Canada’s Best Places to Retire

Best Places to Retire in Canada

First Published Date : October 13, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

The answer to the question “where to retire in Canada?” may sound like an obvious one. However, let me disappoint you by saying that there is no straightforward answer. There are many factors that come into making a decision. You are different than anyone else and the factors you make your decision based on may be totally different than someone else’s.

Where you want to retire largely depends on what really matters to you. You need to do thorough research to come up with a place where you would like to live happily ever after. The advantage technology has brought to us is the Internet. You can research tons of websites on a variety of retirement related topics to help you with your quest to find the most suitable place for you. Today, I am going to mention some factors you need to consider and also we will go through Moneysense magazine’s Canada’s Best Places to Live list to help you make your retirement decision.

Factors Determining the Best Places to Retire

Here are some factors I can think of that you should be looking at before making your decision. However, there are possibly more factors you should research based on your individuality.

– Living costs and other expenses
– Safety, security, and stability
– Family
– Climate
– Does it offer seclusion or a city’s hustle and bustle
– A far-off place from your home or nearby location

Canada’s Best Places to Live

Every year, MoneySense Magazine publishes a list showing Canada’s best places to live. This list can be a helpful tool for your research as there are many cities have been researched based on affordability, prosperity, crime rates, health care, and so on. Here are the top 10 cities for 2011:

– Ottawa-Gatineau
– Victoria
– Burlington
– Kingston
– St. Albert
– Fredericton
– Brandon
– Edmonton
– Repentigny
– Winnipeg

Although this list can be very helpful, keep in mind that it was compiled eliminating cities and towns with populations less than 10,000 and it only looked at 180 cities and towns with populations more than 10,000.

Last Word

In searching for your best place to retire, do not count on any single source or list. A place may be the world’s best place to retire in terms of the factors the publisher is looking at. However, your own deciding factors may be very different than those presented, and that means a list showing the world’s best place to live may not mean anything from your own perspective. Research is key to finding your little heaven and keep researching until you find it. There are lots of retirement articles on A Dawn Journal as well and you can access them here: A Dawn Journal Retirement Articles

Canadian Gold Mutual Funds

Gold Mutual Funds Canada

First Published Date: August 31, 2011

Recently, I discussed Canadian Gold ETFs. Today, I will further discuss some Canadian gold mutual funds. A Dawn Journal has some great articles on mutual funds, and I encourage you to check out ETFs and Mutual Funds section as well.

CI Signature Gold Corporate Class Fund – This mutual fund primarily invests in gold bullion, gold-related stocks, and other precious metals. Fund manager is CI’s Signature Global Advisors. MER is 2.44 per cent.

Mackenzie Universal Gold Bullion Class Fund – This mutual fund is a pure gold play. As of July, 2011, 93.1 per cent portfolio of this fund is invested in gold bullion. MER is 2.58 per cent.

RBC Global Precious Metals Fund – This fund primarily invests in gold, silver, and platinum related stocks across the globe. MER is 2.09 per cent. Its low MER is a bargain.

Dynamic Strategic Gold Class Fund – Invests in gold bullion and gold equities. Fund manager shifts between gold bullion and gold stocks based on their analysis. MER is 2.47 per cent.

BMO Precious Metals Fund – BMO Precious Metals Fund primarily invests in Canadian gold and other precious metals industry. As of this writing, its Canadian holding stands at 76.2 per cent. MER is 2.32 per cent.

TD Precious Metals Fund – Similar concept like BMO Precious Metal Fund, but with a lower MER. MER is 2.22 per cent.

Sprott Gold and Precious Minerals Fund – This fund primarily invests in gold and other precious minerals companies and their certificates. As of this writing, its Canadian holding stands at 94.8 per cent. MER is 2.50 per cent.

Sprott Gold Bullion Fund – Similar concept like Mackenzie Universal Gold Bullion Class Fund, but with a lower MER. As of May, 2011, 99.6 per cent portfolio of this fund is invested in gold bullion.MER is 1.14 per cent.

Disclosure – This article is for information purposes only and No information is intended as investment, tax, accounting or legal advice, or as an offer to sell or buy or solicitation of an offer to sell or buy, or as an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any company, security, ETF, or fund. The author assumes no liability for any inaccurate, delayed or incomplete information, nor for any actions taken in reliance thereon. You bear responsibility for your own investment research and decisions, and should seek the advice of a qualified financial professional before making any investment decision. As of this writing, I do not own any of the funds mentioned here.

The World's Best Places to Retire

Top Retirement Places in the World

First Published Date: October 20, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

In searching for the best international top retirement places, I came across many reputable websites that publish their lists of annual best places to live abroad or overseas. Some of these websites are dedicated to retirement only. Some are personal finance or other types of websites, but they have a retirement section covering a variety of retirement topics. Instead of mentioning the world’s top retirement countries that change every year, I will give you a list of these sites so you can check updated lists and also try their variety of retirement articles.

International Living – International Living covers all aspects of international living such as living abroad, international real estate, travel, investments, and so on. Check their Where to Retire section for the latest best places to live list.

Top Retirements – Top Retirements provides a variety of retirement information. You will many top places to live lists on this site.

AARP – AARP is a non-profit, social organization for 50+ people. Its Best Place to Retire section has lots of best places to retire abroad articles and informative articles on individual countries.

Retiring Overseas – Although Retiring Overseas does not publish any top ten kind of lists, it has a variety of information on retiring in foreign countries.

Forbes – Financial website Forbes has a Retirement Section. However, it looks like they miscategorized these two best retirement places articles:

The Best Foreign retirement Havens and The 10 Best Retirement Havens.

Kiplinger – Personal Finance magazine Kiplinger’s Retirement section is worth checking.

If you are looking for more sources or sites, search on the Internet using these keyword phrases: “top retirement places,” “best places to retire in the world,” “retire overseas,” “retire abroad,” and so on. The Internet has made it possible to make an informed decision on picking one or a few countries across the globe without leaving the comfort of home.

5 Moves That Affect Your Credit Score

What Lowers Your Credit Score?

First Published Date: October 27, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

Credit scores are very important if you are applying for a mortgage, a loan, credit card, and so on. A lower credit score will make your interest and payments higher, thus costing you more money. There are certain things you can do to avoid factors that lower your credit score. Let’s discuss them.

Making Late Payments or Missing Payments – This factor affects your credit score the most because 35 percent of your score is based on payment history. Paying on time can make the difference between an average and an excellent credit score.

Borrowing Too Much – This is the second biggest factor that lowers your credit score. Your outstanding debt counts for 30 percent of your credit score. If you have a high ratio of credit used in relation to your available limits (credit utilization ratio), it will lower your credit score. Don’t borrow up to your limits. Keep it 25 percent or less of your available limits.

Closing Too Old Credit Card Accounts – The length of your credit history counts for 15 percent of your credit score. To keep your credit score higher, do not close accounts that are too old. It is a good idea to keep a variety of credit card accounts active, especially those which are old.

Applying Frequently – If you apply too often for credit cards or other loan accounts, it will lower your credit score. Applying too many times for credit implies that you are desperate for credit and it affects your credit score. This accounts for 10 percent of your credit score.

Not Keeping A Variety of Credit Accounts – Your credit score will be higher if you have a variety of credit accounts. Having only one type of credit account will lower your score, as keeping a variety of credit accounts for 10 percent of your credit score. Keep multiple types of credit accounts active, even if you don’t use them. For example, an investment loan account, mortgage, store credit card account, regular credit card account, and so on. Sometimes a credit issuer will close your accounts if you don’t use it for a while. To keep them active, keep a very small balance and pay the minimum every month. Or, you can charge a very small amount once in a while and pay off the balance

China’s Economy Heading for a Soft Landing

China’s Economy Will Slow Down

First Published Date : November 3, 2011 ADawnJournal.com

China’s economy, the second largest economy in the world, will grow in the future, but possibly at a much slower pace. The latest data, at least some of them, point out the slower pace compared with the robust pace in the past decades. Chinese economic growth slowed to 9.1 percent in the 3rd quarter, while the previous quarter had 9.5 percent growth.

China’s GDP increased to 10.4 percent in 2010. However, 2011 GDP growth is expected to be 9.4 percent or even below 9 percent. The Chinese manufacturing index showed positive growth last month, but employment growth failed to show any significant improvement. To offset the slower economic growth and external demand for Chinese manufacturing products, the Chinese government is planning to boost support for employment growth in the local small business and service sectors.

There are concerns in the credit market as the Chinese government’s recent tighter liquidity control showed significant sharp drop in new lending, pushing the credit costs upward. This caused profit margins to slim for the Chinese firms. Trust loans and the margin deposit went down below regular level in the last quarter.

Based on various data and analysis, the economic outlook for China is mixed at this moment. On one side, we have GDP and export figures showing an imminent economic slowdown. On the other, we have gains in local consumption and fixed-asset investments caused by minimum wage increases and other factors.

The middle class population is estimated to be approximately 250 million in China. However, their consumption level is still low when compared to other nations. However, in recent years domestic consumption has been on the rise and the Chinese government is looking to use this consumption growth to build a sustainable economic growth for years to come.