If you’re like most people, you periodically set aside time to clean out your home, garage or closets. It’s equally as important to take time to organize your finances. The following checklist can help you get started:

· Cancel unused credit cards – If you’re paying an annual fee on a credit card or other account that you don’t use, you’re throwing money away. So, cash in any rewards points you have earned and then cancel the account. Of course, take into consideration whether canceling the card will negatively affect your credit rating.

· Cancel unused memberships – If a new at-home exercise routine has replaced your trips to the health club or gym, or if you’re no longer playing golf at a course you belong to, consider canceling your membership. Even if you have to pay a fee, you may quickly recoup your financial losses.

· Consolidate accounts – You don’t necessarily need multiple checking, savings, investment, retirement or credit card accounts, yet many people maintain them – often because it takes extra time up-front to consolidate. Maintaining numerous accounts can increase the amount of time you spend opening mail, reconciling statements, keeping records and paying bills. When it comes to credit, you may also earn more rewards if you stick to one or two cards.

· Negotiate better deals with your service providers – Whether it’s your cable, Internet or waste removal company, chances are you can negotiate a better rate. Simply take time to get quotes from competitors. If they are offering lower rates for the same services, go back to your service provider to see if they will price match to keep your business. If not, switch to someone new.

· Update your financial records – Make a list of your current financial accounts, contacts and passwords. Keep this information in a safe and secure place.

· Update your beneficiary designations – Your beneficiary designations override your will. So, if you’ve experienced a marriage, divorce, birth, adoption or death, make sure your beneficiary designations reflect your wishes.

· Review your home and auto insurance coverage – Make sure your coverage reflects your present needs. Also, price shop the same coverage with different providers. Whether you switch to a new provider or use this information to strike a deal with your current provider, you could save a significant amount.

· Simplify your investments – If tracking various investments is stressing you out, consider asset allocation or managed accounts. Attempting to manage and track too many investment accounts can require a great deal of time and, if you’re not on top of the details, can prevent you making the best investment choices for your portfolio. Consider working with a financial professional to help you organize your finances and help you determine what kinds of investments might work best for you.

Asset management is the financial umbrella term for any system that monitors or maintains things of value, whether for an individual or a group. An asset is anything that has actual or potential value as an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned and produce a profit (turned into cash) is considered an asset. Tangible assets are physical items including inventory, buildings, trucks, or equipment. Intangible assets are not physical items, and include copyrights, trademarks, patents, stocks, bonds, accounts receivable, and financial goodwill (when a buyer purchases an existing company and pays more than it is worth, the excess is considered the goodwill amount). Both tangible and intangible assets work to build the owner’s financial portfolio. While this concept has been in play for more than a hundred years, recent developments have lead to several shifting variables worth considering. The following are recent management trends and some of the implications for asset investment.

The Globalization of the Market

Even as recently as 20 years ago, the majority of investments were made in U.S. based companies. As technology expanded our range of communication and information, our interest in investing in overseas companies expanded as well. Until recently, most investing in international assets was pooled into mutual funds. Those mutual funds were typically run by a manager who specialized in the country and made all of the decisions. However, the rapid development of previously underdeveloped markets, such as those in Eastern Asia, and the formation of the European Union, has made international investment less daunting. Recently there has been a large shift to investing in individual companies instead of the previously dominant international mutual funds. This allows the assets to be managed as the investor sees fit.

Use of Index Funds

The rise of technology has not only affected the global market, it has also affected the way we invest in our own stock market. There has been a large shift away from the fund manager driven investments of before and into index funds. Index funds are a group of investments that align with the index of a specific market, like the Dow Jones for instance. As they are primarily computer driven, index funds remove the need for an asset manager, which allows for advantages such as lower costs, turnovers, and style drift. They are also simpler to understand as they cover only the targeted companies and need only to be rebalanced once or twice a year.

Drop of Interest Rates

Traditionally, stocks and bonds were the ideal assets. However, with the severe drop in interest rates that has occurred over the past 7 or 8 years, many investors are looking to alternative assets. Bonds are not providing as steady returns as they used to, and the constantly changing risk and volatility of the stock market is turning those looking for higher returns towards alternative investments. These alternatives include hedge funds, private equity (stocks held in private companies), and real estate. These have become popular as they offer relatively greater returns in a shorter time frame. However, these alternatives also carry a higher long-term risks.

While these are all trends to take into consideration when examining your investments, the key to good asset management still lies in diversification. Any investment, no matter the type, comes with some degree of risk. The best solution to limit the risk is to spread out your investments over different types and reassess as needed. A balanced portfolio and good asset management leads to a happy investor.

The revelation of major tax fraud has come to the fore with the release of millions of documents from a law firm in Panama. It reveals that government leaders are either involved money laundering and hiding wealth to avoid tax or their family members. Some of the biggest companies; the heads of major corporations; mining giants; business people; and crooks in general including drug dealers have their identities suppressed while moving trillions of dollars around the world.

The repercussions will be huge as people are angry who pay taxes and are virtually paying for these wealth crazed individuals to cheat on them. This is just one more wound in the already injured World Order that includes governments, financial institutions, and religions. It is the latter that is most at fault.

Following my reincarnation and with a strong link to the Spirit of the Universe it commissioned me to tear down the wall of blindness and bring in the harvest. Everyone who has lived is back and those who have maintained a link to God are to be collected and saved. They are called the children of Israel but they have nothing to do with Judah or the country by that name.

We are at the end of the day and things are changing – quickly. Those who seek power through wealth are fools for they have traded their spiritual link for money. They are deaf and blind to the Spirit and seek power through manmade wealth.

That link is the little voice within and the sub-conscious mind which leads and guides. We consult it on a regular basis for solutions to problems and a path forward when lost. Those who use money to bypass this connection are about to suffer the consequences.

To do the task given to me the Spirit provided the knowledge required and that took me to Babylon, the start of Islam and the sun-star Mary. This remarkable image was stylised into a woman whom men thought they could ‘marry’. The people of the city were the Amors and they built Roma (reverse Amor). One of their numbers was Constantine who established the Catholic Church in 325 AD and he put up the image of Jesus Christ and reinstated Mary as the Mother of God.

He also established the financial system that has now reached a point where it will be shown for what it is. It is the product of the man identified as 666 in Revelation 13:18 and anyone dealing in wealth has his number on their forehead. The retribution of the Spirit is now playing out and those who have cheated in this way will be the first to feel God’s fury.

Money defies spiritual power and it is a false god that cannot be worshiped by those who seek to know God in truth. Everyone who has lived is back and the Mountain of God was promised to appear in the last day. It is the Internet and the truth is pouring from it to bring light into the world of darkness and there is none darker than that of religion and finance.

As parents, we want nothing more than for our kids to succeed. Often, we wish to give our children a “leg up” in their transition to adulthood by helping them out with larger expenses, such as tuition for post-secondary education, a down payment on a home or even a reliable vehicle. If you find yourself in this situation, be sure to carefully consider where you take that money from so that helping your kids doesn’t hurt your retirement.

For people who don’t already have savings set aside for their kids, such as an RESP or a savings account, there are generally two options:

1. Retirement savings. Tapping into your retirement savings may be the quickest way to access cash but it could have some undesirable consequences. For example, you’ll be charged taxes on a withdrawal from your RRSP and you’ll lose that contribution room forever. You’ll also forego any future growth on the amount you’ve withdrawn, which will most likely mean you’ll have less money available at retirement.

2. Home equity. Some people are reluctant to take on more debt in the years leading up to retirement. However, using a home equity line of credit to help out your kids may be the wiser choice in some instances. Here’s why: you won’t be charged any tax when you access your home equity and your existing retirement savings can remain intact and continue to grow. Some accounts will even allow you to track different portions of your debt separately. This can be particularly useful if you’re providing money to more than one child and/or if you wish to track the interest charged for different portions of the debt.

If you’d like to help your kids with a large expense, give me a call and I can help you determine which option makes the most sense in your specific situation.