Low Interest Rates Make This an Option Worth Considering When my wife and I bought our first house, the interest rate was 7.5%. That sounds awfully high today when you can sometimes see mortgage rates posted for less than 2%. On the other hand, we were...
Read More
An Introduction to Tax Planning – Part 4 You think of yourself and your spouse along with your two children as an average family. Like me you are a resident of London, Ontario. Between the two of you, you earn about $80,000 per year or about...
Read More
AN INTRODUCTION TO TAX PLANNING – PART 3 In a world where governments are scrambling to address the impact of the novel coronavirus on our society, the topic of this post may seem rather mundane or even unnecessary. However, there is applicability. Let’s assume a married...
Read More
An Introduction to Tax Planning – Part 2 “Oh, man! What is this guy talking about? He’s calling people losers and then he is suggesting a way to take advantage of them!” Let me explain. First of all, I am not calling *people* losers. Second, this...
Read More
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...
Read More
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...
Read More
An Introduction to Investment Planning – Part 5.4 Diversification is one of the main benefits of mutual funds. With one purchase you can buy a piece of a wide variety of securities. Nevertheless, some mutual funds are quite narrowly focused and should probably be complemented by...
Read More
Introduction to Investment Planning – Part 3 Stocks and bonds are the two most common categories for investments, at least for the average “retail” investor like you and me. You may have heard about preferred stock (or shares – the terms are interchangeable) but have wondered...
Read More
Introduction to Investment Planning – Part 2.2 In my previous post I wrote about some of the basics of bonds as well as their benefits. This post continues the discussion with an examination of the risks of investing in bonds and the ways you can buy...
Read More
Introduction to Investment Planning – Part 2.1 Bonds are fixed income investments “Stocks and bonds”: These are the basic building blocks of an investment portfolio. I will write about stocks in an upcoming post, but after my discussion of cash or cash-like assets (e.g., savings accounts) in...
Read More