Who is Your Trusted Contact Person?

Monica was alarmed to hear from her mother’s financial advisor expressing concern over some unusual financial requests. She called her mom, who seemed fine, but Monica couldn’t get the conversation with the financial advisor out of her head. She travelled to see her mom in person and was dismayed to discover numerous unpaid bills and an uncompleted tax return.

Her mother had always been very meticulous about money, so something was off. Monica’s concerns turned out to be well-founded. Within a few months, her mother was diagnosed with dementia.

If not for the phone call from the financial advisor, things may have been more catastrophic. He was only allowed to do...

Interest Rates and Your Financial Strategy

Working towards financial independence includes assumptions about how the world operates and how we navigate within that environment. These assumptions work best when the world remains the same allowing you to make reasonable future projections.

Challenges come when changes occur in the operating environment which may require reassessing wealth building strategies. The disruptions from early 2020 (Covid, supply-chains, etc.) seem to have ushered in some significant changes in our world.

The most critical change since 2020 is the amount of debt in all areas - Government, Corporate and Personal. In the next 1-5 years, policy choices by Governments - and your choices as an investor and consumer - will impact how much you can save and borrow to build your...

How to Get Income Out of Your RRSPs

Roger and Linda, like many Canadians, have saved for years for their retirement. They took advantage of RRSPs and now have a substantial amount of savings. As Roger will turn age 71 this year, they need to decide on the best strategy for using their RRSPs for their retirement income needs.

Until now, Roger and Linda have been relying on their non-RRSP investments and government benefits so their RRSPs could continue to grow tax-postponed. Roger has to choose from the following by the end of the year or all his RRSP funds will be fully taxed:

Take the Money and Run

Roger can withdraw all, or a portion, of his RRSP funds as cash (different rules apply to ’locked-in’ funds). This is not generally recommended because heavy taxation could result. Any amount...