Updated February 2024
Do you ever wish you could talk to your younger self about lessons you've learned, more than a few of them the hard way? There are the mishaps you could have avoided, the errors in judgement you could have missed and the regrets you wouldn't hold. How much better would you feel now if you could turn the clock back? And that includes the extra money you would have to fund the better lifestyle you could look forward to in the decades ahead. Let's consider some financial tips.
Updated January 2024
The things you need to do to build your finances which can support your wants and goals are simple. Sometimes doing them isn't so simple. For most people, this becomes a matter of choice. Practice makes it easier. Here are some tips to build lifestyle success for your future you.
Updated January 2024
Gaeten and Mirielle are a middle aged couple who met through friends. They have been together for almost 5 years. Gaeten is divorced with one adult child. Mirielle, a widow, has two children of her own. The couple do want to take care of each should either one predecease the other. They both wish to have at least some of their own investments pass on to their respective children.
Updated January 2024
My last article shared the story of a divorced gentleman, Gaeten, who named his common law partner Mirielle, joint beneficiary of his Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) along with his daughter, Marie. I covered off the problem Mirielle would have trying to maintain the tax sheltered status of her share of Gaeten’s account which would pass to her on Gaeten’s death. What if Gaeten named her as a successor holder (subrogated policyholder in Quebec)?1
Updated January 2024
A disturbing number of aging Canadians today aren’t saving or aren’t saving enough for retirement.1 They are seeking financial freedom. That’s not freedom from money. It’s the kind of freedom they feel when they can do what they want to do and when they want to do it. Yet we all know that how we manage, invest and spend our money can have a huge impact on our life and our lifestyle.
In my last article, I wrote about the benefits of a buy and hold strategy where an investor stayed in the market through the ups and downs of a particular investment.
A common piece of advice for investors is that long term success doesn’t hinge on timing the market. It’s time in the market that may make the bigger difference.
Bill and Rosalind are friends of Sam and Christine, whom you met in this article. They live in Halifax. Bill died of a stroke just before his 70th birthday. He had named his common law partner, Rosalind, as beneficiary of his Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) via his will, which he had set up earlier in the year.
