What's New

Sostorics goes to the Olympics!

Can you imagine watching your child compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics?  That is exactly what our own Jean Sostorics, from Kennedy Branch, will be doing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games!  Jean's Daughter, Colleen, was named to the Women's Olympic Hockey Team, and will have the honour of representing Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics this February; Jean will be travelling to Vancouver to cheer on Colleen and the rest of our Canadian Athletes. Here is a link to a great article that recently ran in the Carlyle Observer, with a bit more information.  Congratulations to Jean, proud mom, and Colleen!  You have our best wishes and support; we will be cheering you both on from back home!

Qtrade Investor – Canada’s leading independent online brokerage

‘Phishing’ for Your Dollars

Phishing is a reality on the Internet that simply will not go away. New types of threats are emerging on a regular basis. Being ‘net smart’ has never been more important. Smart consumers need to be able to identify and avoid Internet fraud and identity theft.

Phishing, also call brand spoofing, is a form of Internet fraud in which e-mail messages are used to lure the unsuspecting to web sites that are replicas of sites used by legitimate businesses. These web sites are used to trick users into divulging credit card numbers, bank account information, and passwords that will be used to commit fraud.

Phishing attacks normally are initiated through an e-mail. It will come disguised as a message from your financial institution or a familiar Internet merchant. Even though the message looks legitimate, it may not be.

How can one tell the real thing from the fake? Here are some things to look for:

• WARNING SIGN #1: Soliciting Personal Information by E-Mail
  Financial institutions and reputable on-line retailers do not send e-mails asking for personal information. Any e-mail that claims to be from a reputable source but asks for such data is most likely a phishing expedition.

• WARNING SIGN #2: Badly Written E-Mail
  Read the message closely. A professional company such as e-Bay or Amazon will not issue any communication containing basic grammatical and spelling errors. A high proportion of phishing e-mails contain such fundamental errors. For example, or Amazon will not issue any communication containing basic grammatical and spelling errors. A high proportion of phishing e-mails contain such fundamental errors. For example,

  

• WARNING SIGN #3: Hidden Addresses & Sources

  Phishing attacks redirect you somewhere other than where they claim to be going. Check to see if the web site you reach by clicking on the address in the e-mail is the same as the one shown in the e-mail. If it isn’t, leave the site immediately. Look at the name of the web site shown in the e-mail. Reputable on-line businesses ensure that all their customer accessible web sites contain the company’s name in the address. If you don’t see that, you probably haven’t reached the real web site.

• WARNING SIGN #4: Asking for Personal Data
  Receiving an e-mail from your financial institution asking you to go to their web site should set the alarm bells ringing. That is not normal business practice for any credit union or bank. Don’t click on the web address in the e-mail. Call your financial institution to confirm if they have sent you a message.

• WARNING SIGN #5: Threatening Legal Sounding Messages
  Consider the source. Would you expect your favorite on-line retailer to send a threatening notice? Not likely. If you receive a threatening e-mail, it probably isn’t legitimate. If you think it may be, call the company instead of responding to the e-mail.

Take Action

The simplest way to protect yourself from phishers is to avoid clicking on any unexpected link in an e-mail message.  Do not reply to e-mails soliciting personal information. Having safely ignored the suspicious e-mail, report it.

A significant proportion of on-line fraud goes unreported. Some people are too embarrassed to admit they’ve been taken in. Others simply don’t know what to do.

If you do spot something suspicious, go to the company’s real web site – the one that looks like www.companyname.com. Most sites have an option on their home page labeled “Contact Us” or something similar. Use that to report the phishing attempt. If you have gone so far as to provide sensitive personal information before realizing you may be a phishing victim, report the matter to your local police and keep a copy of the police report. You may need that documentation to resolve any fraudulent transactions.

Go on-line to www.recol.ca[1], the web site for Reporting Economic Crime On-Line. This site is administered by the National White Collar Crime Centre of Canada and is supported by the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies.  You can also call, toll-free to PhoneBusters[2], the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Center at 1-800-495-8501 or the Canadian Anti-Fraud Call Center at 1-800-495-8501. 

Put Your Knowledge to the Test

Think you’re ready to avoid the phishers trying toseparate your from your money? Take the anti-phishing challenge by going to http://survey.mailfrontier.com/survey/Phishing_uk.html

Protect your identity!

Home Renovation Tax Credits

At this time of year, most people are thinking about Christmas and family… others are thinking about tax credits!!!

Here is a summary of this non-refundable tax credit.

Eligibility is family based, so anyone in the home may claim the credit, and it can be split among family members, but the total can not exceed the maximum of $1,350.

You must own the home and inhabit it at the time of renovation or alteration.

If during the eligibility period you sold and purchased an eligible dwelling, eligible expenses that you incurred for both dwellings will normally be eligible for the HRTC.

If you own a cottage as well as a house, eligible expenses incurred for both properties will generally be eligible.

The expenses are eligible when they are incurred in relation to a renovation or alteration, and are of an enduring nature and integral to the dwelling. 

Examples include:

• renovating a kitchen, bathroom or basement
• flooring
• new furnace, water system, etc
• re-shingling a roof
• a new driveway or resurfacing a driveway
• landscaping
• fixtures

Generally, the cost of the work performed by professionals is included; however you can not include an hourly rate for yourself, if you have done the work.

The tax credit is for work performed or goods acquired after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010. All expenses must be supported by receipts and acceptable documentation.  Keep them in case CRA asks to see them.

Hope this helps someone out there!  (I know it will help me!!!)

Kerry

Planning For Your Future

Sponsoring Local Youth

Recession Draws to a Close

In May 2008 the S&P / TSX Composite Rate hit a high of approximately 14,700. By the beginning of March this year, it had plunged to approximately 7,500. At close of trading on August 31^st, 2009, the Composite Rate was 10,868. While this is a significant recovery, there is still a lot of speculation with regard to the sustainability of this rate of recovery. Clearly there is still a great deal of day to day volatility in the markets, however if we look at a longer term recovery, for instance over the next 2 – 3 years, it is my feeling that there is a great deal of upside potential in equities.

The following article entitled Recession Draws to a Close, written by Rayann Huang, of advisor.ca, suggests that there are some indications that things are getting better.

After 10 consecutive months of decline, Canada's gross domestic product showed a glimmer of hope in June with a 0.1% rise in GDP. And there's plenty of evidence that growth continued through July and August, according to report by Dr. Sherry Cooper, chief economist of BMO Capital Markets.

Canada’s economy fell at an annualized rate of 3.7% in the last quarter of 2008. In the first quarter of the year it plunged 6.1% — the worst quarterly decline in the past 50 years. The rate of contraction slowed in the second quarter, to 3.4%.

Exports were responsible for the bulk of the contraction in the second quarter and the sector retreated for seven consecutive quarters — the worst performance on record — as the export sector has shrunk 30% since the start of the U.S recession back in late 2007.

A report by TD Financial Group forecasts that recovery in exports will be sluggish due to the strength of the Canadian dollar. However, the improvement in U.S. demand for commodities such as coal, petroleum and industrial products may help to offset some of the effects of the Canadian dollar.

Meanwhile, consumer confidence appears to be rebounding as spending on consumer-related goods increase, up 1.8%, largely pushed up by a 19% increase auto sales. Also, real estate appears to be leading the economy to recovery. Resale home activity picked up by 6.2% in the quarter, which ends five consecutive quarters of declines.

Don Drummond, chief economist at TD Bank, says the government is to thank for ending the recession in Canada. He pointed out that the central bank's swift response to slashing interest rates and the government's stimulus spending helped end the recession sooner and cushioned the severity of the financial crisis in Canada.

Canada’s stimulus spending for 2009 and 2010 will be approximately $80 billion. In the U.S. total stimulus spending is expected to reach $9 trillion (USD) over the next decade.

Though government aid helped propel the economy back to its feet, some experts believe that growth is so dependent on government funds that the economy may slide back into recession mode once stimulus spending thins out.

(08/31/09)

Kerry Swann, CFP, CEBS
Wealth Management Specialist
Plainsview Credit Union
306-699-5252

Proud Supporter of Local Food Banks!

All branches of Plainsview Credit Union participated in a food bank drive during the month of May during our MasterCard campaign. The focus of the campaign was “Community Pantry Giveaway” where members were able to enter a national contest to win free groceries for a year plus a $2,500 donation to a local food bank when they applied for a MasterCard.  The staff at Plainsview thought a food bank drive would be a nice fit with the campaign, offering an excellent opportunity to show our support for local food banks and the important work they do. In the photo below, Erinn Dew and Carol Lyons present the food collected from the Kennedy and Kipling Branches to Darcie Thom, a representative of the Kipling Food Bank.  Other branches donated food collected to their local food banks; we thank all staff and members who donated to the drive.  Just one more way we show our commitment to building a strong and vibrant community!

What's New

Kerry's Corner