As we bid farewell to 2007, let’s look back at the news that directly affected our pocketbooks:

  1. The Federal Budget in March introduced major changes to RESPs and introduced a new child tax credit.
  2. Vanguard introduced the Europe Pacific ETF (VEA) and injected much needed competition to the iShares MSCI EAFE Index Fund (EFA).
  3. After charging $25 to $30 per trade for close to a decade, a few major discount brokers started lowering commissions for some account holders.
  4. In its fall fiscal update, the Federal Government reduced the GST to 5%, lowered personal income taxes and cut corporate taxes.

I hope 2007 was a prosperous year for you and wish you more of the same in 2008. Happy New Year!