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www.celtic-connection.com
OCTOBER 2002
Budget Accommodation Map of Ireland
The Irish Youth Hostel Association (An Oige) has published a new map folder which provides details of 31 youth hostels located throughout the Republic of Ireland.
The map folder also lists nine youth hostels in Northern Ireland, including Belfast which are part of the Hostelling International Northern Ireland (HINI). Irish Youth Hostels cater for individuals, families and groups and can be booked through the International Booking Network (IBN), an advance booking system at more than 300 key hostels around the world, including Dublin, Cork, Killarney, Rosslare Harbour hostels.
An Oige offers a seven-night price for six promotion through its loyalty card program which is valid through December 31 2003 To obtain a copy of the Youth Hostel Association Budget Accommodation Map folder for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland contact Tourism Ireland in Toronto at 1-800-223-6470, or e-mail: inlo.ca@tourismireland .com. For information on accommodation op-tions and tours, visit the website at www.irelandyha .ore
HERE'S TO YOUR WEALTH!
What Is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
By MARY HENNESSEY
There is evidence that Canadians have chosen mutual funds (or as many in the financial services industry prefer to call "securities") as their investment of choice.
Some prefer to pick the funds themselves rather than have a professional do it for them, rationalizing perhaps that they are saving themselves money.
It seems so simple to evaluate the past performance of a fund (just check its star rating) and invest in it, hoping that it will continue to perform in the same fashion.
IT ALSO RISES TO THE
OCCASION.
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This "no help" (don't need the services of a professional advisor) implies that investor performance and investment performance are synonymous.
This approach of looking in the rear view mirror to determine what lies ahead can prove costly because people buy funds (or sectors) after a meteoric rise when most of the gains from the upward swing of the cycle are already history.
Predictably, and within fairly short order, a perfectly normal correction to the cycle will occur. As we have seen in the recent past, (I'm thinking of the hi-tech sector), the most spectacular rise was followed by the most devastating correction.
The trap to avoid for you, the investor, is the star rating system -it's the rear view mirror. And you wouldn't drive your car looking only in the small mirror that tells you what is happening behind you, would you? It is possible for you to become a very successful investor without ever consulting the stars.
Consult a professional to help you make your choice of funds. This advice usually doesn't cost you anything since advisors receive their fees from the mutual fund companies. An advisor will help you to avoid the second trap - trying to time the market.
Wise investors know that it is not about timing the market but time in the market. Think of investing as a long term strategy - a means to achieve your long-term goals (assuming you are growing your retirement portfolio).
What is dollar-cost averaging and why do so many people choose it? First, let me remind you that since
it's anybody's guess which way the market is headed on any given day, there will be peaks and valleys throughout all the seasons of an investor's lifetime. Dollar-cost averaging - DCA - is the way to level out the peaks and valleys.
When you invest a set amount (whether its £100 or 85000) on a consistent basis (usually monthly) you dollar cost average.
The great strength about DCA is that is has a built-in mechanism for aggressive buying of equities i.e. when the price is low and inexperienced investors shy away from them, and for being timid when prices are soaring and the rush is on.
Because DCA investors have a pre-set plan for consistently buying a set amount monthly, this creates a framework for them to behave as they should - which is exactly the opposite of the way they usually do.
By being in the marketplace and buying cart-loads of equities (small pieces of valuable companies) when prices are low and avoiding euphoric peaks and panic rushes, the true DCA devotee affords himself a below-average cost and an above-average return.
The DCA investor outperforms his own investments because he bought a disproportionate number of shares at low (some would say panic) prices.
You see now why investment performance and consulting the stars is irrelevant; investment behaviour is ultimately what makes the difference.
Through DCA you can consider "volatility" (the ups and downs of the market) as your friend rather than your enemy.
Volatility can actually make the DCA investor even wealthier. And why not? After all, it's your money.
•
Mary Hennessey is a Personal Financial Coach with PFSL Investments Canada Inc. If you have questions about beginning an investment program or about your current program, you can email Mary at hennessey@shaw.ca.
High-Tech Images of the Doomed
Lusitania
CORK - As part of a E32 million government "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" probe, the doomed Cunard liner Lusitania has been captured on a high-tech image in its watery grave off Cork.
The seven-year survey of the entire Irish seabed is the largest and most expensive project of its kind ever undertaken in the world. It has produced the first-ever sonar image of the Lusitania lying on the seabed eight miles off Kinsale.
Detailed sonar images have been released of the ill-fated ship which was torpedoed by a U-boat in May 1915 with the loss of 1,198 lives. Its sinking on the way from New York to Liverpool hastened American's entering the First World War in 1917.
The ship is Ireland's only designated underwater heritage site. The order was placed on the wreck in the wake of expeditions to the Lusitania, one of which involved the recovery of massive bronze propellers and their sale for scrap.
A spokesman for the Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) said the image of the Lusitania was produced using the same ultra-modern equipment used to carry out the seabed survey. The initial survey report has so far mapped 450,000 square kilometres of the seabed over the past three years, five times the land area of Ireland.
A special GREEN HOTLINE sponsored by GUINNESS CANADA will provide 24-hour recorded information on upcoming Celtic events in the LOWER MAINLAND & ALBERTA:
CALL (604) 519-6440