You’re in charge – make the most of it! After the ceremonies and speeches and mortarboard tossing, fresh new grads from colleges and universities have to leave their structured and sheltered life and start fending for themselves in the real world, many perhaps for the...
Managing income streams tax efficiently Many people on the cusp of retirement are wondering whether they’ll outlive their retirement nest egg. Even those with hefty savings tucked away in Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Tax-Free Savings Accounts have expressed...
The failure-to-launch syndrome More than one in three Canadians aged 20 to 34 are living with their parents according to the most recent census results from Statistics Canada. Worse yet, parents are still financially supporting them. That can lead to a series of...
Differentiating from robots and algorithms In this era of robo-advisors and artificial intelligence, it’s easy to believe that the expert, professional flesh-and-blood financial advisor has gone the way of the horse and buggy. It’s even easier to believe if you buy...
Financial advice for happy couples on St. Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day is that annual hearts-and-flowers fest that can be gushingly romantic, to say nothing of stressful. It’s also a time when many proposals of marriage are made – and accepted. Once that initial...
Key investment principles This year, the RRSP contribution deadline for getting a 2018 tax deduction is March 1. You still have four weeks to make a contribution, and that’s plenty of time to discuss the best strategy with your financial advisor. To make sure you get...
Accurate record-keeping is essential Divorce proceedings are often contentious, emotionally fraught, and never easy. That’s why when going through a divorce, it’s absolutely critical to keep a cool head about your finances and property. Unfortunately, it’s here that...
Some annual housekeeping to keep allocations on track Concerns about the health of the global economy, the effects of the U.S.-China trade and tariff dispute, rising interest rates, and the flattening yield curve combined to make the stock market slump of the fourth...
5 tips for putting credit cards on a leash Starting with Black Friday in November and ending with Boxing Day in December, the holiday spending season is just about guaranteed to stretch the use of your credit cards. And come the end of January, you may be singing the...
Novices especially prone to classic investment pitfalls Markets go through periods of volatility, and we are in one such period now. Market sentiment has been decidedly sour for the past few weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently sank into correction...
Let’s say you’ve accumulated a nest egg of $1 million at age 65, through pension plans, perhaps a significant RRSP, TFSA contributions, some inheritances, and possibly some money left over from downsizing your home. You’re ready to retire, and you have to decide what...
Reach that magic number even if you start at 40 It’s sometimes said that you need at least a $1 million retirement fund to maintain the kind of lifestyle you want after age 65. But starting at, say, age 40, can that even be done? The good news is that it is possible...