NFL announcing legend John Madden retires

Legendary NFL broadcaster John Madden has made his last call.

NBC announced the former coach's plans to retire Thursday morning. Though he spent the last three years working NBC's Sunday night NFL game, he served as an analyst on all four major television networks since retiring as the Oakland Raiders coach in 1979.

"It's time," Madden said. "I'm 73 years old. My 50th wedding anniversary is this fall. I have two great sons and their families and their five grandchildren are at an age now when they know when I'm home and, more importantly, when I'm not."

Known to many for his annual "Madden NFL Football" video game, the 73-year-old Hall of Famer's final game was February's Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.

After beginning his coaching career as an Oakland linebacker coach in 1967, he was promoted to head coach two years later. At 33, he was the American Football League's youngest coach. He retired after winning the Super Bowl, and joined CBS the next season.

Famously afraid of flying on planes, he traveled to most games by a specially-equipped bus.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

CTV weatherman Dave Devall retires

CTV Toronto weatherman steps down after 48 years.

Dave Devall's final day as a CTV Toronto weather specialist ended with a salute from a prime minister, Scottish pipes and drums -- and a day that saw a new rainfall record set.

Devall was on the go all day Friday. He got up at 5 a.m. to make some guest appearances on Canada AM and CP24's morning shows and had a Toronto roadway renamed Devall Way (it leads into the CTV complex at 9 Channel Nine Court) about about 1 p.m.

In the afternoon, the Guinness Book of Records officially honoured Dave with the world record for longest career as a weather forecaster -- 48 years, two months and 27 days.

He made his final forecast as a full-time employee before retiring, although he will make occasional appearances for special projects and to fill in when someone is absent.

Tom Brown, currently handling CTV Toronto's noon weather duties, will be taking over as the 6 p.m. forecaster.

Dave Devall came to CTV Toronto on Jan. 7, 1961, a day he remembers as being sunny and cold, although his forecasting career actually started with CHEX TV in Peterborough in 1958.

Just for perspective purposes, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space -- a feat accomplished on April 12, 1961.

"I had no intention of staying 48 years," Devall confided to Canada AM on Friday, adding, "The Guinness Book of Records thing never occurred to me."

He started his career in black-and-white television and before the advent of technology such as weather satellites (Sputnik the first satellite, was launched in 1957), but delivered his final forecast in state-of-the-art, high-definition colour.

"I'm getting out at the right time," Devall joked about high-def, giving himself an impromptu facelift by pulling his cheeks tighter.

He remembers giving temperatures in Fahrenheit when he started out, with Celsius the standard temperature scale now. Weather forecasting technology has evolved, including the development of Doppler radar. Computers "have opened up the whole world," he said.

One thing that didn't change over Devall's career was his smile and cheery personality.

Since it was announced on Groundhog Day that Dave would be stepping down, there's been an outpouring of heartfelt affection for Dave from celebrities and ordinary Torontonians alike.

"Every since I came to Toronto in 1968, he's been my weatherman," one caller told CTV Toronto on Friday. "Even though he's serious about the weather, he's always delivered it with a smile and a wonderful sense of humour."

She said when she met him once in a Queen Street restaurant, he was "exactly the same in person as you see him on TV."

CTV Toronto news anchor Ken Shaw told Newsnet that Dave "learned the magic of coming through the lens as himself, not pretending to be anybody else."

During his appearance as a celebrity forecaster, Toronto Argonauts CEO Mike "Pinball" Clemons said he was wearing a cap, "not because it's cold out, but because I want to tip it to you, Dave."

A number of groups have paid tribute to Dave in a number of ways, but he got a special treat when he got to pilot a Canadian Forces C-130 Hercules over the waters of Lake Ontario.

Dave holds a pilot's licence and also served in the Air Force, which is where he learned his patented writing backwards trick (I've always found that impressive!). He is also an honorary colonel of the 432nd Transport Squadron at CFB Trenton.

"She's just like a Cessna -- if you can believe that," Devall said while behind the controls.

"This is real flying, this is really neat," he said. "For such a large aircraft, you can feel her. You can feel the weight, you can feel the power, but you feel like your always in control."

The crew hooked him to a line and allowed him to stand near the back door. "It's the thrill of a lifetime being back here. Like I said folks, this is as good as it gets," Devall said.

The Hercules' ride came to an end, and now Dave's career is at an end.

The next two days will be spent "sleeping," he joked on Friday.

High on the agenda is spending more time at his cottage country home in Bolsover, Ont. with his six grandchildren, who are growing up fast, and hitting the links. "I've got the clubs all cleaned, they're ready to go," he declared.

After getting his Guinness honour, Dave admitted it was a bittersweet day.

"Up until now, it's been busy and exciting, but now I'm getting to be a little bit afraid,' he said. "I've got plans for down the road, but now I've got to sit down and organize those plans and carry them out."



Congratulations on a great career Dave Devall... Sure there will be others reporting the weather now, But there's only ONE Dave Devall.... Irreplaceable... Enjoy retirement...

What are your memories of Dave Devall?

RRSP vs. TFSA

A little math gives a definitive answer in the RRSP vs. TFSA debate

A lot of talk and newspaper column inches get spent on the topic of Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA).

In particular, there are lots of musings about whether TFSAs are better than Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) for retirement savings.

Now, as it happens, you needn't rely on musings. It turns out that we can apply les mathématiques to the question, and get a pretty definitive answer. I'll do the math. You just relax, sip your coffee, and prepare yourself to be a good saver.

You'll recall how an RRSP works: Every year, you can contribute the lesser of 18 per cent of your earned income or that year's maximum (currently $20,000 for 2008, and $21,000 for 2009). If you don't maximize your contribution in any one year, the unused portion carries forward and gets added to your maximum for the subsequent year.

When you file your tax return, you get to deduct the amount you contribute to an RRSP from your income, thus saving the marginal taxes you'd have otherwise paid on your contribution amount. You won't pay any tax on the return you earn while your money remains in your RRSP, but when you take money out it will be added to your income in the year of withdrawal. That's a key characteristic: an RRSP gives you a tax deduction for contributions, but you'll pay tax when you take money out later.

A TFSA, on the other hand, allows you to contribute up to $5,000 per year regardless of income, starting in 2009. Any unused contribution amount can be carried forward to future years. You won't pay tax on any return you earn on the money in your TFSA. And although you won't get a tax deduction for the contributions you make, there is no tax payable when you take money out of a TFSA. In that way, it's the opposite of an RRSP. No deduction on the way in, no tax on the way out. It's beautifully simple.

So what's better for retirement savings? The question really boils down to determining when you'd rather avoid taxes - now, or in the future? It's always best to refer to the specifics of your own financial plan (you have one, right?), but most Canadians will spend their working lives in a higher average tax bracket than they'll have in retirement. That makes the structure of an RRSP (and for that matter, a registered pension plan, which works in exactly the same way) the best way for most Canadians to build a retirement nest egg.

Here's a few numbers so you can see what I mean. Let's say you make $45,000 a year. You don't have a pension plan, so if you want to avoid living under a bridge and eating cat food in retirement, you need to save a lot of money. Should you put $5,000 into a TFSA - or more than $7,000 in an RRSP?

That's the question, you see, because that's the apples-to-apples cost comparison between making contributions to either plan. It'll cost you $5,000 of your hard-earned money to put $5,000 into a TFSA. But if you save in an RRSP, the same amount of after-tax dough will buy you a much fatter contribution.

If you make $45,000 a year anywhere in Canada, you're in at least the 29 per cent tax bracket (that's in Nunavut - it's worse in every other province or territory). That means that you can make an RRSP contribution of somewhere between about $7,042 (Nunavut) and $8,112 (Quebec), and the tax savings you'll get will knock your total cost down to $5,000.

Let's assume that you live in Nunavut, since that will give our illustration the least amount of tax savings for the RRSP. Let's also assume that you would buy the same investments in either the TFSA or the RRSP, and that you earn an average return of six per cent (assuming higher returns would increase the relative performance of the RRSP). Finally, let's assume you'll be saving regularly for twenty years. Should your annual savings practice be to put $5,000 in a TFSA, or $7,042 in an RRSP?

Well, if you used the TFSA, those assumptions would mean you'd end up with almost $184,000, tax-free. On the other hand, if you chose the RRSP model, you'd have about $259,000. Yes, you'd still have to pay tax when you pulled money out of the plan. But you'd have more than 41 per cent more capital, and that covers a lot of tax in retirement.

Now, here's the thing about retiring from a job that averaged $45,000 a year: Currently, if you qualified for the maximum benefits, your monthly Canada Pension Plan payment at age 65 would be $908.75, and your monthly Old Age Security cheque would total $516.96. That totals a whopping $17,108.52 per year in government-sponsored pension income.

Do you hear what I'm saying? Most people shouldn't worry about their marginal tax bracket in retirement - they should focus on building the biggest retirement pot possible. A TFSA is perfect for your emergency savings, saving for future expenses, etc. But for people who don't have a registered pension plan, deductible contributions to an RRSP will continue to be the backbone of their retirement savings strategy.