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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-12-08, Page 6Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, December 8, 2004 Opinion Forum News The Turner Report Yeah, I hate to bring this up just a bit before Christmas, when your credit cards are smoking, but we have to talk. It's about your retirement — that giant chunk of your life which, for about a third of the population, is rapidly approach- ing. A generation ago, this was not so much of a big deal. On aver- age, you worked until you were 65, and then you lived until you were 72. That meant you had an entire lifetime to save enough money to survive anoth- er seven years. And, way back then, a lot more people had corporate pensions than is the case today. In fact, right now, a very small minority of working Canadians have any pension at all, other than the few small peanuts the CPP provides. Today retirement is a huge deal. The average worker now hangs up his keyboard at age 62, and life expectancy is approaching 80 for men and beyond that for women. With advances in health care and nutrition, somebody who looks after themselves can reasonably expect to hit 90 — and still be bopping around in their jeans. So, now retirement can last for three decades without any earned income. These are years you won't want to sit on the verandah, either. They are supposed to be the payoff for a life of employment, filled with travel, adventure, entertainment and exploration. How much money will you need to afford to retire? There is a real debate swirling around this question, with some media wimps insisting that if you lead a modest lifestyle and spend with frugali- ty, you could actually get by on the public pension and relatively little in retirement savings. But for those of us who do not want to bicycle to the library for a free event or shop for day-old bread, this sucker of a retirement is going to take some serious financing. I think it is reasonable for a 60 - year -old to start with a million dollars in investible assets. How do you get that much cash? Obviously not by doing what Canadians are busy at currently. Last year the amount of money people put into registered retirement plans actually went down. We invested less than eight per cent of what the RRSP rules allowed, and left 92 per cent of our contributions unmade. This is bizarre, when every dollar put into an RRSP can be deducted from your taxable income, directly cutting your tax bill and increasing your disposable income. It's even more strange when you think that you don't need money to contribute to an RRSP. Virtually any financial asset that you own — be it a GIC, savings bond, stock or mutual fund — can be swapped into an RRSP account with just a phone call. And for selling yourself something you already own, you still get to deduct the full value from your taxable income. And then, you can borrow to invest in your retired future. Today interest rates are unbelievably cheap, and you can use the tax refund you get from taking a loan and making an RRSP contribution, and use it to pay down the loan. And remember — all of the growth on the money that you invest inside an RRSP, whether it's from interest on a bond or capital gains on a bank stock — is yours to keep, tax-free. This means cash accumulates far more rapidly inside your retire- ment plan than outside. And, come retirement — when you have less earned income and are in a lower tax bracket — the cash can be removed at a lower rate than might have been the case during your working life. Then there is the spousal RRSP. Contribute to your sweetie's retirement fund every year up to your own limit, and deduct all that from your own taxable income. After three years that money becomes his or her property, and can be taken out at your spouse's lower tax rate. You got the big tax deduction, and your spouse gets the money. Can you afford not to do this? And I haven't even yet mentioned the ability you have to take that mortgage on your house and put it inside your RRSP, letting you make mortgage payments into your own retirement plan. But enough excitement for now. Just make sure, this holiday season, you leave some cash left for the real gift. GARTH TURNER THE TURNER REPORT Principal's message EXETER — As we head into the final couple of weeks before the Christmas Break, I would like to remind parents and the community of two annual events involving students and staff at South Huron. The first of these is the annual Christmas Concert by the music department, which takes place today (Dec. 8) at 7:30 p.m. in the large gym. The school bands and the choir will perform, and dona- tions of food and cash will be col- lected in support of the Huron County Christmas Bureau. Secondly, students in our visual arts program will once again be painting Christmas scenes on the windows of businesses in Exeter and our neighbouring communi- ties. If you wish to have your windows decorated, please contact Ms. Carleen Hone of our Arts Department to make the necessary arrangements. On a serious note, I would like to address an issue that has been concerning me for quite a while, and it is an issue that seems to be growing. Almost every week, we have to deal with conflicts among students that are initiated in some manner on the Internet. The most frequent source of the problem is MSN Messenger, but we have also had conflicts that have developed as a result of e-mail messages, chat room conversations, and Web site postings. The conflicts usually have nothing to do with school, and usually start away from the school, but they often result in anger and hostility being displayed at school. Schools having to deal with conflicts that start somewhere else is not new, but what is new and frustrating is the nature of these "cyber" conflicts. First of all, the disputes seem to involve multiple participants, rather than just two, and there seems to be a lot of "trash talking" involved. The language used is often appalling and threats are frequently involved. Also, people seem willing to "say" things on the Internet that they would not say in public. Perhaps this is due to the remote- ness of the participants, and the fact that even though the conversation may be instantaneous, the individuals involved are not hearing one another directly or making eye contact. This remoteness may allow people to write things to one another that they would not dare say face to face. Of course, audience is an important factor and if MSN is being used, there are usually several "con- versations" going on at once. This creates oppor- tunities for miscommunication, and even though experienced MSN users utilize all sorts of acronyms and emoticons to convey tone of voice and mood, there is still a great deal of misinter- pretation. Often when we investigate such situa- tions, we have students tell us they were just kid- ding and didn't mean what they had written. By then, of course, the damage has been done and the conflict is well under way. By the time we are dealing with the issue, it has usually become quite a tangled mess, with little or no actual evidence for us to investigate. Sometimes students will copy a message they have received, and that is helpful to us, but there have usually been many more prior messages we don't get to see. So, trying to figure out who start- ed the problem and who should bear the responsi- bility becomes a difficult issue, made even more difficult for us by the fact most of the conflict has occurred away from school, outside of school hours, and really has nothing to do with school other than the fact the participants are students who come together at school the next day. The Internet is a wonderful tool and it has cer- tainly changed the ways we acquire information and interact with one another. However, it can also be a dangerous tool if used improperly. Parents are aware there are all kinds of inap- propriate Web sites young people should not be visiting, but we also need to be vigilant about how young people use the many e-mail and messaging services available. This is an area where they clearly need more guidance and education about what is acceptable and what is not. The most important thing, I think, is to be aware of how young people are using the technology available and for what purpose. The more aware we are as parents and educa- tors, the more successful we will be at dealing with this "cyber -bullying." JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE Panther Profile EXETER — Monday was the start of the Chocolate Campaign at South Huron! All students are asked to sell a minimum of $20 worth of chocolate. Students will be selling mints, caramels and almonds. The money raised will go toward improving electronics around the school, with a portion going to an international charity. Prizes can be won by students who sell a minimum of $40 worth of choco- late. Students wishing to pick up more bags of chocolate to sell after they sell their first bag can see a member of Student Council. The Huron County Christmas Bureau campaign is also under- way. Donations of clothing items, toys, Canadian Tire money and real money will be accepted. Student Impact will be collecting these items in your first period class. The winning class gets a pizza party! Tonight is the annual Christmas Concert at South Huron put on by the Music Department. There will be lots of traditional Christmas times, as well as some interesting versions of songs. Bands playing will be the Grade 9 Band, Intermediate Band, Red Jazz Band, Black Jazz Band and the Senior Band. The Choir will also perform some numbers. Coming events: Wed., Dec. 8: • Boys hockey to St. Mike's in Stratford, bus leaves at 7:30 a.m. • Christmas Concert in the large gym. Donations will be taken for the Huron County Christmas Bureau • Gr.12 Philosophy class to UWO, bus leaves at 8:20 a.m. • Boys basketball to Stratford Northwestern, bus leaves at 10:15 a.m. Thurs.. Dec. 9: • Reading Day • Gr.11 Fitness class to London, bus leaves at 8:45 a.m. Fri., Dec. 10: • Girls hockey to St. Mike's, bus leaves at 7:30 a.m. • Sr. boys basketball tournament at St. Mary's, bus leaves at 3:30 p.m. All day Saturday as well. Sat., Dec. 11: • Girls volleyball tournament in Strathroy Tues., Dec. 14: • Girls volleyball at South Huron at 2 p.m. • Katie from the Youth Centre at South Huron Thurs., Dec. 16: • Semi -Formal 111 AMANDA ZEHR PANTHER PROFILE FARM BRIEF Farm Safety Improvements in Ontario Following the deaths of three workers in a mobile liquid manure tank in August 2000, a coroner's jury made several recommendations in January 2002, to improve the safety of farmers who work with liquid manure. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food has responded to several of these recommendations by amending Regulation 369 (RRO) under the Farm Implements Act. The amendments to the regulation require: • all new and used liquid manure spreaders sold by farm equipment dealerships in Ontario be equipped with semi-permanent bars to deter entrance to the spreaders. • all new and used liquid manure spreaders sold by farm equipment dealerships in Ontario have no internal ladders. • the use of newly developed Canadian Standards Association approved warning decals on new and used liquid manure spreaders. • warning signs be positioned on the front of spreader tanks and beside external ladders. • liquid manure spreader manufacturers to pro- vide a 'confined spaces' safety manual to dealers and have the dealers include it with operators' manuals at the point of sale of new and used liq- uid manure spreaders. The Ontario government continues to provide $120,000 in annual funding to the Farm Safety Association (FSA) for educational programs. The FSA is the lead agency in Ontario for farm safety programs. It promotes safe, healthy workplaces and lifestyles for the agricultural, horticultural and landscaping industries in Ontario.