July, 2010
Volume 3, Issue 7
In This Issue
MFG FINANCIAL DISPATCH
A Monthly Publication of MacIntosh Financial Group Ltd.
Celebrating 25 Years of Serving Our Clients
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Win One of Two $25 Starbucks Cards
TFSA Refresher
Bits and Pieces
Two $25 Starbucks Cards To Be Won
As usual we’re giving away a $25 Starbucks card to each of two lucky people this month. Congratulations to our last month’s winners: Dave Humphreys and Don Olson.
If you would like to be one of our winners this month, simply click on the word “WIN”, and answer the two multiple choice questions based on information in the articles in this newsletter. We’ll randomly draw two names from the correct entries and award a card to each of those two people.
This month’s draw will happen on July 30th. All the best!
Mid Year Review
We have now passed the mid-point of 2010, and we thought we would give a brief overview of what has happened so far in the financial markets this year.
The global economy continues on its road to recovery. It is a very rocky road though and there’s little doubt that it will continue to be so for some time.
Much of the economic gain has been in developing countries such as China and Brazil, which have led the rebound with strong growth. In North America, although the growth is still positive, it slowed considerably in the second quarter. Canada’s economic output is now close to the level it reached before the recession, and job creation has been robust but the economic news remains mixed globally.
For example, the US housing sector is weak and consumers are wary. Concern about high government debt levels in Europe, particularly Greece, wreaked havoc on the European financial markets until the European Community introduced a massive rescue package.
Large deficits are leading many developed countries to cut spending and remove the stimulus programs that were put in place during the credit crisis, raising concerns that this could hinder the recovery.
Although stock markets continued to rise early in the year, with concerns over the European debt crisis, and the imminent winding down of government stimulus programs, the markets in general gave up in May and June, all the gains recorded in the first four months of the year.
As usual, short term forecasts for the economy and financial markets tend to be plentiful and contradictory but not very relevant to long term financial planning. A diversified portfolio and long term outlook is much more important.
We very much appreciate your continued confidence in us to provide you with financial planning advice and products.
As always, if you have questions about how your portfolio has been affected by the global markets or you would like to review your portfolio with us, please contact us.
TFSA Refresher:
Because they are still relatively new, we thought it would be good to do a quick refresher on TFSAs – (Tax Free Savings Accounts). The basics are as follows:
- Every Canadian resident age 18 or older can contribute up to $5,000 per year to a TFSA.
- Any unused contribution amount can be carried forward to be used in future years.
- Within the TFSA you can invest in any of the investments types that are allowed in RRSPs such as GICs, mutual funds, stocks, bonds, etc.
- There’s no tax deduction for your contribution.
- There’s no tax to pay on any growth while the money is in your TFSA.
- There’s also no tax to pay when you withdraw money from a TFSA.
Our recommendation is to use your TFSA for long-term investing in order to get the greatest tax benefit from it. That means using investments that will provide you with the best potential long-term growth.
Remember, any money withdrawn from a Tax Free Savings Account is just that – tax free! You are able to withdraw the amount you originally put in as well as any growth your investments have achieved and you will not have to pay any tax on it.
You can then replace the amount withdrawn in a future year so you never lose that contribution room.
For more information, please click here to visit the TFSA page on our website or call us.
Bits and Pieces
Five Unusual Ways To Stay Cool
With the recent hot weather, staying cool can sometimes be a challenge. We read of people going to the mall or movie theatre just to get out of the heat. But there are other ways to keep your cool through the summer. Here’s a link to a blog with five tried-and-true methods from the days before central air. Give one or two a shot, and see how they work for you. http://bit.ly/bLyU1L
Quote:
Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. - Warren Buffett
In 2010 we are celebrating our 25th Anniversary of serving our clients. For 25 years we have been providing financial advice and products to some of the finest people we know. We really do appreciate you and we look forward to continuing to serve you for many years to come!
MFG Financial Dispatch is our monthly email newsletter designed to keep you up to date on timely financial issues that may affect you and to pass on timeless information and advice regarding financial issues. Archived issues are available in the Client Centre on our website (macintoshfinancial.com).
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