Year End Tax Planning Ideas

The following are some ideas for individuals and business owners to reduce income taxes as 2024 draws to a close.

Individuals should consider doing their RRSP contributions before the RRSP rush in the first 60 days of 2025. You can get better values by buying today than when all the last minute procrastinators rush to buy their RRSPs in the New Year and temporarily push up market values.

Another idea is to remember to top up any RESP contributions to take advantage of the 20% educational grant before...

Bad Excuses for Putting Off Investing

Recent college or university graduates with their first career job have an understandable itch to spend money after years of living on Kraft Dinner. The last thing they want to think about is saving money and building assets.

Yet this is the ideal time in life to start developing the correct habits that will lead to a comfortable lifestyle now and in the future. But what we often hear are the reasons why now is not the right time to get started. And you don’t even need to watch how you spend every penny!

Here are four bad excuses for not investing:

’I know people that lost money’

Yes, investing involves risk but so does driving a car. Yet we still drive our cars! The key is to learn from your mistakes and not to...

Weighing the Cost of Your Retirement Dreams

We all know how easy it is to romanticize our retirement years. Many of us make lengthy lists of things we will do and experience in those golden years. We have little doubt about our ability to enjoy the perfect blend of leisure and excitement, which is what makes the very idea of retirement seem so priceless to so many of us. However, it would be a mistake to equate "priceless" with "cost-free!"

Those golden years might cost you more than you think. Are you prepared for those costs?

Here is the thing to remember: sound financial plans focus on the type of assets and retirement income you will need in order to maintain a certain lifestyle level once you stop working. If you have plans beyond simply living out your...