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The Citizen, 1998-07-15, Page 18Sorthcoming Marriage Roy and Marion Taylor wish to announce the forthcoming marriage of their daughter Renay Joan to John Nelson son of Roy and Ruth Hardy July 18th, 1998 Dungannon United Church 5 p.m. Open Reception Lucknow Community Centre 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. ESTATE PLANNING * set up your estate plan * reduce income taxes * minimize probate fees Call for a free consultation Linda Henhoeffer Chartered Financial Planner (519) 335-3887or 1-800-667-3887 I nvestment Centre PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 1998. Playwright finds similarities to hometown in Blyth A glimpse at Blyth After spending some time last summer in Blyth, playwright Andrew Moodie came up with a story that put together the feeling of his hometown with familiar images of Blyth and created Wilbur County Blues, now playing at Blyth Festival. Estate Planning Protecting our Wealth By Linda Henhoeffer Financial Advisor It's summertime! For many Canadians, summer means a slower schedule and time to enjoy our great outdoors: swimming, fishing, bicycling, gardening and, best of all, barbecuing. Summer is also a time to reflect on how to protect our valuable assets for our children and grandchildren to enjoy. The old saying that there are two sure things in life, death and taxes, should perhaps be revised to The two sure things in life are taxes at death!' The federal government cancelled the $100,000 personal capital gains exemption and the Ontario government increased probate fees. When income taxes, lawyer and accountant fees are also included in the costs of settling an estate, we realize that a large portion of our estate may have to be sold to cover all of these expenses. Probate Fees Canada does not have 'succession taxes' as some other countries have, like the United States. But, we do have 'probate fees'. This is a cost charged by the Ontario government on estate assets and is payable by the estate before assets can be dispersed to the beneficiaries. The probate fees are $5 per $1,000 of assets in the estate on the first $50,000 of assets and then $15 per $1,000 on any assets above $50,000. This fee can add considerable cost to the settling of our estate. Careful planning can reduce our assets that will pass through our estate at death. Simply naming a beneficiary on our life insurance policies, RRSPs and RRIFs will allow these assets to be passed directly to our beneficiaries. Therefore, no probate fees will be assessed on these assets. Income Tax on RRSPs and RRIFs The federal government is encouraging Canadians to save money for our retirement by giving us income tax breaks on our RRSPs and RRIFs. Almost one third of the Canadian population (approximately 9 million!) are baby boomers. This group born after World War II is approaching their retirement and governments are fearful of the cost of supporting them in their old age. To encourage Canadians to save for retirement, income tax is waived on money invested in RRSP's and no income tax is assessed on the interest earned on those investments until money is withdrawn from the RRSP or RRIF. At the death of the first spouse, RRSP and RRIF investments pass to the second spouse without income tax being assessed on the investments. However, at the death of the second spouse all the investments held in RRSP and RRIFs are added to the income of the deceased. For example, if an RRSP investment was valued at $100,000 at the death of the second spouse then this amount would be added to the deceased's income. This creates a lot of income tax owing for the estate to pay and most likely half of the investment value would be lost in income tax! Life Insurance as a solution Life insurance is payable directly to our beneficiary with no probate fees assessed and no income tax payable. This makes life insurance an ideal solution for estate protection and is one of the best estate planning tools. Life insurance can also be used to cover estate costs: income tax, capital gains on cottages and investments, probate fees, lawyer and accounting costs. Life insurance can provide our executor with cash to pay the estate settling expenses without having to liquidate our valuable family assets. Sumrrier is when we spend extra time with our family. It's also a good time to look at ways of protecting our assets for our children and grandchildren to enjoy for many summers to come. By Bonnie Gropp Citizen staff Andrew Moodie has his favourite hangout in Blyth. "The Village Eatery is the place to go to get to meet people in town," said the award-winning playwright. Meeting people has been a big part of Blyth for Andrew, whose play Wilbur County Blues, now appearing at Blyth Festival was inspired by the community. The summer theatre's Artistic Director Anne Chislett had, after seeing some of Andrew's other work, invited him last year to come and take a look at Blyth and see if he could write a play based on what he saw and heard. For three weeks in the summer of 1997, Andrew "hung out" with the townsfolk, vis- ited the rutabaga plant and basical- ly "got a feel for Blyth and fell in love with it." "Everyone was very willing to share stories with me. Some were very personal and some I couldn't use because I wanted it to be a fam- ily show," he said, smiling. Blyth Memorial Hall, home of the Blyth Festival, is rocking with laughter as the 1998 season is off to a promising start. Theatre patrons are calling Yesteryear by Joanna McClelland Glass, which opened the Blyth season June 26, the funniest show they've seen in recent times. Yesteryear enjoys a standing ovation at almost ' every performance. This is an enormous relief to Blyth's Artistic director, Anne Chislett, who admits to harbouring a small fear that the play might have been too spicy for Blyth audiences. "It was clear to me that the people of rural Ontario had become a great deal more sophisticated, knowledgeable, and open-minded over the past 24 years," said Chislett. "They are seeing foreign shows at other theatres that I know are very naughty indeed. I think we office. Council approved ordering 50 township flags, bearing the township logo. Flags will be for sale and orders will be taken. Approval was granted for the Johnston Municipal Drain repair as requested by Morris Township. General accounts of $141,158.07 including the June 1998 instalment payable to the County of Huron for $99,368.04 and road accounts of Though Andrew had never been to the village before, he was thrilled when the invitation was extended. "One of the motivating things was the fact that this theatre has always held an important place in Canadian history. Any play- wright would be honoured to be asked to write something for them." One of the first things Andrew noticed upon arriving was how much the community reminded him of where he grew up in Barrhaven, just outside of Ottawa. The story for Wilbur County, he said, ulti- mately came to mind out of some thing he had experienced in Blyth and from his own hometown. The play, the main idea of which is entirely fictional, is about feeling at home, says Andrew. "Sometimes growing up in a rural area can be a love/hate relationship. You can be frustrated by it, you can want to get out of it, -but there is a more pro- found sense of being at home there." For many years, Andrew did his best to stay rooted in his hometown area. Immediately after graduating from high school in Fisher Park, need to assure ourselves that Canadians can be just as sexy and as hilarious as the British." The second show to open at Blyth, the romantic comedy Wilbur County Blues by Andrew Moodie, might also have been considered daring by some as the plot revolves around multi-racial as well as multi-generational love stories. But, every night Blyth audiences share the warmth and . acceptance Moodie's new play illustrates with power and compassion. Excitement is now building for Thirteen Hands as Sharon Bakker, Michelle Fisk, Jane Spidell and Goldie Semple are busy learning to play bridge, and rehearsing songs composed by Roger Perkins especially for the Blyth production. Perkins is new to Blyth, but his credits include numerous years as director of music at the Shaw Festival, as well as this year's Stratford Festival production of The Andrew auditioned for a role in Walt Disney's Liberators which was shot just outside Ottawa and appeared on TV some time ago. With his decision to be an actor complete, Andrew said he spent the next five years trying not to move to Toronto. "I think I'm almost starting to like it." Though acting is his first love, the sporadic roles prompted the now 30-year-old to try his hand at writing. "My girlfriend saw me sit- ting on the couch one day and said, 'Do something.'" Something turned out to be a Chalmers award-winning play called Riot, about a group of 20- somethings living in Toronto. "It's kind of like Friends for the stage. I was living it so I thought I might as well write about it." Since then he has penned four other plays, including Wilbur County. Though. Andrew said he would have been pleased to have been on stage for the Blyth production, he is impressed with the cast in the play. "They are all very talented actors and it's fun to work with talent." Night of the Iguana. Thirteen Hands by one of Canada's most internationally-celebrated writers, Carol Shields, follows the story of a card-playing foursome over 40 years. The Blyth wardrobe department is very busy preparing the many costumes as the delightful tribute to uncelebrated generations of women gets set to open on July 30. Meanwhile, the last show on the main stage, Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!, a satirical comedy about the shenanigans of municipal politics by well-known Huron County publisher Keith Roulston, is beginning rehearsals. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! is being directed by Blyth favourite Jerry Franken and will open Aug. 6. As with all the shows on Blyth's main stage this season, Thirteen Hands and Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! will each enjoy a 'Pay What You Can' preview performance on the Continued on page 19 E. Wawanosh orders township flags Continued from page 10 $32,519.69 were approved for payment. Reeve Don Schultz and Clerk Winona Thompson were authorized to sign the "Credit Agreement Review" for the year 1998 with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Chief Building Official Grant Anger has also been appointed on- site sewage inspector for the township. Council will meet again Aug. 4 at the municipal office, Belgrave. Daring comedy paying off for Festival