Rotary Club of Sackville Bulletin April 7, 2016

 

 

    Marita was in the chair today.  A self-described "army brat", she lived in Europe for a while.  Moving back to Canada (Chatham NB) her family moved again to Moncton to Chatham (again) to Greenwood and back to Chatham.  In later years she went to MTA.  She met her husband David on a bus on her way to an Army re-union.  She worked at the "Pen" in Dorchester before moving to MTA for the next 25 years.  She retired to look after her daughter after her daughter's accident.

 

There were no visiting Rotarians and only two guests - Jennifer Friesen and former Rotarian Patricia Belliveau.  On the make up           front,   Charlie managed at least one make up to each of three Clubs in Victoria....... Wynn went to the South Lake Rotary Club in Florida each week from November until he left.  He also assisted with their fundraising activities...........There were no Pin Pal stories or Birthdays this week.  A tad smaller than the Chase the Ace draw in Sidney, Gayle had her ticket drawn and chose the 2 of .  Unfortunately she was looking for the Jack of  and missed out on the $79.

 

Happy dollars netted a few happy Rotarians this week.   Gayle was happy that Bill also attended the Poet's time with her.  She has been asked by the town whether the Chili Cook Off for the Rotaract club during the Fall fair was a go this year.  Answer -                 yes.......    Patricia was happy and PSA'd at the same time for her latest acting venture - the Snow Queen. She plays a robber woman, a grandmother and a reindeer.  The play starts April 9th.  She was also sad      that her costume didn't fool Dianne...........     Louis was happy that he was in Halifax last weekend where he got to meet PM Justin Trudeau..........Wynn was happy that he went to see his granddaughter Carly win the Gold Medal in the World's Junior Curling Championship in Denmark...........     Dianne was               happy that her grandson is coming to visit,  Unrelated, she was happy that Louis was introduced to fruit last weekend in Halifax and now eats it every morning at her house............Bill was happy that the turnout for the weekly meeting this morning has been the highest of the year so far.

 

 

Tuesday, April 12th - Club Administration - 7:00 pm Wayne's House

Wednesday, April 13th - Projects - 5:30 pm CWS Office

 

Committee reports were light this week.  Wayne asked members to consider volunteering to help with this years "bacon-on-a-bun" at the Farmer's Market, scheduled to begin on April 30th.  Wayne will work almost all Saturdays and hopes to have others assist.  The Farmer's Market runs until October 29th (27 weeks).  The program will not run if there is no volunteer support.

 

Dianne reported that we will turn over the Independent Sales slips to Salem School.  Members can bring slips to the meeting each week.

 

       Trish introduce today's speaker - Andy Marr.     Andy chose to speak on RRSP's and their relevency as a long term investment strategy.  The son of a 5th generation farmer form Corn Hill, Andy went to MTA where he met and married wife Beth Ann and raised 4 kids.  Currently they are enjoying empty nester status.

RRSP's were created in 1957, where you could contribute a maximum of 10%.  Today, you can contribute 18% or a maximum of $24,930.  Currently 60% of Canadians have a RRSP.

In considering buying an RRSP, one needs to consider what you will need to live on once retired, how much to save, in what vehicle do you want to save, being sure to talk to a professional for help answering these questions.   RRSP's are based on income, are tax deductible, have tax free growth, have a spousal option and have a home buyers option (repayable in 10 years).  

      At age 71, one has to convert to a RIFF and take out 5 1/2 %.   In order to help minimize the taxes due when you take out money, Andy recommends that you remove some before retirement and park it in some other savings vehicle.  You will still pay tax, but it presumes you have more funds and can afford to do this.  When you retire, combine these savings with a lesser amount in the RIFF, thereby reducing taxes owed, at a time when you have less disposable cash.  Reducing the size of the RIFF reduces the amount of tax owed when one of the spouses dies (currently at 50% rate).  The goal then is to spend more before death.  One needs to be aware that all pensions attract taxes once a person retires.

 

Darrell thanked Andy by presenting a book which will be donated in his name to a local library.  Andy also received a certificate and a Rotary pen.