Canadian Money Management Online: Personal Finance on the Net

Martha Wilson is Canadian correspondent for the Japan Times (Tokyo) and
a Toronto-based freelance editor and writer.

This useful guide, written specifically for a Canadian audience, offers
helpful information on a variety of personal finance topics.

You don’t need to be an experienced Internet user to benefit from
Carroll and Broadhead’s advice. In fact, some of the best tips have
nothing to do with getting on the Internet. The chapter on retirement
planning, for example, includes a section titled “Understanding Your
Current Coverage,” which begins “[i]f you are employed and your
company has a pension plan, you should definitely consider taking part!
Second, ask your pension people for a clear calculation of the benefits
you will receive upon retirement. Third, ask them if you are taking
advantage of maximum contributions. If not, find out how to do so, and
whether you can make ‘prior year catch up payments.’” It’s a
relief to find guidelines laid out so clearly, specifying whom to
approach and what to ask.

Carroll and Broadhead steer readers through credit and mortgage issues,
insurance and tax questions, investment planning strategies, and
clarifying priorities, before listing URLs to check out.

“The Internet is not some magical tool that will provide you with
‘new and improved’ guidance about your financial affairs,” Carroll
and Broadhead point out. (They go on to liken the Internet to a dump
truck.) They prefer a judicious approach, and have done the sorting for
you. One of the book’s strengths is that featured Web sites are more
than just links to other sites. You won’t get sucked into that futile
hopping around that makes you want to cancel your Internet service
forever.

The text is attractive, with nice reproductions of many of the Web
sites mentioned. Every

page or two includes a boxed nugget of information, such as “In 1995,
insurers paid out $60–70 million in hail-related property claims in
Alberta alone.” Though some of these facts are pretty frivolous, they
liven up the pages and add considerably to the book’s visual appeal.
Carroll

and Broadhead have come up with a reference work that’s both solid and
easy to read.