Latest news with #universitytown
Washington Post
10-08-2025
- General
- Washington Post
A family opened a town's first bookstore. A bathroom bill is driving them away.
VERMILLION, S.D. — Their time in this small Midwestern town was nearly over, but for now, Mike Phelan still had a business to run, so he and his daughter leashed their dog and headed up the street. The commute took three minutes. The Phelans passed sprawling Victorian houses with wraparound porches, then, Mike pulled out his keys. When they moved here from Chicago five years ago, Mike discovered Vermillion had a university, locally made bread Oprah Magazine once declared the best in the world, and an author who'd won the National Book Award. But Vermillion didn't have a bookstore. No university town should exist without a place to buy novels and new nonfiction, Mike thought, so he'd opened one and named it 'Outside of a Dog' after a Groucho Marx quote — 'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.'
Irish Times
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong: Ambitious, stylish novel is like The Bell Jar for Gen Z
To Rest Our Minds and Bodies Author : Harriet Armstrong ISBN-13 : 978-1739778361 Publisher : Les Fugitives Guideline Price : £14.99 Harriet Armstrong's To Rest Our Minds and Bodies is a true original: ambitious, stylish and wonderfully uncynical. It reads like The Bell Jar for Gen Z , a coming-of-age novel in which very little outwardly happens, yet we're drawn deep into the volcanic interior of girlhood. Set in an unnamed English university town, the novel follows its narrator through her final year as she attends lectures, attempts to lose her virginity and moves through a blur of dates, pub trips and club nights. These events might seem mundane but, in her telling, nothing feels ordinary. There's a piercing brightness in every sentence, a flash of insight. The narrator views the world with a kind of autistic purity, encountering everything as if for the first time, each moment lit up with sensory detail, every social exchange charged with emotion. 'I loved that night, I loved moving my body in a vague unconscious way and watching Anna and Jacob dance with each other, a sarcastic sort of dance as if they were dancing together but also mocking the idea that they might be dancing together.' READ MORE The quiet beauty of this sentence lies in its rhythm and hesitancy, its breathless build mirroring the moment's ecstasy. Armstrong's real ambition becomes clear: not simply to describe experience but to reach under it, to capture its weight and feel. To Rest Our Minds and Bodies begins as a shimmering, deeply sincere love story, but curdles into something more upsetting. The object of the narrator's affection, Luke, is pretty unremarkable. At first, the disconnect between her infatuated perception and the more banal reality is gently comic, even touching; we see what she cannot. But as her desire intensifies and loses touch with anything mutual or grounded, the novel shifts. What once felt tender becomes claustrophobic. By its final movement, the story has transformed into something closer to psychological horror, a portrait of unrequited love as a kind of entrapment, where emotion becomes a sealed and airless chamber, and the narrator is left utterly alone inside it. To Rest Our Minds and Bodies is luminous, unsettling and emotionally honest. Armstrong has captured not how things are, but how they feel. In doing so, she has crafted a style that is urgently contemporary and unmistakably her own.
Globe and Mail
15-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
How this ‘underfunded' single 60-year-old can still be happy in retirement. Plus, an engineer on how much money you need to retire
Katrina is 60 years old and single with no dependants. 'After a number of unexpected mid-career illnesses, including cancer, I became unable to work,' Katrina writes in an e-mail. She has been living on disability insurance for the past decade or so. Her income is about $38,000 a year, which will drop when she turns 65. Katrina lives in a rent-controlled apartment in a university town where she pays $1,572 a month, including utilities. But she's concerned about the neighbourhood and would like to move. 'The worry that my neighbourhood is becoming unsafe keeps me up at night,' she writes, but renting in a better area would cost at least $500 a month more. Her assets consist of $12,000 in a high-interest savings account – her emergency fund – and $8,400 in her tax-free savings account, held in guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). She hopes to build her emergency fund to $20,000, after which she would like to start investing in stocks in her TFSA. She is reading about investing and working to understand the financial markets. Katrina may be in line for an inheritance in the future but it's not certain. Given her health issues, Katrina is 'not confident she will have a healthy future,' so her goal is to live modestly 'but not deny myself simple pleasures,' she writes. 'I realize I am underfunded and it is distressing.' For this Financial Facelift, Warren MacKenzie, an independent financial planner in Toronto, looks at Katrina's situation. Mr. MacKenzie is a chartered professional accountant (CPA). Get some free financial advice from The Globe and Mail by e-mailing finfacelift@ to be part of our Financial Facelift series. You don't have to share your real name and our photographers will obscure your identity in one of our trademark Financial Facelift photos. Here are some recent facelifts for you to read. We're especially keen to hear from Canadians worried about how the trade war with the U.S. will impact their ability to retire. Have you changed your investment strategy? Your retirement timeline? Your travel plans? Hopefully our advice can help you weather these stormy times and ensure a secure financial future. A new bill in the U.S. appears to be a win for Canadian retirees who want to spend more time residing south of the border, writes retirement reporter Meera Raman, but experts warn it doesn't address key tax and regulatory hurdles that come with longer stays. The bipartisan Canadian Snowbird Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in late April. It proposes to extend how long Canadians 50 and older can spend in the U.S. without a visa – 240 days a year, up from 182 – so long as they own property in the U.S. or have a signed rental agreement for the duration of their stay. While the bill has a brief mention that Canadians would retain their nonresident tax status, financial planners and lawyers say that would be harder to achieve in practice. Some also said it likely wouldn't override the new 30-day registration requirements required for all 'aliens' 14 years or older – including Canadians – without a visa, unless otherwise exempted. Darren Coleman, senior portfolio manager with Coleman Wealth at Raymond James Ltd. in Oakville, Ont., said the bill would be 'extremely appealing' to many of his snowbird clients. But, he added, the real concern is avoiding U.S. taxes. Read the full article here. In case you missed it, peak early retirement happened in 1998, writes personal finance columnist Rob Carrick. The average retirement age that year was 60.9 years, he notes, which compares with 65.3 in 2024. Carrick starts by looking at the trade war in documenting how this quiet demise of early retirement came to be. The trade war, he says, is the latest in a series of financial shocks that includes the exploding of the tech bubble in 2000-01, the global financial crisis in 2008-09 and the pandemic in 2020. With financial markets acting erratically every few years, it's natural to feel like you should push off your future retirement date to save more. The trade war has caused some people to rethink their retirement plans, said Janice Holman, a principal at actuarial consultants Eckler Ltd.: 'People who are ready to retire are probably going,' she said. 'But those that are within, let's say, a three-year window of retirement, are probably going to hold out for a while.' It's easy to put a negative spin on delayed retirement in a country where Freedom 55 is one of the all-time most memorable marketing slogans. Decades ago, an insurance company used the term to sell wealth management and financial planning services that would ostensibly allow people to retire early. Retiring later makes perfect sense in today's world, but the numbers documenting this trend still seem jarring. Read Rob's column here. Looking for more personal finance opinion and advice? Sign up for the Carrick on Money newsletter here. As markets whip back and forth and portfolios shrink, some Canadian retirees may be tempted to rethink plans to delay Canada Pension Plan or Quebec Pension Plan benefits, writes retirement reporter Meera Raman. The idea is simple: Start taking government payments sooner to reduce the need for withdrawals from your equity investments, giving them time to recover. But financial planners say that starting CPP early should be a last resort – not a reaction to short-term market turbulence. That's because the longer you wait to take CPP, the more you get, and the increase is substantial. While you can start collecting as early as age 60, deferring until 70 boosts payments by 42 per cent. 'The increases by delaying are significant,' said Marlene Buxton, a Toronto-based certified financial planner and owner of Buxton Financial for Retirement. 'They add up to a lot, especially for people who live longer.' Yet most Canadians don't wait. In fact, only about 4 per cent are expected to hold off until 70, according to a Globe analysis of data from the 2021 Actuarial Report on the CPP. For many, the choice is less about a financial strategy and more about necessity, Ms. Buxton said. Read the full article here. Use the Globe 'CPP Benefits at 60 vs 65' calculator to help you choose when you start collecting Americans think you need $1.25-million to retire. Canadians think you need $1.7-million. U.S. author and TV host Suze Orman thinks $5-million is barely enough – since private islands don't buy themselves, they add. Where do these numbers come from? According to Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung's Opinion piece, some people take their yearly expenses and multiply it by their life expectancy. Others assume you'll need 70 per cent of your pretax income in retirement. The problem, they say, is that these methods don't consider investment growth or customize for different spending levels. Some people are perfectly happy living in Thailand, spending $30,000 a year, while others want a lavish retirement income of $200,000 a year. As former engineers, Shen and Leung prefer to make decisions with math, not feelings. So, they calculated their retirement number using the 4-per-cent rule. So, what is the 4-per-cent rule? Basically, it's how much you can withdraw annually in retirement to avoid portfolio depletion. The history of this rule goes back to 1994, when it was created by a financial adviser named Bill Bengen. He simulated what would happen to a portfolio if you were to withdraw at different rates (3 per cent to 6 per cent) over different time periods, spanning the Great Depression, a World War and stagflation in the 1970s. He discovered that 4 per cent was the maximum you could safely withdraw, after accounting for inflation. Read how diversification and flexibility, using engineering concepts, might enable you to withdraw even more here. Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung retired in their 30s and are authors of the bestselling book Quit Like a Millionaire. Q: People may live longer in retirement than they do working. How do I plan accordingly? We asked Rebekah Young, vice president and head of inclusion and resilience economics, Scotiabank Economics. A: As Canadians face longer life expectancies and rising health care costs, strategic financial planning is more crucial than ever to ensure a comfortable retirement. And while longevity is increasing, many Canadians aren't financially prepared. A survey by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries (CIA) found that Canadians tend to underestimate their life expectancy by nearly four years. Research also shows that many underestimate their potential need for care after retirement. With a large population preferring to age in place – meaning staying at home – the cost of home care must be carefully considered, and decisions must be made with the risk of leaving something off the table. How to plan? Creating a solid financial plan is essential – it should identify potential expenses and outline different scenarios based on life expectancy. For example, if someone plans for an average life expectancy of 85 versus 95, the financial strategies required to meet retirement goals and maintain cash flow will differ. Evaluating various scenarios allows for informed decision-making and better preparedness for the years ahead. Factor in activities, such as volunteer opportunities and extracurriculars like tennis, golf and club memberships. This approach is also beneficial when planning inheritance outcomes for dependants, family members or charities. The key takeaway is that it's never too late to establish a financial plan. Working with an adviser or financial planner can help assess current assets and build a roadmap for the future – one that allows you to make informed personal and health-related choices to support the life you want to live. Interested in more stories about retirement? Sixty Five aims to inspire Canadians to live their best lives, confidently and securely. Read more here and sign up for our weekly Retirement newsletter.
Globe and Mail
10-05-2025
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Katrina, 60, is worried about being ‘underfunded.' Can she still enjoy a happy retirement?
Katrina is 60 years old and single with no dependants. 'After a number of unexpected mid-career illnesses, including cancer, I became unable to work,' Katrina writes in an e-mail. She has been living on disability insurance for the past decade or so. Her income is about $38,000 a year, which will drop when she turns 65. Katrina lives in a rent-controlled apartment in a university town where she pays $1,572 a month, including utilities. But she's concerned about the neighbourhood and would like to move. 'The worry that my neighbourhood is becoming unsafe keeps me up at night,' she writes, but renting in a better area would cost at least $500 a month more. Her assets consist of $12,000 in a high-interest savings account – her emergency fund – and $8,400 in her tax-free savings account, held in guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). She hopes to build her emergency fund to $20,000, after which she would like to start investing in stocks in her TFSA. She is reading about investing and working to understand the financial markets. Katrina may be in line for an inheritance in future but it's not certain. Given her health issues, Katrina is 'not confident she will have a healthy future,' so her goal is to live modestly 'but not deny myself simple pleasures,' she writes. 'I realize I am underfunded and it is distressing.' Her annual income breaks down as follows: Canada Pension Plan disability $17,568; private long-term disability insurance $18,888; the GST rebate $446; and the Ontario Trillium tax rebate $1,065. Generating additional income is her biggest priority. We asked Warren MacKenzie, an independent financial planner in Toronto, to look at Katrina's situation. Mr. MacKenzie is a chartered professional accountant (CPA). Nearly all of Katrina's income comes from a Canada Pension Plan disability pension and private disability insurance, Mr. MacKenzie says. 'She is carefully managing her cash flow and although she receives only $3,165 per month, she is still able to save a few hundred dollars each month,' the planner says. 'The problem that is keeping her awake at night is that her neighbourhood is going downhill, with a growing homeless population, and she believes that for her own safety she should move to another location even though it would mean a more expensive apartment.' There is another serious problem that Katrina should plan for, Mr. MacKenzie says. Even if she remains in her existing apartment, she will quickly run out of savings after she turns 65 and her disability insurance ends. This year, the income Katrina will receive from her CPP disability, private long-term disability insurance and various tax rebates will total about $38,000. In five years, when she turns 65, her CPP disability pension will convert automatically to the lower CPP retirement pension. In addition, she will lose her private long-term disability insurance. She will start to collect Old Age Security and the guaranteed income supplement (GIS), making her total income in five years, including CPP, slightly less than $30,000 a year, broken down as follows: CPP $14,500; OAS $9,900; and GIS $5,300 – plus whatever tax rebates may be in place at that time. 'This means she will have a drop in her cash flow of about $8,000 a year,' Mr. MacKenzie says. If she moves to a more expensive apartment, at age 65, with her income down by $8,000 a year and her rent up by about $6,000 – plus higher lifestyle expenses because of inflation over the next five years – Katrina's cash outflow could exceed her cash inflow by about $18,000 per year, the planner says. 'On the bright side, Katrina says it is possible that she will inherit between $300,000 and $500,000 within the next five years,' he says. Her elderly father may decide to sell the family home and move to an assisted living facility, giving advance inheritances to the three children, for example. 'This being the case, Katrina might as well move to the more expensive but safer apartment,' Mr. MacKenzie says. 'Given that she is concerned about her safety, she might as well use up her savings to give herself at least five years in a safer neighbourhood.' Katrina would be more secure financially if she could find a rent-geared-to-income apartment, ideally in a desirable neighbourhood. With governments now promising more affordable housing, Katrina should put her name on a waiting list for new rent-geared-to-income or co-op housing in case the possible inheritance does not come through. As it stands, the waiting list for a one-bedroom rent-geared-to-income unit in the city where Katrina lives is 6.5 years; that drops to 3.5 years for seniors' housing. If she moves to a more expensive apartment and inherits at least $300,000 some time in the next five years, her $18,000 a year deficit would be partly offset by the interest on the invested money, the planner says. This investment income would trigger some income tax and reduce her entitlement to the GIS. With her higher rent, to make ends meet, in 2030 she would have to dip into her inherited capital to the tune of about $10,000 a year, Mr. MacKenzie says. 'Each year as she dips into her capital she earns less investment income,' he adds. 'By the time she is in her late 80s, she will have used up the entire inheritance and have no financial reserve.' If during the next five years Katrina inherits $500,000, rather than the lower amount, then she would be able to maintain her lifestyle even if she moved to a more expensive apartment, the planner says. She would be unlikely to run out of money even if she lived to age 100. How likely are Katrina and her two siblings to inherit? It depends on how much of their father's $1.5-million in assets will go to his home care and possible nursing home care. Katrina also asks about investing. 'Katrina knows almost nothing about investing and she realizes that it will be important to invest wisely if she eventually inherits some money,' Mr. MacKenzie says. 'It would be devastating if she inherited a large amount and then lost a lot of it because of investing mistakes,' he says. 'However, until such time as she receives a substantial inheritance, she should not consider investing her savings in anything other than a short-term GIC or a high-interest savings account,' Mr. MacKenzie says. If and when she receives an inheritance, she could work with a qualified adviser or invest in widely diversified, conservative exchange-traded funds. Katrina enjoys yoga classes and activities at the local seniors' centre, the planner notes. 'She practises creative writing and tries to keep as active and involved with her community as possible.' But she should guard against spending too much time worrying about her health and financial challenges. 'If she lives in the moment and focuses on her activities, her community, the seniors' centre she frequents and her creative pursuits, she can enjoy a happy retirement.' The Person: Katrina, 60 The Problem: Preparing for a drop in income when she turns 65. Can she afford to move to a safer neighbourhood? Should she invest her savings in the stock market? The Plan: Tread carefully. Move if she really wants to, but if she does, she will be dipping into her savings over time. Consider applying in advance for rent-geared-to-income housing in case the potential inheritance doesn't materialize. The Payoff: Permission to look on the bright side. Monthly net income: $3,165. Assets: High interest savings account $12,000; TFSA $8,400. Total: $20,400. Monthly outlays: Rent $1,570; home insurance $40; transportation $370; groceries $400; clothing $50; gifts, charity $30; vacation, travel $50; personal care $20; sports, hobbies $100; subscriptions $20; doctors, dentists, prescriptions $130; phones, TV, internet $105; TFSA $275. Total: $3,160. Liabilities: None. Want a free financial facelift? E-mail finfacelift@ Some details may be changed to protect the privacy of the persons profiled.
