Financial Literacy 2007 : Guide to Building Personal Wealth

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Guide to Financing your Future

Cool Tool!

Want business cards without paying a huge fee?

Check out businesscardland.com, a free site that lets you make your own cards online. Just pick the design you want, check off the size, enter the info you want and choose the colors for the text and the background. Print them off yourself or take them to a printing shop for full color cards. Businesscardland.com can be used by both Mac and PC users, as the final business cards will be in PDF format.

Cool Tool!

Watch your expenses and budget on the go from your cell phone with Dime Tracker. It's a free service. According to Geek Sugar,

" The company tracks your spending habits by recording your purchases directly on your cell. You can then use that data to create a nifty budget that you can store on your phone for easy access. To sign up you give Dime Tracker your wireless carrier and cell phone number and they will send you a text containing your confirmation code. To activate your account you enter your confirmation code on the company's website."

The Adventures of FruGal on Halloween

I found this great tech tip for halloween on Geek Sugar. If you don't want to spend a lot for a cool halloween mask and you need a last minute fix:



"Forget spending a small fortune on a Halloween mask this year when you can create your own! With a decent color printer, you can custom make the perfect Halloween mask. Thanks to lifehacker, we have learned that Microsoft offers detailed 'how to' mask-making instructions, with the possibilities of what you can make being endless. If you're feeling geek-inspired check out more Star Wars masks like the ones below by clicking here!"

Secrets of Playing it Very Safe with Investing

Even Super safe investments can be risky if you do not know the rules:

Know your Goals: Decide on your time frame. If you are saving for something in the short-term safer investments are better and if you are saving for retirement which has a longer time horizon it would be beneficial to assume more risk.
Consider Inflation: The more conservative you are the greater the inflation risk you assume.
Do It Yourself: Your money won't grow very much with super safe investments so giving away what little return you are making to a fund manager or other professional doesn't make much sense.
Beware of Gimmicks
Guaranteed Investment Certificates: when looking to get a GIC make sure that interest rates will be going up and shop around for the best rates.
Money Market Mutual Funds: These typically pay more than a short-term GIC. While GICs have a fixed rate, Money Market funds typically earn more as interest rates rise. The shorter the maturity the quicker the return will rise.
Short-term Treasury Issues:(Issued for one year or less) These are guaranteed by the government of Canada. If interest rates climb, treasury bills lose value. The longer the time to maturity, the greater likelihood of the price falling.
Short-term bond funds: You can buy short-term bond funds yourself or put your money in a mutual fund that buys them for you. With this option you get diversification and professional management. The higher the interest rates go the more you'll earn on your fund , generally.

Cool Tool ! New Palm Centro

I was just on the Geek Sugar blog and found this posting on the New palm Centro. This thing is so cute and affordable. Apparently it will go on sale in mid october for $100 including a 2year phone contract. If anyone is looking for an affordable palm device this could be it.

Financielle of The Moment: Lisa Sugar

Lisa Sugar is the publisher and editor in chief of 11 of the coolest blogs for women read this article from 7X7 Sanfrancisco.

Retirement Calculators !

• How will retirement affect my expenses?
• Am I saving enough? What can I change?
• How advantageous is incresing my Savings?
• What if I underestimate my expenses?
• What Will my income be after I retire?
• What will my expenses be after I retire?
• How much of an effect will inflation have?

The ultimate Retirement Resource for Canadians

Clicking on this link will take you to the Canadian Banker's Association Booklet on planning for your retirement. It covers How much you will need, where the money will come from, your retirement financial strategy and estate planning.

The Basic Rules of RRSPs

The Registered Retirement Plan (RRSP) is one of the best tax shelters available in the world. The government gives you a big tax write-off every time you contribute plus you get to shelter the investment income until the time comes for you to use it. Your RRSP should be your largest source of retirement income. According to Gordon Pape, This will only happen if you do two things:

1. Contribute the maximum: possible amount to your plan each year.
2. Manage your RRSP Assets: so as to obtain the highest possible return, consistent with the degree of risk you're prepared to accept.