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Summer’s End is Financial Planning’s Restart

September 17, 2014 10:42 am Published by

I enjoyed the summer heat!   But the pocket book can get a little sun burnt from all the vacations, BBQs, children activities, renovations and whatever else occupied our time over the summer.  And the financial burdens continue into September, as along comes the costs of schooling, child care or sports for the kids, or the residual credit card and line of credit balances from the summer.  And dare I say…Christmas is coming!!  That is why September is a great month to get back on track with your Financial Goals. First step, what were your Financial Goals?  Was it early repayment...

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How the Changes to Bill C-43 Will Impact the Way Everyone Invests Their Money

July 28, 2014 10:31 am Published by

“Bill C-43 restricts the amount a person can invest into permanent insurance policies and maintain their tax exempt status.” That’s the man himself, Marco Faccone. Since the 1960’s, the Income tax Act has regulated how much growth can occur within permanent insurance policies. Bill C-43’s exempt test modifications will reduce a policy’s ability to grow tax free and be exempt from taxation when it pays out. People have taken advantage of tax exempt growth in permanent life insurance policies for the last half century. But, like we said, these tax rules were established in the 1960’s, and a lot has...

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FROM TAXES TO TIPS

April 23, 2014 10:51 am Published by

April is traditionally the month to concentrate on getting your tax returns filed.  If you are getting money back, you may then focus your attention on what to spend your refund on.  If you owe money, you may want a new accountant (just joking….it is rarely the fault of the accountant you know). However, your tax return is a great time to sit down with your accountant or financial planner to consider what financial planning tips might be available to you.  I’ve listed a few tips that come out of tax return season that have added value to many of...

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Select Personal Tax Tips (Part II)

April 17, 2014 10:45 am Published by

  Building off of last year’s Personal Tax Tip Blog, here are a few more tax tips to consider before finalizing your current personal tax return: Commission Employee Deductions If you earn annual commissions from your employment (box 42 of your T4 Statement of Remuneration Paid), you may be eligible to deduct certain amount of employment expenses.  Generally to deduct employment expenses as a commissioned employee, you must have all of the following conditions met: · Under a contract of employment, you had to pay for your own expenses. · You were normally required to work away from your employer’s place of business....

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RRSP Season is the time to Rebalance!

February 23, 2014 10:45 am Published by

  It is RRSP season and it is time for our annual determination of how much to contribute.  It also becomes a time for us to determine what we should buy in the RRSP.  This is a great time to revisit what we need to rebalance within our RRSP as well. Portfolio rebalancing is largely about risk management.  It is the act of realigning the weightings of one’s portfolio back to a desired or targeted level.   It is required over time as each element of our portfolio can shift in value, both up and down.  That may place us in...

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RRSP vs. Debt

January 23, 2014 10:46 am Published by

  As we enter the New Year many of us spend some time to reassess our financial goals and priorities.   The annual RRSP season affords us an opportunity to debate two priorities:  the RRSP vs. Debt decision.   But is it a debate this year?  I believe the pro RRSP will win significantly.  I fear that those with a repayment of mortgage or personal debt priority will believe so as well. We have just watched security markets produce wonderful returns for the year just ended (CBC News Article Dec 31, 2013), and in fact for the past several years since the...

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Year End Financial and Tax Planning Ideas

December 1, 2013 10:47 am Published by

  As we turn the page into December, I wanted to share 5 financial and tax planning ideas to consider before the end of the calendar year: 1.       Review your Investment Mix: The security markets have been generally happy since 2009, but some areas (geographical (US and Europe) and industrial (financial, technologies)) have outperformed others (Canada, materials, precious metals).  It is not uncommon to see an investment portfolio of RRSPs, Tax Free Savings Accounts and other non-registered savings become tilted toward the over-performers, and that may subject your portfolio to greater risk than you intended.  Have your advisor review your portfolio...

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Spousal Loan Strategy – 1% But For How Long!!??

September 7, 2013 10:48 am Published by

  In Canada, the taxation of married or common law partners is still based on an individual basis.  There are some tax credits that are couple or family based (a good listing of available tax tips for couples is found here http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/consumers/lifeevents/couple/manage/taxes_couples-eng.asp), but fundamentally each member of a couple is taxed individually.  For couples that have one spouse with significantly higher taxable income than the other, and where the higher income spouse earns or may in the future earn taxable investment income, a Spousal Loan Strategy may be a good fit. In a Spousal Loan Strategy, the higher income spouse loans...

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Introduction to Estate Planning

July 23, 2013 10:49 am Published by

  Estate planning is a key component of a healthy financial plan.  In fact, if you were to view your financial plan as a house that you are building, Estate Planning would be comparable to the house foundation:  if the foundation is weak, the house will ultimately fall. Estate planning looks at how the financial assets that you have accumulated over time will be distributed to your beneficiaries.  Beneficiaries typically include your immediate family, but can extend to charities and other individuals. The most common tool in the toolkit for estate planning is the Will.   A Will is a legal...

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Planning for your Child’s Education

June 23, 2013 10:50 am Published by

  Articles that highlight the skyrocketing costs of sending your child through post-secondary education are fast and furious (here is a recent article from the Financial Post).Forecasted costs to put a child through an undergraduate degree typically top $100,000 (if the student is living away from home), with $50,000 to $60,000 forecasted to be just the tuition and book costs in the not too distant future. So we have been encouraged to save for our child’s education.  Typically we use a Registered Education Savings Plan (“RESP”). The RESP offers many advantages, some of which include: 20% Canadian Government grant on qualifying contributions (typically...

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