PAGE 10, WHfl'BYFREE PREES, WEDNESDAYJULY 29, 1992 REMAX Summit Realty held its annual and magiician EarI Brown, who enthraIled appreciation day recently at Iroquois Park Erin (Ieft) and Meredith Routly. arena. There were games, plenty of tood Photo by'Mark Reesor, Whltby Free Press Weekendvanishing for many Canadians By John Eberlee Camadian Scienc e ws It was a nice idea whfle -it lasted. But for a growing number of Canadians, the two-day weekend no lo r moans two days off fio= work A 1990. survey by Statistice Canada found that 40 per cent of Canadians regularly work outaide the home on weekends. Among two-income families, more than* 50 pr 'cent have. at least, one weekend-woaring member. B#t - even couples who onfly wôr1k Monday te Friday may have teerayhoshl choesover theween ta cRM Saturday and Sundv iimeofl' says Dr. DonzWK Dawson, a Unà iversity of Ottawa sociologfist and interim director of the department of leisure studios. 'These trends are dramaticafly changing how people spend their leisure âime, Dawson- says. Within a single familyr, there may be someoeo workting every day of the week. One result is that family activities are gotting harder to co-ordinato and people tend te do more thinge on their owi.* Dawson attributes these changes ta ongoing shifts in the way the oconomy is structured. Standardized Monday-to- Friday work weeks first appeared about WOyear ago, as a result of negotiations between industrial- ists and labour ,unions. Previously, five-and-a-half and six-day work weoks had been the norm. And before the Industrial Revolutien, .worIng was a seasonal rather* than a year-round activity. In the premodern world, moat people worked on a farm or 'at some other. agricultural job, Dawson maye. During the growing season, they toiled six days a week and had one day of rest. But there were, lots of holidays, festivals, and other clebrations poviding.. opportunities for leisuro. And, aftr harveat time, the volume of chores that had to be done dropped significantly. As factories spread, the notion that ' time isi money', took over, says Dawson. "Capitaliste wouldhave liked people te work 24 hours a day, seven days a week," but barring' that, six 12-heur days a week was standard. With the rise of 'labour unions,- howevor, the work week was gradually reduced., Shortly after 'Woeld War I, moot employees were granted haif a day off on Saturdays. Then, at tho end of the Great.Depression, the 40-heur, five-day work weekà SEE PAGE i Did you know that most peoplespend more time planning their annual vacation than planning theilr financial future? Il-this is a worry to you then eall me for an overview of your finanéjal health... Included in our discussion will: be: """&ncept mGroup Cail me now for an'overview of your financial health! DEREK DUTKA- Serving the Whitby-, Oshawa Area. 416-434-6119 - I -*"~-~--:---- ---. .-.----.-- -------------.--------------.--- - I DollHar copst averaging, oftrying to 'beat the markeet t nake a financiallilling is oneO ote most frustrting challenges that investors face. PlaLying the sok market as if it is a Las Yogas casino is a crapshoot£h r something that confounds, oven the eert? Yueithe =v to be lairvoyant or extromely lucky consistontly. Soothe your nervos. Try another, more sensible stratogy: dollahcos as e a for tho investment of a flxed amount -of mono inMtuLà f4nd units at regular intervals during- a specifiedperiod of time. By following 3i stratepy, investors Wil a4tually lower the average coat of theêir perodic invostmonts. 1 Theprilncple of dollar cost averag--ingis simple: As the unites value tlses, investors buy fewer uis As the value fails, investors buy more. 1,For exaniple suppose Y ou decide t. ,invost $100 a month in a mutual fund. When you sar, the fund's units coat $10 each. 5 your,$100 buys you 10 uis During the next four months, the fuînd's 1 price por unit rises from $10 te $11, -thon drops to $9 and later to$8 At the end of those four, months, you will have 42.7 .units, or 2.7 additional units than if you had invested a lump ýsunrof $400 to buy 40 units all at once.q The beauty of dollar cost averaging is-that investors dont have to w61ry about market timing. They are buying units consistently whether the market goes up, or dowin. i also eliminates the temptation to stop buying when the, units dro in value, or-to g o wild spending when units start rxsing.ýou become detached, oblivious to market shifts. Like the lassic advice Mays, you are buying low and selling high. By tking advantage of dollar cost averaging, the aveM cost of ail the units investors have bought is less thante avrg rices of those units when the investor bought them:..t Teeglower average cost will improve .the investors position. even more and also provide hini/her with capital gains. For exami5le, let's saýy you1 invested $100 a month for only six months. Since the unit price in the firat month was. $15, you bought 6.66 units. During the next six mont,- teprc swung- up? and down, reaching as high as $16 an&falli g as ow as $2 ten returning to $15, as you con see in the,\following table: unit Units Total Month, Price Bought Investment Value 1 $15 6.66 100 $100 2 13 7.69 100 186.58 3, $12 6.25 100 577.12 4 28.33 100 357.88 6 156.66 $100 610 Average Total Average Cost Price Units Per-Unit, $14.16' 42.73 $14.04 As you can see, your investmernt grew b $41.05, for a gain of 6.8 n r cent. If y ou had made a'sinle $0i vsmntvo woà uId have about broken even after six months. By using dollar cost averaging, y ou have come out ahead. Many mutÙ fund companies offer a periodic purchase plan that allows you to take advantg of dollar cost averaging. Bo, what -are you- waiting for? Talk with your fnancial planner to learn more about dollar cost averaging investments. In the long run, you could be a big winner. -7, l MM . --- - - - 1