The economic slump and declining consumer confidence caused house prices to slide during the fourth quarter, according to the latest figures from Royal LePage. It says the real estate market in Canada posted an overall decline in both unit sales and in prices during the fourth quarter of 2008.

What does this news mean for the average Canadian? Is this the right time for buyers to get into the market? Should you sell now or wait it out?

Ozzie Jurock served as the past president of Royal Lepage (Res.), the past chairman of NRS Block Bros. He's also managed real estate companies in Taiwan, HongKong and Tokyo.

He answered your questions on buying, selling and what to expect in the year ahead.

Invest or save? What bills need to be paid down now? What about RRSPs?

Jim Yih is the author of the Best Selling Mutual Fundamentals and also Seven Strategies to Guarantee Your Investments. He is a financial expert who lectures as a professional speaker on wealth, retirement and personal finance.

Read financial expert Jim Yih tips and tricks for the new year.

Almost 40 per cent of Canadian marriages end in divorce, according to figures from Statistics Canada. Most of those divorces end before 15 years of marriage.

That often means young children are involved. An acrimonious split can leave devastating scars on a family.

Maureen Palmer took a different approach when her marriage ended more than a decade ago. She flew from Vancouver to Edmonton every second weekend and slept in her ex-husband's basement so she could spend as much time as possible with her daughters.

In the documentary How to Divorce and Not Wreck the Kids, Palmer and writer/producer Helen Singer look at three couples going through separation and divorce and the steps they take to ensure that the end of marriage doesn't mean the end of the family.

The couples take different approaches:

• Do-it-yourself divorce kit.
• Mediation.
• Collaborative divorce.

Read Maureen Palmer's answers below.