50 - Wednesday, March 15, 1989 - Nurth Shore News BUSINESS SO UTION My i s Bright, Why Is S Having Problems In School? 7 IS YOUR CHILD FRUSTRATED WITH DIFFICULTIES SUCH AS: coc ™ Learning to read — following instructions — spelling, Use the 60-410 to solve money prebl I CALL it The 60-40 Solu- tion. And it can be the key to every personal financial decision — and possibly many other decisions — you have to make. While most of us are reasonably rational human beings, we are also creatures with strong feelings. Recognizing this, most of us should listen to both head and heart when we make decisions. In my experience, your decisions are most likely to imprave your quality of life — which is, after all, the bottom line —- when they are based 60 per cent on what your heart says and 40 per cent on what your head says. © You have saved or otherwise come into some money. Do you put your funds into guaranteed deposits? The stock market? Real estate? Or do you simply spend the money? * You are buying a home. Do you choose a place you want but really can’t afford? Or do you buy the place you can afford but don't really want? ¢ You are taking out or renew- ing a mortgage. Do you choose a one-year or five-year term? © You would like extra money to pay off some persistent debts. Do you rob your retirement savings program — and pay a hefty tax penalty — by cashing in your RRSP? From a purely financial point of view, the answers are fairly clear. Extra money: Choose various investments. Diversify to protect yourself. Perhaps spend part of the money. Buying a home: Choose the place you can afford, even if you don’t like it. Eventually, trade up to a place you do like. The mortgage: Research eco- nomic trends, calculate the present value of future mortgage payments and choose the term likely to be the less expensive. Cashing an RRSP: Unless you are in a lower tax bracket now than when you contributed, cashing an RRSP rarely makes sense financially. Not only do you pay up to 45 per cent tax but depending on how much you withdraw, you can seriously crip- ple the growth of your tax- sheltered funds. But let's be realistic. Would you rather do the correct thing finan- cially and feel uncomfortable about it, or make the decision that makes you feel good, regardless of the financial negatives? The Business and Professional Women's Club presents HOW TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS a cone day seminar (includes lunch) Saturday, March 18 N. Vancouver To register phone 985-2223 or 922-8728 ! encourage people to be respon- sible about their finances. That means considering the choices they have, the positives and negatives of each choice. But then, when you have nar- dollars and sense Michael Grenby rowed your focus to perhaps a handful of alternatives, listen to your heart. How do you feel about each of the choices? In my experience with people and their finances, women appear to have a more finely developed — and accurate —- intuition than men, When women (and men) ig- nore their feelings, it invariably costs them, financially as well as emotionally. So let’s veview those four deci- sions again, and apply The 60-40 Solution. Extra money: Consider your in- vestment — and spending — op- tions. Perhaps write down (he pros and cons of each. Then lean toward the one(s) which can make you feel good. Buying a home: If you feel you can put up with less than the home of your dreams for a short period while you work hard toward upgrading, buying the affordable M CAN-PR O Account ing Se *Financiat alate ents *Bookkeeping *Payroll C1 income Tax Personal & Corporate Income Tax *Financiat & Tax Planning BURNABY 105-5481 Kingsway 430-4134 iems place could make you feel better because you won't be so finan- cially strapped. But if you have reasonably secure income(s) and are real homebodies so you won't mind not having spare cash for outside extras for a while, go for your dream home. The mortgage: Be aware of in- terest rate predictions. Then decide whether you can gamble on a short-term mortgage (which might be cheaper) and hope rates will generally trend lower, or whether you'd feel better paying for the in- surance of a longer term to fix your payments. Cashing an RRSP: When we renovated several years ago, I! cashed some of our RRSPs. We'd paid off the mortgage on our first place, then the mortgage on our second place — and I just didn’t want to borrow again. In those days, income-averaging was still allowed, which lowered the tax penalty. Financially, I lost by tak- ing money out of the RRSP in- stead of borrowing. But I felt bet- ter doing it that way, and was prepared to pay the price for those good feelings. When I advise people aoout their money, I always watch to see which options make their eyes light up, and which options cause them to frown, So when you consider your op- tions, use The 60-40 Solution to help you feel brighter about your personal finances. twee Based locally, Mike Grenby writes a money column which ap- pear in newspapers across Canada. Although he also works as arn in- dependent financial adviser, Mike will respond to readers’ questions and story ideas through the paper. Write to Mike Grenby, Money Columnist, North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale, North Vancouver V7M 2H4. Mike cannot reply in- dividually but will answer as many of your letters as possible in his column. ACCOUNTING CENTRE Y PERI COMPUTING GEAWICES ‘| O Business Consulting stncorporation *Office Automation 0 Computer Software @Microcomputer Software (Accpac. dBase, Lotus 1-2-3, eic) ‘NORTH SHORE 231-1433 Lonsdale 988-8815 THE CORPORATION OF THE CiTY OF NORTH VANCOUVER As part of the City-wide View Study now being undertaken we would again like to hear from residents of the City of North Vencourer . Our Consuitant will conduct two workshop s=ssions at a: Public Open House on March 21, 1989, from 4 to 6 pm. and 7 to 9 p.m. at City Hail, 141 West 14th Street. If you have any questions or if you are unable to attend on March 21, 1988, phone Development Services at 985-7761, locals 215 or 216. writing and other language related skills? “Kenneth Gerdon School provides a remedial education in an emotionally supportive atmosphere for children 6-13 years old.”* The program is individualized and offers: full curriculum ~— individual daily tutoring — small classes — specifically trained qualified staff. Our goal is to nurture and draw from within the very best of a child, Many hundreds of our students have feturned to public school, able to cope with well developed social and academic skills. KENNETH GORDON SCHOOL 524-5224 7855 Meadow Avenue, Burnaby, B.C. V3N 2V8 Rental Income? Many, many changes have been made. It will cost you money if you get it wrong. 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