & Technology

Here’s what Strongbody’s co-founder Meghan Conyers had to say:

“When you sweat in your gear day after day it is nearly impossible to get rid of the lingering smell. The materials many brands use for their technical clothing actually hold onto the smell. The issue is bacteria – it releases odorous molecules as it breaks down the proteins in sweat,” explains Strongbody’s co-founder Meghan Conyers. “The best solution is to include antibacterial properties into the clothing, and we have done this in a manner that is 100% safe for you and the environment.”

Watch the following video to find out more info about Strongbody:

Once again, here’s the link to make a pledge on Kickstarter:

Strongbody – Kickstarter Campaign

The post Strongbody Apparel appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 17, 2014 23:59

Signature Mobile Spa

Why go to the spa when the spa can come to you?

When I think of our lives now, there are a lot of adjectives that immediately spring to mind: busy, noisy, rushed, chaotic, fast-paced, etc. Since we have 2 young children (Rianne is 2.5 years old and Ryan is 1 year old), the words “calm”, “relaxed”, “peaceful”, “serene”, or “blissful” don’t immediately come to mind. However, as parents, those are the adjectives we deeply need to have a strong marriage, be strong parents, and build a strong family! My wife and I are always looking for new and creative ways to bond together as well as relax and rejuvenate!

Just last week, our house was turned from a place of 2 little kids playing, screaming, crying, eating, and making lots of noise to our own Home Spa of Tranquility thanks to Carmen & Karen from Signature Mobile Spa. We were given our first ever simultaneous Couples Massage while both Rianne and Ryan were sound asleep. Yes, talk about miracles! It’s a miracle when they both go to sleep at the same time and to have them stay asleep for the whole massage was even more miraculous! The massage was beneficial on so many levels from the more internal spiritual, mental, emotional and physical relaxation to the external relational bond that was created by Anne and I getting massaged at the same time!

The girls arrived 15 minutes early to set up and even had candles and soft music playing as soothing background noise. Our living room had been transformed into a Spa Utopia! While my wife put the kids to sleep, Karen started on my massage (it worked out well so Carmen was able to grab some pictures)! Soon both Rianne and Ryan were sound asleep. I was praying that they would stay asleep so that my wife could get her entire massage. Luckily, they slept the whole way through. When I was done, Rianne woke up and soon after Ryan too. When I brought them into the living room, Anne was beaming! My wife is an amazing woman and she really deserved a nice, soothing massage! Guys who are reading….remember the key to a successful marriage: “Happy Wife = Happy Life!”

After our massages were over, we had a nice tea and snack with Carmen and Karen getting to know the history of the spa, their passion for parenting and skin care, and learning more about their company. Since both of them are moms, they certainly understand the pressures of balancing work and life. A big thank you to our mutual friend Jami Savage for connecting us together (it really is a small world since Jami’s Uncle David Savage attends the same Church that Anne and I met at)! After a short interview, the girls left and my wife was super happy at having a Couples Massage! Even though I felt relaxed, rejuvenated, and refreshed I was even happier that I was able to share this experience with my wife Anne!

A little more about Signature Mobile Spa:

Carmen Ribeiro and Karen Wilson are the owners of Signature Mobile Spa and offer a range of different services including Manicures, Pedicures, Massages, Facials, Waxing, Tinting, and more. They do Home Parties, Spa Parties, Corporate Parties, and even Kids Parties. The great thing is they bring everything they need and leave the place in an even better state than when they came in! They travel anywhere in the Greater Vancouver Area and can accommodate singles, couples, families, colleagues at work, and more.

Check out this creative video to see how a Signature Mobile Spa session works!

Carmen & Karen are offering a great discount of 25% of their Spa Services to our Daddy Blogger readers and supporters!

Just mention “Daddy Blogger sent me” and they’ll give you the discount.

To make a booking, check out their website:

Signature Mobile Spa

Here’s my interview with Carmen & Karen:

The post Signature Mobile Spa appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 16, 2014 23:59

One Year Anniversary in our Apartment

Nov 15, 2014 – today marks our One Year Anniversary since we bought our apartment in North Burnaby!

It was on this day one year ago that we took possession and got the keys for the first time.

Our first 2 years of marriage, we were renting a Ground Level Suite in East Vancouver. However, we had a dream: a dream to own our own place! A dream to be home owners! A dream to build a home for our future kids (at that time we were newlyweds not sure if and when God would bless us with children). Well, 3.5 years have passed since our marriage. 2.5 years since we rented. 1 year since we became home owners. 2.5 years since we had Rianne. 1 year since we had Ryan. Lots has changed and we are truly grateful for everything we have.

Here are the Top 10 Highlights from the past year:

1) Moving In (Nov 15, 2013)

2) Bringing Ryan Home

3) Our First Christmas

4) Christmas Potluck Party

5) Vision Boarding Party

6) Rianne’s 2nd Birthday Party (Dora-theme; May 16, 2014)

7) Our First Summer (Camping in the Living Room, Watching Movies with a Projector in the Bedroom, Summer Fun on the Patio)

8) Ryan’s 1st Birthday Party (Superman-theme; Nov 2, 2014)

9) Family Breakfasts, Lunches, & Dinners around the Dining Table

10) Weekly YVR Masterminds Group

Here’s a look back at some of our highlights over the past year!

Rianne running around our new home!

Here’s how it looked like before we moved in!

Here’s our official Moving Day (Nov 20, 2013)!

“Welcome Home, Ryan!” Video!

The post One Year Anniversary in our Apartment appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 15, 2014 17:32

Chicken Squad Campaign

This is a guest blog post from my wife Anne Shetty who visited the Chicken Squad Farmers at Save On Foods last week! Make sure you follow along her blog at AnneShetty.com! In this blog post, Anne writes about the Chicken Squad Campaign which educates the public about how healthy the chickens are in our province.

With all the food scare going on in the past few years like GMO crops, steroids, hormones, gluten, non-organic, pesticides, using antibiotics etc., this is a breath of fresh air! At last we have some good news in BC! It sometimes feels that there is hardly anywhere we can healthy food for our family! Luckily, our BC Chicken Farmers are strongly focused and passionate about providing healthy chickens to our families in our province!

Did you know that added hormones and steroids on poultry have been banned in BC since 1963?! Yes, it’s been that long and thank you the BC Chicken Growers’ Association and our hardworking farmers for keeping it this way for more than 50 years! However, there is still a myth that our chicken has steroids in them. The BC Chicken Grower’ Association created an amazing campaign earlier this year called Chicken Squad (my husband was actively involved in promoting this campaign to our readers and followers)!

I met Wendy and Gordon who are Chicken Farmers from Chilliwack who were assigned to the booth at Save on Foods in Burnaby last Saturday. They are very friendly and knowledgeable. I even asked them about eggs, those with Omega 3, Free Range, and Organic. and I learned a lot from them. Plus, they loved interacting and playing with our kids! It was really good to get to put a face behind the farmers!

Here’s Rianne with the Chicken Farmers!

To know more about Chciken Squad, if you have any questions, you can check out their website:

http://chickensquad.ca/bc-chicken/raising-chicken/

Now, after this informative meeting and learning more about the Chicken Squad Campaign, I don’t feel scared of eating “regular chicken” from the grocery store. All I have to do is find for the Canadian Seal since our chickens are good as they are! Therefore, it is safe for everyone in our home, our family, and especially our kids. And guess what, the farmers do too…they eat what they raise!

Chicken Squad even did a creative Hollywood-style Movie Trailer and Web Series which is amazing & humorous too!

https://www.youtube.com/user/BCChicken

Koodos to the chicken growers in BC for maintaining healthy chickens to serve their families and ours!!

The post Chicken Squad Campaign appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 14, 2014 09:59

ManuLife #CentsAbility CheckOut

I checked in at the beginning of October, checked up at the middle of October, and checked out at the end of October for the ManuLife #CentsAbility Challenge. For the whole month, I tracked expenses, looking for unique tips for saving money on my trip to Toronto, in my business, with my wife and kids, and in our day-to-day living.

For this post, I’m going to outline 10 Ways how I save Money in my Business. For those of you who don’t know, in addition to Daddy Blogger, I am the founder of the YVR Media Group which includes YVR Bloggers, YVR Foodies, YVR Dads, YVR Events, & YVR Masterminds. These event series are based on building communities around people’s common passions and the focus is on education, personal growth, and networking.

So, here’s some ways I save & make money in running these businesses:

1) Getting Venues Sponsored (I use creative venue spaces such as Car Dealerships, Co-Working Spaces, Video Production Studios, Corporate Offices, etc which helps promote the business and also adds variety to my events)

2) Getting Photography & Videography Sponsored (I help new and aspiring photographers and videographers promote their work by adding their logos to our Event Invite and sharing their pictures and videos across our network)

3) Getting Food & Drinks Sponsored (for my YVR Foodies events, I get light snacks sponsored and run the events between 2-4 pm so people aren’t expecting a major meal)

4) Getting Volunteers to Help Out (instead of hiring contractors or paid staff, I empower volunteers to help run the events. In return, I give them free admission and tickets to some Media Events I get invited to)

5) Asking Affiliates to Help Market the Event (the hardest part of event production is marketing and getting paid attendees so getting affiliates and joint venture partners to help market my events help tremendously)

6) Asking Speakers to Promote the Event (almost every speaker wants to speak to as many people as possible so I ask for their help in promoting the event to their personal & social network and email lists)

7) Writing Off as many Business Expenses as possible (one of the best tax-saving strategies is to run your own business and write off part of your home, car costs, restaurant meals, education & training, business operating costs, etc)

8) Getting Household Items Sponsored (we have our Laptop, Tablet, Printer, Cell Phone, Coffee Maker, Blender, Vacuum Cleaner, Kids Toys, & more given to us in return for reviews of these products)

9) Taking Sponsored Trips (this year alone, I’ve been to Nashville, San Francisco, Toronto, and Whistler all on sponsored trips; these helps to get away from Vancouver to recharge and come back even more empowered)

10) Eating at Home, Take-Aways, & Food Courts (Restaurant Meals can definitely add up so you can save a lot by eating before you go out or after you come home, getting healthy take-aways, or eating in food courts when you are on the go)

What ways do you save money in your business and in your every day living?

Here’s a look back at the 3 posts from the ManuLife Centsability Challenge:

1) Start-of-Month CheckIn

2) Mid-Month CheckUp

3) End-of-Month CheckOut

The post ManuLife #CentsAbility CheckOut appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 14, 2014 00:27

Harley Pasternak Power Blender

At the Blissdom Canada Conference last month, I was the lucky winner of a brand new Harley Pasternak Power Blender for winning a contest for Best Smoothie!! There were several bloggers who entered the contest and they narrowed it down to the 2 finalists and I ended up being the winner! No, I didn’t bribe the judges – it’s pure talent! LOL!

For those of you who don’t know, Harley Pasternak is a New York-based Celebrity Trainer doing workouts for major Hollywood Stars and best selling author of The Body Reset Diet. He also has published articles in many major newspapers and magazines as well as been interviewed by some of the top media sites in the world. Harley definitely knows what he is talking about when it comes to health & fitness.

This week, our Power Blender arrived in the mail and we made 2 videos – an Unboxing Video and our First Time Blending Video!

Enjoy – and, if you live in Vancouver, we’d love to invite you over for a Smoothie!

The post Harley Pasternak Power Blender appeared first on Daddy Blogger.

View more on Ricky Shetty's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on November 13, 2014 23:58

Disney On Ice: Let’s Party

Rianne and Ryan have grown up with Disney all around them. From Mickey & Minnie Plush Toys, to the Mickey Mouse Club on TV, frequent visits to The Disney Store in Metrotown, and, of course, the live shows of Disney on Ice at the Pacific Coliseum. It’s become an annual tradition in our household!

This November, Disney on Ice is back with a brand new show called “Let’s Party” with over 50 characters from over 16 different movies and shows!

Some of the highlights will include:

A Very Merry Unbirthday Party with Alice and the Mad Hatter

A winter wonderland with Woody, Jessie and Buzz Lightyear

Mardi Gras with Princess Tiana

A Royal Valentine’s Day Ball with the Disney Princesses

A Hawaiian luau with Lilo & Stitch

A Halloween haunt with the Disney Villains

Plus traveling to far-off exotic places including China for the Chinese New Year, Brazil for Carnival party and Japan for the beautiful Cherry Blossom festival Sakura.

Here are more details about the show:

WHEN: November 26 – 30, 2014

Wednesday, November 26 7:00 PM

Thursday, November 27 7:00 PM

Friday, November 28 7:00 PM

Saturday, November 29 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM

Sunday, November 30 11:30 AM, 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM

WHERE: Pacific Coliseum at the PNE – 2901 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V5K 5J1

TICKETS: Ticket prices range from $25, $35, $55 (VIP) and $85 (Rinkside);

Kids tickets available for only $15 each for select seating and performances (discount not valid for Saturday & Sunday 3:30 pm shows; not valid for VIP/ Rinkside seating)

Special Opening Night discount tickets available for $15 each (not valid for premium level seating)

Tickets available for purchase online at TicketLeader.ca or at the venue Box Office.

We’ll see you at the show!