Employed: Defined Contribution Registered Pension Plan Let’s suppose the following scenario: You are in your mid-40s and have worked for one employer for the entirety of your working career. Throughout, your employer had provided its employees a defined contribution registered pension plan which was based on...
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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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Psychological analysis of people’s relationships with money has become an increasingly important area for financial planning. The tendency in financial services has been to view such matters as having to do only with products. For paying bills and daily expenses, you need a chequing account. To...
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Coping with the Uncertainty of Investment Returns Imagine that you have been putting away $10,000 at the beginning of each year from 2002 until 2019. For the sake of this example, taxes and commissions are excluded; you have been investing that money into the Canadian stock...
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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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AN INTRODUCTION TO ESTATE PLANNING – PART 3.1 When people get around to making a will, they often think of their family first. If they are married, they will think of their spouse first. Some assets can be inherited directly, outside of the will. Here I...
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An Introduction to Retirement Planning – Part 4 Planning for retirement is not just about money. I think you could reasonably argue that money is almost the last thing to be considered. It is the tool that makes your plans for retirement executable. Mind you, it...
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An Introduction to Tax Planning – Part 1 Financial Planning and Taxation As much as we might like to deny it, taxation is an integral part of financial planning. Indeed, taxation can often be a Canadian household’s biggest single expense. Think about all the areas in life...
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AN INTRODUCTION TO INSURANCE AND RISK MANAGEMENT – PART 8.3 “Wouldn’t it be nice” … no, I’m not quoting a Beach Boys song. But, wouldn’t it be nice if we could insure our investments against potential losses? The news as I write this is that the...
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An Introduction to Insurance and Risk Management – Part 8.2 In my last post, I wrote about Assuris, a body that insures you against the insolvency of a life insurance company. This post has to do with insuring against the insolvency of banks and credit unions. CANADA...
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