Elias Kellendonk, Author at SuperBrokers

Remembering RRSP Contribution During the Holidays

The final date by which you can contribute to your RRSP for the 2010 tax year is March 1, 2011.

Free up Funds by Being Practical and Thoughtful

As Christmas and New Years fast approach, it is easy to forget that the deadline to contribute toward your Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) for 2010 is also nearing.

The final date by which you can contribute to your RRSP for the 2010 tax year is March 1, 2011.

If you are uncertain as to the dollar value that you are eligible to contribute to your RRSP this year, check your 2009 Notice of Assessment. Maximum RRSP contributions for 2010 will equate 18 per cent of your total earnings last year, up to $21,000.

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Including Segregated Funds in Your RRSP Portfolio

RRSP funds can be attributed to, or to a combination of, mutual funds, guaranteed investment certificates, bonds, stocks, deposit accounts or segregated funds.

As RRSP deadline approaches this coming March, it’s time to take a look not only at maximizing the contributions you are making to your Retired Registered Savings Plan (RRSP), but at maximizing the potential of those funds once they are in place.

Within an RRSP there are several options as to how those RRSP funds can be allocated into an investment vehicle that will grow tax-free. RRSP funds can be attributed to, or to a combination of, mutual funds, guaranteed investment certificates, bonds, stocks, deposit accounts or segregated funds.

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Purchasing Homes for Sale by Owner in Canada

Houses for sale by owner are still governed by the same laws as houses for sale in Canada that are represented by a real estate agent.

If you are just staring out in your house hunt, you may be pondering whether or not you should include houses for sale by owner (FSBOs) in your search. The answer is yes. There are some extra items you need be cognizant of when looking into homes for sale by owner, but these items need not stop you from including FSBOs in your Canadian home shopping expedition.

First of all, home owners that have opted to list their houses for sale by owner are most often not just testing the market. They are serious about selling their homes and can, again in most cases, be taken as such. Houses for sale by owner are still governed by the same laws as houses for sale in Canada that are represented by a real estate agent. Home owners are obligated to tell you the truth in any written or verbal disclosures they offer you.

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Online Course Aids Canadians in ‘Realizing the Dream of Home Ownership’

The Home Ownership course is free, and the payoff of the advice it lends could be exponential.

Credit Canada - A not for profit charity since 1966

In efforts to increase mortgage knowledge and financial responsibility among Canadians debating or planning toward home ownership, the CAAMP Foundation (the charitable division of CAAMP) and Credit Canada (a charitable, not-for-profit organization providing money management awareness to Canadians) have made available an online course for Canadian consumers.

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New Online Tool for Mortgage Brokers and Prospective Industry Professionals

Logging in will allow Canadian mortgage professionals access to engaging, comprehensive courses from anywhere they wish to access the website from.

The Learning Management System (LMS) is the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP)’s latest initiative in helping to keep busy mortgage professionals up to date and educated on the latest advancements, guidelines, products and regulations in the Canadian mortgage industry.

Logging in will allow Canadian mortgage professionals access to engaging, comprehensive courses from anywhere they wish to access the website from. The LMS is available around the clock. Options from which mortgage professionals, or prospective mortgage professionals, can choose include:

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New Canadians Know More about Saving, Less about Fraud

While new Canadians are more likely to be victims of fraud, their knowledge of credit and saving skills are more extensive than the general population’s.

A study conducted for Credit Education week in Canada found that while new Canadians are more likely to be victims of fraud, their knowledge of credit and saving skills is higher than the general population’s.

Roughly 20 per cent of new Canadians report being a victim of fraud, most of these women, which is 30 per cent higher than the national average.

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Canadian Banks Raise Fixed-Rates

TD Canada Trust and RBC have decided to increase mortgage rates on their five-year fixed rates by as much as 25 basis points

Fixed Mortgage Rates Up

Attributed to a rise in bond yields, big Canadian banks TD Canada Trust and RBC have decided to increase mortgage rates on their five-year fixed rate mortgages by as much as 25 basis points, or one quarter of a per cent.

The decision is marked by higher bond yields, meaning it is more expensive for banks to borrow in the bond market, a cost that is offset by raising mortgage rates available to consumers.

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Filogix Expert, the Canadian Mortgage Broker’s Preferred Program

In the last three months, more than 14,000 different mortgage brokers and 77 lenders used Filogix Expert to submit their mortgage applications in Canada.

Fliogix Expert is the software platform the majority of mortgage brokers in Canada use to send their applications to lenders in Canada for processing. In the last three months, more than 14,000 different mortgage brokers and 77 lenders used Filogix Expert to submit their mortgage applications in Canada.

Though Filogix Expert dominates the mortgage application platform industry, there are two competitors at this company’s heal: MorWeb and Axcess Canada. It is difficult for smaller companies to break into the platform technology industry. Amassing a wider margin of market share among Canadian mortgage brokers involves convincing both lenders and mortgage brokers that their platform is worth the training time, the implementing efforts and the introduction to clientele. Breaking into the mortgage application platform industry involves a large amount of financial and technological resources.

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Canadians Shed Contradictory Opinions in Recent Mortgage Study

Canadians believe that people are taking on too much debt, yet believe that they are handling their own finances responsibly.

Perhaps influenced by whispers of housing bubbles and rates doomed to rise, fewer Canadians are saying that now is a good time to buy a new home in their community than they did earlier this year, yet numbers are still higher than those attained from surveys conducted by the same institution from 2006 to 2008. Canadians are also saying that, in their opinion, low mortgage rates have accounted for more people buying homes than should have. Yet, when asked their thoughts on their own mortgage, very few said that they regret committing to the mortgage they currently hold.

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BMO States Pricey Houses are not Sign of Bubble

Housing values in Canada are merely “overvalued”, not facing a housing bubble on the verge of bursting.

Housing values in Canada are merely “overvalued”, not facing a housing bubble on the verge of bursting, according to economists at BMO Nesbitt Burns.

The BMO economists are saying that in comparison to the personal incomes of Canadians, Canada property prices are only moderately higher than real value. Mortgage servicing costs for the average Canadian homeowner are still leveling at a normal 34 per cent.

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