-  In her latest book, Get Real, Patricia Lovett-Reid unlocks the secrets
       of success among 26 prominent Canadian women

    -  Money plays a part, but finding your passion and getting real about
       relationships, career, lifestyle and work/life balance is essential
       to personal fulfillment

    TORONTO, Jan. 9 /CNW/ - Patricia Lovett-Reid has spent most of her career
providing financial advice to investors, but the Senior Vice-President of TD
Waterhouse has learned over the years that - for women in particular -
happiness is not merely a matter of amassing wealth. The best-selling personal
finance author therefore decided to focus her most recent book, Get Real, on
the key areas of women's lives that contribute to personal fulfillment.
    "If money were truly the key to happiness, then this and all my future
writings would focus entirely on that subject," says Lovett-Reid. "But every
woman knows in her heart that success involves a lot more than making it
financially. So I decided to talk to some of the Canadian women I admire most
and delve into their lives, careers and relationships to find out how they
make it all work together."
    Get Real feels like that moment in a book club among good friends when
the discussion branches out from the book itself and builds momentum from the
life experiences of the women in the room. The book examines the main currents
of a woman's life that flow together and - with some good guidance and smart
choices to set the direction - lead to what Lovett-Reid calls "the
authenticity track".
    "We've all heard about the 'fast track' or the 'mommy track'," continues
Lovett-Reid. "But these can be molds to which women often feel they must
conform, and which can trap them and prevent them from fulfilling themselves.
The 26 women whose stories fill the pages of my book run the full gamut of
roles - wives, mothers, entrepreneurs, corporate CEOs, volunteers,
politicians, fighter pilots - yet they all have one thing in common. They live
real lives, and they are making a difference to the world around them."
    The following is a small sample of insights contained in the book that
can help women follow their own "authenticity track":

    Get real about finding your passion. For all but a few fortunate
individuals, the vocation or goal in life that will bring us a deep sense of
accomplishment is not immediately or easily evident. We need to actively go
out and find it, however long that takes. Once it is found, the effort shifts
to focusing it into a tangible life plan, and then sustaining it.

    Get real about your relationships. Passionate relationships and romance
are what we all dream about, yet turning them into the great long-term
relationships that sustain us throughout our lives requires hard work, trust
and respect. It's a process. Luckily, women are especially good at taking the
first step of connecting with people and building networks.

    Get real about your career. In today's society, your job is no longer a
parking space until Prince Charming shows up or you win the lottery. It is
what will typically occupy much of your adult life. Lovett-Reid and the women
profiled in the book share the secrets of successful career-building,
including networking, understanding and negotiating your worth, building
self-confidence, keeping current, reinventing your career, and so on.

    Get real about your money. The topic is often an emotional one, inspiring
fear, envy, frustration - and disengagement. A recent TD Waterhouse poll found
70% of Canadian women had little or no interest in investing and roughly half
are panicked about the state of their investments. The good news is that money
is one of the most amenable areas of one's life to the effects of good
planning and consistent, long-term execution. Lovett-Reid combines her
unparalleled expertise in financial planning and investments with the real
life anecdotes and advice of women who have developed their 'money mind'.

    Get real about your lifestyle. Nutrition, fitness, sleep, self-image,
stress, the search for perfection... it's all relevant and all dealt with as
Lovett-Reid and the women profiled in Get Real dispel myths and share tips on
finding the right lifestyle.

    Get real about your life. What's more important: career or family? We all
have big decisions to make, and we all face life-changing moments over the
course of our lives. Finding a balance can be elusive, and sometimes the issue
is compounded for women who often take on more responsibilities at home.
Again, there is much to be learned from the experiences of women who have
faced these choices, and found their own solutions.

    "One of the main strengths that women have is their willingness to share
their thoughts, feelings and emotions with others, and their readiness to
learn from other experiences," concludes Lovett-Reid. "The wellspring of this
book - and hopefully the source of its influence - is precisely that
generosity of spirit that is so richly displayed in the pages of Get Real. My
heartfelt thanks to them for sharing their lives and their secrets of success
with all Canadian women."

    Published by Key Porter Books, Get Real is now available in bookstores
    across the country.

    About Patricia Lovett-Reid

    Patricia Lovett-Reid, Hon. FCSI, CFP, is Senior Vice President with TD
Waterhouse Canada Inc. She is the host of MoneyTalk, a weekly program on
Business News Network, and one of Canada's leading authorities on wealth
management. In 2007, she was named one of Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top
100 in the Trailblazers and Trendsetters category by the Women's Executive
Network. She is the author of six books, including of the bestsellers Live
Well, Retire Well: Strategies For A Rich Life And A Richer Retirement;
Surprise! You're Wealthy: Every Woman's Guide To Financial Independence, and
Strategies For Women: Turning Dreams Into Reality. A Certified Financial
Planner, Ms. Lovett-Reid holds the designation of Fellow of the Canadian
Securities Institute.

    About TD Bank Financial Group

    The Toronto-Dominion Bank and its subsidiaries are collectively known as
TD Bank Financial Group. TD Bank Financial Group serves more than 14 million
customers in four key businesses operating in a number of locations in key
financial centres around the globe: Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking,
including TD Canada Trust; Wealth Management, including TD Waterhouse and an
investment in TD Ameritrade; U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking through TD
Banknorth; and Wholesale Banking, including TD Securities. TD Bank Financial
Group also ranks among the world's leading on-line financial services firms,
with more than 4.5 million on-line customers. TD Bank Financial Group had
CDN$422 billion in assets as of October 31, 2007. The Toronto-Dominion Bank
trades on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges under the symbol "TD", as
well as on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

For further information: or for members of the media interested in
receiving a copy of Get Real, please contact Nina Keitner, NATIONAL Public
Relations, (416) 586-1908, nkeitner@national.ca