Maria Canton
Northern News Services

Iqaluit (Mar 06/00) - When bank employee Julie Smillie sat down at her desk on Feb. 29 last week, she had been working days, evenings and weekends.

Since when do the banks have evening and weekend hours, you ask?

The end of February is the deadline for contributing to RSPs to get a tax deduction for the previous year. Like everything else in life, people leave their tax planning to the last minute. That means bankers burn the midnight oil to keep up with the paperwork.

Smillie, who is an account manager at Iqaluit's Royal Bank, says last month was even busier than last year's Y2K-bug panic.

"People always wait until the last minute to contribute to their RSPs and they shouldn't," she says with a laugh.

"Contributing over the course of the year is the best route to go. It's called dollar cost averaging and you'll make more money over a year than if you invest in the last week."

And after 10 years in the business, Smillie says she has noticed a distinct change in people's investing habits.

"The younger generation is investing earlier and now there are a variety of products and options to choose from, advice is more readily available and more information is available to investors.

"A lot of people are investing on their own -- it used to be people would just get GICs (guaranteed investment certificates), now they play the stock market and use brokerage houses themselves."

A few factors that should be taken into consideration when investing are how much money can be invested, risk tolerance, future plans and the time horizon.

"A person who is 50 years old and planning on retiring in five years will be investing differently than a person who is 25 years old and putting the money away for 30 years," said Smillie.

"The process is heavily based on what the individual wants to do and can do -- younger investors seem to have a higher risk tolerance because their money will be invested for a longer period of time."

During the month of February, Smillie sat down with many people, both first-time and long-time investors, who wanted advice on where to put their money.

"It usually takes about an hour and half to go over everything with a client, especially if they are a first-time investor and just learning.

"We develop an investment plan for them, find out what their goals are, the time frame we're working with and what type of investor they are."

Once your money is secured in an RSP, Smillie suggests reviewing your investment about every six months to make sure your goals are still the same and your money is working for you.