Posted in Life Planning

RESP Basics You likely know that a Registered Education Saving Plan (RESP) is intended to save money for your child's education and that the invested money is allowed to grow tax free. When your child is ready to go to a post-secondary institution, you know can withdraw the money to pay for their tuition. Hopefully you also know about the Canada Education Savings Grant (CESG), which matches your contribution up to $500 per year up to a maximum of $7,200 in a lifetime.  For low ...

What is an estate plan? An estate plan is simply a checklist that ensures your personal belongings and finances are easy to manage and distribute, exactly how you want them to be, when you die. It also makes sure your estate doesn't pay more tax or legal fees than it needs to and perhaps most importantly, it makes things so much easier for your loved ones. While the word "estate" is often associated with large properties and the wealthy, in this case, it only refers to you...

If I told you that the government would match your contribution to a long-term savings plan by 300%, would you be interested in learning more? How about 200%? Are you still listening at a 100% match? About RDSPs For individuals with any sort of disability that affects their daily life (physical or intellectual), a Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is available to them. An RDSP allows the individual (or parent/guardian) to save for the long-term in a tax-deferred account, but also...

Retirement Planning: Learn From Other People's Mistakes I get asked a lot of questions about money; from clients, friends, family, neighbours and strangers and I can honestly say, I have never come across any personal finance situation that was the same for any one person. My answers for them are always different because every single person has a twist to their financial story. But I have noticed some very common mistakes people make when it comes to planning for their retirement. I...

Jump In, Make a Budget & Start Saving Here are six easy things anyone can do to get a handle on their money in 2020 and help them start saving to reach their personal financial goals. 1. Figure out how much comes in and how much goes out This isn't as hard as it sounds. Given that most of our purchases are made with a debit card or credit card and bills are paid by automatic direct deposit, you can use the monthly statements as a tracking sheet. Set aside 2 hours and just get ...