Four Financial Promises to Keep
We’ve had a few weeks to make and break our New Year’s resolutions. Now is a good time to make some promises to give your finances an extra boost in 2018 and help see you better off by year-end. 1. Promise to make the biggest RRSP contribution you can. When it comes to improving both […]
Are you a Retirement Savings Late Starter?
Harry and Sally both earned high incomes and liked to live the good life. They leased higher end European cars, took two-week exotic vacations almost every year, and lived in a house much larger than they truly needed. To accomplish this lifestyle, they put off retirement savings. Now in their forties, Harry and Sally are […]
The Magic Number!
The conversation with clients about retirement income planning is much different from those conversations that occur over the years while they are building retirement assets using vehicles such as pensions, RRSPs, LIRA’s, TFSAs and so on. Often, their focus is on being “conservative” because their understanding from public sources suggest that this is the appropriate […]
A Little Knowledge Can Make Life Less Taxing
It doesn’t take long after receiving your first paycheck to realize that all of your money is not your own. The Canadian government is an active partner in your earnings, and the more money you make, the larger it takes. A better understanding of taxes and how they apply to you can result in hundreds […]
Grandma and Grandpa Santa
Is it Christmas again already? Time passes too fast when you achieve grandparent status, and George and Grace are wondering once again what to give their grandchildren. Some years ago they realized they had no idea what toys were suitable, so started giving them cash. It seemed to get frittered away on things that soon […]
Government Pensions and Retirement Planning
Canadian couples rely upon Government pensions, CPP and Old Age Security (OAS) for a significant portion of their total retirement income planning, which can equal 20% to 50% or more, of their actual or projected total retirement incomes. Corporate and personal pensions (such as RRSPs and TFSAs and other savings) are other sources of retirement […]
Get It When You Can
We’ve all read or heard about the unlucky family that is wiped out by a house fire and didn’t have any fire insurance. All too often, people mistakenly believe that it won’t happen to them. The reality is that bad things CAN happen and there is nothing that guarantees they will be immune from disaster. […]
Joint Ownership Alternatives
Joint ownership is used by millions for various reasons. When problems arise, they are usually unintentional and it can be too late to remedy them. For example: Jane wants to avoid probate with as much of her estate as possible. She also wants her daughter, Sally, to have easy access to her cash at death […]
Proposed Tax Overhaul for Private Corporations
Standard financial and tax planning advice for the past several decades for business owners has included the use of incorporation to both insulate Canadians from business risk and liability and for asset building and income cash flow planning. The validity of this tax policy is now under attack, as you have likely heard, now that […]
How’s Your Net Worth?
His banker asked Trent what his net worth was for a loan he was applying for. He had trouble answering the question right away. What is Net Worth? Quite simply, net worth is the difference between what you own and what you owe. But true net worth may not be quite that simple. Some things […]