June 2016 — Connect Wealth

Business Planning, Investments, Tax Planning

Our Biggest Partner in Life

In life and finances, the government is our biggest business partner, usually in the form of taxes.

If you are a business owner:
1. You are a tax collector (payroll taxes, GST, PST).
2. The government is your business partner (corporate taxes).

As a family, taxes are often your largest expense:
1. Income tax (as high as 45.7% of every dollar you earn).
2. Sales taxes (GST, PST).
3. Property taxes, and so on.

Fortunately, the government has provided different vehicles to help us plan when we pay our taxes (RRSP, TFSA, pensions, IPPs). These can all be great vehicles to help us defer, smooth out and/or lower our tax bills.

Critical Illness Insurance…How Critical Is It?

A recent study found over 8 million working Canadians are at risk of going into debt, delaying retirement or downsizing their home in order to cope with a critical illness. When a critical illness occurs, the primary financial impacts are loss of income and inability to meet living expenses.

Critical illness insurance was created (by a doctor, not an insurance company) to help address these issues. It provides a lump-sum payment upon diagnosis of any one of up to 25 serious illnesses, including heart attack, stroke and cancer. Read more

June 13, 2016/by Chris Wiens

Investments, Personal Planning

Segregated Funds: A Sugar-coated Mutual Fund

In a world of constant investment changes, it’s hard to keep up with all distinctions between the various fund options. Mutual funds tend to be fairly straightforward, but when it comes to segregated funds, they do offer some distinct differences that some people may not be aware of when differentiating the two. What is a segregated fund you ask? In simple terms, it’s a mutual fund wrapped around an insurance contract with a tidy bow on top. But what does that actually mean to me as an investor?

Segregated Funds offer three fairly distinctive advantages and disadvantages: Read more

June 9, 2016/by Andrew Gordon

Investments, Personal Planning, Real Estate

7 Things to Consider Before Purchasing a Vacation Property

For many Canadians the perfect retirement includes owning a vacation property. For some the decision to buy turns out to be a dream come true but for others it can be an expensive nightmare. Here are some things to consider before making the emotional decision to buy a vacation property.

Why do you want it?

Possibly owning a vacation property will allow you to spend more time at a destination you love, it will become a place where you can take your family and friends or you feel it will be a great investment. Whatever the reason, it is important to understand what your motivation is and then evaluate if that’s realistic and reasonable given your current situation. Read more

June 9, 2016/by Vince Olfert

Have Questions? We’re here to help!