The Globe and Mail's Smart Money section is dedicated to giving you what you need to manage your personal finances successfully. Smart Money appears every Saturday in The Globe and Mail and on globeinvestor.com.

A buyer's guide to online brokers

Investing through the Internet has never been more attractive -- or cheaper, writes ROB CARRICK

By ROB CARRICK

Now is an ideal time to act if you've been thinking about taking control of your RRSP and investing for yourself using an online broker.Let's understand something -- this has nothing to do with the ever-buoyant stock market, which in and of itself is a reason to think twice about do-it-yourself investing in your registered retirement savings plan. Four consecutive years of great returns tend to make people think they're smarter investors than they actually are.

A couple's plea: Please, can we get out of the rat race?

Sorry. A heavy debt load means it's back to the daily grind

By ANDREW ALLENTUCK

In Vancouver, a couple we'll call Louis and Elizabeth have eased into retirement. Louis, 51, recently was downsized out of a six-figure job. However, he has exceptional foreign language skills and advanced academic training that includes a PhD. He has migrated among teaching, diplomacy and international consulting. Two of their children are prodigies in the performing arts. A third child remains at home with a disability and is looked after by Elizabeth, 54.

Bright futures awash in red ink

Thanks to low salaries and high housing prices, young families are building lives atop mountains of debt, MARJO JOHNE writes

By MARJO JOHNE

While their family and friends were shopping for Christmas gifts last December, John and Rosemarie were busy buying a house.With a bank mortgage of $213,000 and $72,000 in cash -- cobbled together from their savings accounts and a money gift from John's parents -- the twenty-something Toronto couple bought an 1,800-square-foot house that they plan to move into after their wedding this summer.

BEST BUYS

A weekly scorecard of some of the lowest and highest rates and yields across Canada

MORTGAGES Lowest rates posted for one, three and five year closed mortgages.1-YEAR CLOSED Comtech Credit Union 4.90So-Use Credit Union5.00Steinbach Credit Union5.05Dundee Bank of Canada5.20First National Financial5.20Average rate6.07

Child-free, with a portfolio to nurture

Working adults with no dependents can live for today while planning for tomorrow, GAVIN ADAMSON writes

By GAVIN ADAMSON

Joe DePaepe and his wife, Susan, have reached an enviable financial position -- and a rare one for a couple so far from retirement age. With no serious debt to speak of, a home in Langton, Ont., where they plan to live for the foreseeable future, and no child-rearing or education costs, the couple's financial future is looking bright.

Spending everything you earn? Time to kick the habit

Couples who don't learn how to save are headed for trouble, LISA STEPHENS finds

By LISA STEPHENS

On the face of it, Peter and Claire, a young couple just beginning their lives together, are well-positioned to achieve their financial dreams. Peter is a professional in a fast-growing environmental field, and Claire is getting her doctorate in the same profession aided by a full scholarship at the University of Toronto. He is earning $50,000 at age 30; she's taking in about $30,000 with her scholarship and part-time work. He's paying back $12,000 in student loans at the rate of $200 a month. They track their expenses on a spreadsheet and share a bank account -- if not yet a marriage license.

To get an investment edge, learn to recognize business stars

By AVNER MANDELMAN

Last week I took my son to New York to see the L.A. Lakers play against the Knicks -- it was Dan's 16th birthday, and I had to be in New York anyway on business. So I got two good seats right behind the Knicks' bench through a friend of my buddy Bertie the gold trader, who recently began to trade uranium and enjoyed a good few months, and so was feeling charitable.

More ways to do it right when borrowing to contribute to RRSPs

By TIM CESTNICK

When I was growing up, my grandfather told me that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right. I think of an article last year in The New York Times reporting that finding a dentist in Britain has become so tough that in one week, over 6,000 do-it-yourself fillings and crown-and-cap replacement kits had been sold to Britons. Hmm. There have to be just a few drawbacks to doing that procedure in your basement. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.

Stars & Dogs

A selection of the past week's winners and losers

STARSAvon Products$39.06 U.S., up $3.89 (AVP - NYSE)We applied to be an Avon Lady once, but they were like, ''Uh, sir, you're a man.'' Fair enough. Too bad we didn't get the job, because Avon's sales are surging now that it has a foothold in China and Latin America. Fourth-quarter revenue jumped 9 per cent to $2.62-billion.