Many Canadians have a reasonable degree of net worth. Millionaire households are not that unusual if you consider the value of housing, especially if you have been a homeowner for 20 years or more, which would be the case for many who are approaching retirement....
Read MoreIf you are nearing retirement, you may be wondering about when to begin receiving the Canada Pension Plan. There is a common idea that you should take it as soon as possible, at age 60, just in case you don’t live long enough to make...
Read MoreDisability supports at the federal level include the disability benefit available from the Canada Pension Plan, the Disability Tax Credit, and the opportunity to apply for the Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP). At the provincial and territorial level, supports for people with disabilities vary. All...
Read MoreThe Canada Pension Plan (CPP) seems to get all the press these days. There are these debates about whether one should take it as early as age 60, wait until the “normal” retirement age of 65, or even delay the start until as late as...
Read MoreIf you have a spouse and/or children, in other words, someone who is dependent on you, life insurance of some sort is an important consideration. Your dependants “depend” on your monetary contribution to the household. A monetary contribution includes income from employment or self-employment, but...
Read MoreOne of the biggest impacts on my life occurred when I was 25 years old and newly married. A routine medical test detected a problem in the functioning of my kidneys. Further testing eventually determined that I had a chronic kidney disease known as Membranoproliferative...
Read More
Defined Benefit pension plans are required to use a funded ratio, also referred to as a solvency ratio, in determining whether the plan is sufficiently funded. This approach can also be used to assess the funding adequacy, or solvency, of your own retirement savings. What is...
Read MoreYou have had it. You cannot stand even one more winter of shovelling snow or fearing the loss of your fingers and toes from frostbite. You are going to retire to Panama, or Malaysia, or Portugal, or… There are lots of lists on the internet...
Read More
Mother’s Day 2022 inspired me to write this blog post on some of the financial aspects of being a mother. Women who take time out of their careers to become mothers often find that they are held back, or pressure is placed on them to cut...
Read More
When I was a teenager, some of my acquaintances dropped out of high school. In B.C., where I grew up, the rule was that you had to be at least 16 years old to make that choice. I suspect that far fewer make that choice...
Read More