Living Longer & Retiring Faster
Over the last one hundred years, every new generation of Canadians has enjoyed the benefit of a longer life expectancy. With dramatic improvements in health care, the human life span has never been longer. Additionally, some have set their sights on early retirement. The combination of living longer and retiring earlier creates a serious cash […]
Is Probate Right for Your Estate?
Estate planning can be an overwhelming process. Whether it is your own estate or you are the executor for someone else, the checklist can seem never-ending. A financial advisor can help make sure your checklist is complete before you start checking the boxes. One of those items on the checklist is probate, the legal […]
The Either / Or Financial Decision
When it comes to making financial decisions most people focus on eitheror scenarios; that is making a tactical decision that may or may not reflect a larger financial strategy or wealth accumulation context. We often see these types of isolated, one-off decision choices in media articles that pose dilemmas such as: Is it better […]
Naming Beneficiaries for Your RSPs
Most people list tax elimination or minimization as a top priority in their estate plans. For most, Registered Savings Plans (RSPs), which includes RRSPs and RRIFs, are one of their most significant assets. Most RSP accounts hold investment funds or securities that are very liquid, often accessible within a few days. Unlike most other […]
QE Continues
Quantitative Easing, otherwise referred to in the media as ‘QE’, refers to governments printing money out of thin air in order to stimulate economic growth. The US ended their program of QE in late 2014. The impression this left with many people was that the need for economic stimulus ended. This also goes hand […]
Insurance for Young Adults
As they take the big step of moving out of their parents’ home and into their first apartment or other living quarters, the last thing on a young person’s mind is insurance. Yet, this is an area of great importance as they also begin their journey on the road to financial wealth and health. […]
Steps to Complete When Selling Your Home
Gordon and Anne lived in the same house for over 30 years. Now that their children are grown and it was becoming more difficult for them to manage the house, they decided to downsize. Here is what Gordon and Anne did to get the best price they could when they sold their home: De-cluttered […]
The RRSP Conversation
With the RRSP contribution deadline of March 2nd fast approaching many people will reflexively make a deposit to their RRSP. Many will use online banking to throw money into the RRSP at the last minute vowing to figure out how to invest it later. But life gets in the way and later never happens and […]
Getting Serious About Savings & Investing
We are now well into 2015 and your New Year’s Resolution to do a better job of managing your money are already being forgotten. As the late Sir John Templeton famously stated, the best time to invest is when you have money! The challenge for many people, with many middle-class people just struggling to make […]
Your Retirement Income May Be at Risk
Ted and Martha had about $600,000 in their RRIFs generating the minimum monthly income of almost $4,000 before taxes. Then disaster struck. Ted developed a cognitive impairment. Martha was able to look after him at home for a little over a year, but eventually had to place him in an extended care facility. […]
Stretching Your Retirement Income
In this, the final installment of the series, Financial Strategies Simplified, we take a look at how to stretch your retirement income no matter how modest the starting balance. There is a common misconception amongst clients that the day they retire their approach to investing and managing their RRSPs etc. has to change. But […]
Get More From Your RRSP
The so-called RRSP Season is on its way. TV, newspapers and magazines will soon be full of advertising to get you to make your last-minute RRSP deposits. And then RRSPs and retirement planning are often forgotten until the next deadline. But a little advance planning will get you more from your RRSP. Start early. […]
Predicting the Future
Human nature includes the desire to predict and or anticipate both the immediate and longer term future. The reason for doing so is often to eliminate or reduce the fear or anxiety about the unknown. Human beings detest uncertainty and will do almost anything to reduce this uncertainty. In ancient times people made special […]
Basics For a Wise Financial Strategy
Before a sky scraper can reach for the clouds, it needs a very strong foundation. Once the building is complete, the foundation is virtually unseen. The same goes for our financial strategies. Following are the basics of a strong financial foundation: Budget – Governments and businesses use budgets to properly allocate resources. It’s known […]
The Three ECs of Life Insurance
Life insurance is initially purchased for any of a number of reasons. As time goes by, many people question why they are still carrying their policies as the original purpose no longer applies. Here are the three uses of life insurance: Estate Creation – When Ralph and Alice bought their first life insurance […]
Financial Strategies for the ‘University Years’
Many parents wrestle with the dilemma of how much financial support to provide their children attending post-secondary programs. The costs today are much greater than what the parents paid for similar schooling some thirty or more years ago. Tuition costs alone have risen at least tenfold since the 1970’s for a basic humanities degree, […]
Investor Emotions & Media Influence
During a recent client call, the topics discussed included how the media influence people’s investment behaviors. This client woke up one day with an ‘epiphany’ thinking that a market correction was just around the corner. They did admit after a discussion that they had been reading something to that effect in the newspapers during the […]
Is Credit Balance Insurance a Rip-off?
Graham, like millions of other Canadians, has and uses credit cards. He often carries a balance from month to month and is concerned about making the monthly payments if he becomes disabled or gets seriously ill. Graham doesn’t want to stick his family with the balance if he dies before paying it off. The […]
The Planning Continuum
A question sometimes asked in the media is exactly what is the role of a financial professional and how do they help the client meet their life goals and dreams. Why do you even need to engage the services of a planner or advisor when so much information is already available for free on the […]
How to Benefit from Being Charitable
Charities play a vital role in our society. The Canadian government recognizes this role and tax breaks exist to encourage taxpayers to give to their favorite charities. Roger makes occasional donations to various charities. His donations are rather small and amount to only a few hundred dollars per year. He learned that he might […]
Market Highs vs Your Goals
As stock market indexes in Canada and the U.S. make new highs on an almost daily basis, as of late June and early July, many investors have expressed increasing anxiety about a possible ‘correction’. Media headlines and commentary on BNN speculating about a possible correction from these recent highs, following a strong run over […]
Added Costs of Caring for Elderly Parents
Statistics Canada reported in 2007 that most eldercare (75%) was provided by those between 45 and 64 years of age. These Canadians, often called the sandwich generation, are increasingly finding themselves spending their own savings to care for their elderly parents, while giving money to their kids for university and trying to save for themselves. […]
It’s One Economy
The financial planner responded by saying that if the public stock markets were going down the drain, then real estate would follow as well. Why? Well it is one economy and we are all connected at the end of the day! Shocked, the veteran of 30-years in real estate responded that he had never thought […]
Improving Investment Returns
One Saturday, famed investment manager Peter Lynch was working at the office when he decided to answer the phone. The caller was a holder of his mutual fund who was calling to cash in the investment. Peter explained how he was excited about the growth prospects for the economy and his fund and asked him […]
Building Wealth
There are many definitions and meanings for the term ‘wealth’. It is often said that it is easier to build wealth over time than it is to keep it! Some confuse high incomes with wealth while others point to assets owned as an indicator of wealth. And, many people use the terms ‘assets’ and ‘wealth’ […]
So, You Got a Tax Refund
According to the Minister of National Revenue, the average tax refund is over $1,500 for the 2011 tax year. Surprisingly, many Canadians are thrilled about getting a big refund. While certain situations can lead to an unusual tax refund, far too many Canadians lend large sums of money to the government at 0% interest year […]
Reaching for Yield in a World of Low Interest Rates
While we can talk about concepts such as inflation and purchasing power the struggle for many people today is earning enough income on their savings to meet their lifestyle needs. Interest rates and the earnings from capital through dividends, bonds and real estate rental income have dropped dramatically in the past few years. Government […]
Inflation & Your Financial Health
To truly appreciate the role that inflation plays in your ability to build assets and achieve financial freedom one has to consider the role of its dance partner: purchasing power. You can’t have one without the other! Most people spend very little time contemplating the concept of purchasing power or the role it plays […]
Welcome to RRSP Season !
It is that time of year again when attention turns to RRSPs and tax planning. This year’s contribution deadline is March 3rd, 2014 if you want to deduct the contribution against your 2013 income tax return. The purpose for making an RRSP contribution, from a financial strategy perspective, is to build savings and assets […]
The Retirement Dilemma: Part 1
In the mid – 1960s conventional wisdom or motherhood for retirement planning said that you should take all of your investments and put them into government bonds or fixed income type products. The thinking was that you could not afford to take any ‘risk’ in your retirement years. Thus it was believed that guaranteed investing […]