ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 | NEWS | A7
Work anniversary celebrated Tom Summer tsummer@ahnfsj.ca Tyler Lillico was surprised by his friends and supporters from the Fort St. John Association for Community Living last Wednesday afternoon to celebrate his one-year work anniversary. Lillico works at Aniela’s Kitchen through Community Living’s careers program. It’s his first full-time gig, he says he loves working in the kitchen, listening to classic rock, and helping wherever he’s needed. “When I joined the association I knew they had a job program, and I wanted to find myself a job... So boom, one year later, I’m going strong,” said Lillico, 22. “Everyone’s super friendly here, I chit chat a lot when I’m doing the dishes or sani-
tizing and stuff like that. And they play really excellent music.” Sheri Ashdown, inclusion and employment program manager for the Association for Community Living, says the careers program has been a great success. “We strive on real work for real pay and having inclusive employers like Aniela’s Kitchen makes lives fulfilling for the people we support, by giving them an opportunity to shine and utilize their skills,” Ashdown said. Owners Jeanette and Blair Johnston say they’re very proud to have Lillico as part of their team, and appreciate his warm personality and willingness to learn. “He’s always so sunny, we really enjoy having Tyler here,” said Jeanette. -Local Journalism Initiative
Juried art exhibition celebrates 40 The Peace Liard Regional Arts Council is getting ready for its 40th annual Regional Juried Art Exhibition this spring. This year’s exhibition is titled ‘Open Sky’ which the Arts Council says is inspired by the stunning skyscapes of Northeast B.C. Original art submissions are being sought from local artists across all mediums and forms, including a new photography category. This year’s exhibition will be adjudicated by B.C. artists Lynette La
Fontaine, a Métis beadworker and Knowledge Keeper, as well as Cara Guri, a realist portraitist. Open Sky will also feature a youth exhibit for young artists age 10 to 17. This year’s exhibition is scheduled to take place at the Tumbler Ridge Visitor Center May 6 to 30, and cohosted by the Tumbler Ridge Community Arts Council. To learn more about this year’s exhibition, including submission criteria and awards, visit opensky. peaceliardarts.org
TOM SUMMER PHOTO
Tyler Lillico with Blair and Jeanette Johnston.
Apartment vacancies, rents rise Matt Preprost editor@ahnfsj.ca Apartment vacancy rates in Fort St. John grew to 12.7% last year, according to the Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation. Vacancies of all apartment types in the city rose by more than a percentage point from 11.1% in 2020, while average monthly rents were reported at $941 last year, up from $914, according to the CMHC’s rental market report. A two-bedroom apartment cost families an average of $1,048 a
month, up from $1,012 in 2020, while a one-bedroom unit rented for an average of $747. The city saw a slight increase in its overall apartment inventory, up from 1,830 to 1,837 units. When it comes to townhouses, vacancy rates dropped from 10.1% to 8.6% year over year, with average monthly rents up from $989 to $1,026. A two-bedroom townhouse rented for an average of $974 last year, a three-bedroom for $1,125. The CMHC report did not provide data on the city’s rental condo market.
ALASKA HIGHWAY NEWS
A12 | NEWS | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022
Can you have too much in your RRSP?
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ANNE ROBERTS YOUNG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PHOTOS
WINTER FUN DAY: Elementary students at Anne Roberts Young school celebrated a Winter Fun Day of activities last week. Despite the lack of snow on the ground, students bound together for a group race, stacked and collapsed towers of Jenga blocks, worked on Valentine’s Day themed hearts and crafts, and took a trip to the local bowling lane.
Vintage highway footage a reel mystery for historian By Darren Handschuh Francois Arseneault has a ‘reel’ mystery on his hands. The Vernonbased historian and videographer was given some old colour footage that he has no information on. “Jim Henderson, a regular viewer, kindly contributed three reels of Super8 film he discovered abandoned in a cabin he purchased in the Yukon,” says Arseneault. “Who shot the footage is unknown.” This first reel appears to show a work crew on the Alaska highway in 1977. “I’m afraid there are very few clues to work with, the best perhaps is the Contact Creek sign at milepost 588,” says Arseneault. “Contact Creek is historically significant, the Alaska Highway construction crews from north and south met up at Contact Creek, B.C., on Sept. 24, 1942, and the highway was dedicated on Nov. 20,
1942, at Soldier’s Summit.” In 1977, the Alaska Highway was still an unforgiving gravel road and was quite a feat of endurance to travel with vehicles being pelted with rocks, resulting in many dings and cracked windshields. The last bit of footage shows what might be tar being cleaned up roadside. Arseneault is always looking for more information on the vintage footage he digs up, and he encourages people to add their input in the comments section on his YouTube page. Arseneault has an extensive collection of vintage footage, and is always looking for more. He currently has more than 1,000 episodes from 54 countries dating back to 1917. Anyone who may have old 16 mm or 8 mm film footage is invited to email Arseneault at stockshooter. yyc@gmail.com. —Castanet
ccasionally somebody will ask me if it is possible to have too much money in their Registered Retirement Savings Plan. The concern is that at some point they will have to take the money out, and they could see excessive taxation, and/or the clawback of government benefits. So, can you have too much money in your RRSP? Well, theoretically. But this is not a common occurrence. Let’s put it this way. In 27 years as a financial planner, I have yet to see it happen in real life. Realistically, saying “I don’t want too much to have too much money in my RRSP” is like saying “I don’t want to be too healthy.” It’s hard to find a legitimate, real-world scenario where that makes sense. Sure, there are some theoretical scenarios where an abundance of money in a Registered Retirement Savings Plan is detrimental, but these scenarios are so extreme, and often they are purposely contrived in an attempt to prove a point. Here’s an example. I recall reading an article that was trying to claim that having too much money in your RRSP is a real problem, and it started with “assume you have $10 million in your RRSP. Here’s how much tax you will pay…” Give me a break. Okay, I will concede that if you have $10 million in your RRSP you can probably stop putting money in. But let’s be factual. In order to dream up a scenario where someone ends up with $10 million in their RRSP, we are almost certainly ignoring RRSP contribution limits, or not using realistic assumptions for rates of return. Here is some context. The average RRSP balance is $101,155. That’s just one per cent of $10 million, and it’s a long, long, long way off from being worried about having too much wealth in your tax-sheltered plan. In the real world I would suggest that a typical worst-case scenario for the Registered Retirement Savings Plan is that we are neutral. Worst case, you might not be measurably better with the RRSP over an alternate wealth accumulation strategy, but you aren’t really punished for it either. The apprehension over taxation and losing government benefits may be worse than the actual tax and clawbacks. Old Age Security is the benefit that is most consistent with a scenario that involves an RRSP surplus creat-
BRAD BRAIN ing a negative impact. But OAS clawbacks don’t even start until you have a retirement income of $81,761, and you don’t lose the whole thing unless your retirement income is more than $133,141. It is natural that if you are on track for a modest retirement then you would be fearful of government clawbacks, but that’s not how it happens. The people that have modest retirement incomes are not subject to OAS clawbacks. And the folks that have $130,000 of income in retirement are probably going to be fine without the $635 per month from OAS. Okay, but what about taxation? Nobody likes paying tax, but again this can be distorted. The issue with RRSPs is that you can’t defer taxes forever. Sooner or later the money will be taxed. If you convert your RRSP to a Registered Retirement Income Fund there is a minimum amount that you need to withdraw each year. At age 65 the RRIF minimum is 4% of the account, and it is taxable. That might seem like forced taxation, but here is the part that I can attest to as a professional advisor that works with real people. People who have money spend money. If you have a million dollars in your RRSP and you convert it to a RRIF at age 65 you will need to take out 4%, or $40,000. In my experience, the people who have the financial acumen to acquire a million dollars of tax-sheltered wealth do that on purpose. You won’t be taking out $40,000 because you have to, you will be taking out $40,000 because you want to enjoy your retirement. Your financial advisor can help you with the calculations but generally speaking, assuming you have a tax problem now, RRSPs are going to be beneficial. The RRSP deadline is March 1, 2022. Brad Brain, CFP, R.F.P., CIM, TEP is a Certified Financial Planner in Fort St John, BC. This material is prepared for general circulation and may not reflect your individual financial circumstances. Brad can be reached at www.bradbrainfinancial.com.
WI celebrates 125 years Dave Lueneberg sports@ahnfsj.ca February is National Women’s Institute month but this year is especially significant as the national organization celebrates its 125th anniversary. While the WI, as it’s become known, dates back to 1897, it was a tragic event involving co-founder Adelaide Hunter Hoodless two years later that would give the group its foundation: to educate women. A mother of four, Hoodless would unexpectedly lose her 14-month-old son in what was thought to be the ingesting of contaminated unpasteurized milk. Jill Copes is a long-time member of the Nor’Pioneer Women’s Institute based in Cecil Lake, one of six such groups in the Peace Country. The first known Women’s Institute to be established in the area, she says, was in 1928 and it flourished from there. “In the Peace, there were institutes everywhere. Like, every 10 miles you would see a WI. Travel was so limited in those days,” explains Copes. “Our first meeting in Cecil Lake, a lady brought her children on horseback to travel four miles to the meeting.” For some 40 years, the institute has also raised money for an emergency fund. Examples, Copes says, is where a person might have a medical emergency and need money to travel, where a family loses their home to a fire, or where Christmas presents are bought for a family in need. The Nor’Pioneer WI recently held a
Adelaide Hoodless
Valentine’s 50/50 raffle that brought in $2500 for programs such as its emergency fund. “We also donate to B.C. Children’s Hospital,” says Copes, which at one time was known as the Women’s Institute Crippled Children’s Hospital. “The B.C. WI gathers donations from all the institutes around the province and we purchase a specific piece of equipment.” While the group’s true calling, when it began a century-and-a-quarter ago, might have been educating women, it’s also become part of the fabric of the community. “Putting on luncheons, catering to weddings, helping with memorial services, organizing clean-up of our local cemetery,” says Copes, who characterizes the institute as the “hub of the community.” “If there’s something that needs to be organized, just ask the Women’s Institute.”