Location
Bella Notte Ristorante
3570 Brock Street North
Whitby, ON L1R 0G2
(905) 430-5744
Change Place
Who’s coming?
4 Young professionals
16 spots left — RSVP deadline: June 9, 2010 1:00 PM
CAD30.00 per person
refund policy
The Dinner with a CEO series aims to provide the opportunity for a small group of people to learn leadership insights from, and share fellowship with, leading current and former CEO's and Board Chairpersons in a small group setting.
For our first event of the year we have invited Todd Skinner
Todd Skinner is Founder and Partner of The Business Accelerator Group, a global consortium of business executives that specializes in helping businesses with their growth and transition strategies. In Durham Region Todd is better known as “The Growth Coach”.
Todd has a passion for helping businesses to succeed. Coming from an entrepreneurial background, he draws from almost two decades of personal experience in both entrepreneurial ventures and corporate executive positions. Todd has an extensive Global perspective living and working in the United States and England. He has also conducted business in over 45 countries; including turning around a failing business in England, starting a business in Russia, China and a joint-venture in India all before his 30th birthday.
He was member of the Board of Directors of the Whitby Chamber in 2008 and currently Host "Business Today" a Rogers TV show.
Price:
JCI Whitby members: FREE
Non-members: $30
Price includes dinner.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Credit Score Secrets
Credit Score Secrets
by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, for Yahoo! Canada Finance
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Ever wonder how that magical number – The Credit Score – is computed?
Whether you’re obsessing over your FICO score or your Beacon score, you’re likely shopping for credit. The FICO score was developed by Fair Isaac & Co., which began credit scoring in the late 1950s. The point of the score is consolidate your credit profile into a single number. The Beacon score is a brand name used by Equifax, the largest credit-reporting agency in Canada. While Fair, Isaac & Co. and the credit bureaus do not reveal how these scores are computed, whether you get a loan or not is a numbers game: The more points you score on your credit app, the better you do.
There’s a reason you have to fill out so much information when you’re applying for credit. Everything counts. Your age, your address, and even your telephone number all have a role to play in whether or not you’ll get credit.
Young ‘uns and old folk are at a disadvantage since under 21 and over 65 likely means you aren’t working; no points for you. If you're married, you’ll get a point for being “stable.” And while you might think that being divorced would work against you (all that spousal and child support), most creditors don’t give a whit.
No dependents? Zero points. You’re probably still gallivanting like a teenager since you haven’t yet “settled down.” One to three dependents? Score one point. You’re a solid citizen. More than three dependents? Score zero. Have you no self control! And don’t you know you that with all those mouths to feed you could get in debt over your head?
Your home address counts too. Live in a trailer park or with your parents? Bad risk, score zero points. You could skip town with nary a look over your shoulder. Rent an apartment? Give yourself one point. Own a home with a big fat mortgage and you’ll score major points since someone has already done some checking and you qualified for a mortgage. Own your home free and clear? Even better. You’ve proven you can pay off a sizable debt and now you have a pile of equity that the card company would love to help you spend.
Previous Residence? Zero to five years (some applications only go to three years), score zero points since you move around too much. No land-line: zero points. How the Dickens are they gonna find you when you fall behind in payments. Since they can’t use your cell phone to actually locate you physically, it doesn’t count.
Less then one year at your present employer earns you no points. Again, it’s a stability and earning continuity thing. The longer you’re on the job, the more likely you are to be bored out of your mind but you’ll score more points. And, not to overstate the obvious, the more you make the better.
The more willing you are to make your lender rich, the higher your score will be. Since the FICO score was originally designed to measure customer profitability, if you pay off your balance in full every month, you’re going to score lower than the guy who only makes the minimum payment and pays huge amounts of interest.
Scores range from 300 to 900 and if you manage to hit 750 or above you’ll qualify for the best rates and terms. Score 620 or lower and you’ll pay premium interest if you even qualify; 620 is the absolute minimum credit score for insured mortgages.
Your credit score can change quickly. Payment history accounts for about 35% of your credit score and just one negative report can drop your pristine score into the doldrums. Since scores are updated monthly, your bad behaviour won’t go unpunished for long.
The type of credit you have counts for about 10% of your score. And your current level of indebtedness accounts for about 30% so going too close to your credit limit is another way to deflate your score. One rule of thumb is to keep your balances below the 65% mark. So if you have a limit of $1,000, you won’t ever carry a balance that’s more than $650.
Having too much credit available can also hurt your ability to borrow since the more credit you have, the more trouble you can get yourself into. If you’ve got a walletful of cards, canceling credit you’re not using can be a good thing – for both you and your credit score – over the long haul. Careful though. If the card you’re eliminating is one with a long, positive history, you’ll eliminate what could be a very good record of your repayment when you cancel the card. You’d be better off cutting up the card so you aren’t tempted to use it, while you establish a track record (six months or more) before you actually cancel the account.
Credit shopping can also cost you points. Since about 10% of your credit score relates to the number and frequency of new credit enquiries, applying willy nilly for new credit will end up costing you. However, it’s only when a lender checks your score that this registers on your score. Checking your own credit report/score is considered a “soft” inquiry and does not go against your score.
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/yfinance/1623/credit-score-secrets
by Gail Vaz-Oxlade, for Yahoo! Canada Finance
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Ever wonder how that magical number – The Credit Score – is computed?
Whether you’re obsessing over your FICO score or your Beacon score, you’re likely shopping for credit. The FICO score was developed by Fair Isaac & Co., which began credit scoring in the late 1950s. The point of the score is consolidate your credit profile into a single number. The Beacon score is a brand name used by Equifax, the largest credit-reporting agency in Canada. While Fair, Isaac & Co. and the credit bureaus do not reveal how these scores are computed, whether you get a loan or not is a numbers game: The more points you score on your credit app, the better you do.
There’s a reason you have to fill out so much information when you’re applying for credit. Everything counts. Your age, your address, and even your telephone number all have a role to play in whether or not you’ll get credit.
Young ‘uns and old folk are at a disadvantage since under 21 and over 65 likely means you aren’t working; no points for you. If you're married, you’ll get a point for being “stable.” And while you might think that being divorced would work against you (all that spousal and child support), most creditors don’t give a whit.
No dependents? Zero points. You’re probably still gallivanting like a teenager since you haven’t yet “settled down.” One to three dependents? Score one point. You’re a solid citizen. More than three dependents? Score zero. Have you no self control! And don’t you know you that with all those mouths to feed you could get in debt over your head?
Your home address counts too. Live in a trailer park or with your parents? Bad risk, score zero points. You could skip town with nary a look over your shoulder. Rent an apartment? Give yourself one point. Own a home with a big fat mortgage and you’ll score major points since someone has already done some checking and you qualified for a mortgage. Own your home free and clear? Even better. You’ve proven you can pay off a sizable debt and now you have a pile of equity that the card company would love to help you spend.
Previous Residence? Zero to five years (some applications only go to three years), score zero points since you move around too much. No land-line: zero points. How the Dickens are they gonna find you when you fall behind in payments. Since they can’t use your cell phone to actually locate you physically, it doesn’t count.
Less then one year at your present employer earns you no points. Again, it’s a stability and earning continuity thing. The longer you’re on the job, the more likely you are to be bored out of your mind but you’ll score more points. And, not to overstate the obvious, the more you make the better.
The more willing you are to make your lender rich, the higher your score will be. Since the FICO score was originally designed to measure customer profitability, if you pay off your balance in full every month, you’re going to score lower than the guy who only makes the minimum payment and pays huge amounts of interest.
Scores range from 300 to 900 and if you manage to hit 750 or above you’ll qualify for the best rates and terms. Score 620 or lower and you’ll pay premium interest if you even qualify; 620 is the absolute minimum credit score for insured mortgages.
Your credit score can change quickly. Payment history accounts for about 35% of your credit score and just one negative report can drop your pristine score into the doldrums. Since scores are updated monthly, your bad behaviour won’t go unpunished for long.
The type of credit you have counts for about 10% of your score. And your current level of indebtedness accounts for about 30% so going too close to your credit limit is another way to deflate your score. One rule of thumb is to keep your balances below the 65% mark. So if you have a limit of $1,000, you won’t ever carry a balance that’s more than $650.
Having too much credit available can also hurt your ability to borrow since the more credit you have, the more trouble you can get yourself into. If you’ve got a walletful of cards, canceling credit you’re not using can be a good thing – for both you and your credit score – over the long haul. Careful though. If the card you’re eliminating is one with a long, positive history, you’ll eliminate what could be a very good record of your repayment when you cancel the card. You’d be better off cutting up the card so you aren’t tempted to use it, while you establish a track record (six months or more) before you actually cancel the account.
Credit shopping can also cost you points. Since about 10% of your credit score relates to the number and frequency of new credit enquiries, applying willy nilly for new credit will end up costing you. However, it’s only when a lender checks your score that this registers on your score. Checking your own credit report/score is considered a “soft” inquiry and does not go against your score.
http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/yfinance/1623/credit-score-secrets
Bank of Canada raises interest rate to 0.5 per cent
Bank of Canada raises interest rate to 0.5 per cent
01/06/2010 2:51:23 PM
CTV.ca News Staff
The days of record low interest rates in Canada appear to be coming to an end, as the Bank of Canada announced Tuesday its first interest rate increase in three years.
The central bank hiked its overnight lending rate from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent, an increase that was quickly matched by major banks.
BNN's Michael Kane told CTV's Canada AM that GDP numbers released Monday were likely "the final nail in the coffin for record low interest rates."
Those figures showed the country's gross domestic product expanded by a whopping annual rate of 6.1 per cent in the first three months of this year -- the largest quarterly increase in more than a decade.
Indeed, the statement from the Bank of Canada suggested those results figured prominently in its decision.
"Activity in Canada is unfolding largely as expected. The economy grew by a robust 6.1 per cent in the first quarter, led by housing and consumer spending. Employment growth has resumed," the statement read.
"...In this context, the Bank has decided to raise the target for the overnight rate to 1/2 per cent and to re-establish the normal functioning of the overnight market."
The bank's optimism was tempered by worries about "spillover" from the European debt crisis -- which, it noted, has so far been limited -- and said there remains "considerable uncertainty" about an "increasingly uneven" global recovery.
The Bank of Canada's rate hike is the first among the Group of Seven wealthy nations since the global recession began two years ago.
Prime lending rates, which banks extend to their best customers, quickly followed the Bank of Canada increase.
The TD Bank was the first to announce a quarter-point hike in its prime lending rate to 2.5 per cent, effective Wednesday. The Royal has followed suit and all the other major banks are expected to announce the same increase to their primes, which influence variable rate mortgages and lines of credit.
Short-term, variable mortgage rates will also likely rise, but longer-term fixed mortgage rates -- which are more influenced by the bond market -- are expected to remain unchanged for now.
The rate hikes may not stop here. Many expect further tightening, with some predicting the overnight lending rate could rise as high as 1.5 per cent by the end of the year. The central bank tried to keep such expectations in check in its statement.
"Given the considerable uncertainty surrounding the outlook, any further reduction of monetary stimulus would have to be weighed carefully against domestic and global economic developments," it said.
01/06/2010 2:51:23 PM
CTV.ca News Staff
The days of record low interest rates in Canada appear to be coming to an end, as the Bank of Canada announced Tuesday its first interest rate increase in three years.
The central bank hiked its overnight lending rate from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent, an increase that was quickly matched by major banks.
BNN's Michael Kane told CTV's Canada AM that GDP numbers released Monday were likely "the final nail in the coffin for record low interest rates."
Those figures showed the country's gross domestic product expanded by a whopping annual rate of 6.1 per cent in the first three months of this year -- the largest quarterly increase in more than a decade.
Indeed, the statement from the Bank of Canada suggested those results figured prominently in its decision.
"Activity in Canada is unfolding largely as expected. The economy grew by a robust 6.1 per cent in the first quarter, led by housing and consumer spending. Employment growth has resumed," the statement read.
"...In this context, the Bank has decided to raise the target for the overnight rate to 1/2 per cent and to re-establish the normal functioning of the overnight market."
The bank's optimism was tempered by worries about "spillover" from the European debt crisis -- which, it noted, has so far been limited -- and said there remains "considerable uncertainty" about an "increasingly uneven" global recovery.
The Bank of Canada's rate hike is the first among the Group of Seven wealthy nations since the global recession began two years ago.
Prime lending rates, which banks extend to their best customers, quickly followed the Bank of Canada increase.
The TD Bank was the first to announce a quarter-point hike in its prime lending rate to 2.5 per cent, effective Wednesday. The Royal has followed suit and all the other major banks are expected to announce the same increase to their primes, which influence variable rate mortgages and lines of credit.
Short-term, variable mortgage rates will also likely rise, but longer-term fixed mortgage rates -- which are more influenced by the bond market -- are expected to remain unchanged for now.
The rate hikes may not stop here. Many expect further tightening, with some predicting the overnight lending rate could rise as high as 1.5 per cent by the end of the year. The central bank tried to keep such expectations in check in its statement.
"Given the considerable uncertainty surrounding the outlook, any further reduction of monetary stimulus would have to be weighed carefully against domestic and global economic developments," it said.
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