Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - November 5, 1989, Winnipeg, Manitoba Gold cards not just for snob Appeal by Rob Carrick the Canadian press there Premium credit and generally Only those with a family income of at least need but these so called Gold cards can do More than simply add snob Appeal to your financial experts Competition for High rolling credit card customers is stiff these Days and Gold cards now offer useful Perks and services that for Many people Are Worth annual membership fees ranging Between and the thing you do is get one of these cards to impress head says Gordon a to Ronto based writer and commentator on personal you have to ask would i buy that stuff the services any if the answer is then youre throwing your Money you should also look at How much youre going to use the ser vices and whether youre getting them for less than you could other Pape advises studying the Fea Tures the various cards then deciding if there Worth the extra Cost Over Standard credit some of the newest features of the Premium cards include d insurance for retail purchases usually gives cardholders cover age against loss or damage of goods for 90 Days after they Are purchased with the at american for exam both its Standard and Gold cards provide this insurance on almost any kind of a made anywhere in the claims must be made within 45 Days of theft or and the company reserves the right to repair or give the Cash value of the says american express spokesman Wendy exclusions include live Pur chases such As animals and she in cases of the cardholder might have to produce a police re while damage claims might require that you present the broken Crooker making a claim on the insurance int exactly As easy As it might appear at first says Zelma a Toronto based expert on credit for the Consumers association of but there not asking you for anything ninety Days is a fairly Long period for them to cover accidental she the accidental breakage feature int Universal among Gold for american express and the Royal Banks visa Gold offer but the Bank of Montreal Mastercard does d car rental insurance this Fea Ture allows you to waive the rental company collision and damage which can Cost you to a says Tim the Royal Banks manager of card Holder services in we give you exactly the same coverage As the rental Pape advises checking the insurance policy on your own your policy extends collision Protection to rental he collision insurance Reive tells of a coworker who last year got an american express card specifically for the collision insurance and saved More than the Cost of the years membership i said what have you used the card for this year the answer was o travel benefits this is the Strong suit for All Premium cards and generally includes such Fea Tures As commission free travel lers emergency Cash and card and insurance for accidental death or dismember ment while on american which pioneered this Type of offers even holders of its Basic card 24 hour travel and emergency Assis Tance almost anywhere in the the company will give customers medical referrals and in formation on everything from visas to weather cardholders also get hotel Bur Glary insurance and flight and bag Gage both for up to the royals visa Gold offers Sim Ilar travel and emergency health insurance equivalent to de luxe Blue Wallace Reive says the main catch with these services is that to be eligible for you usually have to have charged your fare to your credit another important Factor to con Sider when choosing Between pre time to study get and voice your opinion there is no doubt the government is showing its Clear determination to proceed with phase two of tax the draft legislation introduced on translates the goods and services tax get into Legal this will assist businesses and professionals in assessing the implications of the proposed new tax the finance department has indicated that expert commen tary is desired and expected to assist the government in preparing what it Calls final experts and others will have to make such comments if you Haven had the inclination to study the effects of get now is the time to do and voice your the finance department has re leased volumes of complicated data associated with the new get to help Evelyn jacks you understand it in the april 1989 it was stated that the governments goal is to assure that families earning less than per year will be better off after the goods and services tax is in place than in their finance department officials estimated that in the year of the get at nine per cent will result in a onetime increase in consumer prices of per cent to three per cent on disposable household income would in crease due to both the new get credit and a reduction in the Middle Federal tax rate to 25 per cent from 26 per therefore the real Pur chasing Power of those families earning the average wage of should remain statistics Canada however tells us that for 1987 the last year for which statistics Are available 54 per cent of All families in Canada earned Between and and that the average wage for 1987 was for an average family which consists of Between three and four persons per according to tables released with the technical notes for the get in the following will happen in 1991 when the tax is proposed to come into Force a single wage earners under age 65 will Start paying More tax under get than under the old sys tem when income exceeds b singles Over the age of 65 will Start paying More tax in 1991 at about a income couples with two children will Start paying More tax under the new system at a income couples with two children will also Start paying More tax at a and the increase will be greater than for the family in c above More As opposed to where income in the previous four cases Falls under these stated in 15 get ahead of Cash needs with budget by Rozanne Reszel if you feel you should be fur ther ahead or you Are frustrated that you cant afford the things you its time to seriously consider a personal whatever your financial a budget can help you make the most of what youve by focusing your showing you exactly where youre spending your Money and where you can Cut and what you have to save today to get the things you want Start by reviewing your income resources such things As your investment and Bonus income and your expend expenditures should be consid ered on a yearly Start by determining which occur monthly such As car payment and which occur periodically such As Home and then plug them into your budget in the months they occur so you can save for them on a monthly accurate picture most people Are unrealistic when they go through the process for the first they put Down what they think they should not what they actually the solution is to get out those Bank statements and credit card Bills to draw up an accurate picture of what youre whats left is your but its important to consider not Only the Money youre actually saving but what you should be you have to you need a Cushion of savings three or four months Worth of income to fall Back upon in an you also have to consider the time if you want to buy a or tour Europe in five years you have to put a Cost on these allow for inflation and figure out the savings plan youll need to follow Over the coming 60 most people have a number of the next step is to determine whether your excess Cash will allow you to reach your a shortfall Here Means you must either revise your increase your income or Cut once you have your Basic budget Down on do a test run for a month or see if your actual expenditures match your determine if the budget is see if you can live within revise Fine tuning keep working at your Bud circumstances change there will be new expenses you didst perhaps new income you haunt counted both Call for keep adjusting and Fine tuning until you arrive at a work liveable budget that leaves room for today living while provid ing for tomorrows Rozanne Reszel in a chartered accountant with Nesbitt Thomson Deacon Gold cards offer useful Perks and services that for Many people Are Worth membership mum cards Are the annual the Bank of Montreal Premium Mastercard costs a but offers far fewer features than the royals visa at per or the Basic american express at the Gold card at or the Plati num which provides a higher level of travel benefits and insure that most Premium cards have minimum income the Bank of Montre Al Mastercard Gold is and the Royal Bank visa Gold is american express has no specific from the card issuers Point of target customers Are people who use credit cards on a frequent and who travel and entertain Wallace american express has been the Leader in the but other cards have come on the scene in the last two years to Cash in on the upscale he up until you might say american express had a strangle hold on upscale come taxpayers will be better off under the combined in come tax and sales tax systems phase one and phase two of tax re form than under the old tax sys at the average wage level of one earner couples with two children can expect to pay about and two earner couples with two children will pay Over these figures give an indication of the effects of the get on the average canadians pocketbook in Evelyn jacks is director of Edu cation at u r tax Low income families receive child tax credit cheques Ottawa up child tax credit cheques Worth million have been mailed to about Canad an Revenue minister Otto Jelinek said the cheques Are sent automatically to families whose 1988 tax return and family allowance records show they qualify for prepayment of the the minister said in a written the advanced child tax credit program is a major initiative in this governments continuing Effort to assist Low income Jelinek the prepayment for 1989 is for each eligible child along with a supplement of for each child under seven for whom childcare expenses were not claimed in an eligible child is one for whom parents will be entitled to receive family benefits in january about million children Are co Vered by the the government has set up a Tele hopi Ting the new system profitable irom the the Only Canadian first month no Security Gate at three year warranty your store Entrance lease to own free two month trial installation supported by staff training pc Tacto Keith James 9438688 phone service for enquiries concern ing the credit in a number of Canad an the full payment is for each eligible child and the supplement is taxpayers who receive the pre payment can claim the remainder of the credit on their 1989 some people who do not qualify for the prepayment May still be eligible for the full child tax credit when they file their 1989 prime real estate prices tied to assets Toronto up the Price of prime real estate in Canada will continue to climb through the 1990s As sales depend More on a buyers total assets than on his a Bank economist said instead of being closely related to the Price of scarce re sources such As prime real estate will More and More be a function of assets and foreign As Well As Ben chief economist of the Canadian Imperial Bank of told a business in other the Price will not be set in relation to a Stream of income which is the traditional rather in terms of what the person or company with the largest accumulation of savings is willing to for an important segment of the Market affordability in the traditional sense is no longer the life insurance annual premiums m for 10year renewable term face value we Jim age 35 nonsmoker female male smoker female age 40 nonsmoker female male smoker female age 45 nonsmoker female male smoker female age 50 nonsmoker female male smoker female age nonsmoker female male smoker female source Hico tin Uncial group inc i la Rrt tic Ruoo 1 life insurance annual premiums Lor 10year renewable term for non face age 35 nonsmoker female male smoker female h age 40 nonsmoker female male smoker female 61000 age 45 nonsmoker female male smoker female age 50 nonsmoker female male smoker female 1 age 55 nonsmoker female male smoker female financial group inc Winnipeg tort toss ;