| TheStar.com | Business | What you need to know about your pension
Suppose you have job offers from two employers that are very similar in terms of salary, working conditions and other priority items. Comparing the retirement plans might tilt the balance for you, especially if you don't plan to stay with either employer until retirement. Here are some questions to ask about a pension plan so you can make an informed decision. They're from a publication, "Your Pension Rights," by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (www.fsco.ca), which regulates registered pension plans. Am I eligible to join the pension plan? When? Can I join if I work part-time? Do I have to join the plan? What type of plan do I belong to? Do I have to contribute to the plan? Can I contribute more if I want to? How much does my employer contribute? What happens if I leave my job before I retire? What is the normal retirement date under the plan? At what age can I retire early? Will my pension be reduced if I retire early? How is my pension calculated? Is it indexed to the cost of living? Will my benefits be reduced when I receive Canada Pension Plan benefits? What happens if my employer sells the business or goes out of business? Do I have a say in how the plan is administered? What is the financial position of the plan? Don't worry if you don't get answers right away.
Loonie surpasses $1.10 US
The Canadian dollar continued its lofty flight as it passed $1.10 US on Wednesday while the U.S. dollar continued to weaken. Shortly after the start of trading in North America, the loonie was up more than 1.75 cents at $1.1027 US. The U.S. dollar continued to lose ground against other currencies. The greenback fell to another record low of $1.4703 US against the euro, while the British pound hit $2.1051 US, a level not seen since since May 1981. The latest of advance of the loonie will most likely send economists back to the drawing board to redo their forecasts for the dollar. The currency has appreciated much faster than many observers had been expecting. The Canadian dollar regained parity with the U.S. greenback in September. The loonie has been setting new records since Oct.
Tips for making a clean fiscal break during a divorce
Going through a divorce can make you an emotional wreck. But you don't have to be a complete financial wreck as well. Sure, it can be hard to think about money when you're mourning the loss of a personal relationship. But forging a clean break - financially and personally - will make it easier to move on with your life. .
Deborah Carter
We even have a new full-time HSA support person in each high school. It's crazy. Watch the BoE wrestle with setting the academic calendar sometime, as they try to accommodate everyone while entire months are pre-empted by the state for their tests. I've said it before: I signed on to be a teacher, not a test prep technician. The more experience I have in the field of education, the less satisfied I am with traditional tests as a means to measure what students have learned. It isn't just because of my own personal observation, although every year shows me more about how differently each child learns; we also have increasingly more information about the way the human brain functions. Tests have their place. In Latin, I need to know how much vocabulary a student has memorized, and tests are an easy way to find out.
Chidambaram cold-shoulders UT
The total outlay of budget estimate for Chandigarh for this fiscal has been rather disappointing, with a marginal increase of just Rs 12.63 crore from 2006-07 revised estimate. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today hiked the Union Territorys budget outlay for 2007-08 to Rs 1102.63 crore. The revised estimate for 2006-07 had been Rs 1090 crore. In fact, the outlay for housing and urban development under the non-plan outlay has gone down considerably, from Rs 55.34 crore in the revised estimate of 2006-07 to Rs 34.82 crore during this fiscal. Besides this, the finance minister also did not come up with any specific provisions or schemes for the benefit of the Union Territory. The budgetary outlay for 2007-08 includes Rs 267.63 crore as planned and Rs 835 crore as non-planned budget.
The times they are a changin
Before this summer of political change, few voters could name most of the opposition parties now vying for their votes, let alone name their chiefs. Come September 7, voters will not only need to know their names, but will have probably had to have looked into their electoral platforms to see whether they offer more than reviving the tradition of the tarboush or the building of an Arab Nuclear City. More importantly, theyll have to decide which candidates seem capable of turning their promises into realities. .
Campaigns scramble for support in Nevada's new caucus territory
LAS VEGAS — The fight for top-billing in Saturday's Nevada Democratic presidential caucus has become much like its model in Iowa: an hour-by-hour test of who has the best organization. But unlike Iowa, Nevada never really has done this before, and not on the scale an early caucus date requires. No one knows for sure what the best organization should look like in a state with two major population centers and vast stretches of desert in between. .
Departure is opportunity for waterworks
City leaders say a change in management at Des Moines Water Works is a chance to explore money-saving ventures that could help keep metro-area rates down in the long run.
The utility recently raised rates for Des Moines customers 3 percent, from $2.28 to $2.35 per 1,000 gallons, the second straight increase.
Waterworks general manager L.D. McMullen retired in December after about 30 years with the utility. .
Jeff Thelen's Blog
Hi everybody. I'm back from really slacking off from the blog over the holidays. This week, it's just a few random thoughts. How many people are sick at your home, office or school? Seems like everyone in this newsroom is fighting some sort of bug right now. My symptoms are a sore throat, tiredness and aches and pains. I have no congestion, but my nose only runs at night. Wierd, isn't it? Alison Struve blows her nose so much she sounds like a foghorn. Stephanie Luisier and chief photographer Randy Bise both have that "sick sound" when they talk. Was it just me or did the Badgers seem a little unfocused and unprepared for their bowl game? Perhaps it's the long layoff between their last regular season game and the contest on January 1. It was a sort of a fun game to watch, even if it was rather sloppily played.
Public wants input on Carroll police unit
There is no appreciable difference between the cost to run a future unified sheriff's department and the cost to operate a county police department," Powell said. Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning said he has urged county commissioners for 21 years to create a law enforcement master plan, which has not been done. Suddenly there is a sense of urgency to get somewhere without any plan in place, he said. For several years, he has pushed for his department to assume primary responsibility for law enforcement in the county. "There is no sound reason that the county is going forward at this speedy and reckless pace to dismantle the sheriff's department," Tregoning said. "Here they want to change the entire face of law enforcement, and they have not had one public meeting. I find that disgraceful," he said.
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