Living in Canada, it is almost impossible to ignore the United States. It is bigger than us in almost every way, except geography. Arguably, the U.S. has more influence over the world than any other nation and has maintained that influence for decades. The size, influence,...
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Money In and Money Out When I worked for the discount brokerage division of a major Canadian bank, I learned that the investment side of banking was referred to as “Money In.” That is, money came into the bank through investments in Guaranteed Investment Certificates (GICs)...
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Probating a will sounds uncomfortable, doesn't it? Kind of like the legal equivalent of a doctor giving you a thorough physical exam… Perhaps there is something to that analogy. Although simple, small estates with a single heir may not require probating, the probate process has value...
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Estate planning has to do with more than just your will. There is a lot that fits in between good, healthy life and death. Once we reach mature adulthood, we might even think of the remainder of our lives as a long slow glide toward...
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On February 4, 2021, Rob Carrick, the well-known personal finance columnist at The Globe and Mail, published an article entitled, “Why Canadian investors should stop buying U.S.-listed ETFs.” I tend to agree with Carrick on this point, but his argument is boiled down to two...
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At the end of 2020, the fathers of two friends and an uncle of mine died. For none of them was death unexpected. Two were over 100 and the other was 90. Even when death is expected, though, the loss of a loved one brings...
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The Kidney Foundation of Canada raises money to support people with kidney disease and to fund research into treatments for kidney disease. Each September, their big fundraising event is the Kidney Walk, which this year was held in a properly physically distanced manner; those with...
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An Introduction to Estate Planning – Part 5 Once you die perhaps the most obvious observation one can make is that you are no longer in charge. The only way to establish some degree of control over what happens to your assets, your estate, is to...
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An Introduction to Estate Planning – Part 4 I read about a well-off senior couple who had four children. They decided to “adopt a fifth child” for estate planning purposes. This meant that, in their will, instead of distributing their assets four ways equally among their...
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AN INTRODUCTION TO ESTATE PLANNING – PART 3.2 In my last post, I discussed the importance of naming a guardian in your will, someone who will take care of your children if you die before they are old enough to take care of themselves. Another item...
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