Hi glavinsolo, When you buy your home, do you plan to cash in your MFs in order to achieve a down payment? You don't say what kind they are, but with expected rate of return of 8% I assume that they're equity-based. The expense rate of 0.5% makes me wonder about that, though, as few charge that low. If you plan to liquidate within a couple of years, if the markets go down, you may be an unhappy camper when it comes time to reclaim the investment. On the other hand, if you have the certificates issued, you can take them to a financial institution to use them as collateral for a loan ... ... which will work if your growth rate on the investment is greater than the rate you pay on your mortgage, after allowing for income tax cost and deductibility in each case. That way, you convert that investment from being a short-term one into a longer-term one, which reduces your short-term risk. Be aware, though, that a financial institution will be unwilling to loan you more than 50% (or at most 60%) of the value of the asset. But you carry some risk if you draw near the limit of what they'll allow, for if the value of the asset goes down and slips below double the value of the loan, the lender will want either some cash to reduce the amount of the loan, or some other assets to underwrite the support for the loan. And they'll want it today ... tomorrow at the latest. With regard to the cost of homes, I'm not familiar with the U.S. markets in general, let alone the ones in your area. But some calculate that the tough times in the housing markets are far from over. I think that it would be well for you to carry on some study of what house prices are doing in the area where you prefer to buy. If you buy early, and house prices continue to reduce, you'll be an unhappy camper, then, as well. Mortgage lenders get quite unhappy if the valuation of the house comes rather close to the amount of the mortgage still owing. If the value goes too low, they'll require that you sell it ... at a loss, of course ... ... or they may choose to foreclose, in which case there'd almost surely be more costs if they sell it than if you do. Which could well mean that they'd be notifying you that you owed them the difference between what you owed on the mortgage, plus costs of repossession and sale, less the amount that they sold it for. Not a pleasant scenario. But one that many who accepted those low-rate mortgages a few years ago will be facing. My feeling is that if I wanted to buy a home in the U.S. these days, I'd be keeping my money in my genes (sorry, "jeans") for a while. There are those who claim that I have some frugal chromosomes in my genes, as a matter of fact. As a matter of fact, my daughter is considering buying accomodation in Arizona, these days. Good wishes as you make your plans. ole joyful

Dances, You sleep in the bath-tub often? _________________ Thanks for your messages, everyone. I'm pleased that so many of you are enjoying your retirement. Tempered somewhat by the fact that some have health problems with which to cope. I did some more garden planting Friday ... and have some left to do. I have some manure left in the barn ... had thought to put some of it between the rows, but, as landlord said the other day, the soil is rich from when it was a barnyard, so I think that I'll hold off on the manure. But there are a thousand or so bales of straw in the mow, and I think that I'll get some of them down to spread between the rows, to see whether they may deter the weeds. Could I have a lazy streak or two in the constitution, somewhere? As I approach 80, I have about 80% of my assets in stocks, slightly over 1/2 in stocks owned directly and over 1/3 in equity-based mutual funds. The nice thing about owning Canadian stocks is that, while the annual dividends that many pay were tax-advantaged earlier, recently the advantage was increased. And part of the average annual return is in their price going up ... ... but I don't need talk to the income tax people about that until I either sell them ... or die. Don't plan to do either, this week or next. There was an offer on the table for a couple of pension plans in Canada and some others to buy out Canada's biggest telco ... but then this big funny-business U.S. mortgage deal hit the fan and there was talk that there'd be a renegotiation at a lower price. It would involve the company being loaded with huge debt in order to pay out the stockholders (it's been known for years as a "widows' and orphans' stock") ... ... and current bondholders sued, saying that their bonds would become like junk bonds. Quebec Supreme Court agreed to hear their case, the other day - and the deal was to be completed by the end of June. So my holding in that issue went down about 14%, this week. But several major mining and processing companies in Canada have been sold to out-of-country new owners, some private, in recent years and the stock in another major one that I bought in early Jan has gone up by almost half ... my best deal in years. Enjoy your weekend, everyone. ole joyful

I retired at age 55 and enjoyed a year of 'retirement' but decided to venture out to do several other things after that period. That year provided my wife and I some time to get reacquainted and enjoy some distant time together. Following that first year I felt that I needed to spend time in projects that I enjoyed. It wasn't long after that that I found myself back to work full-time in a couple other endeavors. Now that I am 63 years of age I retired again and this time working on projects that I truly love involving social activities. Retirement is an evolving process. Even though your husband may route retire at 55 it is very likely that you will find other things to do that will be more fulfilling than the job that he's doing now. This is a good time of life for both of you so take advantage of what it has to offer. Best of luck in whatever you choose to do. Here is a link that might be useful: Active Empty Nesters

My tangerine tree grew fine in n unheate greenhouse where the temperature dropped to near freezing more than 60 times. The highs often didn't go above 50 very often. It grew well.Early spring after greenhouse is disassembled.