loney worries quelle
y local expert advice

Eleanor
Godley

MORE ABOUT money.
Gosh, you’d think by the
way I go on about it,
that I had a buncii.
“Not!” to use the cur-
rent colloquialism.

But in these parlous times,
with interest rates low and the
dollar sagging like a wounded
dove, plus ominous rumors out
of Ottawa’s Old-Age exche-
quer, one perforce must dwell
on same.

It’s no good just sitting
around worrying about it, what
if this and what if that. What
you need is some practical

‘ type who speaks plainly and
helps you get a proper perspec-
tive on your own situation. |

Everyone's got different pri-
crities, but all of it condenses
down to “can I live this way?”

“what steps should J take?”

“Those two ladies from the
Investors Group will gladly go
over your resources with you,
but their focus, you under-
stand, is on what they special-
ize in, investing. They can yaa
you use your excess capital to
your best advantage, but their :-
forte is not bread-and-butter
money. ~ ,

“They,” that mythical group -

that has the answer to every-
_ thing, “they” say that the rule
of thumb for investment is to’
think one hundred years, sub-
. tract your age from that, and -
you've got the percentage of:
your resources that you can ’
safely afford to speculate with.
We gather hundred- -year:
olds don’t hang around casinos
alot. |
If we knew just how many

‘more years we had, it would be -

‘ easier to cut the cloth, eh?’ <

Failing that, we seek out the

. expert and try to establish
whether we have enough for a
flared skirt as well asa match-
ing weskit, or whether we
should stick to straight up and

*. down and short all around.

I have such an expert
resource. I found him in the

’ headquarters of the North °

- Shore Credit Union, where I
like to do my money-business.
The people there are fresh and
friendly and I like the sort ef
clubby feeling.

Roman is what they call
their Specialized Services rep,
suggesting he’s prepared to
handle old-age clients who are
busy building nests of money
for those who will still abide
after the oldsters have packed

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THE VINTAGE YEARS

it in. The sober title indicates
that he has a wealth of experi-
ence in dealing with the con-
fused, like us elders.

Hedoes. .

He’s very forthright and
fundamental. I was impressed
when another employee volun-
teered the information that he
had achieved managerial status
in the city earlier on, but had *
asked to return to active
involvement in the nuts and
* bolts rather than basking on
the seats of power.

You have to be really inter- .
-ested both in your own work

and in people to make that sort
of sacrifice, I think.

Anyway, he gave me a
thumbnail outline of the merits
of various options of control of
one’s bits of money, stressing
the value for seniors of buying
Canada Savings Bonds, or
equivalent bond offers, in
November.

Their simplicity, coupled
with their excellent return and
their liquidity he believes to be
most beneficial to us, in our
fragile years.

One of the seemingly com-

pulsory habits of old people,
that of putting all their money
into savings accounts, gives
him the pip, but it’s because he
didn’t grow up in our times.

In the *30s, to have your
own Savings account was a
goal and a glory — it gave a
feeling of safety and security
that nothing else brought in
those days.

But nowadays a savings
account is paying half a per
cent for Pete’s sake, and this to
a banker, brings on an attack of
the willies. I frankly can’t
recall getting any interest at all
on my long-ago savings
accounts, but that wasn’t the
point —- we weren't brought
up to expect it to earn any-
thing, we were just interested
in having it where it was safe
and hard to get at.

Which is something else
Roman would like to see come
about, the instruction of chil-
dren in money and what it does
and how it can be used.

They grow up so carelessly,
not knowing anything except
what they want to spend it on,
whereas they could so easily
learn the secret that would
change their tives.

For us, we saw money so
rarely we would never have
dared take it at anything but its
face value.

To that end, he’s ready to
help us take on, al our age, a

‘simple seminar to teach us

stuff like not putting all our
eggs in one account —— espe-
cially if it’s a savings account
— plus some more diversions
that we could use to maximize
our bits of money.

- It would be a good idea to”
give him the chance.

And if you’re laid up, he'll
come to you.

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“STRENGTHENING THE COMMUNITY”

The North Shore Union Board of Health has received a grant of
- $15,000 from the Provincial Ministry of Health. The Grane is avail-
able to be divided amongst community groups or agencies who
come forward with proposals designed to “Strengthen the

Community”.

Applications ‘are available to’ be picked up at North Shore
Health, Sch floor, 132 West Esplanade, North Vancouver.
Applications must be received by May 2, 1994. ‘

oar SOE

Helping You Live Well -

City of North Vancouver
District of North Vancouver
District of West Vancouver

School District No. 44
(North Vancouver)
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(West Vancouver

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