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The Globe and Mail's Smart Money section is dedicated to giving you what you need to manage your personal finances successfully. Smart Money appears every Saturday in The Globe and Mail and on globeinvestor.com.
They have saved and invested effectively, and paved the right path for their future
In Saskatchewan, a couple we'll call Greg and Nicole are raising three small children and trying to plan for the time when the kids will have left home and become financially independent. Greg, 39, is a health care professional; Nicole, 38, is a stay-at-home mom. With a monthly after-tax income of $7,000, they have 16 to 18 years to go until their children enter university. They want to retire in 21 years when Greg is 60.
ROB CARRICK provides four good reasons why investors should take an interest in this prosperous part of the country
Think I'll go out to Alberta.-- Ian Tyson, Four Strong WindsOh, Alberta. Land of fresh opportunity in this great Canadian folk song, and in your investment portfolio.
A weekly scorecard of some of the lowest and highest rates and yields across Canada.
MORTGAGESThe lowest rates posted for one, three and five year closed mortgages.1-YEAR CLOSED PACE Savings and Credit Union3.59So-Use Credit Union3.60Ukrainian Credit Union 3.65Ontario Civil Service Credit Un.3.95Comtech Credit Union 3.99Average rate4.67
To make money, brainpower and expertise are usually not enough. When all is said and done, to make a high return you must buy cheaply from someone who doesn't know what you know, and sell dearly to another such person. One of the biggest risks is to assume you can out-think all sellers armed with merely public info. In Giraffe we therefore apply our expertise only to stocks where we have exclusive information. How do we get it? We must either sleuth for it ourselves, or cultivate informers. Last week I called one of our informers at the Blue Chip pub in Palo Alto, Calif., for a regular update.
I once heard that the definition of a tax pro is someone who tells you about problems you didn't know you had, then fixes them in a way you don't understand. This has never been truer than in the area of U.S. estate taxes. Most Canadians aren't aware that they could be subject to U.S. estate tax.
A selection of the past week's winners and losers
DOGSAllstate The ''good hands people'' are going to need plenty of appendages to juggle all the claims arising from hurricane Katrina. With damage from the hurricane and flooding in New Orleans expected to top $100-billion (U.S.), investors in insurance stocks are running for the nearest storm shelter.
