Hi again, everyone, Update on the above info, offered by my friend the accountant whom I first met at the investment group about 5 years or more ago. The guy who retired last year, without a pension, and who now borrows at about 6% (interest deductible when used for investment) and puts it out to earn about 12% (much of current return at low tax rate, some of it deferred, to be taxed at low rate when withdrawn). He says that the amount of current income that that can be obtained free of tax is closer to $50,000.00. Same provisos as outlined above - with possibility of bumping up the amount that is received free of tax given some of the situations as mentioned. Sorry that the situation applies only to Canadian residents, folks. Good wishes to you and yours. ole joyful P.S. We had a visitor/new member at our investment group last week, who said that she felt rather at sea, among such skilled investors. We told her not to feel bad - that in the investment game, there are no stupid questions. That she should ask any of us to explain various terms or situations that were unfamiliar to her. Each of us learns as we go, a step at a time. Compensation usually increases commensurate with increased knowledge! o j

Leslie, isn't that awful? My 78 year old dad didn't start oweing at tax time until he began drawing social security. I think it's backwards that someone who's worked most of their lives has to pay out so much when they should be worry-free and enjoying the rest of their lives. It even irritates me that us working people have to pay so much of our money to a government that wastes so much. Let us keep our money and invest it for our retirement as we see fit. Sorry, Lori, I would be stressing too if I had a more complicated income situation than I do. I do my own taxes, very simple, but then I don't own a ranch like you do and two family income outside the ranch. I don't think Ed could possibly know just how complicated our tax system is. Has he ever seen one of our tax forms or booklets? As simple as mine is, the first time I did my taxes on Turbo, I had to read a bunch of the explanations attached to some of the the questions to make sure I really qualified to take that tax break. They make it as complicated as they possibly can. I'm thankful they have Turbo and other on-line (simplified programs) because reading through the actual hard copy of our tax booklet is a pain in the butt.

The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency has the Volunteer Income Tax Preparation Program in which they train volunteers to prepare tax returns for low income taxpayers. They set up a number of clinics in vets hosp, libraries, mental health centres, churches, community centres, etc. where the volunteers prepare tax returns at advertised times. Then they put up posters to inform the citizenry of the availablility, locations and times of the service. Individual taxpayers whose income is under $20,000. qualify for the service, as do couples with incomes under $25,000. The volunteers may also prepare tax returns for individuals, often in their own homes. To find out where this service may be offered in or near your community, call the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (formerly Revenue Canada). Phone numbers are in the tax package which you received early in the year, or in the"Taxes" section of the Blue Pages in your telephone book. It might be a good idea, when the preparation of your tax return is complete, to ask the Volunteer what ways might be available to you in order to reduce your tax load for future years. Having been a personal financial planner (selling no financial products) for nearly 20 years and a retirement consultant, I've asked some local tax preparers how many of their clients ask them how they might be able to rearrange their affairs in order to reduce their tax load. I've been surprised to hear that only rarely does this happen. Seems to me if I felt the need to have a person much more knowledgeable in the income tax system than I prepare my tax, I'd want to find out some possible ways that a I might be able to reduce them. Good wishes for finding some effective ways of reducing your income tax load (legally, of course). Tax evasion gets you into serious trouble: tax avoidance should be practised by every taxpayer. joyful guy/Ed

Recently a number of (mainly seniors) have been using a certain type of investment (unit trusts) that paid quite a high rate of return, some of it tax advantaged in the recipient's hands, plus some of it return of part of one's originally invested money. Such companies that structured themselves to pay out most of their earnings to shareholders were allowed to escape paying corporate tax. Some people who owned a somewhat different type of investment, stocks of Canadian companies, paying a much lower rate of return felt that they were being unfairly treated, and quite a few were leaving the type of investment that they'd been using to buy the other type. So the government changed the rules of calculating tax on the second type of income relative to 2006, with a view to encouraging a number of taxpayers to stay put. Until 2005, a single "taxpayer" who'd earned somewhere around $27,000 - 30,000. of solely that kind of income had a couple of types of credits work to allow them to have their tax liability reduced to zero. The differing method of calculation in 2006 allowed the level of the single "taxpayer's" income from solely that type of income to increase to $46,345. before becoming liable to pay one cent of income tax ... except the $600. Ontario Health Levy in this province. Would that my Member of Parliament's office were to notify every constituent annually of all the changes to the tax code, especially ways that some fortunate people could avoid paying tax at all up to over $45,000. ... ... but I'm not holding my breath, waiting for such a day! The person who told me of it was a C.A. who'd been an accountant (I think controller) of a substantial local company, prior to his retirement (with no pension) a couple of years ago. We've attended a monthly study group learning about investments for over 7 years (sometimes travel together to the meeting) ... I've learned a lot in that group. The government recently changed the tax rules relative to the first type of investment ... not allowing the corporations to avoid income tax, even if they agree to pay out most of their income. The value of that market lost billions overnight ... I can send any of you interested some delicious cartoons related to that! Recovered a substantial portion of it, later. In the light of that ... they may change the rules again next year relative to the second type of income, to increase the rate of income tax on it to more or less previous levels. Good wishes for learning more about the effective use of your income and assets. ole joyful