Gordon Pape's 1998 Buyer's Guide to Mutual Funds

Monika Rohlmann is an environmental/social consultant in Yellowknife,
Northwest Territories.

Since 1990, Gordon Pape has been publishing these well-organized guides
on a yearly basis. They are most suitable for Canadians who want to plan
and direct their own investments.

The 1998 Buyer’s Guide to RRSPs provides information about tax laws,
different types of RRSPs, financial savings instruments, home-buying
plans, and retirement planning strategies. There is a section detailing
the most common mistakes people make when planning for their retirement.
The book concludes with a list of the top 100 mutual funds for your
RRSP.

The 1998 Buyer’s Guide to Mutual Funds is a comprehensive directory
to the maze of funds available to Canadians. The book is organized
alphabetically by mutual-fund company. Mutual funds within each fund
company are described and rated on the basis of such factors as risk,
performance, costs, and management. Funds that have been in existence
for less than three years are excluded from the ratings. The book
concludes with a 30-page “Funds Lists” section, with titles ranging
from “The Top Ten Funds in Canada” to “Four Funds on the Way
Down.”

Among mutual-fund books, Pape’s is one of the most reliable. Rapid
changes within the mutual-fund industry make it worth buying every year.
The 1998 Buyer’s Guide to RRSPs is useful, but it is not an essential
purchase for those who already have the 1997 guide.