Home equity line of credit popular for renos + MORE Apr 27th

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OTTAWA – You’ve spent hours picking the perfect tile, countertops and cabinets.
You researched the best stoves, dishwashers and refrigerators.
Your budget is set and your favourite contractor is available.
Now you just need to figure out how to pay for it all.
Tony Tintinalli of the Bank of Montreal says it starts with examining the scope of your home renovation project, the budget and the required contingency fund.
“The most cost-effective way, if you’re going to borrow, is to use equity in your house,” said Tintinalli, BMO’s regional vice-president of personal banking.
Home equity lines of credit are generally the most popular way to finance renovations, with rates generally ranging from prime to prime plus 0.5 per cent. That’s compared to a regular line of credit, which could be prime plus three to four per cent.
“When we look at the home equity line of credit option, normally we can do larger amounts because we are taking the security, so not only are you able to get it at a cheaper cost, there’s more room,” said Tintinalli…

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“Do you remember,” I asked the butterfly, “how you felt when you came out of your chrysalis and discovered you could fly?” The butterfly quivered. This was last October when I was chatting to lingering monarchs in our garden. “Did you have any memory, as your wings dried and you began to soar toward the sun, of what it was like to be a caterpillar, all wriggly and earthbound?”
I knew that in posing the questions out loud, I was getting perilously close to being a tree hugger. This dialogue is best kept to oneself, I expect, but when in spring miracles explode day by day, such conversations become irresistible until autumn’s end.
Yesterday the first warbler arrived all the way from—well I don’t know exactly—perhaps a condo garden in Florida. Now it flashes showy yellow feathers to the blue jays and cardinals who have lived here all grim winter long under the box hedges sharing sunflower seed, probably unwillingly, with foraging raccoons and squirrels.
Spring comes, the snow melts and our dogs discover bits of semi-frozen bodies half eaten by other animals…

The Fitch ratings agency has downgraded Japan’s credit after the government failed to go through with a plan to increase sales taxes in its budget.

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How much should you save? Where will your income come from? Retirement guru Wes Moss has the answers you need for a happy retirement. Moss is a student of what makes retirees happy and has identified five money secrets of what goes into a successful retirement. Actually, only four of them are money-specific. The other secret, Moss’s first, is the most important: deciding what you want to do with all that retirement money.
Turns out the happy retirees are those who are passionate about at least three “core” pursuits. By contrast, “unhappy” retirees have less than two core interests.
Moss is only 38 but is fast becoming a guru for those who aspire to a happy retirement. By day, he’s a mild-mannered money manager, the chief investment strategist for Atlanta-based Capital Investment Advisors. In addition, he’s the host of a live radio financial advice show called Money Matters, which airs in Atlanta. He’s the author of three books, including one that focuses on the five money secrets: You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think…

Before you acquire a home equity line of credit or cash-out refinance on your mortgage to get out of debt, there are other determining factors to consider for what may seem like a great idea