Winnipeg Free Press: Personal Finance

Toronto market lags recovery in the Dow industrials, remains well off 2011 highs
Published Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:30:15 CST

OTTAWA - While the Dow Jones industrials average flirts with its highest level in nearly four years, the Toronto Stock Exchange remains more than 10 per cent off its highs of just last year — and thousands of points below its lofty pre-recession peak. But while the U.S. market will probably... . . .

Impact of divorce on RRSPs
Published Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:28:06 CST

(Special) – Regrettably, divorce is becoming an all too commonplace event in Canadian society. Statistics Canada reports that more than 100,000 individuals a year go through divorce and 43 per cent of marriages are expected to end in divorce before they reach their 50th anniversary. A similarly . . .

Winpak is very good at packaging success
Published Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 03:28:14 CST

A little-known fact about Pringles: When you buy one of those convenient small plastic containers of the chips, you're paying more for the packaging than for the food. (I won't venture to comment on which has more nutritional value.) That's right: The package costs more to produce than the . . .

Home truths hit hard
Published Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:17:52 CST

Kim would like a home to call her own. In her mid-50s and divorced, she is an apartment-dweller who longs for a nice little bungalow -- preferably on the prairie. "I'd dearly like to live on the outskirts of the city, but I'd also need to own a car again, and I'd like to figure out whether . . .

Deadline decisions
Published Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 10:16:05 CST

Financial institutions are at it again. It's February and they're putting on the full court press about last-minute RRSP contributions. If you already haven't had it hammered into your noggin, the deadline to contribute to your RRSP for the last tax year -- 2011 -- is the end of . . .

Expense deductions are CRA's business
Published Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:34:15 CST

Salaried employees sometimes envy business owners for their ability to deduct certain expenses, like entertainment of customers, travel to conferences and automobile expenses. (Less enviable are things like 18-hour days, financial stress and human-resource issues, but we'll leave that for another . . .

Senior citizens vulnerable to fraud, financial abuse from within family
Published Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:20:18 CST

CALGARY - A few years ago, Mabel Fielding received an unusual phone call. A man purporting to be her grandson said he had ended up in jail after attending a wedding "down east somewhere" and needed her to send him money right away. The 88-year-old Hanna, Alta., woman says she didn't question . . .

Earliest days most vital time for will's executor
Published Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:32:38 CST

John Mitchell appointed his nephew, Fred, to be his executor under his will. Wasting no time, John died shortly thereafter on June 6, 2009. It was sudden. Fred found out about it from a cousin a few hours later. If Fred wanted to do a good job as executor, it was important he start . . .

Avoid 'agent hazard' when trying to sell your home
Published Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:45:12 CST

A house is your biggest investment, yet people spend more time shopping for a colour TV than on how they buy or sell a home. Just as a financial adviser can have a tremendous impact on your financial well-being, so can a real estate agent. And yet, most people choose them based on who they know. . . .

No pension, no problem
Published Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:45:18 CST

Jared and Nicole's inheritance brought with it bittersweet sentiment. The late 40s couple had lost a parent, yet they suddenly found themselves no longer struggling financially. They set aside money for their children's education. They paid off the mortgage and maxed out the TFSAs. But new . . .