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Wednesday October 13, 1999 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D5 BARGAIN-RATE CAR INSURANCE W ITH BARGAIN- John Baumann RATE SERVICE IS ?" **& £ £ *** L NO BARGAIN. Don't trust just anyone to insure your car, see me: Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 The Oakville Advisory Group has added Raymond Lamont to its roster. Pictured here (1 to r) Dan Cooper, Ray Lamont, Dave Sanderson, Harry Uhrig and Bill Perras. Advisory Group adds to roster The Oakville Advisory Group has added Raymond Lamont, CLU, president of The Lam ont Group, to its roster of business advisers. The Lamont Group offers financial plan­ ning with an emphasis on estate analysis, estate creation and preservation and retire­ ment planning. It also counsels business owners and other entrepreneurs in business life insurance and employee benefits. "Everyone at The Lamont Group is excit­ ed by the many new services this relation­ ship will help us provide to our clients," said Lamont. "Membership in the OAG will enable us to offer our clients a truly compre­ hensive package of financial planning with instant access to related services." Group founder Dave Sanderson said he's pleased Lamont has joined the group. "Ray's expertise in his field will enable the OAG to offer a more complete service to both our corporate and private clients," said Sanderson. "We're now much closer to our aim of becoming the best single source of free information and assistance for the Oakville community concerning just about every financial, legal, accounting, estate planning and real estate issue they may have." Other group members include: Dan Cooper, associate broker with Royal LePage; Bill Perras, Barrister & Solicitor; Dave Sanderson, investment advisor and Harry Uhrig, partner at BDO Dunwoody LLP. Health system executive at Cdn. Club Oct. 20th Assistant Deputy Minister of Health, John Oliver, will be the guest speaker at the Oct. 20th meeting of the Oakville Canadian Club. Oliver, president and CEO of the Halton Healthcare Services Corporation, was seconded by the province to help implement hospital restructuring in Ontario. The meeting will be held at Investment in education always a good bet the Ramada Inn with a cash bar beginning at 6 p.m. with dinner to follow at 7 p.m. Cost is $27.50 for members and $37.50 for non-members. Call 845-2862. The last column dealt with the high cost of post secondary education. We recommend that parents consider contributing up to $2000 per year to a RESP to ensure they receive the 20% federal grant of $400. You have the option of con­ tributing up to $4,000 annually to a RESP, however, the grant only applies to the first $2,000 We do not recommend you make any RESP contributions that do not receive a grant. Additional savings are better invested using informal 'in trust' accounts registered in the name of the child. The account is set up in the name of one par­ ent (or both) in trust for the child, for example "Joe Smith in trust for Erin Smith". With in-trust accounts, there are go government grants, like the RESPs, but there are advan­ tages such as tax savings and increased flexibility. All capital gains produced by an investment made in the name of the child are taxed to the child. Therefore, if money is invested in the name of the child, the effective result is that the capital gains are free from tax providing they do not annu­ al exceed the basic personal exemption allowed to all tax­ payers. Consider the alternative, if the parent invested funds that would eventually be spent on the child, all income taxes would be paid at the parent's rate, which can be as high as 48 per cent. Note that only capital gains are taxed in the name of the child. Both interest and dividend income is attributed back to the parent and is taxed as their income at their higher tax rate. PETER WATSON Dollars & Sense From an income tax perspec­ tive, it makes sense to invest for capital gains growth for chil­ dren. Also, capital growth ori­ ented investments have histori­ cally provided returns almost double that of fixed income investments such as GICs or bonds. Another advantage of in-trust accounts is they are far more flexible than an RESP. What happens if your child does not attend university but has other goals or needs that have to be financed? The only restriction on the in-trust money is that it must be spent on behalf of the child. Once the money is put into the in-trust account, it belongs to the child, not the parent. Investing in the name of your child has many advantages. A little planning can result in receiving government grants or income tax savings-don't let these advantages pass you by. Peter Watson, MBA, CFP, RFP, is the president of Peter Watson Investments - an Oakville firm specializing in retirement plan­ ning, RRSPs, and investment planning. He can be reached at 842-2100. Ford after youth market Ford Motor Company o f Canada Ltd., has taken two steps in making itself a more marketable product for the Canadian youth mar­ ket. The driver education company, Young Drivers, was purchased by Ford Canada and will begin a growth strategy for the YD operation. "The acquisition of Young Drivers is a perfect fit with Ford's focus on youth and safety," said Bobbie Gaunt, president and CEO of Ford Canada." By establishing a relationship at the beginning of the driving experience, we can contribute to the development of a new generation of safer drivers." The YD deal was first announced in May but only closed this week. At the same time, Ford Canada announced a two-year partnership with SMARTRISK, a company dedicated to eliminating predictable and preventable injuries among Canadian youth. "Preventing serious injuries among young people is a cause that touches us both rationally and emotionally," said Gaunt. " These are our children, our future and the toll that preventable accidents take is tragic, wasteful and heartbreaking." Dr. Robert Conn, a former pediatric heart surgeon, founded SM AR-i TRISK in 1992. He said the company doesn't try to prevent young people from taking risks but encourages them to consider their actions and make decisions that will avoid preventable accidents and injuries. "Ford of Canada and SMARTRISK are an ideal fit," said Conn. "Ford has demonstrated a firm commitment to youth and safety in Canada and SMARTRISK is dedicated to equipping young people with the skills that are necessary to make the right choices." Young Drivers has 158 locations in Canada, 25 in the U.S. and 25 in Finland. To connect with Your community Click Here HaltonSearch.com FOR INFORMATION CALL 337-5599 i t i i \ Business To reach this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Investment in education always a good bet PETER WATSON Dollars & Sense To connect with Your community HaltonSearch.com i