Al2 - Wednesday, June 2, 1982 - North Shore News

Se

NO GADGETS NEEDED

Finding the fountain
a matter of style

Ponce de Leon, the early
explorer of Mexico and
Florida, spent a major part
of his life looking for the
Fountain of Youth. There
are those who are still
looking.

Some people think they
have found it in miracle
compounds, special diets or
magic exercise machines.

You do not need gadgets
that heat up, belts that
vibrate or any other gim-
micks advertised in
magazines or newspapers.
They are unnecessary,

expensive and sometimes
dangerous.

To feel good and look
good you kave to move and

them enough to justify the
costs. Visit a club which you

can conveniently attend
regularly.
Before signing for a

membership check to see
that instructors are
qualified, and that fitness
programs are appropriate for
your needs. Distrust any that
offer instant weight loss or
effortless fitness.

Getting into shape takes
time and effort not money. It
may take six weeks, three
months, or a year to regain a
good level of fitness. Once
there, stay there with regular
activity that you enjoy.

The Fountain of Youth is
not

found in
Mysticism. It is found right
under our noses in a healthy
lifestyle which protects the

Pills or
improve your own
machinery; there is no sub-
stitute.

A WARM SENDOFF was given to Alice Blundell by West Van recreation centre staff and friends at her recent

retirement tea. She's been playing piano for children at the Rec Centre since 1959 and ts shown here playing at the
Seniors Activity Centre. (Eric Eggertson photo)

Every Tuesday Is

Seniors Day

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DEALING WITH A SHRINKING DOLLAR

Making the most of your pe

By DAVID INGRAM

One of the particular
problems that senior citizens
have been having over the
last number of years is
coping with the problem of
income hmits on welfare or
senior citizen benefits. An
example would be where a
widow receiving a war
widow's allowance has a
large sum of money left to
her.

The natural tendency is to
put the moncy into bonds or
term deposits and collect
interest, but because of

Carousel Cleaners

Golden Age Day Is Everyday!

income

limits set by
Veteran's

administrations,
Mincome, GAIN, and
Guaranteed Income sup
plement levels, the widow,
widower, or semior citizen
can actually end up paying
100% tax, not as tax per se,
but as a reduction of their
pension or loss of subsidized
medical.

What the recipient of the
inhentance could do 1s to
leave some principal out to
spend and put the rest into a
bond that had accumulating
coupons so that he or she did
not have to clip the coupons
and report the income on a
year to year basis At the end
of four, five, or even mine
years the owner chps all the
coupons at once, and loses
the pension for only one
ycar

In BC for 1981. many
seniors tied into the old habit
of “hubby claims wife on his

tax return syndrome” lost
many dollars by claiming
their wives as dependents
when they did not really
need to claim them for tax
purposes Because of — the
NEW BC Fax credit based
upon 1% of personal
cacmplions, tt was possible
to receive an catra $50 OO by
having the wife file a

tax return Vf this
happens to apply to you, you

separate

Reputable exercise clubs
are useful but only if you use

reured people make is to
think that they can sell their
house and live off the in-
terest.

Right now the pensioner
with a 15% rate of interest
on $100,000 is receiving
$15,000 gross but if interest
rates drop back, the pen-
sioner will only receive
$7,000 or $8,500 and he or
she will find life much
tougher in the immediate
next few years.

Of course. if the bottom
does drop out of the real
estate market, then the
moncy in the bank will be
lost because most of if 1s
secured by mortgages on a 6
to | basis But, that 1s
another story only exceeded
by the horror of | silver
certificates.

WHAT IT COSTS

TO RENT
| am frequently criticized
for telling widows and
peasioners to cash in their
Bonds, Term Deposits or
( PC's and buy an apart

ment
People say.
don't) understand the
penasioncr nceds the “in
from the GEC to

David. you

come”
live
Lets look at a SS year old
widow with $100,000 “in the
bank” and a $10,000 a ycar

body from deterioration with
the passing of time.

15% on her G.I.C. (more
likely over a 5 or 10 year
average than 20%) - she will
have $15,000 on top of the
$10,000 pension.

This $15,000 will have
about $4,500 tax and leave
the lady $10,500 left over for
“Rent.”

With this amount of
money, the lady is likely
lhving in a  $600/month
apartment which works out
to $7,200 a year.

At the 32% Marginal Tax
Bracket the lady is in - it
takes $70,000 at 15% to
produce $10,500 gross in-
terest on which she pays
32% or about $3,300 tax to
have $7,200 left for rent.

At 20% interest it takes
$52,500 to produce the
moncy for the rent - but at
10% interest (remembcr
the whole country wants to
go back to 10% mortgages
which means 8% Term
Deposits). It takes $105,000
to produce that rent.

By the ycar 1990 - if she
has a non indexed Pension
the whole amount plus in
terest would go to rent

She Mast Buy Today or
hope to be dead in seven
years because her capital
will be gone and her total
spending power will be
reduced to today’s welfare
rate of $400/ month

15% orr

can still amend the pension ke xampic At only 1O%
husbands LOM] retumen to Phe widow will be paying inflaton, $10,000 today will
On Any Professional Dry-cleaning temeaove = the wile as oa $1 OO00/year Income Tana on be worth $3500 tn spending
dependent and file # return her peasion income and power by 1990
for the wife as welll essentially  oshe has neo At 15% inflaton, $10 000
Our Quality Services But the biggest singke | Contiolover her pension today will be worth $1 900 tn
* High Quality Professional Drycleaning mistake that) widows and It she receives the rate of

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