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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.
The past year hasn't been kind to these mutual funds, which means you've got an ideal price entry point, ROB CARRICK writes
Some of the worst-performing mutual funds of 2005 could be good choices for 2006.Templeton Global Smaller Companies is a prime example -- it's on track to post a small loss this year after five superb years in a row. Stellar in the bear market earlier this decade, Beutel Goodman Canadian Equity is having a year that is best described as something between mediocre and disappointing. Integra Bond's decline is less dramatic, but there's no denying that its 2005 returns don't measure up to its longer-term results.
Couple fret over problems posed by retirement
A couple we'll call Hugh and Sally live near Toronto. With a combined gross income of $122,000 a year, they are approaching retirement.Hugh, 62, has had two heart attacks, bypass surgery and a stroke with some resulting paralysis. He expects that he will have to retire in mid-2007. By then, Sally, 54, will probably have ended her contracts with her current employer, a company in the financial services industry. They worry that once their incomes decline to retirement levels, they will not be able to support the nearly $1,200 a month they pay on their mortgage and for taxes on their $235,000 home.
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 Union3.90Ont. Civil Service Credit Un.3.95So-Use Credit Union3.95Comtech Credit Union 3.99ICICI Bank Canada4.30Average rate5.03
Many people think that investment counsellors have an easy job. Read the papers extensively in the morning, work out with the trainer, go to the office for a meeting or two, have an enjoyable lunch and so on. It sounds too good to be true and it is.
We're quickly coming to the end of 2005. And people can get pretty creative with their spending to create last-minute deductions. (Hey, sometimes deductions seem so logical you'd swear they must be legal.)
A weekly examination of the thinking behind a specific trade in the stock, bond or currency markets.In fine contrarian fashion, this week's trade flies firmly in the face of the greenback's mighty headwind.
A selection of the past week's winners and losers compiled by John Heinzl
DOGSMenu Foods Income Fund The pet food maker might just have the cutest ticker symbol in Canada. MEW. Awww. But watch out: This kitty bites! The unit price plunged after the income trust breached terms of its lending agreement and warned it may suspend distributions after Dec. 15.
