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Community UPDATE EDITOR: WILMA BLOKHUIS Phone 905-845-3824 (ext. 250) Fax 905-337-5567 email blokhuis@haltonsearch.com · WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2006 Please forward announcements o f non-profit and free events for Community Update to Wilma Blokhuis, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, Ont. L6K 3S4; Fax 905-337-5567; e-mail blokhuis@haltonsearch.com or call 905-845-3824 Ext. 250; BEFORE NOON MONDAY to be included, Free listing. Attention all artists and artisans, the May Court Club of Oakville welcomes participants in its 9th annual Art and Artisans by the Lake show and sale on May 6 and 7,10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Appleby College. If interested apply to www.maycourtxa by March 25. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton' s biggest fundraiser of the year, Bowl for Kids' Sake Feb. 17,7 - 9 p.m. at Hopedale Bowl for 5-pin bowling or Feb. 24, 7 - 9 p.m. at Classic Bowl in Mississauga for 10-pin bowl ing. Register a bowling team or sponsor a team of Little Brothers and Sisters. For details call 905-339-2355 or see www.bbbshalton.ca. WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 8 Teen Talk, an interactive and informative program for teens presented by youth at The Women's Centre - focus will be on current issues such as dating, self-esteem, peer pressure and drug and alcohol awareness, Wednesdays Feb. 8 and 15, 4-5:30 p.m., The Women's Centre, Ste. 210, Hopedale Mall, Rebecca and Third Line. For more informa tion, please calP905-847-5520. THURSDAY FEBRUARY9 Spanish Social Group for Spanish speaking women, Feb. 9 and 23 from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 and 27 from 7-9 p.m. Free. A social group for Spanish-speaking women to meet new friends and learn about different programs and resources in the community. The Women's Centre, Ste. 210, Hopedale Mall, Rebecca St and Third Line. For more informa tion, call 905-847-5520 Calling all American women in the western GTA. American Women's Club of Oakville will be meeting 9 a.m. Join group for fun and friendship. For more info, see www.awco.ca. Job Finding Club for internationally trained individuals presented by Sheridan College, 407 Iroquois Shore Rd, Rm. All, 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. If you are a foreign trained individual currently seeking full-time employment in your desired field, then this free program is for you. T\vo weeks of in class workshops to assist you with a successful job search. Access to employment resource centre, computers, phones, fax and an on-site recruiter to assist each job seeker. Call 905-845-9430 ext. 8026. How to be Assertive with Karen Dowell Feb. 9,16,23rd, 7-9pm. Cost $25. Learn how to protect your rights, avoid arguments and deal with anger and disappointment, The Women's Centre, Ste. 210, Hopedale Mall, Rebecca and Third Line. Call 905-847-5520 HAPPEN - Linking People and Opportunities network ing support group for unem ployed business professionals, 8 a.m., in Mississauga. Speaker Peggy Grail, Managing the big fat changes in your life. Call 905-339-0268 or www.happen.ca. Dick O'Brien brings inspir ing and uplifting presentation and learn some practical tips and strategies for dealing with" the ups, downs and occasional curves that life inevitably throws our way, 860 Harrington Ct., 9:30 - 11:30 a.m. Call The Centre for Skills Development and Training at 905-333-3499, Ext. 103 or visit www.thecentre.on.ca. Moms' n'More- Are you an at home mom looking to get together with friendly, com passionate women for intelli gent, lively conversation on a wide variety of issues? Prayer, spiritual study and good con versation for spiritual growth, share parenting ideas, and enrich family relationships and help others in our community. Day care provided. Walk-ins welcome. Group meets Thursdays 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., at Knox Oakville, Dunn and Lakeshore . Call church office at 905-844-3472 or see www.knoxoakville.com. The Lighthouse Program for Grieving Children is offering free, fun and creative support to boys and girls age three-six who have experienced the death of a parent, Thursday afternoons, 1:30-3 p.m. For more information or to register, call 905 337 2333 or e-mail: lighthouseprogram@bellnet.ca. First Oakville Toastmasters Club meets Thursdays at the Royal Canadian Legion Bronte Branch at 79 Jones at 7:30 p.m. Guests are welcome. Come and see how you can improve your speaking, listening, and management skills. Call 905827-1546 for more informa- tion. Buddhist Meditation Classes to March 9, Thursdays 7 - 9 p.m., Victoria Hall at St. Jude' s Church, Thomas Street entrance. Call 905-842-0940. Women' s Caring and Sharing Circle with Patricia Hurst. Spend an hour in the warm, accepting atmosphere of other women. Share challenges, life experience and wisdom, every Thursday, 1 - 3 pm. Free. The Women's Centre, 210-1515 Rebecca. Call 905847-5520. The ladies of the Oakville Newcomers' Club Fitness Walking Group meet every Monday and Thursday at 9:30 am at the Towne Square for brisk 45-minute walk through residential area and along the lake. Walkers of various fitness levels participate and slower walkers are welcome, Coffee/tea and social time at coffee shop after walk. | C U M M i N t; £r < : if A M I N G | C F P ,R F P ,C L U , CH FC ,C IM ,R H U , TE P 2004 Financial Advisor o f the Year B ruce C um m ing Best Idea Many clients, friends, and journalists have often asked if I could only give one product suggestion what would it be. The answer is simple because I only have to look at many of our ^ clients! persona[financial affairs and \ I can clearly see the best thing we ' have suggested to them in the last 11 couple of years... and I bet you %1 should be doing the same as well. They made a dramatic change several years ago in the way they did their day to day banking. They finally blew off the shackles of the traditional Canadian bank and went to a "suitcase banker" and their only regret is that they did not do it sooner. All families fall into one of two camps, either you have debt or you do not. Assume the debt is represented by a mortgage of $100,000. At that same bank you also have a chequing, saving, and children's accounts where the combined balance might average out to be $10,000 during any given month. Moreover, those balances are earning peanuts - if anything at all. So imagine if you went to your friendly banker and said to take those balances and use that to offset your total mortgage indebtedness. In that way you would have reduced your mortgage to v' $90,000 and saved yourself 10% on your interest payments. Alas, for years the banker merely smiled and said no-can-do! j The other side of th£ same coin is to | imagine if you had those same bank accounts - with no debt this time and you asked your friendly banker to aggregate all those balances and pay you tip-top interest on your average daily balance. This time you might not even gpt that smile but you will very likely g$t the same resounding NO. Afterall, this is exactly why our banks are so highly profitable and your requests would cut right into those profits. are no fees or charges to have theappraisal and legal work done. Plus you get a.single bank account with cheques, an ATM card which you can use at many banks, personal finance software, and a credit card. The first cheque you write is to pay off your mortgage. Your multiple bank accounts will be consolidated into the one account (but you can keep track of the notional balances using the software), you therefore receive those 10% savings immediately, your interest rate will be prime plus one, and your monthly cost of maintaining this new bank account will be a couple of dollars more than you are currently paying at your big Canadian bank. For those who have positive bank balances the savings are just as great because Manulife pays ING type interest rates on your average daily balance in that single, consolidated bank account. For many clients this has represented over a thousand dollars of annual savings ... this is true whether you have a mortgage or whether you pile up money, in a bank account periodically during the month. This is just plain and simple good money management. Admittedly, there is the usual hassle of changing over your accounts but the continual, ongoing savings makes that an insignificant point in the long run. Perhaps of greater concern is if you lack the discipline to gradually pay down your line of credit which is one of the very few benefits of having a mortgage. But in the end the flexibility and savings make this all-in-one strategy very attractive. Column provided by Bruce Cumming CFP, RFP, CLU, CHFC, CIM, RHU, TEP of Cumming & Cumming Wealth Management Inc. and FundEX Investments Inc., a financial planning firm located in Oakville. Bruce was recognized as Ontariofs Financial Advisor of the Year for 2004. The Advisor of the Year Award honours Canadais most outstanding financial advisors for professionalism and dedication in serving the needs of their clients. He can be reached at 905-337-9984,1-877-698-2931, or bruce@cummingandcumming.com. Column Provided by Bruce Cummin CFP, RFP, CLU, CHI CIM, RHU, TEP 1540C ornw all R oad, Suite 202 O akville, O ntario L 6J 7W 5 T el: 905-337-9984 · T oll F ree: 1-877-698-2931 bruce@ cum m ingandcum m ing.com ^1 FundEX v ivvr.r* m e. Damon Kachan, CFA, CFP, FCSI, CIM, FMA Your Personal Portfolio Manager - Private Investment Management 239 Lakeshore Road East, Oakville (905) 815-8353 damon.kachan@rbc.com · www.rbcpim.com Improving Your Financial Life R B CD o m in io nS e c u ritie sIn c .*a n dR o y a lB a n ko fC a n a d aa res e p a ra tec o rp o ra tee n titie sw h ic la rca ffilia te d . `M e m b e rC IP F ."R e g is te re dtra d e m a rko fR o y a lB a n ko fC a n a d a .U s e du n d e rlic e n c e .,R B C D o m in io nS e c u ritie s isare g is te re dtra d e m a rko fR o y a lB a n ko fC a n a d a .U s e du n d e rlic e n c e ."C o p y rig h t2 0 0 5 .A llrig h tsre s e rv e d . Peace o f M in d . . . ... the most Valuable Service we Provide · Financial Planning · Investment Management · Insurance · Mortgages · Estate Planning RBC Dominion I Securities Anton Tucker CFP, FMA, FCSI T R ID E L T A Financial P& tinata 905. 330.7448 a n to n @ trid e lta .c a w w w .t r id e lta .c a OAKVILLE | NORTH YORK I MISSISSAUGA I THORNHILL www. stewar tfinancial. ca .STEWART £ *inancial Services 1282B Cornwall Rd. Oakville, ON Duncan Stewart Investment Advisor 9 0 5 -8 4 5 -0 9 9 0 Drew Stewart Investment Advisor T im T rian , C F A - P o rtfo lio M an a g e r L a u r a T ria n , C .A ., C F P , C IM - In v e s tm e n t A dvisor DUNDEE S E C U R IT IE S C O R P O R A T IO N | A DUNDEE W t A lT H M A N A G E M E N T CO M PANY 200-2908 S o u th S h erid an Way, O akville T el: 9 0 5 - 8 2 9 - 0 6 0 0 fgatchalian@ dunfleesecurities.com V isit us at http://team trian.dundeew ealth.com C o m p a r e G IC R a te s Our relationships with well-known issuers allow Edward Jones to offer GICs wilh rates that are often higher than your local bank or credit union can offer. Compare our rates with those of some local financial institutions: j Yet when I asked my banker those |t questions several years ago I was lucky enough to learn about Manulife Bank and in particular their amazing j Manulife ONE product. Herefshowit 1 could work for you. You simply replace your traditional bank mortgage when it comes open with a secured line of credit from Manulife Bank based on the appraised value of your home. Your line of credit can be as much as 90% of your home's current market value... and there 1 2 3 4 5 Year Year Year Y ear Y ear 4 . 05 % 4 . 10% 4 . 15% 4 .25 % 2 .75 % 2 . 85 % 2 . 95 % 3 . 10% 2 .75 % 2 . 85 % 2 . 95 % 3 . 10 % 2 . 55 % 2. 75 % 2. 85 % 2 . 95 % 3 . 10 % 2 . 55 % 2 . 75 % 2 . 85 % 2 . 95 % 3 . 10 % NOTE: Above referenced rates are on GICs from CDIC and/or CUDIC insured institutions from an internet survey on 02/07/2006. To discuss the role GICs may play in your financial portfolio, please call me or stop by the office. w w w .e d w ardio n es.co m ' ; -------------------------------- ,, Member CIPF Edwardjones Serv ing Individual In v estors Investment Representative R o n a ld P r o k o p , C IM . . ,, . _____ 9 0 5 -3 4 2 -4 9 1 1 635 Fourth Line, Unit 10 Oakville, ON L6L 5W4 P le a s e c a ll T a r a Cumming & Cumming WE A L T H M A N A G E M E N T I NC. at to advertise in this feature! The opinions expressed in this column are those o f the author and do not necessarily represent the views o f this newspaper. ..