SECTION THE HERALD IT IMS a Careful planning crucial to RRSP By PAT DONNELLY Youve just gotten over the holidays and now youll be bombarded with news until the end of February You dont want to wait till the last minute though so heres how you can cope this year First take a quick look at this Issue of Between Us It will only take a few minutes then you can spend most of your time with the family hobbies or doing other things you enjoy more than reading about RRSPs Then let us custom design your Its all part of the service Here are a few items to remind you why its important to have RRSPs Contributions to your RRSP are tax deductible and you pay no taxes on the money that you contribute or on the in vestment earnings in your plan until you start making withdrawals You have until February 1988 to make your contributions and reduce your income taxes Because income tax rates are higher in 87 than in 88 youll save more in taxes by making the maximum con tribution now for 87 You may contribute up to to your RRSP unless you are a member of a registered pension plan or deferred profit sharing plan In that case you may contribute up to or 20 per cent of your income whichever is less minus any personal contribution you make to your employersponsored plan You may have as many RRSPs as you wish and you are allowed to transfer an RRSP into another RRSP or an eligible registered pension plan without paying tax You may withdraw some or all of the funds in your at any time but you will have to report withdrawals as Income in that year and that income will be subject to lumpsum withholding taxes at the time of withdrawal The importance of establishing a cashflow plan by Fitomena Tamburri You probably know that the secret to achieving financial goals is by establishing and fol lowing a budget not an easy task at the best of limes To some ext ent whether we realize or not we all budget When we decide to put off buying a new coal or a new car until next year that is a form of budgeting To make the budgeting task a Utile easier and more organized try to establish a cashflow plan A cashdew plan a detailed re cord of your income and ex penses over a certain period of lime will do two important things It will tell you where your money is going and it will help you decide where you want it to go Your credit union trust com pany or bank should have infor mation to help you set up your plan A cashflow plan consists of a chart compiled each month on which you record all your in come and itemize all your ex penses under various headings The columns may be as follows total monthly income regular payment expenses annual ex penses regular monthly spend ing and contingencies those purchases like furniture that dont occur regularly Under the monthly income col umn include the household takehome pay any investment income from interest payments rental income gifts or any other income you expect Regular payments can include payments for utilities loan pay ments mortgages or other loans charge accounts credit card and any other payments you make regu larly each month Annual expenses should in clude auto insurance club fees tuition or any expense you only pay once a year Be careful to put the payments in the column for the month in which they arc made If you pay any of these bills with monthly payments then include them in the monthly expenses Regular monthly spending in cludes those items that you buy every month but are difficult to put price accurately These could be groceries dining out enter tainment transportation costs personal care travel tickets to events or for the car Contingencies include clothes medical expenses furnishings gifts and child care costs items or services you dont buy regular ly When you compare the total expenses against the total in come you will know from month to month if you are living within your income or not But the process does not end with the cash flow plan When you have examined the information about your spending habits then you must decide what changes need to be made so that your expenses dont outstrip your income Tamburri is Publica tions Coordinator for the Ca nadian CooperatUe Credit So ciety For more information re garding personal cashflow planning write to Credit Uni on Financial Counsellor CCCS East Mall CI Islington M9D SAME DAY TAX RETURNS 2217 RISKY BU Advice We can take the gamble out of taxes investment return business loans real estate transactions personal financial planning Goebelle MacAdam Alexander Chartered Accountants Offering Services In Bookkeeping Personal Corporate Income Tax Graeme BA FCA Brian cFP 37 Main St S Gaorgaton David Alexander BMith Meadowvale Mlstlsaauga Rd Ontario THERES A LOT OF INTEREST IN MUTUAL LIFES No Fees or Charges on Interest Accounts Competitive Interest Rates Great Income Options at Retirement SAVE WITH CONFIDENCE WITH MUTUAL LIFE FOR DETAILS CALL Mutual Life Canada