Canadian Luxury Real Estate Market Soars

Toronto and Vancouver Are Luxury Real Estate Hotspots

First Published Date: September 27, 2015

In a recent report, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada mentions that luxury real estate in Canadian cities, especially in Toronto and Vancouver, will rise for the rest of 2015. This is mainly due to strong international demand.

Sotheby’s predicts that Toronto and Vancouver will see rise in sales for luxury condos worth more than $1 million, but the highest gains will be over $4 million category homes.

In Montreal, the real estate market is balanced but luxury property demand will continue to increase.

In Calgary, luxury property sales declined in the first half of 2015 due to the declining gas and oil industry and likely will continue to decline.

There are several factors driving the demand for luxury properties. Low interest rates, increased international demand (due to stock market turmoil and slowing economy in foreign markets), and limited inventory are only a few to mention.

Although there has been a lot of speculation in the Canadian real estate market (that it will meltdown), Canada is still considered a place with economic and political stability that makes global real estate investors flock to the nation.

At the Temples of Philae | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 3 (Part 28) 02D19

Philae Temple – The Temple of Isis at Philae | Aswan

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

When we approached the Philae temple complex, the first things I noticed were two large and tall majestic wall-like sandstone façade structures and a small entrance door. The temple complex was dedicated to the goddess Isis, but also the gods Horus and Osiris.

The enormous facade had carved images of the god Horus. There were lots of long columns inside the complex. Every inch of the columns, walls, and any other flat surface seemed to be covered with hieroglyphs.

These hieroglyphs cover the large carvings of the gods of Ancient Egypt and the last to be written by the Ancient Egyptians. These ornate pictorial alphabet inscriptions tell the stories of the gods and civilisations.

These inscriptions have been officially declared as the last written Egyptian hieroglyphs. They were meant for the Ancient Egyptians because these temples were built by the last of the Egyptian pharaohs, Nectanebo II.

The Philae temple complex was built in stages and some parts were built by the Greeks in Egyptian styles. So, the new Macedonian or Greek dynasty wanted to replicate Egyptian elements. They worshipped the Egyptian gods, dressed like Egyptians, and built temples, monuments, and structures in the Egyptian style to convince the locals the Greeks were the chosen rulers of Egypt.

My travel guide pointed out some fine lines as proof that these whole complex structures were cut, moved, and reattached from one island to another island, which I have talked about in previous posts.

This was the last item on our itinerary for today. We will go to the Basma Hotel from here and will have a free evening tonight.

American Express Platinum or American Express Gold Credit Cards?

Amex Platinum and Gold Are 2 Different Things

First Published Date: September 29, 2015

A common question American Express credit card users, or even those do not hold any Amex cards but are considering it, are struggling to answer is should they choose the Amex Platinum or Gold. Or would it make sense to even choose both?

Today I will try to answer these questions by keeping things simple and without going into too much detail about these cards’ perks and features.

The very first striking anomaly anyone will notice in these two cards are the wide gap in annual fees. The Platinum charges a hefty $700 and the Gold charges a $150 annual fee (in Canada). However, based on your objectives, these fees may or may not be justified.

The American Express Platinum card is all about perks and features. This card makes sense for those who travel often and want to enjoy traveling in style and distinction. The card gives you access to over 600 airport lounges across the globe and also provides elevated hotel status for many big name hotel chains. This means benefits like a room upgrade, late checkout, and so on. If you do not fly or stay in hotels often, a platinum card may not provide any value to you. By often I mean not traveling one or twice a year, but once or twice a month.

While the platinum card is packed with features, it’s terrible with rewards points because it offers only 1.25 points for every dollar. This is where the American Express Gold comes in. The Amex Gold is a credit card that is designed for rewards points and it’s much generous for points on each dollar you spend, such as 2 points for every dollar at eligible gas, grocery store, and travel purchases. The gold card would make perfect sense for those who don’t travel often and don’t need to access lounges and elevated hotel status.

These are the very basic elements that separate these cards on the surface. Both cards offer much more and the only way to find out what suits you most is to go through all the features and benefits before making any decisions. You will find users who do not travel, but still hold the Platinum card and you will find users that hold both platinum and gold cards. So which card(s) is best for you totally depends on your lifestyle, what you want, and what you value most.

Disclosure: Information provided here may not be accurate and no longer valid. The mentioned card provider is not related to A Dawn Journal and neither monitor this site nor responsible for any inaccurate information. Contact the card company directly for accurate and updated information.

Are We Returning To Good Old Paper Money?

Cash Isn’t Dead

First Published Date: Aug 9, 2009

The past few years have seen a major change in the way we do things financially. More and more, we are seeing an economy that works away from the traditional methods. It used to be the case that shoppers would pay for smaller purchases with cash, and for larger ones with either cash or check, and as time went on with credit cards. As time has passed, however, there are many people who do not bother carrying cash with them and the check is now about as fashionable as velour flares. More and more, we are becoming a society of people who pay with plastic. Our weekly shopping is paid for by handing over a small rectangle of plastic and the funds are taken from our account directly.

This is a system that has taken off in no small part due to its convenience. Don’t have time to get to the ATM and withdraw cash on your shopping trip? Just hand over the plastic. Not sure how much you need to withdraw? Plastic means that the only money to leave the account will be the money you spend in the store. It’s convenient and saves on thinking. Initially it seems that it is the perfect way to do things. But this system does have its drawbacks, and people are becoming more and more aware of these and returning to good old paper money. If anyone out there is  hoping for the day when cash is entirely replaced by plastic, they probably have some time to wait. Checks may be playing less and less of a part in personal finance, but notes are still going to be used for a while yet.

The reason for this is that cash does allow you to take far more of a pro-active role in managing your money. One thing that has made paying by plastic problematic for people is that it makes it altogether too easy to spend money without really noticing. When the wages hit your account on pay day, you have a certain amount of money for the rest of the month. Paying your bills cuts away a fair section of that money. After other necessities are taken care of, you have your disposable income. Now, you wouldn’t be cavalier with the bills and necessary payments – but paying by plastic makes it all too easy to spend your disposable income, and that has to last for the rest of the month.

By withdrawing your disposable income in cash it becomes a lot easier to keep an eye on how much you are spending. Sure, you want your money to earn interest, so open a savings account and put some money in there. The rest of your disposable income can be kept somewhere safe and accessed whenever you need it. If you are keen to stick to a budget, it becomes much easier when you can physically see what you have for spending. Your plastic does not show you a running total as you use it, so the benefits of cash are surely clear. No, cash isn’t dead. Not by a long shot.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Canadapersonalfinancewebsite.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Aug 9, 2009.

A Brief History of the World’s Tallest Skyscrapers

Tallest Skyscrapers in the World

First Published Date: Mar 27, 2010
 

Skyscrapers are essentially a 20th century invention, and while tall buildings have existed for thousands of years, they reached new heights when skyscrapers began to pop up around the world. Each time a skyscraper was built; there was the drive of the builders to have the tallest building in the city, country and in the world. Since the early part of the 20th century, the drive to have the world’s tallest building has been a constant battle between cities within a country and among countries around the world.

Things started off with the Flatiron Building, which was built to 87 meters and became the tallest skyscraper in the world when it was completed in 1902. The new steel structure of the building allowed the building to reach such a high vertical height and it was not long before other buildings in New York City began to copy the style and build to new heights. The Singer Building and Metropolitan Life Tower both succeeded Flatiron as tallest buildings within the city and the world.

The height of skyscrapers really increased with the Woolworth Building in New York City, which was built overlooking City Hall. Built to 241 meters, it became the world’s tallest building in 1913 when it was completed. It would keep this title until 1930 when the building was surpassed in its height by 40 Wall Street.

The newest world’s tallest skyscraper only had its title for a few months before the Chrysler Building took over title. Built to 319 meters, the Chrysler Building became an icon of New York City, but even its title as world’s tallest skyscraper did not last long. In 1931, only one year after the Chrysler Building was finished, the Empire State Building would rise to 381 meters and become the world’s tallest building. Unlike other buildings that held onto their title for a few years at most, the Empire State Building would remain the world’s tallest building for over 40 years.

In 1972, New York once again built to new heights with the completion of the World Trade Center, which consisted of two towers reaching to the equal height of 417 meters. Their title as world’s tallest skyscrapers would only last one year before the Sears Tower (Willis Tower) was completed in Chicago. This building reached up to 442 meters, or nearly half a kilometer and it would keep the title as the world’s tallest building until 2004. Currently, it remains the tallest skyscraper in the United States and the last, so far, of the American skyscrapers to be considered the tallest in the world.

America’s dominance of the tallest skyscraper category ended with the building of the Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which took over the title as world’s tallest skyscraper in 2004. This building reached to a roof height of 448 meters, but the title of world’s tallest building would not last long for this new skyscraper. Over in the Middle East, the tallest building was about to be built and it would be unlike anything ever built.

In 2010, the title of world’s tallest building passed from Taipei 101 to Burj Khalifa. This building did not beat the Taipei 101 building by a few meters for the title, it beat the building by nearly 400 meters, which amounts to almost half a kilometers in height! Burj Khalifa stands at 828 meters, making it nearly one kilometer high and by far the world’s tallest skyscraper and building. To put it in perspective, this Dubai skyscraper is half-a-kilometer higher than both the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building.  The Burj Khalifa also took over the title of world’s tallest free-standing structure over from the CN Tower, which for decades held the title.

Of course, this does not mean that skyscrapers will stop increasing now that the previous tallest record has been shattered. Many buildings are currently building to immense heights of over 500 meters, and in the future there will be some that challenge Burj Khalifa for its title. In fact, the Mile High Tower, proposed to be built in Saudi Arabia, would stand at an astounding 1,600 meters, or double the height of the Burj Khalifa. Whether or not it will be built is a question that cannot be answered quite yet.