If a client wants to keep her cottage in the family, she should consider claiming the principal residence exemption when she transfers or sells the property to family members. This way, she’ll be able to pass the property tax-free. This applies whether the cottage is transferred, sold…
Tax and estate planning usually takes place during a client’s lifetime. That said, there are post-mortem planning opportunities that you should discuss with clients. The goal of post-mortem planning is to reduce the overall tax liability for the estate and its beneficiaries. So create a…
Most people know what insurance is, but few people have ever been told what it can do. The combination of turbulent financial markets and record low interest rates have challenged investors for several years. Conventional guaranteed financial instruments like bonds and GICs, long considered safe…
My anniversary is coming up in two weeks. For our first anniversary many years ago, I bought Carolyn a 50-piece dinner set – called a box of toothpicks. That didn’t go over so well. The next year I bought her some new golf clubs, which…
While most adult Canadians acknowledge the need to prepare for the transfer of their wealth to the next generation, there is merit in preparing for the transfer of wealth from the prior generation. Both the parent and child can benefit from engagement in a discussion…
With their mortgage paid off and no other debt, Greg and Jody Mathieson describe their financial situation as “fairly comfortable.” The residents of B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, who are 50 and 49 respectively, are on track to retire at 60, assuming they put aside significant annual…
Saying “I do” is perhaps the most rewarding and riskiest investment any individual can make, but according to experts, the stakes for high net worth clients can be exceptionally high, with millions of dollars of assets on the table. From protecting wealth to combining legacies,…
From an estate planning perspective, segregated funds are often seen as useful for minimizing potential estate administration fees (probate). Since a seg fund is an insurance product, where a beneficiary is named on the plan contract, the proceeds normally pass outside of the estate and…
The last few federal budgets have attempted to increase tax fairness and simplicity in compliance. That has impacted Canadian taxpayers in a variety of ways, particularly their ability to split income, implement effective estate and tax-planning measures, and claim various personal tax credits or other…
Registered accounts and life insurance are integral parts of your clients’ retirement and estate plans. Both allow a client to assign beneficiaries within the account or policy, or separately through her will, for instance. Beneficiary designations minimize probate tax since the proceeds fall outside the…