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Year-end tax-cutting tips
Still time to save on 2022 taxes With year-end just around the corner, there’s still time for a few tax strategies that could cut this year’s tax bill. Here are some of my favorite year-end tax-saving tips. Contributions to registered plans Registered plans...
Robyn Thompson chosen for the 2022 5-Star Leading Women in Wealth Award
Robyn Thompson, CFP, founder of Castlemark Wealth Management has been chosen as a recipient of the 2022 5-Star Leading Women in Wealth Award by Wealth Professional Canada magazine. The award is given to 50 women who truly excelled in the wealth management industry...
Black Friday binge, Red Monday remorse
How avoid that sinking (bank account) feeling “Red Monday Remorse” typically follows the Black Friday spending binge. It’s the day you realize you’ve changed the colour of your budget from black to red. The same thing happens in the weeks leading up to Christmas....
Avoiding cryptocurrency scams
How to dodge investment fraud and protect your money High-flying cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy in early November. Billions of dollars are missing or unaccounted for according to reports, and the eventual financial ramifications of the FTX...
Inflation Investing
Some asset classes better than others as an inflation hedge When preparing your financial plan and setting target returns, make sure you discuss the effects of inflation with your advisor. Currently, inflation is at levels not seen in decades. In Canada, the...
Robyn on CTV’s The Social: Get a grip on rising interest rates
Inflation is raging, interest rates are soaring. How do you adjust your personal finances to cope? Robyn recently joined CTV’s The Social with some tips on managing your personal debt, mortgages, savings, and...
When creditors come calling
Options for relieving the personal debt burden Since 2020, when the pandemic and associated financial damage created by government lock-downs and mandates really began to hit hard, debt problems were pushed to the back burner. Many creditors temporarily held off...
Robyn on CTV Your Morning: Debunking popular money myths
Dealing with money can seem like an insurmountable obstacle for many. But it doesn’t have to be. Robyn recently joined CTV’s Your Morning to chat about the psychology of money and explode some of the myths around spending, saving, and...
Why now is the time to boost emergency savings – not dip into them
In this Globe and Mail interview, Robyn shows how to build an emergency savings fund, and how to protect finances during inflation, rising rates, and a possible recession. (Globe and Mail login...
Investment woes? Where to get good advice
Hint: you won’t find it on TikTok In our plugged-in hyper-connected 24/7 lives, we’re inundated with investment “advice.” Which is worth precisely what you pay for it – nothing. And yet every day, I hear of unwary or gullible investors being seduced by sales...
The best defensive investment strategy of all
Pay attention to asset allocation before trouble starts Inflation continues to burn up everyone’s purchasing power, with both Canadian and U.S. consumer price indexes exceeding an annual 8% recently. Of course, any shopper could have told you that months ago, just...
Tread carefully with Locked-In Retirement Accounts
Funds are not available until retirement If you’ve recently left a job that included a pension plan, you may be offered an opportunity to transfer your plan to a Locked-In Retirement Account (LIRA). This is a government registered plan in which your funds grow...