Helping Adult Children Buy A Home
With the average price of a home in Canada 1 costing roughly $530,000 in 2020 , it’s getting harder for first-time buyers to enter the market. This is likely why a growing number of parents are stepping up to help their adult children purchase a home. While it’s admirable to offer this level of support […]
Court Decision Impacts RRIF Beneficiary Designations
In December 2015, an Alberta court decision raised the need for Advisors and their clients to review their existing Beneficiary designation of RRIF accounts as well as RRSPs and life insurance in order to ensure that the Designations on file properly reflected the wishes of the current account holder. Without getting into too much depth, […]
Money Saving Mortgage Strategies
Mortgages today are not like they were when our parents or grandparents bought their homes. As most of us don’t have the cash to buy a home outright, we need to borrow from a lender. There are a number of strategies you can use to get the best deal, pay it off more quickly and […]
Long Term Care Protection
Many mistakenly believe that if they need Long Term Care, either in their home or in a facility, the cost will be covered by provincial health care or other government agencies. While certain programs are available, a large portion of these costs become the responsibility of the patient or their family. Ted and Martha had […]
Federal Budget Impacts Investment Taxation
The recent Federal Budget included measures to close a favorable tax rule for investors in investment accounts or through corporations, trusts and holding companies, who have proposed rules to curb the tax advantages of “corporate class” mutual fund shares. Corporate class funds are organized as “switch funds” that offer different types of asset exposure such […]
Financial Future Worries?
If you are concerned about your future finances, you are certainly not alone as noted in a global survey of 19,000 adult in over 19 countries (including Canada). Nearly 68% (or two thirds) of the 1000 Canadians interviewed in the survey conducted by the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC) said they still had concerns about […]
Asset or a Liability?
Do you have a separate recreational property or a rental property? If so this may apply to you: Some years ago, Roy and Mary bought a cottage at the lake in their home province for about $50,000 and today it is worth about $750,000. Over the years, they have spent about $100,000 on improvements to […]
TFSA Designations Matter
The method that you use to name a successor, owner or beneficiary of a TFSA makes a big difference to your estate, not only for a TFSA to maintain its tax-exempt status but also to ensure that the assets are distributed to the intended recipients. You can name your spouse or common-law partner as a […]
Insuring Your Mortgage Through Lenders
Marc and Lorna just bought a house and, like most home buyers, they needed a mortgage. During the financing process, they were offered mortgage insurance by the lender. They wanted to know more before taking the coverage. Do we control the policy? Because the coverage is usually a group plan, the agreement is actually between […]
Estate Plans and Your Children
After spending a lifetime managing your money to ensure that you actually have something to leave to your heirs, there are some questions that might naturally spring to mind. How much should you leave them? Should you make arrangements to give it to them while you’re still alive? More importantly, will giving them a large […]