| Glossary of
Financial Terms | | |
| Snowbirds:
On the road again... |
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| Travel agents and insurance experts
expects sales of travel medical insurance to peak in October/November
- a sure sign that 'snowbirds' are beginning to flock to the borders
and migrate south for the winter. To help ensure a trouble-free extended
vacation, auto clubs are encouraging senior sun-seekers to take a
few extra precautions to protect themselves, along with their homes
and belongings, while they're away. |
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| Top
10 tips for selecting a residence for your aging relative |
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| Selecting a residence for your
aging relative can present challenges. The variety of residences available
(from long-term care to retirement to Alzheimer-specific residences)
can cause confusion. In addition, many people have entrenched ideas
about what a residence is and looks like - and given that residences
have changed drastically in the past several years, those ideas can
be wrong! |
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| Lifestyles
& Relationships |
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| People in retirement often find
satisfaction and enjoyment in a wide variety of hobbies and activities.
For many, this could mean the chance to revisit the pastimes of youth,
while others may discover a completely new interest that reveals another
side of their character. |
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| Looking
for a different type of accommodation in retirement - check out a
Life lease property |
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| Life lease is a unique housing
option for mature adults and seniors. A life lease project provides
an opportunity to purchase an interest in the project and to "share"
in any appreciated value of the building and property. The market
value life lease model, provides seniors with the potential to earn
a return on investment similar to the equity growth in a private home,
without the headaches and worries associated with the maintenance
of private property. Life lease communities create a sense of security
and well-being for residents. |
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| Hindsighting
investments - Income funds, GICs or both? |
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| We all wish we had invested in
“that sure thing”. The problem is the Sure-Thing racehorse
“could” have won the Belmont stakes. Life’s like that
- some you win, some come in fourth. However, for most the sure-thing
investment is fixed term deposit instruments, like guaranteed investment
certificate. Financial planning experts counsel that a portion of
your portfolio be investor in fixed income securities. |
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| The
future of credit cards? More features, higher costs! |
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| Considering applying for a credit
card and feeling overwhelmed by all the options? Platinum, gold, low-rate,
travel benefits, rewards - the choices are endless. Many credit cards
offer a variety of features such as travel protection, cash back and
extended warranty insurance. However, these options are often packaged
together and to get some of the features you really want, you end
up paying for many features you may not use. |
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| Investment
habits of men vs. women |
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| Here's an interesting point of
debate: men and women differ in their approach to the investment game.
and the difference is quite marked during the initial process. Research
has shown that men tend not to want too much detail while women want
more information. Women tend to really want to understand what's being
suggested, and why. |
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| Will
that be debit or credit? |
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| It used to be "will that
be cash or on your credit card" when you go through the cashier.
With the introduction of debit cards, more and more Canadians are
discovering the convenience of using the debit card. Should you use
a debit or credit card? |
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| Business
Succession Planning 101 |
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| As you edge closer to the age
of retirement, have you given any thought to what comes next? Who
will you hand the reins of your business to as you take the next important
step in your life’s journey? Will this heady responsibility go
to an heir or to a professional manager? And what happens if there
is more than one heir? How can I hope to maintain financial security
of my business and myself throughout this important transition and
whom do I turn to for help? |
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| The market's
down... What do you do now? |
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| If you can't make any sense of
the stock market these days and question whether you should risk more
of your hard earned savings and be an opportunistic buyer of depressed
equities or finally throw in the towel, dump the dogs you so enthusiastically
purchased a few years ago and put your money in a piggy bank, you're
in good company. One has only to read the financial section of any
newspaper to notice that there are many different opinions about future
stock market direction from people who's job it is to study these
things. How can there be such a polarity of belief? |
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| June
12th marked as another milestone in Canadian banking circles |
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| The Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP)
program is designed to assist individuals who are now following a
different career path and looking for money to cover the educational
costs. This Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) lets you withdraw up to $10,000.
per year to a maximum of $20,000 from your registered retirement savings
plans (RRSPs) to finance full-time training or education for you or
your spouse or common-law partner. |
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| Good Records:
What to keep, what to toss |
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| How many of us can honestly say
that we actually live by and obey the rules of good record keeping:
A place for every paper and receipt and every paper and receipt in
its place? The truth is, while we may have great intentions, they
often get pushed by the wayside as we live our busy lives. Receipts
that started off as small piles of paper can quickly grow into mountains
without a little intervention. So, take a look at our Good Recordkeeping
Checklist for simple ideas of how to bring order to your house of
records in no time at all. |
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| An inside
look: Out of country travel insurance |
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| Most people who love to travel,
or those who travel frequently know the importance of purchasing a
comprehensive travel insurance package before leaving on a trip. Travel
insurance protects you out of province or country from unforeseen
accidents or illnesses. Without travel insurance, the cost of prescription
drugs or hospital care can skyrocket. |
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| Garth Turner..
Homeowner's Guide reviewed |
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| Garth Turner's book The Strategy
claims to be "a homeowner's guide to wealth creation". In
the book, he outlines a plan, focusing largely on using real estate,
to show us how to attain the comfortable retirement that we all desire. |
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| When money
gets nervous |
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| When interest rates fall for investments
such as GICs, traditional low-risk investors tend to turn towards
vehicles like mutual funds that offer a higher rate of return, which
can boost the value of the market considerably. But what happens to
these new investors when an event like a drop in the Federal rate
occurs? What happens when new money gets nervous? |
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| Bre-X marks
the spot |
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| The Bre-X scandal will always
serve as a reminder of one of the biggest stock market frauds in our
history. However it should also act as a wake-up call to investors
who enter into investments with blind faith. Every investor owes it
to themselves to do research into any new investment they may be considering
which may work to prevent another Bre-X in the future. |
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| Unused
capital gains offset |
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| This article contains information
that will be of great interest to executors who have had to deal with
taxable capital gains for estates after 1994 where mutual funds were
involved and for anyone else who has sold all mutual fund units after
filing the election form with their 1994 return. |
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| CDIC Insurance
may not always apply |
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| Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation
(CDIC) insurance exists to protect investments of up to $100,000 made
at CDIC-member institutions. However this does not mean that CDIC
insurance is applicable in all situations just because records indicate
that you are within the insurable limits. |
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| Spring
ahead into tax season |
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| The arrival of tax season each
year has been known the strike fear into the heart of many normally
fearless individuals. For those who invest money outside of an RRSP,
preparing an income tax return can go from being unpleasant to down
right confusing thanks to the various tax implications involved. |
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