Better than anything I've seen from professional money managers.

"The "What IF" Retirement Planner© is an excellent tool!  For the first time in my life I was able to use a simple, easy to use tool that actually gave me a realistic and fact based view of my possible retirement age based on different scenarios.  Better than anything I've seen from professional money managers. Thank you Ross and Shal!" Robert Whig,  Amateur Investor (... and Young Wealthy Retiree Wanna Be) Toronto, Canada

December-5-2008

Helpful Links To find out more about: Online Brokerage RRSP/TFSA Cost Comparison. Here is a link to a useful Income Tax Estimator. This is a good site to keep current on Canadian financial news and stock quotes: Globe & Mail Financial Site.   Here you can get US financial news and stock quotes: Yahoo Financial.   To learn more about RESP's here is a helpful link to RESP Frequently Asked Questions.
Recommended Reading All the investing basics for Canadians from a savvy financial industry outsider    Gail Bebee, Personal Finance Author and Speaker
Free Tips Does budgeting mean I don't get to spend any money? Budgeting does not mean you can't spend money on the things you want.  Budgeting just means that you have made a decision on how much money you will spend and save and that you plan to stay within the guidelines that you set for yourself. By knowing how much you spend monthly or yearly, you can then set your retirement plan with some accuracy.  The more accurate your yearly expenses, the more accurate your retirement plan will be.  Your total yearly expenses is a key input to developing a retirement plan when using the "What IF" Retirement Planner©. To get to that total yearly expense number, most people will first look at their monthly expenses and then calculate their yearly expenses.  For planning purposes, you need this one total number. However, to help you understand where you are spending your money and to identify areas where you may wish to decrease or increase spending, it is helpful to break down your expenses into major categories.   Your budget allocations will be made up of: a.) Savings b.) Spending  (or Expenses) Remember 2 key things: 1. Pay yourself first. That is, put aside some savings every month and try to grow this number over time. 2. Your total budget allocations should be equal to your total monthly income. That is, you have a plan for where all money coming in will go.   Given the list of suggested categories below, you should determine which ones apply to your personal situation.  Start tracking the amounts you will need to allocate to each category, based on your personal savings plan and expenses incurred. Budget Allocations Savings Utilities Misc. Spending (Cash) House Repairs Gas House Insurance Food Property Taxes Phone House - Other Cable & Internet Car Insurance Haircut Car Maintenance Clothes - Person 1 Memberships Clothes - Person 2 Professional Associations Kids' Expenses Charitable Donations Gifts RESP Contributions Vacation RRSP Contributions Health Care Life Insurance Add other categories as required