Who "ships" more oil to the U.S. than any other supplier? Canada, that's who ... and many U.S. entities have been buying their oil (plus other) companies, which is quite likely one major reason for the recent substantial rise in the Cdn. Dollar. Plus, no sheiks here: well, not in charge, anyhow. They have increasing cash assets ... still, for they're still pumping oil. At increasing price. U.S. assets, due to their huge debt ... plus that major annual deficit (some of those overseas borrowings recently being used to pay for ludicrous tax cuts) ... are decreasing. Would be a good idea to buy foreign oil sources as well as growth-oriented future assets of other kinds, wouldn't it, while your dollar buys more? And I shouldn't be saying this, as I've been trying to tell Canadians for years to buy their own assets, damn it! And some U.S. folks recently got pretty upset that the Chinese were using some of those U.S. bonds that the products which they've shipped over here have earned them, to buy some Canadian oil companies and propose building some pipelines from Alberta to the West Coast. As for holding bonds ... as U.S. debt continues to increase and foreigners become less willing to buy their bonds, they'll have to offer higher interest rates in order to entice them to buy those bonds. Which will have an impact at home. And you know what happens to bond prices when interest rates rise?! No guarantees of non-shrinkage of price offered, prior to their maturing at the agreed price. One of the largest Canadian suppliers of oil and natural gas has been talking of methods to maximize value, and their stock price has risen 17% since mid-March ... they've just announced that they're planning to split their company into oil producer and natural gas producer. Analysts expect price to be up, tomorrow (Mon, May 12) from close of just over 86 on Fri.. Several of our major mining and smelting companies have been sold overseas, several of them privatized (so we can't buy company shares, even based in the country to which they've gone): Brascan, Noranda, Inco, Falconbridge, Alcan, Dofasco, Stelco, Ipsco. All gone. I bought shares of one of the ones left ... up substantially since Jan ... one of my best deals (of only a few) in years. ole joyful

If you figure that you're going to need that CDIC back-up, better put your money into a small bank, for several banks have failed and I think that quite a few feel that if a fair-sized bank goes broke, the CDIC till will be bare. Being a gov't. agency, there'd likely be back-up, but that would cause substantial delay, quite likely ... and incur more debt for the U.S. gov't., which has taken on far too much, now. As most of that debt is held abroad, they'll have to start paying higher rates in order to entice lenders to buy their debt instruments ... and have been printing money, with the likelihood that they'll be printing a whole lot more, soon. These mortgage-initiating rascals in recent years sure make a bank robber carrying his loot in a pillowcase look like pretty small potatoes. I remember as a kid, when I learned to ride a bicycle down our country road, wishing that the gravel on the road would become gold ... but it didn't take me long to realize that if it were gold for me, it would be for everyone else, as well ... and that soon it would take more than a pocketful of gold to buy a loaf of bread. How long has it been since the U.S. Dollar was backed by gold? Or silver? Our Dollar - same game. And - when your economy gets a cold ... ours gets pneumonia. What's the expected time-frame when you'll need to use those assets? Almost 10 years ago, when I was 70, I called a financial planner on a phone-in radio show to say that I felt that I should plan to fund my life to age 100, which was six blocks of five years each. Fortunately, I was able to live on somewhat less than my three pensions, and expected to be able to do so for some time - now, 10 years later, same story. But it seemed to me that were I to need some of the assets to live on, I should not eat up all of the first block in the first five years, for it would no longer be there to earn some income for my future needs. In fact, I thought that I should try to avoid using any more than that first block of the six in the first 10 years ... especially considerig that inflation would cause me to need more dollars to live the same lifestyle, a few years down the road. You know - that "inflation" that has shrunk the value of each one of our dollars-in-hand in every year since the late 1930s. And money in the bank is like money-in-hand: each dollar of the principal doesn't grow (but it sure does shrink). Which means that I would not plan to use up 83% of my asset during that first 10 year period, and that a number of financial advisors feel that purchasing stocks for more than a 10-year time horizon makes sense. He said that my plan made a lot of sense, in his view. Short-term, if we fear losing capital, we need to invest in guaranteed dollars ... but long-term, those guaranteed dollar investments, after paying tax, and adding some to principal in order to maintain purchasing power, leave little for the investor. If anything. Now, at 80, I carry about 80% of my assets in equity-based investments. That would make many people have a hairy ... but I feel comfortable with it. Yes, I have some losses, but I have some gains, as well ... and the tax structure here encourages holding equities. A single taxpayer with no income but dividends on Canadian stocks can earn over $46,000. before being required to pay ONE CENT of income tax (and having a low-income spouse with transferrable credits, or gifts to charity or a political campaign, or eligible medical/dental bills over 4.5% [in that case - 3% ordinarily] of net income will push that $46,000.+ tax-free income level even higher). Some time ago, I wrote a thread either here or on "Money Saving Tips", I think, asking which ordinary person gained from inflation, and who loses. When you put your money in the bank, say $10,000., 15 years ago, they guaranteed to pay you back every dollar, in addition to the rent on the money. There's another guarantee, that they never mention - they won't pay you one dollar more, either. And the value of each of those dollars has shrunk, in every one of those 15 years ... as it has every year since the 1930s. That $10,000. would have bought a nice car, 15 years ago ... not now. I figured a while ago, when I could borrow at 6.25%, that most of the time I could come close to breaking even on such a loan, using it to purchase quality stocks. So ... now, when I can borrow for 4.75%, breaking even should be an even greater probability, no? If I'd borrowed your $10,000. from the bank, 15 years ago and paid only the interest in the years since (which I would never recommend, on a consumer loan) .................................................................................................................................................... ................................... when I go into the bank to pay off the loan, now, how much will I need to pay? Yes - $10,000. Which they will give to you, to pay off your CD, if you ask. I gained from inflation, because I paid off the loan in depreciated dollars - you lost, since each of those dollars would buy less than when you loaned it out to the bank, 15 years ago. The only value that your money would ever produce, relative to each of those years, was made right then ... and it was taxed - then ... and, in Canada, it's taxed at top marginal rate. When I used those borrowed dollars to buy quality (retirement type) stocks, and since I came close to breaking even each year on the loan that I made, on average, over the last fifteen years, my investment in stocks grew quite a lot, so now, when I sell them, after paying off the loan, I have quite a lot of money left in my pocket. Which asset was built with your money, not mine. Granted - if the stocks went down in value - I had to find the money somewhere else to pay back to the bank. But, as you know ... they didn't. And, over a time horizon of 10 years or so, they haven't. And a bonus for me - as the value of those quality stocks went up ... so did the annual rate of dividends that they paid. When I bought shares in a Canadian bank 41 years ago for $4.20 or so (also referred to below), they produced annual dividends of about a dime or 12 cents per year: now they pay $3.48. As the number of dollars in a CD doesn't change over the years ... the amount of interest that they produce doesn't change much, either. But - my investment in shares of a Canadian bank have gone from $106. in May, 2007 to just over $62.00 now ... why? They put substantial amounts into those sub-prime U.S. mortgages ... and that "asset-backed commercial paper" ("acid-backed commercial paper"??) that some of the U.S. financial scoundrels were peddling. That now the U.S. government, which can't afford to, is going to partially bail them out of. As some say - socialism for the rich ... private enterprise for the low-level guys who get stuck with the bill ......................... when the rich guys pull a big-time goof (but the rich guys get to keep their previously ill-gotten loot). Remember the savings and loan fiasco of, what, 20 years or so ago? Have you given thought to how much it has cost for the Mccain-Obama campaign over the past couple of years? Where do you figure that money came from? Apart from the costs associated with running for Congress or the Senate, etc. Good wishes for increasing skill in managing your income ... and your assets. ole joyful

"...that can't be worth it, can it?" For good, or bad, most people wait until they have a problem, or they are doing renovations. In such cases, there is no real question of 'worth it'. If you are tearing up your driveway, and you know you have old/galvanized pipes, then it is only common sense to replace it. Similarly, if you have a leak, then there is no real choice, time to replace. As far as when to decide to replace what's inside your home, well, that is up to you, your finances, water pressure, leaks, etc... If you take a pipe apart to fix a section, and you see the clogging common to galvanized pipes, it's fairly safe to assume all of your pipes are in a similar condition. If you can afford it - a stitch in time... The municipal pipes, hopefully, are managed by people who are looking at that same type of thinking process. There's a point at which replacing just makes sense. Whether yours has done it... I'm sure they would be glad to let you know both what they have, and the last time it was replaced.

Elmer the problem banks were paying out more than they had assets to cover. Remember what happened with the savings and loan problem many years ago? That was one of the things that helped push them over the edge. I worked at several banks and although I am aware of what you just wrote people who are less knowledgeable do worry about safety and being able to quickly access their money. My investments earn currently way more than what I can earn at the three institutions that are offering these higher interest rates so I have little interest at this time other than curiosity. I will be reviewing periodically as although these do not appear to be the bait and switch rates that I have seen in the past where financial institutions paid larger than normal interest rates for a period of time then swiftly lowered them. The planning was that most would not move their deposits and the few that did would make little difference in the banks balance sheets.