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| Big Heart Rescue Society Gala Fundraiser |
| Wednesday May 19, 2010 02:28 PM |
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The 5th Annual Dog Lovers Gala Fundraiser will be held up on June 5th at the Olympic View Golf Club in Victoria.
Tickets are $50 per person and include a fabulous buffet dinner, wine and door prizes. There will be live and silent auctions, games, raffles and an evening filled with many special moments as we pay tribute to those dogs that have been given a 2nd chance at life.
You can purchase your tickets or get more information by calling 1-250-247-7655 or emailing bhrdonations@shaw.ca
Proceeds will go towards caring for abused, neglected and abandoned dogs primarily in remote BC communities that otherwise have no access to medical care or an opportunity for a safe and loving home.
I went to the event last year and had a fabulous time and I am looking forward to June 5th!
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| Fixed versus Variable?? |
| Tuesday May 18, 2010 02:44 PM |
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Can't decide between Fixed versus Variable? You can have both!
According to RBC, 40% of prospective home buyers (people who plan to buy in the next two years) intend to take out a hybrid mortgage. That compares to 32% in last year’s survey.
A hybrid mortgage is a mortgage with multiple terms.
These terms may be part fixed and part variable, and/or part long-term and part short-term.
For example, a hybrid mortgage might be contain the following:
* 50% in a 5-year fixed rate
* 50% in a 5-year variable rate
As another example, a hybrid might contain:
* 20% in a 3-year fixed rate
* 30% in a 5-year variable rate
* 50% in a 1-year fixed rate
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| Do I Pay Down My Mortgage or Invest in RRSP's? |
| Tuesday May 18, 2010 02:38 PM |
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By Mike Watkins, Special to Times Colonist May 18, 2010
Canadians have some impressive financial goals for 2010. Consider the following, taken from a poll conducted on behalf of Edward Jones in Canada:
- 48 per cent plan to pay down debt. Of this group, 13 per cent want to pay down their mortgage faster.
- 20 per cent plan to increase contributions to an investment account, with 10 per cent saying they will contribute more to Registered Retirement Savings Plans.
Paying down your mortgage and saving for retirement are two worthy goals. But can you work toward them at the same time? Ask yourself: Is it a wise move to make extra mortgage payments or should I put the money into my RRSP instead?
Let's consider the pros and cons of making larger-than-necessary mortgage payments.
First, the pro side:
- You will pay less in interest over the long term. Over the course of a few decades, the interest you pay on your mortgage could equal, or exceed, the mortgage amount itself. The sooner you pay off your mortgage, the less you will pay in interest.
- You will realize more equity when you sell your home. The less you owe on your house, the greater the equity in your pocket when you sell it.
- You could get a psychological benefit. If you can pay off your mortgage, you may feel as though a burden has been lifted.
Now let's examine the cons of paying down mortgages early:
- You might sacrifice investment returns. If you paid off a fixed-rate mortgage of five per cent, you are essentially earning a five per cent return. But if you could find an investment, such as the securities held inside your RRSP, that earned more than five per cent, you might be better off putting your money there. Of course, there's no guarantee on the earnings you will get from your RRSP, but your returns will, in effect, be boosted by the RRSP's tax-deferred environment. Furthermore, you get an immediate tax break on your annual contributions.
- You will tie up cash in an illiquid investment. If your employment should be threatened or you face some large, unexpected expenses, you may need quick access to a large amount of cash -- and it's harder to get money out of your home than it is from your savings and investments.
- You will risk being under-diversified. If you put all your money in your house, and the housing market slumps, your net worth might suffer more than if you had spread your money among a variety of assets, such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds. While diversification, by itself, cannot guarantee a profit or protect against loss, it can help reduce the effects of volatility.
Clearly, paying down your mortgage early offers some significant benefits. But it could also incur some significant costs, particularly in the area of saving for retirement. And since you could be retired for two or three decades, you may want to take full advantage of your RRSPs, your Tax-Free Savings Account and other retirement savings vehicles.
Ultimately, the mortgage-versus-retirement question is a highly personal one and does not lend itself to easy solutions. But it is not necessarily an either-or situation. You could, for example, increase your RRSP contribution and use your tax refund to make an extra mortgage payment each year. It's your choice, so make it a good one.
© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist
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| The Window May Be Closing on Your Opportunity to Refinance! |
| Thursday May 13, 2010 02:59 PM |
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There are articles in the press every day about Canadians and our spending habits. A new report by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada shows that household debt in this country peaked in December at $1.41 trillion.
That's $41,740 debt on average per Canadian!
At this time home values continue to be high, interest rates are at record lows and we know this will not last forever. NOW is the time to re-arrange your finances!
Please give me a call at 250.475.1166
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| Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals Spring 2010 Survey |
| Monday May 10, 2010 09:22 AM |
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Significant Statistics: Prudence Paying Off For Canadian Mortgage Borrowers
• There are approximately 9.3 million homeowners in Canada, including about 5.55 million with mortgages.
• Almost 80 per cent of young borrowers have opted for a fixed rate mortgage or a mortgage that combines fixed and variable rates.
• A small number of mortgage consumers (17 per cent) have amortization periods of more than 25 years and the share of mortgages with extended amortizations has stabilized – a year ago the share was also 17 per cent.
• Among borrowers who have renewed a mortgage in the past 12 months, almost three-quarters received a reduction in their interest rate. On average, interest rates were reduced by 1 percentage point on mortgages renewed in the past 12 months.
• 16 per cent of mortgage borrowers have increased their monthly payments beyond required amounts. Combining the data obtained in the survey, the total increases amount to about $150 million per month or $1.8 billion per year if those increased payments are sustained.
• 13 per cent of mortgage borrowers made lump sum payments, with an estimated total of $7.8 billion, equivalent to 1 per cent of the total outstanding mortgage principal.
• For new mortgages, 50 per cent were obtained from a bank, 30 per cent from a mortgage broker, and 20 per cent were obtained from another source.
• Mortgage brokers are used most often in Alberta (32 per cent), B.C. (29 per cent) and Ontario (26 per cent) compared to the Maritimes (19 per cent), the Prairies (17 per cent) and Quebec (14 per cent).
• The total volume of the residential mortgage market is expected to pass the $1 trillion mark mid-year and by the end of 2010 would be in the range of $1.04 trillion. By the end of 2011, the forecast is $1.13 trillion to $1.14 trillion.
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