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economist sunsuntribune business and finance saturday jan 28 2006 never too late to start financial planners say by linda johnson staff writer we all know retirement is com ing we may also know we cant rely on government pensions anymore but you dont have to be a grasshopper to know saving is diffi cult its the blessed few who can relate to the bank and financial institution tv commercials urging us to invest and populated with beautiful fit retirees discovering exotic travel spots indeed between financing a house raising a family and paying for a modest vacation or two many couples may find themselves in their 40s with little to no savings at all at that point is a rrsp still your best bet it is according to mary rourke licensed financial planner and branch manager of assante capital management in king city who advises people to consider a regis tered plan as the basis of their sav ings strategy whatever their age frequently as people grow older they become daunted by the fact they have not entered into a financial plan of their own but its never too late to start she said adding people should not see their age as a deterrent the first step in starting to save is creating a family or personal budget with a record of income and expenses you can determine where your cash is going and how much disposable or discretionary income you have one you have that worked out your top priority is to make sure you have an emergency fund cash you can quickly take out if something suddenly comes up ms rourke advises the fund be at least equal to three months salary the next step is to set up and start contributing to a rrsr this is critical the goal is to reduce your taxable income pay less tax and allocate that additional income to further savings she said to secure the highest benefits from your plan its best to start your contributions as early in the year as possible and make your maximum allowable contributions each year ms rourke said its a plan anyone can follow even those who dont make a lot of money whether you can contribute 25 or 2000 a month we can all save something on a monthly basis vince savoie president of klein- burg wealth management group agrees rrsps offer the best course mary rourke financial planner says there are different programs to help people save for retirement for most people anyone who earns 35000 or more a year should consider having a rrsr he said its a great way to reduce your taxable income and the more income you have the more benefit the rrsp is going to be to you he said even if a person is in debt the plan may still be a good idea for example a person earning 60000 and contributes 5000 will receive a 2000 tax deduction then you can take that and apply it against your debt so you accomplish two things the ideal of course is always to pay off your debt he said but you cant ignore the tax benefit of the rrsp however for selfemployed peo ple who are 45 years of age and earn 75000 a year it may be bet ter to invest in an individual pen sion plan or ipr instead of a rrsr he said an ipp will give them a lot more contribution room and allow them to prepare that much more for retirement he said whether you will have enough at retirement depends on what you want after you turn 65 goals must be realistic ms rourke said and the later you start to save the more realistic your goals may have to be if after you have the rrsr you have any disposable money you should consider investing in non- registered savings ms rourke said what you buy depends larger on your ability to stand risk but these investments will allow you to earn a lot more interest so while we prepare to hear a lot about how its never too early to start saving for our retirement remember as ms rourke said its nevertoo late to start the point is to get started the bays ship sails south by patrick mangion staff writer older urban stores are most likely to be left in the wake of thursdays takeover of canadas oldest company but expect hudsons bay company to continue to thrive in york region retail consultant richard talbot president of unionvillebased talbot con sultants international inc said their stores in york region have been specifically built by hbc to meet demands in the area mr talbot said american investor jerry zucker ended months of spec ulation when he purchased the company which includes zellers home outfitters and designer depot for 17-bil- lion mr zucker has said there are no immediate plans to close any of the 573 canadian loca tions including 98 bay and 294 zellers stores instead a greater emphasis will be placed on customer ser vice the brand is still strong said mr talbot adding the ven erable retailer isnt likely to suf fer the same fate as eatons in the 1990sthe bay stepped in to fill the void at newmarkets upper canada mall after eatons closed both the bay and zellers have been anchor stores at the busy davis drive and yonge street shopping centre mall general manager gil small said this is probably the highest profile location in the area said mr small adding its more likely to see a reinvestment in the stores at the mall rather than closings but mr talbot said its still too early to tellhowthe deal will play out over the long term for hbc and its 70000 employees the company has not reported an increase in revenue in five years and some analysts have described profits as paltry during that time that could make it difficult to resist offers from us retailers such as maceys and target which may eye hbcs most successful zellers stores for expansion into canada mr talbot said theyll want to cherry pick the best stores he said zellers is the weak link in the chain its being hammered by walmart by the numbers 335 the number of years hbc has been operating in canada 5 the number of companies under the hbc name including the bay zellers home outfitters designer depot and fields 70000 the num ber of hbc employees worldwide 17bthe amount paid by us investor jerry zucker for the company 2001 the last time the company reported an increase in revenue 800thenumber of hbc employees laid off last fall therein lies the problems said richmond hill resident pauline buckingham nothing against the us the bays a good canadian company she said the bays long history in canada can be attributed to loyalty shown by their cus tomers mr small said the company sought to bol ster that consumer allegiance with the launch of their hbc reward points program the last thing they want to do is lose customers i dont think theyll get rid of hbc points mr small said east gwillimbury resident belinda wilcox considers her self a loyal hbc customer and dedicated points collector her hope is that last weeks news- doesnt spell the demise of any of their stores theres a bigticket item ive been saving towards she said if s 800000 and im close so i hope they dont close how do feel about the sale email us at newsroomeconsuncom speak out by joan ransberry what do you think of the american entrepreneur jerry zuckers purchase the hudsons bay co asked at markville shopping centre michel petrera ifs very sad news but thats the trend today soon well not have anything cana dian bill george seow were losing our identity we lost eatons and we lost simpsons and now the oldest company in canada is gone for heaven sakes the hudson bay co used to trade in furs cy cottrell this new american owner says hes not going to sell it but i dont believe him angie urtilescu i dont like this we should keep the bay in canada its part of our history to our current customers for another successful year retail wholesale delivery affordablej quality sinceta998 whitehilii i fte tm natural spring water store tue fri 11 00am 700pm hours sat sun 900am 500pm to our future customers welcome to fresh clean convenient bottled water expirence 18 9 bottle of natural spring or reverse osmosis water 499 pickup 750 delivery i we accept return bottles as 318 main st markham north 905 29421 20 deposit from most of our competitors 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