Home Equity Toolkit

• Can you borrow from your home equity?
• Home Equity Loan vs. Line of Credit
• Calculate your payment
• Would you save by refinancing your Mortgage
• How much equity do you have in your home?
• Compare home equity loans
• Questions to ask lenders before re-financing
• Questions to ask home equity lenders

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

In this month's issue of Pink Magazine Della de Lafuente looked at Four successful female millionaires. Here are the few simple steps she outlined as helping you get on the right path.

1. Map out a plan:Prepare a realistic budget and decide whether you will invest in a business venture, real estate, the stock market or other income generating investments.
2. Keep your credit in check:A good credit score and strong bill payment record means you'll be able to get more money to make more money.
3. Save, save, save: Start with a little, say 3% and work your way up to 10%.
4. Erase Debt:Avoid making purchases on credit unless you have enough money to pay the purchases off within a month.
5. Become a money expert:Research a company's stock and the real estate market before you make an investment decision.

Cool Tools: Credit Card Toolkit

• Compare Credit Cards
• Checklist for Transferring Credit Card Balances
• Do-it Yourself Credit Repair Checklist
• How to Request a lower Interest Rate
• No More Late Fees Worksheet
• Credit Card Data Worksheet
• How to dispute a purchase made on credit
• Credit Card Inventory
• Credit Card Protector
• Form letter for fixing Credit Report Mistakes
• Checklist to fixe Credit Report Errors

Cool Tools: Budgeting Toolkit

Use these worksheets, calculators, and money saving tips to guide your financial planning.

• Create your Family Budget
• Emergency Fund Worksheet
• Dealing with Debt Worksheet
• Monthly Financial Calander Worksheet
• Daily Expense Tracker Worksheet
• 10 Reasons to Budget Worksheet
• Net-Worth Worksheet

Technology: E-mail Etiquette

Good e-mail etiquette improves your productivity and facilitates good communication with co-workers; however, because of a lack of visibility, you can't look at eye contact and body language. Here is a list of the 10 most common e-mail mistakes and how to fix them.

1. Unclear Subject line: Give your e-mail a clear concis and neutral title free from any negative words.
2. Poor (or absent) Greeting: Don't just go into the body of your e-mail. Even if your message is about a problem it is always necessary to start your e-mail with a friendly greeting.
3. Using Uncommon Abbreviations: Take the extra time to spell out everything. You don't want to take the risk of using abbreviations that your audience doesn't know. This may make them frustrated and less likely to respond.
4. Unnecessary CC-ing: It's not necessary to courtesy copy many people, just CC those directly involved and only if absolutely necessary.
5. Using all Capital Letters: Some people may use caps to emphasize a point but don't because this shows anger and it seems like you are yelling at someone.
6. Sloppy Grammar, spelling, and punctuation: A quick e-mail is no excuse for not double checking your writing, use spell check and make sure everything is right otherwise it looks careless and unprofessional.
7. No Closing or Sign Off: It's important to end your message on a positive note so remember to include a friendly closing.
8. Difficult to Read: This is closely related to proper grammer. If there are run on sentences or missing paragraphs, you won't be able to get your message across to the reader.
9. Unfreindly Tone: It is important to keep your tone in check as making accusations can put the reader on the defensive.
10. Lack of a clear request: Don't try to minimize what the e-mail is about. If you want something done, make a clear and polite request.

She Earns More

In a must read article from PINK magazine online by Betsy Schiffman "She Earns More", the relationship between men, women and money is explored. According to the U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics, about 1/3 of working women outearn their husbands. So what's the issue? because of this performance on behalf of women, men feel that their importance in the relationship is taken away. To find out more read the article and let me know what you think.

Financielle of the Moment: Maria Bartiromo

Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" and is host and managing editor of "Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo", America's #1 financial news program. Bartiromo is also the author of "Money Makers", a monthly column for Redear's Digest and "Ideas-Face time with Maria Bartiromo" in Business Week.

5 Must Do's for Safe and Wise Banking

1. Know the difference: ATM vs. debit Cards
2. Watch out for 'Float'
3. Is your bank Safe?
4. Know your checking account habits
5. Consider a free checking account

Are You Spending too Much: Take the 7 day Money Challenge

Many people don't realize just how much money they are really spending. I recommend that you take Bankrates 7 day Challenge:

• Learn your weaknesses
• Go on the money diet

and for motivation read the accompanying article "Savers Toot their Own Horn".

Cool Tool !

Follow this link to get a printable Personal Financial Planner that includes worksheets on:


A. Personal Data and Goals
Sheet 1 Personal information sheet
Sheet 2 Financial institutions and advisors
Sheet 3 Goal setting sheet
Sheet 4 Monitoring current economic conditions
Sheet 5 Time value of money calculations

B. Money Management & Budgeting
Sheet 6 Financial documents and records
Sheet 7 Personal balance sheet
Sheet 8 Personal cash flow statement
Sheet 9 Cash budget
Sheet 10 Annual budget summary
Sheet 11 University education cost analysis/savings plan

C. Tax Planning
Sheet 12 Current income tax estimate
Sheet 13 Tax planning activities
Sheet 14 Income tax preparer comparison

D. Banking Services
Sheet 15 Planning the use of financial services
Sheet 16 Using savings to achieve financial goals
Sheet 17 Savings plan comparison
Sheet 18 Chequing account comparison
Sheet 19 Chequing account cost analysis
Sheet 20 Chequing account reconciliation

E. Consumer Credit
Sheet 21 Current and future transportation needs
Sheet 22 Used car purchase comparison
Sheet 23 Buying vs. leasing an automobile
Sheet 24 Automobile ownership and operation costs
Sheet 25 Consumer credit usage patterns (debt inventory)
Sheet 26 Credit card/charge accounts comparison
Sheet 27 Consumer loan comparison

F. Housing
Sheet 28 Current and future housing needs
Sheet 29 Renting vs. buying of housing
Sheet 30 Apartment rental comparison
Sheet 31 Housing affordability and mortgage qualification
Sheet 32 Mortgage company comparison
Sheet 33 Mortgage refinance analysis

G. Insurance
Sheet 34 Current insurance policies and needs
Sheet 35 Home inventory
Sheet 36 Determining needed property insurance
Sheet 37 Apartment/home insurance comparison
Sheet 38 Automobile insurance costs comparison
Sheet 39 Determining life insurance needs
Sheet 40 Life insurance policy comparison
Sheet 41 Disability income insurance needs

H. Investments
Sheet 42 Setting investment objectives
Sheet 43 Assessing risk for investment
Sheet 44 Evaluating investment information
Sheet 45 Using stocks to achieve financial goals
Sheet 46 Using bonds to achieve financial goals
Sheet 47 Using mutual funds and other investments
Sheet 48 Investment broker comparison

I. Retirement and Estate Planning
Sheet 49 Retirement housing & lifestyle planning
Sheet 50 Retirement plan Comparison
Sheet 51 Forecasting retirement income
Sheet 52 Estate planning activities
Sheet 53 Will planning sheet
Sheet 54 Trust comparison sheet

J. Financial Plan Summary
Sheet 55 Financial data summary
Sheet 56 Savings/investment portfolio summary
Sheet 57 Progress check on major financial goals and activities
Sheet 58 Planning summary for money management, budgeting and tax planning
Sheet 59 Planning summary for banking services & consumer credit
Sheet 60 Planning summary for housing activities
Sheet 61 Planning summary for insurance
Sheet 62 Planning summary for investments
Sheet 63 Planning summary for retirement and estate planning

Love & Money

Summer is the season of weddings. With money being one of the biggest causes of divorce, it is important for couples to discuss finances before marriage.

Ten Questions to Ask Before Saying I Do

1. Where would you like to be in five or ten years?
2. What are our assets and liabilites?
3. Should we keep our finances seperate or combine them?
4. What about our investments?
5. How will we handle daily spending decisions?
6. Who will be responsible for paying the bills and preparing the taxes?
7. What is your tolerance for financial risk?
8. What are our insurance options?
9. How does your credit report look?
10. How will we tackle existing debt?

Starting Out: Build Your Financial Foundation

Another Article from Kiplinger, "Build your Financial Foundation" puts emphasis on how important it is to have an emergency fund. Here are the steps for finding the money and storing it:

Three Financial Strategies

• Pay yourself first
• Plug spending leaks
• Save "extra" money

Where to stash your Cash: some place

• Accessible
• Safe
• Profitable

Starting Out: 20 small ways to save big

I was searching the archives of Kiplingers starting out columns and found the article "20 small ways to save big". I have posted info on saving before but this is an issue, like many financial issues, that needs to be repeated constantly to reinforce the habit. Start saving now, if you think you don't have enough money this article will show you easy ways to cut costs. There are a few items on this list that I think are really good. First of all PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARD !!!! Brown bag it, this sounds silly but think about how much money you spend on take out for lunch. If you bring a lunch from home it will save you money and probably be healthier. Make Media Free, take out that library card because it can be used to take out not only books but CDs and movies. Keep track of your money, learn to cook, and ditch the gym (take a look at workout tips from the fitsugar widget below !). This article is quite useful and offers links that may help.

people - planet - profits

3 top comapamies & women in sustainability:

• Dupont - Linda Fisher, VP and chief sustainability officer
• Alcoa - Anita Roper, Director of sustainability
• General Electric - Lorraine Bolsinger, VP of ecomagination

The Sustainability Pathway: "Susan Burns, managing director, Global Footprint Network"

1. Determine what problems your business soleves for its customers
2. identify the negative environmental or social impacts of your business (global warming, deforestation, social stress etc.
3. Ask how you can use your company's expertise to solve some of these problems
4. Engineer a new product or service to support these solutions
5. Track how your company benefits from these efforts.

Shopping for a Cause

In honour of the live Earth concerts taking place all over the world today; take a look at Root's new campaign and merchandise. All t-shirts are $29.95 and all bracelets are $5.00:

visit

P:icture yourself in Retirement

Patricia Lovett-Reid provides these scenarios to help you more easily picture yourself in retirement:

Pre-Retirement Planning Strategy:

• Make sure you begin with a positive attitude and an open mind
• Set realistic goals and be specific about what you want to accomplish. Do you want the same lifestyle that you have now or do you want to upgrade or downsize?
• Picture your retirement. Begin to dream about what you and your spouse want to do in retirement. If you haven't discussed your retirement plans with your partner now would be the time.
• Calculate your retirement number and focus on the contribution number that will help you achieve your retirement dream.
• Establish and develop a financial/lifestyle plan that will help you reach your ideal contribution number
• Adjust your budget and make your savings plan match your established financial plan
• Commit to a start date. How about RIGHT NOW!
• Relax, there are a lot of ways to invest and save
• Decide on your comfort level. What is your investment comfort level, do you want to control the investments yourself or have an advisor?
• Arm yourself. Learn about your investment options and then choose the investment, savings, and protection tools that will best help you achieve your goals. After all, Knowledge is power.
• Imagine your performance
• Remove any Distractions

At-Retirement Strategy:

• Pre-plan and cover all contingencies
• Look at tax strategies. Convert RRSP to annuities or RRIFS
• Look at portfolio composition and consider the two most important things, diversification and asset allocation
• Look at creative options for your retirement such as part-time work
• Structure your days to make the adjustment easier
• Consider whether you want to live close to family or friends or move to your dream location
• Consider gift planning and its tax implications

In-Retirement Strategy:

• Simplify your life by making a monthly budget that matches your lifestyle plan
• Integrate income from different sources such as CPP, OAS, and RRIFS
• Look into tax strategies
• Consider whether you still want to work.