You are a 75-year-old woman. Your husband of 50 years has just died, the funeral has been held and he has been buried. In the middle of this grief and loneliness, you remember that you had named each other as executors in your respective wills....
Read MoreLiving 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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In my previous blog post, I introduced a fictitious client, Debra, who is about to retire. As you may recall, Debra is single, without children, and is about to turn 65. She is eligible for the maximum Canada Pension Plan (CPP), which is $14,445 per...
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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)...
Read MoreAfter years of working at minimum wage retail jobs without benefits, Donald, age 59, is wondering what his strategy should be for retirement. He knows that he can begin taking the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) as early as next year, when he turns 60, but...
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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...
Read MoreProbating 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...
Read MoreIn earlier years, the incentives to begin your Canada Pension Plan (CPP) payments at 60 made more sense. However, a few years ago, the Federal government created a compelling incentive to delay taking CPP. First, for each month before age 65 that you begin receiving...
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Year-end lists are ubiquitous but that does not mean they are not useful. If you think you need to do something about your finances before the end of the year but aren’t sure what, maybe something on this list will be of help. Contribute to Your...
Read MoreIt is the nature of my profession that I read a lot about personal financial matters. One of the most difficult of such matters has to do with retirement. Financial economists will say that retirement planning is difficult because there are so many variables, or...
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