Family Finances

With the warmer season upon us, it certainly becomes easier to let our minds wander. As sunshine filters in through the office window, it's much more tempting to think ahead to summer vacation at the cottage or what patio you're heading to after work. Here are some proven ways to keep your mind focused on the job in front of you. Let's face it, if you work hard you'll have even more time to play harder during the summer months.

Click on a photo below to see what five simple things you can do, to boost your concentration and productivity at work.

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No one likes paying upfront fees for anything. After all, what's the point of paying someone who hasn't done anything for you yet? Besides, sometimes doing such a thing can actually turn into a scam. The person in question could take the fee and disappear -- never to be seen again. But there are some situations where paying upfront totally makes sense. No need to be paranoid because the following top ten covers those times when giving up your money first, translates to big rewards.

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With Mother's Day approaching, I find myself shamelessly
hinting to my husband and kids about what they can treat me to that will show their appreciation for me simply being the Mom of the family. I have to admit, Mother's Day is one of those occasions when I actually do feel like I deserve a bit of pampering or a thoughtful gift for the many sleep deprived nights I've experienced -- not to mention the many diapers I've changed and seemingly endless clean-up tasks I've endured. For anyone looking for gift ideas to appreciate all that Mom has done for you, here is some guidance on what Moms really want. In the under $50 range, you can actually go quite far with your money.

With every new generation come new preferences and buying habits. But the latest generation to come of age, Generation Y or the millennials as they're also known, will be making starkly different choices than their parents and grandparents did. Young people born between 1980 and 2000 are confronted by economic meltdown, large debts, and difficulty finding their first jobs. As a consequence, they're not spending as freely as previous generations. Pair that with technological advances and recent lifestyle shifts, and it's easy to see that their buying habits will be different too.

To capture these changes, Wall Street 24/7 has put together a list of items whose future is less than rosy. Cars, land-line phones and televisions were all a part of the North American way of life for more than a century, but they're not always going to be. Because young people have alternatives that they prefer.

CLICK THE PHOTO FOR A GALLERY OF THINGS GENERATION Y WON'T BE BUYING

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Read the full story at 24/7WallStreet.

There's hardly been any job growth in Canada in the last little while -- in fact, a recent Statistics Canada report shows that employment growth has stagnated. Meanwhile, nobody seems quite sure where the economy's heading. As a parent of two young boys I find myself worrying about what opportunities will exist for them when they're ready to embark on their own career paths.

What I'm realizing is that when it comes to kids and their future, there's no time like the present to start teaching them skills that could eventually turn into employment. There are many classes and camps for kids offered as after school programs or on weekends that could be fun ways to learn skills or spark an interest that will help them find their way to a career later in life.

It's that time of year when no matter how busy we are, we get the
urge to exile every last stale winter dust specimen from our homes. Perhaps it's the extra light we're getting throughout the day that shows up the excess particles floating around. Or could it be with the arrival of spring comes the instinctual urge to renew and refresh? Whatever it is, a thorough clean is something that takes a lot of time, which most of us don't have. I spoke with Molly Maid franchise owner and cleaning expert Amelia Mackie to get some tips on how to be efficient and pick priorities during a spring clean.

1. Set goals and get organized
Being prepared and setting attainable goals are important to keeping your sanity. Make sure you have all the necessary cleaning tools before you start and make sure you have time to finish each task. Organize your work into smaller jobs, like cleaning level by level or room by room.This way, focusing on smaller areas can be less intimidating. Draw yourself a cleaning task map, so to speak, and your journey will be a smooth one.
Helpful tip before you start: Decluttering is probably one of the most important tasks to perform prior to spring cleaning -- it's the only way to clean efficiently and effectively.

Say you decided a bit of rest and recreation would work wonders for your mind and body. So, you book a vacation somewhere far away, as close to the Equator as possible.

You land filled with expectations. Your stay is all-inclusive. You can't stop thinking about the peaceful future that lies ahead of you.

But did you pay for the all-inclusive to include a sharp salesperson who grabs you by your lapels right there in the airport, to tell you if you buy what they're selling, you'll be getting a chance of a lifetime? Why, you'll be able to come down to that place every year, so long as you shall live, no, it's not a timeshare, it's an investment, and it's a chance of a lifetime and you would regret till death do us part if you don't sign on the dotted line?

Relaxed (the sun's so beautiful out there), filled with cheap booze (the timeshare people won't be buying you expensive cognac), impressed by the wonderful photographs (your senses have been dulled before the timeshare people opened their albums), you DO end up signing.

Then you get back home and in realize, in horror, what you did. And the first thing that comes to your mind: I want to get out of it, but people tell me it's impossible.

People don't know whereof they speak.

The leader of the Ontario NDP party, Andrea Horwath, has suggested hiking the tax rate for those who earn more than $500,000 by two percent.

While some people like the idea, others don't. James Doak of Megantic Asset Management recently compared the proposed increase as "ethnic cleansing" on CTV.

This is not the first time discussion has taken place about taxing the rich. Canada has had these discussions before and there are arguments for and against implementing higher taxes on the top earners. The general sentiment is that taxing the rich a bit more is fair, spreading the tax burden more evenly across the population.

Those against raising taxes for the rich argue that the move could lead to citizens choosing to avoid taxes in their home country such as Top Shop's Sir Philip Green, whose company in his wife's name. She's a resident of Monaco, a notorious tax-free haven for Europe's richest citizens. Other reasons for opposing a tax hike include a predicted disinclination to invest, which could stunt economic growth, and lingering questions about whether taxing the rich really ends up helping the economy.

Horwath is hardly the first person to suggest a tax increase on the rich. She's just another in a long, international line who have called for the same. Have a look to see who's on the side of increased taxation for the 1%.

CLICK PHOTO FOR A 'TAX US PLEASE' GALLERY

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Many cities in Canada have placed their bets on casinos to help drive economic activity and stimulate development. With the economy continuing to sputter along, many places are looking to felt covered tables and one-armed bandits as saviours. Once thought of as 'Toronto The Good', Ontario's capital is the latest municipality thinking of going Vegas, but is the glitz and glamour all it's made out to be? Let's take a look at how a casino can help or hinder a city.

Tax Revenue
Gambling in Canada is big business. Last year, all legalized gambling contributed $13.7 billion in net revenue to governments. Casinos contributed 34% of that total. While this certainly sounds great, some research shows that governments that build casinos don't always spread their new wealth as expected. Instead of building roads and schools, for example, there is evidence that governments use gambling revenue on other priorities like debt reduction, which don't have the same immediate impacts on the people living in the shadow of the casino.

Another year another federal budget. This is Canadian political theatre so, of course, we mostly just tune it out. At best, Canadians tend to shrug when the federal budget is announced. At worst they ignore it all together. This year though there are a few things in the budget you should take note of because they're going to impact you.

Old Age Security
This year's budget might determine when you retire. The Old Age Security (OAS) program currently pays benefits of $540 a month to qualifying Canadians age 65 and older. Beginning in 2023 though, only Canadians over the age of 67 will be able to start collecting their cheques. This means everybody who is currently under the age of 54. Many Canadians rely on a combination of company pension payments, RRSP savings, Canadian Pension Plan payments and OAS payments to get by in retirement so delaying when you can access one of these can have a pretty big impact. Everybody keeps telling me that 40 is the new 30 so I guess 67 is the new 65.