February 25, 2004 News e the other press © How Much Will You Need to Retire? Lynn Paus OP Contributor Just in time for Canadians to top up their RRSPs before the 2003 contribution deadline, a new Ipsos-Reid poll shows that many Canadians will have to start saving more money if they expect to enjoy a comfortable retire- ment. - The poll, commissioned by Scotiabank, highlights a significant gap between the amount of money that Canadians believe they'll need for retirement, and the amount of money Canadians are actually saving for retirement. * 20 percent expect to need $100,000 or less for their retirement nest egg * 15 percent expect to need $250,000 or less * 35 percent say they expect to need over $250,000 to fund their retirement The findings are consistent across age groups and show that an average of 36 percent of those polled believed that retirement savings of $250,000 or less would be adequate. Detailed findings of the Ipsos-Reid poll are available at: = . According to calculations by Scotiabank, a 45-year- old Canadian with a current income of $50,000 retiring in 20 years would have to have $400,000 in their retire- ment fund in order to live comfortably. (This calcula- tion is based on a formula that assumes retirees need 60-80 percent of their current income to maintain the same lifestyle in retirement.) Ron Laursen, Senior Vice President, Day-to-Day Banking, at Scotiabank warns, “Averages don't tell the whole story because each individual’s circumstances and financial goals are different. It is important that people carefully review their own situation and, if there is a gap between intended savings and what is required, take a fresh look at how they are going to achieve their goals.” Laursen added, “While $250,000 might sound like a lot of money to most people, it’s not that much to fund a comfortable retirement for 15 or 20 years. The good news is that starting a regular RRSP contribution plan will help close the gap.” Money within an RRSP grows tax-sheltered and the proceeds are not taxed until funds are withdrawn from the plan. Due to the benefits of compounding interest inside an RRSP, contributing as little as $200 per month over 20 years can generate an additional $113,000 in retirement savings (assuming an eight percent annual return). There is still time to top up your RRSP as the dead- line for making a contribution for the 2003 tax year is March 1, 2004. More information and useful research tools are available at: Attention Students! Now, if you're a student and you think this has nothing to do with you, and you can't imagine ever being 45- years-old, let alone being 65-years-old—here’s a tidbit for you. : If a 24-year-old invested $200 per month into an RRSP at eight percent for 20 years, they would have $119,000. If a 24-year-old invested $200 per month into an RRSP at eight percent for 40 years, they would have $648,000. That's without contributing anything else ever (and that doesn’t seem very realistic—-so really—being a million- aire is still possible for people that start young enough) The money grows tax-free, you get tax credits due to your contribution, and if you need some money for a down payment on a house or to go back to school, you can borrow some of it from your RRSP (tax-free pro- vided you pay it back within the stipulated time period). Turn the TV Off Tonight Tanya Perone OP Contributor No matter how many times we try to convince ourselves that the joy of television is too hard to resist, we know, somewhere deep inside that we'd be better off watching as little of it as possible. Television affects our children, ourselves, our fami- lies, even our society. We are ruled by our televi- sions; don’t believe me? Well consider this: ¢ 98 percent of families own at least one television. ¢ The average person watches four hours of television a day. * One in four people fall asleep with the television on at least three nights a week. * 61 percent of children, age eight and up, have no parental guidelines on their TV watch- ing. * 30 percent of children watch TV in their bedrooms. * 81 percent of the time chil- dren, between the ages of two to seven, are watching TV unsupervised and alone. ¢ The average one-year-old child watches almost six hours of television a week. ¢ Six million videos rented daily, three million library books rented daily. * The average teenager spends 900 hours per year in school and 1,023 watching television. ¢ In the average home, a televi- sion is on for more than seven hours per day. These are just ten, in more than sixty facts about how tel- evision restricts and threatens the human mind and the basic family dynamics. Turning the TV off is one more way to increase your health and the health of your family. Watching less TV motivates you to work on all the projects that you haven't gotten around to, and helps you get one step closer to all the goals that you are trying to achieve. It gives you a chance to get up and walk. Walking around the neighbourhood during a Friends or Simpson’ re-run wouldn't be so hard to give up and once you get back from that walk, you'll thank yourself for it. Its hard to give up your favourite shows, believe me, I know. I have been recently detoxing from all the crap | have been watching and for weeks now I can honestly tell you that I feel much better giv- ing up those extra three hours of TV a day. Don't get me wrong, I still watch about six hours of TV a week, and I can’t help myself. I’m not advocating for giving up TV all together—I am only suggesting that you try cutting back from what you are used to. If you find that you are welcoming the tube more then socializing with family or friends, reading a book, com- pleting your homework, and most especially if you are using it as a comfort to avoid dealing with life’s difficulties—then maybe you really need to con- sider if your TV has a hold on you. There is always a healthi- er distraction then the televi- sion. If you are interested in more information on the dan- gers of excess television, check out the TV-Turnoff Network Organization. Their website is . TV-Turnoff Network is a not-for-profit society founded in 1994 to promote healthier lifestyles and communities by watching less TV. They are dedicated to “the belief that we all have the power to deter- mine the role that television plays in our own lives. Rather than waiting for others to make “better” TV, we can turn it off and reclaim time for our families, our friends, and for ourselves.” You can support the cause by joining thousands of others turn off the TV’s April 19-25 during the 10th annual TV-Turnoff Week. Allergy Alert! Organic Chocolate Undeclared Milk Protein in Kaoka Brand Dark 70 Percent Organic Chocolate Kelly Parry News Editor The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning people with allergies to milk protein not to con- sume the Kaoka brand Dark 70 percent Organic Chocolate described below. The affected product may contain milk pro- tein, which is not declared on the label. This alert is of con- cern to those individuals who have allergies to milk protein. The affected product, import- ed from France, is sold in a 100 g size, bearing UPC 3 477730 001206. Only the code Best Before End 06.05 3157C is affected by this alert. The importer, Aux mille et une saisons Inc., Scotstown, Quebec, is voluntarily recall- ing the affected product from the marketplace. The affected product is known to have been http://www.otherpress.ca distributed in Quebec and Ontario but may be distrib- uted nationally. Consumption of this prod- uct may cause a serious or life- threatening reaction in persons with allergies to milk protein. There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product. The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recall. Page 5 For more information, con- sumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1.800.442.2342. 8am to 4pm local time— Monday to Friday. For information on receiv- ing recalls by electronic mail, or for other food safety facts, visit the CFIA website at: .